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AFV Desert Finishes and Weathering Techniques

by Ron Puttee

1. Preparation

Ensure the model is free from 'greasy' fingerprints. Any parts not needing painting at this time should be masked (eg open hatches/interiors should have cotton wool blanking inserted which if manipulated carefully will prevent damage to any internal detail).

If applicable, the turret should be separated from the hull to allow easy handling during painting. Also undersurfaces and those hidden nooks and crannies need a coat of paint too. Otherwise, ensure the model can be picked up for painting without affecting surfaces. A simple tissue can be used to handle the model without leaving grease marks or blemishing the already painted surface.

TIP - Care at every stage will provide you with a better result - short cuts only tempt disaster. Believe me experience tells!

Ensure any details that can't realistically be added afterwards are attached prior to painting (eg. rusting effects on exhausts obtained by using Liquid Poly and baking soda, or the wonderful world of damage, dents, nicks, surface texture, bullet and shell hits etc.). 

TIP - Remember LESS IS BETTER! Overdoing weathering damage is easily done and next to impossible to remove! 


2. Pre-Shading Primer Coat

The decision on what colour to use as a primer coat is essential to the final result, no matter how much covering up you might try to do later.

Have plenty of reference available. It is invaluable when attempting to get the final shading, colouring and weathering just right. If colour reference is available for the subject you are modelling, ensure you refer to several sources, as the variations in printing of photos can easily give an artificial look and feel to the vehicle. Obtain the best estimate of what the vehicle should look like and use your instinct and judgement on which shade to trust in implementing it onto the model. If no reliable reference is available regarding the colour of a vehicle or ID numbers, record your best estimate of how you think it should appear. 

If you are doing a vehicle with a lighter overall finish, your primer colour needs to be lighter than if you are doing a darker finish. However, in both cases the primer colour needs to be significantly darker than the primary colour, eg. when modelling an Allied Gulf War vehicle Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth can be used, whereas when doing a German WWII North African scheme XF-10 Flat Brown is more appropriate. 

TIP - I prefer not to use black as it produces contrasts that are too harsh as well as a somewhat stark and sterile overall look. 

Spray your choice of primer coat, though not too wet. Several light coats are better than one heavy wet one. A wet coat also increases the risk of glossing especially with acrylics, not to mention the chance of burying detail and unsightly paint runs. To reduce the risk of glossing another tip is to add a modicum of flattening agent to each colour, eg. Tamiya X-21 Flat Base for acrylics. The flatter the finish the better. It is easier to simulate a semi-matt finish if desired from a matt surface, than by using semi-gloss paints to begin with. No matter how well a vehicle is finished/weathered using a semi-gloss medium it will invariably look too glossy in miniature - so I try to avoid this. 

Aha! I hear you say - how are you going to prevent silvering of decals? Patience all will be revealed! 

OK, you have carefully achieved a nice even flat coat of your choice of primer colour but, unless you sit on the right hand of God, you will notice blemishes, a gap, fingerprints, glue marks, whatever - now is the time to rectify them. 

You'll be keen to keep going; but don't! Fix all of those annoying little blemishes now, give it to a friend to check out it if necessary - I have plenty who are more than obliging just for the chance to pull an impending 'masterpiece' to pieces! Don’t be afraid, its part of the healing process! 

TIP- By the way, ensure you include the interior surfaces of the open hatches with your primer coat as the dimensional effect of pre-shading applies equally to internal surfaces.


3. Base Colour

Study your references - very rarely is the primary colour of a vehicle ever 'authentic' straight from the tin or bottle. Mix and match is the key and don't forget to keep some of that carefully mixed base colour for later touching up if necessary.

 

TIP - Record the contents of the 'mix' once you have settled on the correct shade, as you may need to paint another or similar vehicle in the future. 

Technique: Apply progressively lighter coats working up to the corners and edges, gently applying slightly more intense colour to the centre sections while less at the edges. Allow more primer coat to show through in the areas that would not get full light in normal daylight, eg. undersides of mudguards and tracks which can be left as primer coat at this stage. The open flat surfaces of the vehicle that obtain the most light should be given a fair depth of this primary colour. 

TIP - I found that after some practice it was easier to paint up to a line, corner or edge than applying a thin fine line of darker colour later. 


4. Interiors

Carefully apply successively lighter coats to the exposed interior on hatches, etc. using the same principle. The newer generation of airbrushes such as the Aztec series make it far easier to airbrush areas which were once a paint brush only job.


5. Decals

Prior to applying decals I paint vertical surfaces with clear flat enamel usually Humbrol. However, acrylic can be used. If using enamel over acrylic ensure the acrylic finish underneath has cured for several days first.


You'll notice that as the clear flat dries it will darken slightly. This is OK as the natural fall of light generally causes vertical surfaces to be darker than the horizontal surfaces. 

TIP - Hedge your bets and always trim excess film from the decal right up to the coloured edge using a new sharp blade to ensure no film is visible. 

