I'm working on the Takom Big Bertha, one of the few WWI armor pieces I've worked on. I'm curious about how German paint on armor held up and whether I should be spending much time doing chipping. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Artillery was in constant use. I am unsure if the rate of fire was enough to discolor paint on the barrel. I would think that artillery would be taken care of reasonably well.

I'm more familiar with WWII paint issues... as in the US armor was painted with more lasting (i.e. chipping resistant) paint and painting methods, whereas the German paint was cheap and applied quickly.

Just curious if the WWI German paint was easily susceptible to chipping.

Not trying to be a smart arse but would it not be worth looking at photographs for some indications? There would no doubt be some wear but gunners tend to have considerable pride in their guns so I doubt they would be allowed to get too scruffy.

Obviously any contemporary artillery piece would do for that exercise.

I've looked for pics of this particular gun and they are few and far between. And being the early 1900s, the quality of the photos is pretty low (at least as far as trying to see paint chipping)

I think they take care of the guns but also the paint quality at the time was not at the standard of WWII,i think some chipping would be ok