My first tiger tank -- build thread. :)

[Von kraftwerk]

yes I will give you some food for thought tomo,getting late the mind is on the blink Wayne

[Von kraftwerk]

ideas ok I go with what you do,dark coat preshade/primer,base colour,then whitewash,all airbrushed,great slightly uneven mottle you got there looks like rain or snow has washed a little off ,water based whitewash was mostly applied with brushes or rags even brooms,so could be scruffy random scheme,or solid coat or uneven mottle,the paint would wash and wear off very easily leaving random patches hanging on well into spring,crews would paint on a soup of wet mud to cover the white when sudden thaw happened,next post I give you a few ideas on how to achieve these differing effects

[Von kraftwerk]

ok light wear dry brush some pz grau on upper edges and add some random paint chips with small brush to simulate wear and tear of crew movement around hatches tools upper deck and engine deck,tools and cables would have been over painted but original colour would come thru with use,balkenkreuz (cross) on front rare or never,hull sides mostly,all markings were often covered also,sometimes painted round leaving areas of base colour,the following units had pz grau/white winter 42-43, abt 502 Leningrad front,503 Rostov area,Grossdeutschland,Leibstandarte,Das Reich,Totenkopf, Kharkov area,if you would like a specific unit or front,a little research will go a long way,more later

[Von kraftwerk]

for really used look,by the way your wheels look great,like the paint has been put on with a coarse brush,a newly whited tank will sometimes look like this overall,try making heavy wear by masking off random chips or uneven patches of pz grau,and then spray white when masking (maskol,bits of tape or even wet salt)is removed you get nice areas of clean pz grau showing thru,as much or little as u like,also a light overspray of dirt colour esp on lower hull and wheels will tone it down,and give realism for early spring thaw look,study photo's and you will get there,your airbrush skills are up to it,also where the white has'nt covered on your tank ie the lower gun barrel maybe use a ooo brush and do a few paint runs,and disrupt the soft edge of the airbrush white with some brush strokes,I swear by airbrushing winter white and either masking to show bits of base coat showing thru the wear,and or use a little brush work here and there to remind the beholder that its field applied and hasty,depends if you want 'designer' finish or realism or a balance of the two,its about pleasing yourself in the end and making a replica that has meaning to oneself:)

[dsvirus]

Hey thanks for all the advice. I haven't got any heavywear or dirt colours? What would you recommend?
I normally use vallejo colours.

I am definately trying for a field look tank, I dont want a factory finish.

Have you got any pics that illustrate your attempts?

Thanks for all your help by the way!

Mark

[Von kraftwerk]

yes dirt is eye of the beholder as I said before a light overspray to reproduce the film of dirt that gets flung up in dry dust conditions can be any brown shades you like from light tan to darker greyish browns,in winter you get less dust and a spray of dark dirty slush esp on running gear and lower hull,take note of cars on slushy roads,mix prefered shades yourself you only need a little,so dont waste dosh, on a bottle of dirt colour,maybe use a few shades from light on uppers(dryed on)and darker(still wet)on lower the wet areas can be given a touch of gloss varnish on top,with a gentle touch with a brush on decking to make some fresh and dryed on marks left by muddy boots,I will attempt to get some pics posted,this is an area I need advice,so maybe we can all help each other :)ps I dont know if I explained very well but by heavy wear,I mean Panzer grey showing thru whitewash,that wears off easily because its water based,and heavy weather and scuffing will knock it off,you can mask off little random areas of grey and spray on white,or you can add little bits of grey with a brush on top of the white,thin it down a tad so it looks like its showing thru and not blobbed on top,hope this helps

[dsvirus]

Thanks mate, some good ideas there. I like the boot idea. I wonder how big a 1/16 german boot is! Lol. Will have a look into the heavy weathering etc. Although I have varnished the tank now so it may be too late!

[Von kraftwerk]

no problem,in fact varnish is good to weather on top of,esp gloss as it protects your basic finish should you overdo the weathering and want to wipe it off,and start again you can then seal and finish with matt,also a little rust in recesses and grooves where rain collects,deep rust ie scratches is dark brown,also exhaust go rusty,also light surface rust almost orange will stain and streak vertical surfaces here and there on top of the paint(look at well used plant machines for ideas) and orange rust will collect around bolts and things

[Von kraftwerk]

oh yes and don't forget to show some bare shiny metal showing thru on areas of constant wear ie sprocket teeth on a metal one like you've got,the paint will wear off but to make them gleam polish with a fine wet and dry,also maybe dry brush the treads of your black tracks with gunmetal and silver,I think your idea of doing tracks black is a good one because dirt from use will leave them a nice used affect after a while,I dont think its worth modeller effect mud on RC tanks,because you get plenty of real dirt build up,a nice way to get metal effects but only on areas of constant wear and use ie hatches handles tools cables is graphite dust from pencil,just scribble on wet and dry and apply with finger tips or cotton bud slightly damp, or draw on with pencil.and burnish with bud or whatever,

[dsvirus]

Thanks for all the ideas. I used Casey black to stain all the aluminion a dark black colour, so I am not sure if any metal with come through in that regard but the tracks seem to be weathering a nice shade of black; especially when the tank is run outside.

Currently, I am working on the internals of the tank. It runs fine indoors but I have a gravel covered garden and the tracks come off frequently when running outside. That is quite annoying. I am currently researching the different ways to address this, including a new asiatam hull, mato hull or modifying my own hull with some tensioners etc. It seems that the idlers are not strong enough or move about too much, so that the teeth on the track get past them and then the track comes off.

The tip with the pencil sounds great and I will definately try that. Im off for the next few days so I will try and few orange/rust coloured ideas and see what happens.