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Iain: Kurt's note is that despite the current modelling fad to show chipped paint, exposing primer beneath -- this does not apply to US made armor (and may not have really applied to German armor either).
Regardless, the top coat on US made stuff was extremely tough. If you look carefully, what appears to be chipping is actually the exposed edges having DUST scraped/rubbed off by crews' hands and feet and possibly bushes and trees. In b/w photos, the dark color you see on the edges of US armor is often the base coat OD showing thru dust.
Hi - Thanks for incite. It seems then that the overdone use of chipping with a primer base coat showing through is a tad on the fantasy side... it looks good, but that's about it.
Certainly, the vehicles I have seen (for real) have rust that may 'appear' to look like primer colours showing through in old photographs. The only exception is German armour which definitely, in some cases, can have primer showing through (I have seen this in several panzer wrecks I have seen in North Africa. The tanks were painted yellow over grey and the sand had sandblasted parts of the yellow and grey away leaving the base metal and primer - which was red oxide. However, I have no idea how long this took to occur as I saw the wrecks in the 90's).
I was attempting as much realism as possible in my painting technique. But, it appears that I maybe placing a little too much importance on the primer aspect. After-all, WW2 was only 5 years in duration and many vehicles were destroyed in a few months to a year or two.
Thanks, WilloW
