OK Tankers, this is an old Infantry guy's first attempt at a tank in ten plus years.

The non-slip coating could have been better, but I really enjoyed building this model. Hopefully I will improve on the next one.







Sorry for the quality of the pictures. I have a new camera, but have not mastered it yet.
Dave

It looks great for the time that you have spent away. I'm not a rivet counter so you won't get many recommendations from me. As long as you had fun, that is the important part. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing your next model.

Looks good Dave, and you seem to be getting along with camera very well. I think this would be a very good example of a tank at the beginning of the conflict, freshly painted in Desert Colors. Personaly I would add a lot of paint chips al over, as the paint tends to wear off very quikly in the desert. Also a wash would bring out the detail more. but hey, for I first attempt after such a long time, well done.

Cheers
Henk

Hi Dave
Lookin good.
Henk is right. A little wash would make this model even better

Thanks for the comments guys. I know it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it does actually have two washes, a black and a burnt sienna. As far as the chipped paint, you're right. I just have not been brave enough to try that yet. Any suggestions?

I will try to get a better picture so that the washes show up.

Dave

Cool! It's very nice.

Aside from the wash, I would suggest putting up some dust on the road wheels, tracks and anywhere on the tank. Tanks get really dusty when it runs across the desert. A recommedation (and this I learned from some great people here) is Tamiya buff mixed with water (20 to 30% paint,80 to 70% water).

The salt method is a good way to make scratches (which I still have to learn and experiment) but since the tank is already painted, let me suggest something. Scratches can be made by lightly rubbing along a lead pencil on the surface.Just nick the surface. Don't overdo it; a little scratch goes a long way.

Another thing that you could do is to simulate bleaching. This is usually made by mixing a lighter version of the base color and spray a light coat on the flat surfaces. Since your tank is already finished, it would be best to simulate bleaching by using oil colors. Mix a little bit of white, brown and yellow to achieve a sandy color lighter than the color of your tank. Put a little of this mix onto a dry brush. Remove the excess oil paint by rubbing the brush on cardboard or cloth. Once that is done, drybrush the panels of the model. This is called "dry filtering" (a term coined by Shonen_red). The results are very convincing.

It would also be a good thing to reduce the glossiness of the tarps.You can do this by a) filtering or b) applying a flat coat.

Overall, it's a very nice model.

Angela

Thanks Angela, great tips. I will have to try a couple of them.

Dave

You're welcome.

For the dry filtering thing, just make sure that the application o oil is quite light. In fact, it should be so light that the main color seeps through. Oil paints (the one that comes in tubes) are translucent and easy to apply so you should have no problem with that.

But before you do that though, I suggest you give your tank with a medium gray pinwash, leaning towards the darker side. That means, do not wash the entire tank. Just put it along rivets, nooks and crannies. Capilliary action will do the trick. This is to compensate for the preshading color which is not evident...or present...in your model. Also, I've seen pics of Abrams whose edges are a little dark (perhaps due to grime or something).

Oh, by the way, you should add a little decal setting solution to that large decal on the barrel of the gun. It looks like it's silvering.

But overall, it's a very well made model.

Angela