I realize that this topic has been covered before but I need someone to recommend a process for acheiving on various WWII AFV's.

I had pretty good luck using the salt paint chipping technique on my Trumpter SAM launcher. There is a pretty good "how to" article at the link below.
Essentially what I did was paint the launcher with oil based gray primer out of a rattle can. This is the color I wanted to show under the chipped, peeled paint. Let that coat dry. Dampen the areas where you want the chips with water and sprinkle salt on those areas. Let that dry. Paint your base color and let that dry. (I used MM Acryl) Then, rub off the salt revealing the gray base color. I have to admit I was pleased with the results the first time I tried it.

Shaun

http://www.swannysmodels.com/Salting.html

EDIT: There is an article in this month's Fine Scale Modeler about a British AS90 in Iraq that has hand painted chips that is really well done.

Would anyone know if the salt crystals in the bottom of pretzel bag be acceptable for this process?

well for me, i only do 'chips' for german AFV

what i'd do is use Tamiya's German Grey paint and with a pointed brush, apply it on random spots on the vehicle

be careful though, you can overdo the 'chips' and make the vehicle unsightly

do a few 'chips', examine the entire vehicle and if its enough, stop. Else, continue 'chipping'

I don't know. I would think you would end up with pretzel crumbs in there too. If you want larger grain salt go grab some kosher or pickling salt at the grocery. I just used regular table salt but am going to try kosher salt next time.

Shaun

I say this knowing it will open a can of worms, but...

I really don't think the chipped paint thing is appropriate for virtually any AFV, with the exception of those hastily overpainted for desert service. German tanks in NW Europe just didn't last long enough to really beat up the paint (neither did allied AFVs, fo r that matter), except in the very high wear areas around the hatches and hand holds. I have seen a lot of models with really nice looking effects and they generally look really "natural" except that real vehicles just don't look that way. Look at the photos, you rarely see chipped paint and certainly almost never to the amount seen on models.

Like Verlinden's dry brushing of the early eighties, this is an effect that looks cool, but is waaaay overdone in the modelling community.

Paul Roberts

Ola People

I second Paul`s point of view. The living time of a tank in WW2 was not that great and the basecoat of a real tank is really hard. It would need some force to even damage it. A stone that hits the tank after an explosion would do some damage to the paint but not that much either.
Indeed Tanks painted over for use in the dessert would chip very easily same as tanks painted over with whitewash. Whitewash was a kind of soft paint and often a good shower or rain was enough to strip the tank from the whitewash. This was also easy to damage.
Around hatches, grabhandles, enginecovers, fuelcaps etc. you will find some wear and tear to the paintjob but that is because the Crew steps on it/walking over it, Jerrycans are put down I can go on for a while. It is more realistic to keep the Chipping to an Absolute minimum and put more work in getting some discoloration in the basecoat. Add dust where the rain washes down. Add dust in Screwholes and make small scratches that are done by firm branches the tank ran past. Now with those scratches I don`t mean bare metal but more the discoloration you get with a branch running along a vehicle. The paint gets often a bit darker or lighter there as it is a minor damage.

All these kind of things deliver you a more realistic look in the weathering of your AFV

Andrew has asked how to achieve an effect, not whether or not he should. All arguments aside about whether or not AFV's should have chipped paint, if YOU want chipped paint then do it! The best way I have found to do it is to first basecoat the vehicle in something like nato black. Allow this to dry for an hour and then using a small piece of scotchbrite, (the green pan scrubbing cloths) apply some art masking fluid in a random pattern over the area you want to appear chipped. Then paint the vehicle in the normal way. Then use a cotton bud that has been previously dipped in the masking fluid and allowed to dry, and use this to remove that on the vehicle, giving the appearance of chipped paint.
Vinnie

Amen and bravo to Faust and Tankmodeler! This is an effect that I, too, find way overdone. As in the use of mud, we have taken to using models as references. I recently made a point of going through a reference book and found virtually no photos of muddied up tanks.
If you MUST chip paint, think logically about the placement. What caused the chip, since paint doesn't just fall off (except on some GM cars). To get chipped, something has to hit it. A tank in file might get a few minor chipps on the glacis from stones thrown back by the tank in front if it was following closely, but these would be pretty small since the tank would not be that close, or going very fast and the stone would have little momentum. Look at the paint chips on a car...which is going a lot faster more often and has much softer metal. A large one would be a milimetre across.
Where the chipping would be most pronounced would be on the edges of the rear fenders which would take the brunt of this type of wear.
Also, exposed steel oxidizes overnight and unless it's being constantly rubbed, will not appear bright and shiny long. Again, use your car as a reference. Drive it for a couple days in the rain. Park it for a couple days. Now look at the disk brake rotors. Lots of rust. This is a far higher grade of steel that the sprokets on a drive wheel or teeth on a tread. The steel of the tank itself would be a dark metal leaning to a dark rust color like an old drum brake. Again, if you MUST chip paint, please don't use a bright steel, silver or aluminum color. MM burnt iron metalizer is about as bright as you should go.
About the only real chipping you'd see would be from small arms fire and much of that would be scratches unless the bullet hit square on a flat surface.

I wholeheartedly agree, with one exception-aluminum vehicles such as the M109A5. A lot of areas, particularly around the TC's hatch, are a bright aluminum. CARC paint is very resilient, but on aluminum, once it gains a foothold, it flakes off in fairly large chunks.

I also dislike people using bright silver for paintchips some people make their Tanks look like those shiny Discoballs.
I am not familiar with the MM colors but probably the cheapest way and one of the most realistic I have seen is just run along the edges of a vehicle with an ordinary pencil. This way you leave a payer of graphite which just as real steel is quite dark from itself and looks matt untill you hold it at an angle to the light or the light shines just good to give it a sheen to it. Easy to do.
Just pencil running along the edges of the glacis around handlebars, around parts were often people walkover.

MM=ModelMaster, in this case their metalizer series.

You are absolutely right, of course, and your method seems pretty good. It also is applicable to the subdued chipping or wear I am talking about. The previous suggestions for the salt method, while also producing the desired effect, do produce too much of the effect. And that was the source of my comments.

When asking how to produce an effect, I thought it appropriate to discuss how much of an effect to go for as that could well determine which method he used.

Good discussion points though.

Paul Roberts
President
Armor Modeling and Preservation Society

Faust is right, graphite (Pencil lead) is great to simulate worn, rubbed metal. The inside of this Tiger was done with Graphite



I prefer the liquid mask method for large flaked out paint, and salt for a more scratched effect.

This was done with Maskol



and off course vehicles got very 'mudded up', the winter of 1944 was the coldest and wettest in western Europe for a generation, and there are plenty of pic's ( for example just from the Ardennes) of very dirty vehicles. I agree with Faust that most of the scratches would be from branches rather than big, bare metal chips.

But hey, if it looks good and you enjoy doing it, go for it..

Cheers
Henk

Hey Vinnie,
Won't get involved the "pro vs. con " on the chipping issue, but I know what I like and that is one good looking jagdtiger. It's just a fantastic paint / weathering job.
Joe