Here is my first attempt at building armor. It still needs weathering and some details (mgs, inside of mudflaps, touch up on the road wheels, etc) before I am done, but I would like your comments so I can make it a great build.









Cheers

Branden

Looks like you off to a good start,i like it.
nice touch on the damage to the right hand skirt.
you must of had you airbrush on the wrong setting as the camo looks a bit splattery,so i would try a few fillters and a couple of heavy washes to hide the splatted paint that should do the trick.

well done,more pics when finished.

cheers

You have made a good start Branden, and Karl has already pointed out the airbrush 'splatters'. I would also change the runs of rust on the skirts, as they are to pronounced.
Your damage does indeed look very nice, how did you achieve that?

Cheers
Henk

Nice build Branden,

Your on your way to some great modelling. As far as the "splatters", you can take advantage of some chipping going over the splatters with a 3/0 brush and some acrylic colors. I prefer Vallejo for this. Try using a Desert yellow first, then you can go over the first color with some primer red and then some black/brown for the really deep scratches. Just keep in mind to thin the paint down so as to not have any surface retention. You want the paint to flow like water from your brush, but at the same time not to thin where it doesn't leave any color on the model. You will want to adjust your compressor, if you are using one, to around 5psi constant pressure for over all spraying. this will keep the splatters down. You also want to make sure that whatever medium you are using for paint, that you thin it to atleast 70/30. Thats 70%thinner to 30% paint . This will give you more control with whatever airbrush you use. You will have to make several build-up coats this way to get the look you want, but you should get more satisfactory results. You can tone the base color down using the formentioned settings with some dust color over the entire scheme. Do this lightly. When you think you don't have enough dusting, STOP! and let the paint dry before moving on. Dont try to overdue your "weathering". Take small steps, step back awhile and see what you like. I also encourage you to try other peoples ideas. Eventually you will find a system that works for you. Hope this isn't over-kill!

Keep us posted, Steve

nice touch on the rust in the side skirts and the traks.........but i think that the camouflage needs a little more attention, filters and washes, as Karl says, and you´re ready. ¿Sure it´s your first armor? god, i wish to have had that skill when i started :-)
best regards and keep it up

Thanks a lot. This is exactly what I was looking for. Yeah, the airbrush spattered like crazy. I thought I was just going to have to live with it, but I will try your suggestions and hopefully be able to recover it.

As for the damage, I cut the fenders off, used some heat and prayed. Luckily, they turned out okay.

I have a question about the spare tracks. Are they painted or are they bare steel? I need to figure out how much they should be weathered.

Also, I want to stow damaged road wheels on the hull to go along with the damage on the right side. Any suggestions on how to portray mine damage on road wheels?

I will keep you posted.

Cheers

Branden

There are two holes on the damaged fender that could with have a little filler put in, i think, as they are only the locating holes for the starter unit.

What airbrush are you using and are you using a compressor?

Looking good.

All i can say is you got off to a better start than i ever did. Based on your skill level, you must have modelled other scale models before?

Jazza: I have built models off and on since I was a kid. But it was always cars. I wanted to make something dinged up and dirty so armor was the logical choice.

Sim: It is and aztek airbrush and a badger compressor that I borrowed from a friend. I am not a fan of the airbrush so i am thinking of buying a simple badger for my next build. Any suggestions?

Oh and thanks for pointing out the holes. I meant to fill them before painting and somehow forgot.

Cheers

Branden

Hi Blouie,

Like others have said, I wish my first tank looked this good

Let's see, if I was building it from as shown, I would de-shine the tools. One doesn't want anything shiny on one's war machine. Shiny can draw attention, attention can draw fire. When I look at heavily used tools, I see metal that is a dull color from stuff embedded and corrosion. I mix browns and grays into my steel colors for painting tools. Same for tracks.

Before commencing weathering, decide where your vehicle has been. Has it just come off the freight car transport and seen no action, or just off-load and been in an artillery/bombing attack that chips and holes it, but otherwise not messed it up much? Has it been in a battle or two, or has it been through weeks of fighting? Something I've read on-site is that rust streaks take weeks and months to reach the lengths you show. The vehicles at Aberdeen Proving Ground last year--few had streaks as prominent as what you show, and most haven't been painted in years. So go easy on the rust streaks.

When I am curious about weathering I take a look at the bulldozers at a construction site.

The spare track links? They could be fresh from the supply depot (nice-N-neat), they could be salvaged (rusty), they could have been on when the AFV was painted and thus the same color as the vehicle.

OK, enough of my blather. IMHO, one of the best articles on site is Weathering Heresies

Here are some I find useful:
"Over-Weathered" Tanks

Color Interpreting On M-3 Stuart

Color Perception, Color Guessing, Scale Effect

German Primer Red and Boxcar Red

I've tried a few airbrushes! I've tried all the cheap Badgers (250 and 360) and I nearly gave up air brushing for life

I bought a Revell Flexible and I’ve never looked back. The biggest thing out of all the different options and makes available is that you get and external mix. This makes such a difference as does dual action (which allows you to control the paint flow – if you add this to the air flow of a good compressor then things suddenly become so much easier). Gravity fed allows you to use smaller amounts of paint but the under bottle type allow you to spry large areas (my Flexible allows for both). If I were to buy a new airbrush right now I would look for and external mix with a large gravity well. OK, it won’t be cheap, but a good airbrush is worth so much

Here's the latest pics. Please keep the comments coming they have been very helpful.







Thanks

Branden

Here's a few more pics. I am almost ready for the frightening part; the washes. I am going to add some more spare tracks and some scratches on the side skirts.









I am worried about he washes because I have never done any serious wash work. I want to use oils but I am not sure about colors.
Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Branden