Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on Flickr
Untitled by jon newsom, on FlickrI have not done one of these IR Panthers in several years. Now that I’m in the middle of it I remember how much work it takes. The first photo is of all the additional armor that I have handmade. It was then texturized and painted a base gray. Next I put a whole pallet of different rust pigments on them and it is held all together by AK rust enamel paint. Then it was hair-sprayed and a light coat of light gray was sprayed over the top in a splotchy pattern that is not uniform. It is then rubbed off with a wet brush and a toothbrush and toothpicks creating scratches and wear. Notice in several pictures I put the new armor parts next to the previous raw steel on the tank to show the contrast. It is important that this contrast exists as this metal was much cheaper and thinner and so would not have the same quality as the steel for the tank itself. I left off the bluing effect which is what gives the tank its cold blue steel it’s color and the additional armor is a lighter shade without the blue.
In the final slides you will see that I have mixed gunmetal with light gray and carefully airbrushed the outer edge of the armor to show the burn from welding. I will finish the pieces tomorrow with some graphite color around the edges and on the weld lines themselves. Then I will paint the scopes, paint the wheels and start weathering the entire tank with chipping and washers. We are getting close to the final assembly!
Love the enviable workspace, with its impressive complement of paints, and other decorative enhancement tools 
