For weathering a "desert" vehicle I would go for a brown wash and a drybrush with a rather light color. Light pastels to finish. As you mentioned vehicles which operates in the desert areas looks rather clean. However, you got dust coming in everywhere, and up close they are everything but clean.

Cheers
Erik

Edit: There are several different ways to weather desert vehicles and hopefully some of the US armour experts will post here. I'm also interested in learning some new techniques.

I am building Tamiya's M1A2 OIF and am almost to the weathering stage. I'm looking for some advice on how to do this part. The tank is painted a sand color ( Tamiya TS-46). I think I have a pretty good handle on how to do the tracks, but the tank itself is another story. From the pics I've seen of tanks in country, they all look pretty clean which I guess is to be expected with a sand colored vehicle operating in a sandy environment.

Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Erik. And you might want to check your computer's clock. Check the date that your reply registered.

Gunnie's M1A2 SEP Abrams

Cary - if it's any help to your weathering efforts, I recently posted my M1A2 SEP Abrams on site. The link is above.

Gunnie

Jim, that looks great. It really has that 'lived in' look without being overdone. Excellent!

Were the duffle bags scratch and if so, what did you make them from? And can you tell me what color you used for your wash?

Thanks!

The Duffle Bags were my own knock-offs of Tamiya's gear. I filled the backs with Apoxie Scuplt and went on the shave off and change a couple of minor details for eventually casting in Alumilite. I hate the wash technique, most of the effects are done with the airbrush. What I did to was to suspend varying amounts raw umber and black pastels in water to apply on the surfaces of the model. The Italeri kit's Anti-Slip looks like spaghetti - but accepts the pastels pretty nicely. The splotchiness of the way they go down with water breaks up the monotone colored finish without being garish and over-the-top like when using oils.

The ratio of pastel to water is best varied - like dip the point of a brush into your pastels, and then into the water. You can change the tint ot the water to match what you envision your effect to look like by either adding more pastels or more water. It is also best applied to a flat finish - as this aids the collection of the pastel in both nooks, crannies and uneven areas on flat surfaces. They technique is best left to sit for a day and can be protected by overcoating with Polly Scale acrylic Flat - as this will not darken your base finish nor "blow" all of your pastel work away...

Gunnie