I was wondering if somebody could help me with weathering a tank. I decided I would try to make it look like it had gone through combat instead of just off the factory. Thanks!!!!!

First off Hi and welcome to the site ...I think your question is a little vague ..Weathering is when I say my model is half done ..So there is a lot that goes into the category of weathering ...I guess the first thing to get your weathering off to a good start is some pre-shading of the paint...I'll use an Olive drab vehicle as an example ...You start off by painting your whole kit black...I use Tamiya or Gunze acrylics for all my base painting..I then take Tamiya's OD and spray most of the tank with this color leaving the black just show through a bit on corners and in shadows... I then add either XF-60 or other sand color to the OD and respray in a very patchy cloud effect trying to stay inside panel lines ..I then add some tamiya buff to the paint and redo the whole process ...I can do this maybe three to four times before I get the effect I'm after... So right from here you have a worn paint effect... Now there are a whole lot of different routes you can take... I will usually blend in the effects of the preshading with a couple of filters... Filters are 95% thinner with 5% paint ...I will use either model master ,humbrol or tube oil paint for these effects... The color doesn't really matter ...I usually use a light sand color for one and maybe a chocolate brown color ... I might also add a blue tint if I'm trying to show a winter scene or a red if doing a desert scene.. These should hardly be noticable when applied to your kit just like washing it with tinted thinner. Next comes a black wash ...Now there are different effects that can be done here ...either a complete wash all over which will darken your paint or you can just add the wash to the crevises and over details to help them stand out ..It's up to you ....after this I add spots of different colored oil paints on the vertical sides of my vehicle ..These colors can be anywhere from black to burnt umber ,raw sienna ..yellow ochre..to white ... I add the spots with a small pointed brush and then take a flat brush that I dip in lighter fluid I then wipe most of it off and then drag the brush downward removing most of the paint but it will leave the effect of rain streaks on the side of the vehicle... After all this then you can mist the lower surfaces of the tank with colors like tamiya buff to get that dusty look don't forget to bring thios effect up and lightly all over the tank ..There is also effect that can be acheived with pastel chalks and paint pigments but I'm sure there are some good articles on the web that people will point you to... You can add scratchs and worn paint effects at different stages to show more wear and tear ..just remember less is better than too much..
Well that is my lesson 101 on weathering my way ..try some of these techniques out and I'm others will give more tips ..you'll be amazed at how some of these effects work ..If you look at my gallery you can make out some of the effects on the pictures of my finished kits ..

Have fun
Rick

Hi Recce,

I agree with theBear, weathering is such a broad topic. Each modeller has his/her own style. Just to give you an idea...I always research about the subject I'm building, I get lots of pictures as reference. The info I get from my research gives me an idea on how I want the finishe product to look like (this includes camo, paint color and weathering). IMHO, weathering actually starts from the time you assemble the kit...you should already identify the battle damages you want to replicate while in the process of building....





The battle damage example above is what I'm talking about. Before I completely painted the kit, I already similated the battle damage.

BTW, in addition to pre-shading, I also use pastel chalks to simulate dust effect, rain/water marks, metal wear and tear. I use oil for rust, scruff marks, etc. You can also use pencil for those edges in order to simulate areas that have metal already showing.

Again, there are different ways and means of weathering...

Hope this helps

Cheers

I found this article on weathering on Missing Links. Was useful to me.
http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/other/awpaint/awpaint.htm

Wow, thanks a lot guys.

That is a great article and thanks; I like to get more than one view before I do something. So I can take bitts and peices that I think work for my style I am looking for.

Also to see what things keep comeing up as the same in different versions or styles of weathering.


Happy Modeling
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