Decals can now be readily applied to the surface. I find 'Mr Mark Softener' from Gunze Sangyo to be an excellent product for settling decals down, even over the most undulating surface. Don't panic when applying it as your decal will wrinkle severely prior to it hugging down to a 'painted on' finish!

Additionally, 'Mr Mark Softener' hardens the decal to the point where once set, it will accept light sanding which can prove useful at times when the light overspray (described in Step 7) becomes a bit overdone!

TIP - I have also found that using this product seals the decal sufficiently - eliminating the need for a clear overcoat.


6. Detailing

This is the time to apply detail painting to tools, headlights, taillights, aerials, stowage, fittings etc. Then apply paint chipping to all susceptible areas, access hatches, and wear areas where the crew would walk on the vehicle and where external, as well as internal, loads are fitted and/or removed.

TIP - Use a darker colour to achieve chipping and wear in small amounts and apply with a fine pointed 00/01 brush. Remember to concentrate chipping and wear to edges and hatch surrounds, while lessening the chipping and wear away from such edges. However, the random spot can be added here and there. Start by applying a little at a time, as this effect can be very easily overdone.

I use a darker primer colour for these chips, as this is the general rule on most fighting vehicles, eg. Gulf War AFVs were mostly dark green underneath, while German WWII vehicles were oxide red. 

Applying the above technique to my Gulf War M1A1 mine-plow, allowed for these levels of wear - light tan topcoat, dark green base coat at the edge of chips, then a small amount of shiny natural metal. 

A small amount of natural metal can be sparingly applied to the most prominent areas of wear if desired, but it's almost always surrounded by small traces of primer chipping. 


7. Blending

Photo 6 Apply a very light 'dust coat' of a light tan or grey over all painted detail, including decals, this technique can also use the lighter of any camouflage colour used. This will reduce the amount of contrast between the various details; improving the realism and making the vehicle appear 'washed' with daylight as would be expected in the bright desert environment. 

NB - This blending is equally important with multi-colour camouflage schemes where dusting over the entire vehicle improves realism dramatically and ties in all the colours.


8. Finishing

Study the vehicle in reference photos - look for any colouring highlights on specific areas. Apply a small amount of drybrushing using a similar lighter colour. Generally, I use enamels for this step by picking up some of the thick pigment at the bottom of the tin with a flat brush, removing all but a trace by 'pre-brushing' onto a rag or paper, then applying very gently to catch highlights and raised areas. 

TIP - This process is generally most effective around the wheel rims where the wheel nuts and higher surfaces protrude above the desert groundwork accumulated on the wheel hubs, and on any additional surfaces that might reflect natural light, eg. top surface of gun barrels, etc. 


9. Pastels

These are one of the most important tools for achieving a realistic, weathered and dusty desert campaign vehicle finish. 

Good quality artist's dry pastel chalks are powdered by rubbing them on wet and dry sandpaper before being applied to the kit with a wide flat brush to all surfaces. Use the edge of the brush and apply to corners, edges or concentrations of dust as it falls down the vertical hull sides or glacis plates. 

Concentrate dust on hull sides, tracks, horizontal fenders, and especially around the mudguards and rear of AFVs. 

TIP - Use lighter coloured pastels for dust and surface fading and darker tones for accentuating crevices, joints and perforations. Be sure to apply dusting in natural patterns where dust would logically accumulate or fall due to weather and movement.

Pastels can be applied with equal effectiveness to figures too, by matting down any shiny clothing! 


10. Final Touches

It is the finer details that I find completes a model and gives that extra level of realism - some examples are listed here:

Applying the 'Rustall' process to exhaust pipes and mufflers. Don't apply copious amounts of rust to desert vehicles as moisture there is usually at a minimum. 

Add black pastel to gun muzzles and exhausts. If the exhaust lies over the hull as it does on some modern AFVs, apply a light touch of matt black with the airbrush. Don't forget APU and NBCD pack exhausts also on modern AFVs. 

Use lead pencil to highlight vision block glass; exposed metal on high wear areas, and metal tread bars and grousers on tracks. Sand really polishes high wear areas on drive sprockets and track links to a mirror finish. 

Apply pastel dusting equally to exposed stowage.

Add very minor surface rust to spare tracklinks stowed on the vehicle. 

Apply light drybrushing to the rubber track pads (if any), on modern AFV's to simulate wear. Most have internal pads that the road wheel tyres run on, which will need painting and fading. 

For desert softskins add mud/dust in a rotating spray pattern to duplicate the application of it on the real vehicle. 

Apply black/brown washes to the fuel filler caps and for residual spills down the sides of vehicles, which can look very authentic if applied sparingly, especially when it washes away the pastel dust in the appropriate areas as per the real thing. 

Try a mix of burnt umber oil paint with a dash of silver enamel for machine gun barrels. 

A good way to accumulate built up dirt and dust in wheel arches and mudguards, etc. is by using dabs of clear matt and applying suitably coloured railroad groundwork material to it. 


Conclusion

So there you have it - painting and weathering desert theatre AFVs in 10 easy steps.  Happy modelling.