Sherman M4A3E8 (I Love Kit, integral RC conversion)

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Monsieur Tox: at the recent International Plastic Modelers' Society convention here in my home state, I had a brief discussion of weathering. There was some consensus that modelers had for a while been overdoing the weathering on aircraft and even a bit on AFVs, as many of the photos we have of WWII AFVs show them after their having been damaged and likely abandoned, perhaps for some time. I find the weathering on your son's Easy 8 to be sufficient. Of course, that's just one opinion and many others will reasonably disagree. Above all, the photos show your usual excellent work.

[MonsieurTox]

Monsieur Tox: at the recent International Plastic Modelers' Society convention here in my home state, I had a brief discussion of weathering. There was some consensus that modelers had for a while been overdoing the weathering on aircraft and even a bit on AFVs, as many of the photos we have of WWII AFVs show them after their having been damaged and likely abandoned, perhaps for some time. I find the weathering on your son's Easy 8 to be sufficient. Of course, that's just one opinion and many others will reasonably disagree. Above all, the photos show your usual excellent work.

Herr Dr. Professor, I think you're right. Nightshift admits it, what he does is not accurate, he's aware of it, but he like to overdo things, add more chipping etc just because it makes the model more interesting to see. And another point is that we see a lot of AFV models that are 1/35 a'd you don't paint/weather the same way a small scale and a larger scale scale model. I think 1/16 scale doesn't need all the artifacts you tend to do at smaller scale to get the details pop out.
That being said, I like the over aged and weathered models, I'm just not good enough to make it realistic enough to my eye.
And sometimes I'm happy but when I get back to the tank after a while, I think I've over done it.
Just happened with my Stug III.
I ended up sanding with low grit to remove most of the chipping. It looked cool but not realistic at all...
I think I will just weather the tracks and wheels on the East 8 (did nothing on them yet), but I found a Facebook page of a guy who's doing awesome weathering on 1/16 stuff (and guess what, he has done an easy 8 and he's doing a M10!).
He has a lot of step by step pictures with explanations, that's very informative. I ultimately would like to do something like that on one of my tank.

Here's the link :

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088351680522

Scroll down, there's a lot of pictures to enjoy!

[Herr Dr. Professor]

MonsieurTox, you may have already tried JNewboy's "Magic Grime." He has sometimes been on RCTW, sells through eBay via (or as?) Alpine Models: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153876128261?var=454609625134. There are also some "how to" videos linked through that URL. I have used his goop and found it to be quite satisfying to my somewhat uncritical eye.

[MonsieurTox]

MonsieurTox, you may have already tried JNewboy's "Magic Grime." He has sometimes been on RCTW, sells through eBay via (or as?) Alpine Models: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153876128261?var=454609625134. There are also some "how to" videos linked through that URL. I have used his goop and found it to be quite satisfying to my somewhat uncritical eye.

Thank you! It looks pretty good but I'm not sure if it's easier to apply and wipe it off when you have fragile details/photoetched parts?

I have bought a lot of stuff I haven't tried yet! I'm still in vacations and I found some new products to make mud gonna try that when I'm back home!

[HERMAN BIX]

You are correct assuming it’s not easy to wipe off around or over very detailed PE or suchlike, a Panther being the worst for that in my use of it.
It dies work well thought.

[MonsieurTox]

You are correct assuming it’s not easy to wipe off around or over very detailed PE or suchlike, a Panther being the worst for that in my use of it.
It dies work well thought.

Yes the result looks pretty good, maybe I'll try it on something with not a lot of details like the DUKW!

[Herr Dr. Professor]

MonsieurTox, you are correct that it is not always easy to apply and wipe off JNewboy's Magic Grime, especially around delicate printed parts or even the details that come with RTR RC Tanks. Just today I spend four hours doing exactly so with my Coolbank M5A1 Stuart. I apply the Magic Grime with cheap, metal-handled soldering flux brushes, which are not as rough on small parts as a toothbrush (see for example: https://www.amazon.com/flux-brush/s?k=flux+brush). To spread and rub it off, I use "baby wipes" for open surfaces and cotton swabs

[MonsieurTox]

MonsieurTox, you are correct that it is not always easy to apply and wipe off JNewboy's Magic Grime, especially around delicate printed parts or even the details that come with RTR RC Tanks. Just today I spend four hours doing exactly so with my Coolbank M5A1 Stuart. I apply the Magic Grime with cheap, metal-handled soldering flux brushes, which are not as rough on small parts as a toothbrush (see for example: https://www.amazon.com/flux-brush/s?k=flux+brush). To spread and rub it off, I use "baby wipes" for open surfaces and cotton swabs

Thanks for the tip!
I don't see me using a toothbrush
And I could use them to apply... soldering flux