Thanks for your explanation, Paul. I suppose some dust and dirt accumulation, discoloration and scratches would appear around the the hatches in a narrow strip where door rim overlaps, so possibly these marks would realistic if the weathering was done with closed hatches. But maybe it wouldn't be so prominent on a relatively new tank.
Another question - if the cammo pattern was applied at field, would they reach all the nooks and crannies with paint below the turret? I know that cammo on German vehicles was usually applied by the crews using spray gun or other means. So maybe the turret would act like a mask and the contours of uncovered base paint would remain on the hull beneath it. It probably depends on how thorough are the painters.

In North Africa the British had maintenance units that did the painting of the vehicles. You might find some crew applied paint schemes but most that I’ve seen were applied according to guidance received by the maintenance units. These weren’t seasonal like you’d see in Europe. The pictures I’ve seen indicate that camo was applied without concern for contour.

A bit of an update on the Grant build. I began to install the driver’s hatch and managed to send the support arm flying somewhere into another dimension.... So, I had to make one. The shaft is turned on a my lathe, and the fittings on the arm and the hatch were made from .020” brass stock. The pieces were drilled, shaped and soldered together.

Here is picture of the completed rod.



Here is the rod and attachment hardware fitted to the model.



Additionally, I didn’t have the correct size MV lenses for the headlights, so I had to go old school and make my own. There are variations on how I do this, here is how is how I did these.

First I pulled out some .004” thick soft aluminum sheet. This is similar to the stuff used with the Small Shop Nutter. As you can see, it’s great for making replacement rivets and bolt heads.



I pull out my old bench anvil and pick a hole size that’s pretty close to the correct diameter and place a small piece over the hole.



I firmly press down on the foil with my finger which leaves a shallow impression.





The next step it to use a cotton-tipped applicator to again press firmly into the depression left by my finger and to spin it while pressing.



This both deepens the shape and polishes it to act as a reflector.



I use a flat smooth tool handle to press the foil flat against the surface of the anvil. Here I used a scalpel handle, but the rear of tweezers or a metal ruler work just as well.



The foil is now turned rounded side up and placed on a firm cutting surface. Here I used the same Delrin spacer that I used to set the running gear in place. I then use a #15 scalpel blade to cut away the parts I don’t want.







Here is the finished reflector laying next to a clear demo lens.



Since the kit’s lenses are ribbed, I used them to create the front part. I attach the reflector to the back of the clear part with clear 5 minute epoxy to ensure no clouding or fogging. The lens on the left is the rear of the reflector and the one on the right is the side that will be visible.



It takes about 5 minutes to make each lens once you’ve done it once or twice.

Hope this info helps someone.

Cheers!

Beautiful work, like jewelry for tanks. Grant’s looking great, not to mention the ch*pp*ng

I was able to spend a little bit of time on the Grant tonight. Here is what the headlights I made look like after installation.



Cheers

The headlights seem very realistic, top notch.

Looking REAL good Paul ! Thank you for all the tips & techniques you've generously shared with us AND taking the time to answer everybody's questions & comments.
During the era of "social distancing" I've started Takom's Lee as a sort of a warm up to the MiniArt Grant. Awaiting some putty to fill gaps (it's hell without an open hobby shop). Lesson learned, careful cleaning up of hull plates and don't be satisfied with less than perfect alignment ( small gaps). Painting will be wrong for the kit but N. African for the practice.
Thanks again for everything !

Thanks to all for the kind remarks! I’m hoping to get this one completed and on the shelf pretty soon. Dry time for paints and oils have really taken their toll on the completion plans.

It’s weird, instead of looking for something totally different like I would normally do, I’ve been looking at getting a Miniart British Lee and building that too. My main hold off has been that it lacks the interior.

I just finished taking some pictures of the finished product. The pics tend to hide the weathering and dust, but I won’t add any more for pictures because it looks right to me in person.

The last layers of weathering were airbrushed with Ak Interactive North Africa Dust enamel, followed by Lifecolor Portland Stone. I applied Ammo of Mig and AK Interactive pigments that included North Africa Dust, Sand, and Rubble to get color variations. Pigments were set where needed using Tamiya X-20A applied by brush and airbrush based on location.

Tail lights are painted Tamiya Clear Red and the antennae are painted Vallejo Black Grey. The fuel cans are primed with Tamiya White primer, sprayed with Tamiya Neutral Gray, sprayed with AK chipping medium, painted with AK Interactive Real Colors Light Stone for color variation and the chipped with a stiff brush.

Here are some of the photos...

























Thanks for all of the support throughout this build!

Cheers