I need help.
I am 18 and have built quite a few models but have only recently honed my skills enough to call myself a good modeller. I enjoy the actual building of my models ie. interiors, brass etching, scratchbuilding, etc. and am quite good at it but painting and weathering honestly scare me. I have just finished painting my Panther G which is to be Tank No. 411 of the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking", therefore somewhere in Poland and am quite happy with the results. My next steps are to add a colour wash, add mud and drybrush. The wash and drybush are not a problem (although Iread an article against drybrushing on this site) but adding mud and dust as well as paint chips or bare metal and other worn parts of the tank are techniques that worry me. The one other problem is that my tank has a zimmerit coating so it is more difficult to weather the surfaces with it . I have read Weathering Heresies by: Paul A. Owen but am still confused as he is against what I have been previously advised to do. I was hoping that I could get a definitive answer that will be able to help me understand how to subtly weather my Panther without too many complicated instructions and techniques.
Thank you
Andrew

These might helphttp://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/howto/wash.htm
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/howto/drybrush.htm

Applying these it is sometimes better to start slow and try different ways none is set in stone take a cheap model build and try different ways to do things is all I can say
Plus welcome aboard

Here are some more places to look
http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/dio/rwpanth/rwpanth.htm

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/german/jbpaint/jbpaint.htm

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/other/awpaint/awpaint.htm

http://www.missing-lynx.com/rw/chip/chip.htm

http://www.track-link.net/articles/39

This last one is the best I have seen of this tank

My personal gripe these days about the swing toward 'artistic' weathering is faded paint , worn areas, scuffs, and excessive chipping of the paint.

I'll have to go dig out my notes from the seminar at AMPS, but in the last year of the war German vehicle lives were measured at best in months, and in other cases weeks or even days!

So tell me, how scuffed, dinged, and rusty is a new off the line Panther G going to get before getting swatted by and IL2 or JSU 152?

To my mind, it's not going to have happened. A few muddy footprints on the outer hull a dinged fender or crushed stowage box ( from panic back-ups/retreats) and maybe, MAYBE a shell glance..

I love the look of Rhodes William's "Last Panther in Pommerania" over in Missing Links, but to my mind it is as much a fantasy ( just the paint, not the IR weapons) as a Twin Flak E100 defending the Reichstag.

Sorry to not be much help, but some of the gallery stuff over in ML is very pretty, but to my mind not so 'real'

Mike

The rule in weathering is LESS IS MORE. Too many modelers make their vehicle look as if it is on its last legs. Unfortunately, judges seem to be rewarding riddled, damaged, scuffed, chipped and muck covered tanks and AVF's. One thing to remember is that the crew LIVED in and with their vehicle. You would not allow your home to be so filthy why would you allow the thing your life depends on to become so.

Look at historical photos to see what the vehicle REALLY looked like. The side skirts on German tanks really took a beating. They were thin metal and were torn off or damaged easily. However, this does not mean that every fender, every skirt should be bent, riddled, torn, ripped, and rusted. Rust should only be on heat exposed surfaces - like exhausts. Look at your own car, if the paint is scratched how long before rust sets in and then is it a whole quarter of the car - NO.

American tanks and AFV's were for the most part so short a time in combat that they did have the time to rust, or acquire multiple damaged parts. American maintenance was excellent and damaged vehicles were quickly repaired.

The bottom line is that weathering should please you, look realistic and be accurate. Keep practicing and looking at whats out there and you will find your comfort zone.

After that, its building time!!!!

Hear Hear - the two posts above bear repeating again for all novice armor modelers!

What's "vogue" in armor modeling can't always be escaped - look how long drybrushing has persisted since Uncle Frankie introduced it to make models more interesting to photograph! The same goes for "washing". My best advice has always been to "build what you see - in reality". Garishly drybrushed and overly paint chipped, rusted, and weathered is always going to catch the eye over a model finished more akin to the actual conditions the real subject went through. Decide what you're trying to get out of building the model - and then go for it! If you want a lot of accolades from people - you build accordingly. If you want to please yourself - you build accordingly. Do whatever - but build it and have fun!

Gunnie