Hi all

Looking for some thoughts on painting/weathering tank/afv exhausts.
Much like the trend for chipping has perpetuated itself into its own fashion statement, I've noticed that afv exhausts are shown as incredibly rusty. During WW2, or at any other time for that matter, did these exhausts really rust that much?
Especially in an arid environment.
Especially since most WW2 tanks/afv's had a life measured in days, weeks or maybe months.
Especially since modern tank/afv exhausts would be made of a material which would show minimal oxidation.

TIA

Well,with WWII stuff,I don't know,it could be artistic liscence,but I like to beat them up.I texture them with Mr Surfacer 500,paint with MM non buffing Gunmetal,then I apply AK Rust Wash,and finally some smoke black pigments on the tip.

Shaun,
I've often wondered about this artistic effect myself. I've been around a lot of military vehicles, and you're right-- vehicles that are regularly maintained don't show a lot of rust. But I suppose it also depends on the quality of materials used on the exhaust systems, the amount of usage, the local weather conditions, and finally on the quality of maintenance. Don't forget, even in the desert, there are extremes of temperature which can cause condensation as exhausts cool. That being said, I doubt exhausts would rust completely through in a couple of months, even in the harshest of conditions. Probably the worst environments for exhaust systems would be around salt water environments, so exhaust systems in the desert or on the steppes would look a lot different than those near beaches in the same amount of time. VR, Russ

I will toss some things to think about on the table.
Quality of metal.. Who here is old enough to remember having to replace car exhausts after a couple of years... MIDAS any one. Not a thing these days with material exhausts are made of today, this was not the case in WW II.
Life of a tank.. Yes some tanks in combat were destroyed after days or even hours of entering combat. However in but a few extreme examples (eg Stalingrad) tanks were issued to troops in the rear area, where they were trained with, then shipped to the front line and then who knows how long before they actually got into combat. Look at all the Allied tanks that went ashore on D day, some of them were years old by then.
Care of the tank.. As mentioned the level of care of metal makes a difference. Exhausts are hot, paint does not like that so much.. so after a short while it goes away. Bare metal that is heated and cooled rusts pretty rapid. I honestly do not see a crew cleaning the rust off the exhaust to repaint the thing so it looks pretty.

In the end can it be over done.. yes. Has it been over done... yes. Am I guilty...yes. But I go back to the words of a wise old modeler.. Build what you like.

Hi Shaun,
While I have no idea about modern vehicles, my only reference for WWII are colour photos. And yes, they rusted heavily. I guess that even at the late stages of the war, with much shorter life span vehicles, the extremely high temperatures of the exhaust could degrade it pretty soon.

See here:





However, Tiger exhausts do not seem to rust with a dark colour but I would say it was much lighter. Like the pink tones you can see today on some vehicles exhausts.

On a side note, I love the first photo. It shows how dark was Panzer Grey (and not blue), how dirty they were and no trendy chipping!!

G'day gents

I'm inclined to agree with the rusty look, and agree with the comments that tanks had actually been in service for some time before seeing action. Those pipes got pretty hot, in fact, the German flammvernichter exhausts were introduced because their exhaust pipes, especially on Panthers, became so hot that they glowed at night.

No way is paint going to stick to that. About condensation on exhaust pipes cooling on desert evenings, yes, I can see what you mean, but I think you will find that the very low humidity in the desert would preclude too much condensation.

As a by-the-by I once saw a bulldozer working at a salt works in North Queensland (Bowen for those who know Queensland). I don't know how long it had been there, but it was ALL rust - there was not a speck of paint or bare metal visible.

My ten cents worth - as the man said, in the end do what you like.

Regards

Rob

I tend to go for the rusty look. Moisture is not the only cause of rust but extreme heat will have the same effect. German tanks were notorious for heat and high temperatures of the exhaust hence the rusting even in arid climates. And like an earlier post mentioned, this was back in the day before exhaust systems used high grade steel, and even in an increasing number of cases stainless steel.

Hi guys,




Maybe it could be different for some particular case, but generally speaking for WWII AFV I fully agree.

Cheers

Thanks gents. Appreciate the photos & the feedback

Tank exhausts ran very hot, and the paint would blister off quickly. Heat also accelerates oxidation of metal, so exhaust pipes would rust immediately, as would mufflers (on those tanks so equipped). On the postwar M46 and M47, the mufflers ran so hot, they glowed red, and had to be shrouded with sheet metal stand-off covers so they wouldn't give away the tank's position.