My next questions are on tracks as I also see these heavily rusted on a lot of models. I know that the tracks would quickly rust over night, especially in wet conditions, but when showing a tank in motion or combat, would not the thin layer of rust been knocked away by vibration, rocks, dirt etc.?

I am not trying to criticize anyone....just wanting to know for my own knowledge and modeling.

Thank you in advance!!!

Eric

Bovington's Pz III as she sits inside on display. Notice the tracks are a bit rusty even in a building.



After running around the track. Look close at the track and see how shiny it has become. This is after running through the dirt/mud of southern England.



G

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Bovington's Pz III as she sits inside on display. Notice the tracks are a bit rusty even in a building.



After running around the track. Look close at the track and see how shiny it has become. This is after running through the dirt/mud of southern England.



G

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Yes, but they certainly aren't as over the top rusty as some people make them, especially the spare tracks mounted on the hull and turret. Some builds have those painted so rusty looking I'd be afraid to use them for repairs, let alone additional armor protection. They look like they'll shatter into flakes.

Not all tanks were whitewashed. Only those that were in snowy conditions and then many weren't, look at the western front, the majority of the Shermans were still O.D. You can often see the original paint thru the whitewash and it was applied with whatever the crew had handy such as rags, brooms, mops and brushes often done in patches so it looked rough and it wore off easily. Tanks in garrison vs tanks in combat are two different monsters. With a life expectancy that could be measured in hours a tank in combat isn't going to get 3 paint jobs a year, in fact I've never heard of that. They'll do touch ups if needed and if the camo pattern is changed than they'll repaint, after major repairs they'll probably repaint the damaged area. But they aren't going to take a tank off the line just to repaint it and it was up to the crew to maintain the camo/paint along with the rest of the tank. Today it's not uncommon to see tanks in battle with miss-matched paint. Look at the "Bad Blessing" build and you can see a great depiction of such a vehicle.

Tracks rust in hours. you don't need moisture, you need oxygen. Rust is iron oxide. The bright reddish rust gets knocked off but a deeper maroon rust remains. Tracks are rusty. At the same time pieces of metal that wear on each other become bright shiny metal. Look at the first inner roadwheel of a Panther. The whole rim was bright metal. The teeth of a drive sprocket and the center guides of tracks would wear bright and shiny. So the outside of the track could be rusty and the inner drive teeth would be bright and shiny.

That's real life. Go to a construction site and look at the equipment left over night. Rusty, pitted, but nowhere near the big streaks on most models. The paint flaking is nowhere near that seen on many models on horribly worn train cars. However black paint can bleach to dark grey in bright sun. Train engines get filthy with soot and streaked dirt and grime. The same with real armored vehicles.

In actual service the only thing that is kept super clean is what kills the enemy. As said in the Sharpe series "Men dirty, rifles clean"