Rusty exhaust effect

[Crispy]

Been detailing my new StuG and fancied having a go at using some chalk pastels to get a rusty effect on the exhaust. I was happy with how it looked so thought i'd show how I did it.

I started by removing the silencers, separating the shield and cleaned up any rough edges and mould lines on them. I then drilled out the exhaust pipe ends a little more and open them up to a better scale thickness. In doing this i went a little to far and put a small hole in one of them. At first i thought it'd be hard to correct but then realised it looked just like a hole that would appear in an exhaust pipe so i was happy to leave it. The silencers and pipe work then had modelling filler putty dabbed on in places to get an uneven texture and the whole thing was given a coat of Tamiya Red Brown which i stippled on with an old brush.

Once dry I washed it over with white spirit and then ran some thinned artist oil paint colours (black, burnt siena & burnt umber) into the nooks and crannies. Before this was dry i scraped the two chalk pastels (a dark red and quite strong orange colour) with a blade to get two piles of coloured dust and worked this into the exhaust system until it looked about right.

I fixed these with a quick coat of Humbrol Matt Varnish but as with any chalk pastles, this means you lose a lot of the colour and tone,  so while still tacky I reapplied some more of the pastel dust until i was happy with the look. I then added a little black dust to the end of the pipes. The part then just needed reassembling and I test fitted them back on the tank.

Its a very simple process and well worth the little time it takes to do. Its just a shame you have no real way of permanently fixing the colours in place. Fortunately on the StuG you're unlikely to ever touch the exhaust.

The pics show the exhaust after the Tamiya Red Brown was added, then the oil paint wash, adding the chalk dust with the two pastel colours I used, the finished parts fitted to the tank.

Nic

[Oddball]

Nice one looks really will defo give this ago
cheers
Andy

[tiger205]

hi nic
        thats a pretty good way off doing rust, a good alternative to the dear rust kits you can get these days, and a lot cheaper

                    Tony

[oz]

the best way to fix the pastels in place is to mix in a bit of Matt varnish into the pastel dust then stipple it on this works well.......