Painting a Tiger One - Order: Paints, weathering etc.

[cathurga]

Hey All,

I recently acquired a Tamiya Tiger and am keen to try out some weathering techniques on it. I am going to do some testing on another model, but before going ahead, I thought I would check in with the pro's! I have done some searches, and viewed some videos but I am uncertain about how is beast to approach this, from a TYPE of paint, the order of painting and weathering, and then final washing/sealing.

So first, the paints I have are as follows:

Step - 1 - Priming
Primer will be a Krylon Plastics, Matt Grey, or possibly a Tamiya Grey Primer. I am looking to use the Krylon rather than the Tamiya as Tamiya is simply too difficult to get here.

Step 2 - Rust Undercoat
I will cover the primer with a 'Rust' colour from Montana Cans: See this link http://www.montana-cans.com/products/Ca ... K_400ml/20 I will also possibly attempt some pre-shading with the airbrush using a very dark grey

Step 3 - Salt rust/weathering
After that, I would like to try the SALT technique which I will do over the rust by wetting the rust paint and sprinkling salt in various grains, over the wet rust paint.

Step 4 - Final Colour
Final cover with the same manufacturers, Montana Black's 'Arabian' colour, its not accurate I know, but consider I live in Dubai, the Arabian theme is good enough for me When this is dry, I will rinse off the salt with the

After that, I will seal everything with a matt/satin clear and then start doing some light washes with browns of varying shades.

Is this something that will work out ok? As mentioned, I will try this on a smaller static model but before I do that, what are your opinions. I am pretty new to painting this way, and I also have limited access to paints.

Also, is it best to do this on a fully assembled model (without small accessories, tools etc) or is it easier to do this on the sprues?

Appreciate any help and advise you can offer. Some videos have suggested the hairspray technique after final cover but that would mean I would paint over all the nice, exposed rust I have done. I also thought of doing some mud/wet sand technique under the sponsons/wheel wells and I suppose that would cover up the rust underneath, but that would be as in real life, so not too concerned about that.

Thanks in advance.

[spongehoobtank82]

Alright dude that seems a pretty good plan it's more or less how I paint mine, are you going to be using an airbrush for shading? Also if your not planning on getting the tank wet then try using chalk pastels for abit of weathering there great for rust streaks etc ( just do it after the lacquer as it will ruin the effect) also paint it when mostly assembled but paint the wheels/hull/tracks/turret and tools etc separately is easiest, hope this helps

[jarndice]

I wonder if you have any metal on your Tank that will be exposed as you paint?
If so, I would suggest you brush a light covering of metal primer over it before spraying your regular acrylic primer,
A company called MR HOBBY sells small bottles which seem to last forever of metal primer, I get mine from E-BAY
Otherwise I think you have a good plan.shaun
MR Hobby/Mr Metal primer paint.

[cathurga]

Sponge,

ok thanks for the input, its reassuring to know that I have got some of the sequences right, and yes, I will use an airbrush for the shading. I only have a Tamiya Compressor/airbrush combo, but it seems to work quite well for simple stuff, I would never try to cover the whole tank with it, hence the rattle cans. Will look into the pastels, not intending on getting the tank wet, so could be nice to try.

Jarndice, there is a metal hull, but it sits inside a plastic hull so not really exposed at all. I may metal primer it anyway.

[billpe]

Personally I'd do it like this (and test it out on a 1:35 first!):

Primer - actual primer, not the final colour.
Primer - the red oxide primer facsimile
Chipping - fluid. The salt technique is really quite hard and very very inconsistent
Top coat final colour then do the chipping using the fluid layer underneath
satin varnish

Then do your weather:
filter
streaks/grime/rust/oils - use a brown/red oil combo to bring out the chipping and for rust streaks, not that tanks had much more than surface rust but it looks good.
flat varnish
pigments
possibly another filter and finally dusting.

That's the way I did my Tiger 1. Some pics here viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12616

FYI Tom put me onto a good primer called plastikote. Takes ages to dry but is fantastic on metal and plastic, way better than the Tamiya fine multipurpose primer and can be used as a red oxide.

[toshik]

Two questions if I may:
- do we need to degrease/clean plastic prior to priming?
- what compressor/airbrush is suggested?

[jarndice]

Toshik Hi, Using a lint free cloth GENTLY wipe over the whole Tank with Acrylic Thinners, and she's ready for paint ( If you don't have a proper paint booth Don't forget to go around the room with a Vacuum cleaner first) shaun

[toshik]

Thanks! And what about the compressor/airbrush?

[ALPHA]

Thanks! And what about the compressor/airbrush?

Have you used on before toshik? You don't really need a top line airbrush...they are usually made with better metals...but ...the inexpensive ones can be just as good if you have decent control
As far as the airbrush goes...I would recommend a "dual action" model...doesn't matter on the brand
Compressor depends on your living conditions lol... I have some powerful ones...but they are a tad on the loud side...because they are "piston"....diaphragm with or without tanks is a good way to go if you want peace and quiet...make sure you have a regulator/water trap...and an inline water trap as well

Good Luck

ALPHA

[billpe]

Lots of people use the AS196 or a derivative compressor. There is a two and one cylinder versions. Personally I use an Iwata HP-CS and Iwata Revolution CR. The former takes a bit of effort to get working with some paints as it's more of a high pressure brush. The Revolution CR is a perfect all rounder and is a low pressure brush and works really nicely with Tamiya paints, thinned or not. It's worth the investment as you'll use far less paint over time. To give an example my Leopard 2A6 used about 40ml of paint total, a Tamiya Tiger about 25ml. Other guys report using 2 or 3 times that amount on the same tank, same paints but different brush. If this is a long term thing it's worth looking into.