Leopard 2a6 weathering suggestions

[percy1510]

Hi all
I have a heng long leopard with the 3 colour nato green/brown/black cammo

I normally airbrush my tanks but the cammo on this model is pretty good so was thinking of just applying a bit of weathering. My question is can anybody suggest a good wash colour to add to this model to age it a bit

[Jay-Em]

Dark grey wash and after that dry brushing with revell Matt 89 ( desert sand). The dark grey ùnder the desert sand drybrushing preserves the details, and the desert sand dampens the -for my taste- far too distinct camo colours on the Leo.

They only looked like the straight-from-the-box Heng Long when freshly washed and still a bit wet.
( when in the service, visiting the cavalry at Amerfoort ( now defunct, sadly) was a weekly thing. Seen plenty of Leo’s in varying states of cleanliness or dirt)






^ That’s the look, even if I overdid the wash a bit...

[Marco Peter]

Nice female crew.

[Jay-Em]

Nice female crew.

Thnx

Op dit moment zijn er een paar vrouwlijke tank-crews op de van Duitsland geleasde Leo’s.

At the moment, the tanks The Netherlands leased from Germany dó have a few female crews. So, not too far-fetched as such.
Vèry expensive SOL-figures, though.

[Max-U52]

That looks just great, Jay, and the weathering is just right. She's been out long enough to get a bit dusty, but it's easy to see the girls take good care of her. What I really want to see is video of the girls washing it when they're done. Bwahahahaha

[percy1510]

Thanks for the tip Jay

Love the way your leopards cammo is mich more muted. Definately the look that I would like to achieve

Thanks
Glyn

[Jay-Em]

Thanks for the tip Jay

Love the way your leopards cammo is mich more muted. Definately the look that I would like to achieve

Thanks
Glyn

You’re welcome!

Extra tricks ( if You’re up to it) : first spray the tank in gloss varnish. Sounds weird, but here the trick comes : A wash flows far more freely in the panel lines and such, leading to nice, sharp details, when the base layer is glossy and slick. After that just cover it with a layer of alclad matt varnish, sprayed at about 1.5 bar with a 0.5 mm tip. And àfter that add the desert sand drybrushing.

On the other hand, if You want to have the wash behave more subtle and smooth, apply it on a matt base coat. The second picture, lower right of it, shows nicely what kind of blending can be reached when carefully tracing panels with a wash and then dry brush it. The more paint thinner You use in the wash, the better it will blend with the base layer.

Let dry thoroughly, otherwise You’ll rub the wash away too much during drybrushing.

I hope these tips are useful.

[jstevens]

I have experimented with several different methods with mine and I think it came out ok but are you ever completely happy at the final result!

[Jimster]

Looks good. I like the netting around the barrel.