RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

I've finaly found time to get back into the man cave and crack on with some toys. More of a painting excercise than a big rivet counting build with this one though. I've found a supplier who sells pretty much any standard Henglong Model for £35 ( faulty returns ), which is good for stripping parts or using as base projects. This one was a standard version, non smoke and sound. Sold as not working , but worked perfectly when I finally got it on the bench Externaly the head lamps have been changed and upgraded electrics added from the spares box.
Before painting, the model was split into 3, and the outer surfaces cleand and rinsed with sopy water to remove Oil and greasy marks etc.
Then a base of Oxide and rust colours were air brushed on using Tamiya acrillics thinned 50/50 with Normal Propynol acetate, followed by pre shading of dark red and black.

Then two thin layers of the missus hair spray. Its important to let the base colour dry for a couple of days before adding hair spray. Other wise the carrier in the lacquer bonds with the base paint and subsequently makes the top coat removal process more difficult

After the two layers of hair spray had dried, I misted Dark yellow over the model allowing the pre shade to show through. I thinned the paint with tap water for this, as It allows the top coat to lift off with the hair spray much easier. The surface was then wetted and sections of paint were 'Chipped' with various brushes.

After the initial chipping , rendering/streaking and rain marks were added with light colour oils, followed by some burnt umber rust.

It all looks a bit stark at the moment , but it should all blend together somewhat after a few filters and washes are applied.
I've managed to get the turret,engine deck and a bit of the transmission cover done for now, but as the oils take a day or two to dry I will start on the tracks.

Blimey that is a beautiful piece of work, absolutely fantastic keep it coming.

Gary

i'm liking that a lot, top job
i'll drop mine round for you to do tomorrow, ok?
btw, did you use Tamiya acrylics for the base coat? and was it airbrushed?
cheers
lister

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hairspray.... corrodes paint and plastic like that???????

Well if i was into the weathering.. I'd buy a lot of it

GREAT JOB

PS. If you want to reverse the process ...send it my way... I'll have it looking brand spankin New ..Kidding

ALPHA

Do you know there are times when I wonder why I bother putting in the effort, you think you are doing a pretty good job then this work of art comes along, it's no good where's my jacket I'm going up the pub. BRILLIANT, if I did'nt know better I would have thought it was a real Panzer 4. shaun

I can only repeat what others have said. Brilliant weathering.

I'm With jarndice. It's best just to pack away the stuff. You take chipping to another Level.

I keep comming back to the jagd and KT. Man I'm drooling

Good Morning,
I am amazed. Period. This method (and your skill with a brush) gives the plastic the semblance of rusty steel. If I ever do a weathered tank, these will be the instructions I use.
regards,
Painless Wolf

Excellent job Hetzer, very authentic. Well done, going to try that process on another project...

Derek

Cheers for the kind words guys. I will try and get some more of the chipping done on the rest of the hull this week. I very rarely use the hairspray method for chipping and much prefer the rubber masking fluid process or painting in each chip individually. It is how every superior for achieving authentic looking faded whitewash. With using the hairspray method, the key is to just work on very small areas at a time. Some times the water will not penetrate the top paint layer and you need to nick or scrap it with a sharp tool to get it to start dissolving the hairspray. Also the method works best ( I find ) with acrylics and I prefer Tamiya for all my models. The pigments are nice and fine for Airbrushing.
On another note, for removing accessories for painting off the model that are glued on, I find that if you soak the area around the fixings , especially underneath ( inside the hull/turret ) with Liquid Poly, wait 5 mins and then carefully manipulate the part to be removed, it usually comes out nice and clean.