Author Topic: COMPLETED - Mark IV Male Heavy Tank Beute-Panzer (Read 22392 times)

Trackpad · « **Reply #60 on:** July 06, 2019, 10:39:44 AM »

Looking very good, Peter. Well done so far, and much good luck with the stains, mud, smoke, water and other assorted "weathering-up" applications to come!

petero · « **Reply #61 on:** July 12, 2019, 04:06:21 AM »

The weathering has begun! The first step was a wash of acrylic Burnt Umber and Raw Umber.

The acrylics were thinned with tap water and just a drop of Windex to break the surface tension. It was slopped on with a small brush - skill and precision not required! The markings were also brushed over to start cutting their brightness. I had planned to touch up the markings first, but if I'm going to get it all worn and crummy, I might as well leave the spots where the rivets have broken through.

Now, I have a question for those of you who regularly build tanks. Should I attach the tracks at this point, and add the dirt and mud to everything, or weather the tracks separately? I'm thinking the moving tracks would have different amounts of mud and crud (as well as bare metal areas) than the tank's surfaces.

Thanks for looking!

Peter

Alexis · « **Reply #62 on:** July 13, 2019, 10:13:12 PM »

She is looking might dirty so far .

Terri

RAGIII · « **Reply #63 on:** July 13, 2019, 11:41:21 PM »

The washes have certainly worked well! As for the track question I would go ahead and mount them...but I am not a real Armor builder so hopefully someone More Knowledgeable will chime in $:-\$
RAGIII

Trackpad · « **Reply #64 on:** July 14, 2019, 01:47:06 AM »

Hi, Petero,

When I build a tank, nine times out of ten I fit the tracks onto the model before applying heavy weathering such as dirt accumulation, mud and so forth. The reason for this is that hull and suspension design plus vehicle speed are factors regarding how much weathering accumulates, and where on the vehicle. A fast tank can throw mud and grime in almost any direction, while a slow vehicle (and the Mark IV certainly was slow) would tend to accumulate the clag mainly around the track areas. From there, weather such as rain liquefies the mud, causing vertical streaks on the hull and anywhere else the muddy water can run.

The type of dirt also is a factor. In warm, dry terrain, you would see dust more than mud, and dust can settle over almost all of the vehicle. Winter months pose other challenges as well. All to say that I think it best to apply your heavy weathering with the tracks fitted, taking care to appreciate how the clag would get to where it ends up, and what happens to it thereafter: carried up by the tracks, clods drop off onto the sponson (or roof) due to the vibration of an unsprung hull, and muddy rain streaks then resulting from...rain! Here is a Sherman III in the summer of 1944, Normandy. Some dust and dirt streaking, a bit of heavier dirt here and there, some wearing on the tracks and some accumulation on the road wheels.

I hope that this might help a bit. Good luck as you progress with your build. Very nice so far!

lone modeller · « **Reply #65 on:** July 14, 2019, 02:13:17 AM »

That is looking very impressive. In my opinion and from what I have seen in photos I would add the tracks and then add the mud and grime - those tanks certainly got very dirty indeed.

Stephen.

petero · « **Reply #66 on:** July 14, 2019, 04:32:30 AM »

Thanks everyone for your kind words and suggestions! Gary, that's a fine looking Sherman you've got there. (And that's the first time I've heard "clag" since NBC stopped broadcasting Formula 1

) One thing I don't have a good feel for is how large a Mk.IV was compared to WWII armor, so I'm looking forward to getting the Beute-Panzer on the shelf next to the few other tanks I've built. Back around 2009 I went on a tank-building spree, completing a Jagdpanther, Sturmtiger and Sherman within a few months... and I haven't built a tank since

I've gone ahead and added the tracks, as well as the muffler and exhaust on the roof. The tracks are Tamiya Red Brown, drybrushed with Tamiya Metallic Gray. The muffler and exhaust were sprayed with various dark Alclad metallics, then chipped with colors from Vallejo's Rust, Stain & Streaking set. The machine gun barrels are a roughly 25%/75% mix of Metallic Gray and Flat Black.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Peter

RAGIII · « **Reply #67 on:** July 14, 2019, 07:52:16 AM »

The tracks look excellent in place. You are making great progress. A while back I built a Tadpole version and it Dwarfs My Sherman on the shelf

RAGIII

Alexis · « **Reply #68 on:** July 14, 2019, 10:16:01 AM »

Those tracks do look excellent , sure looks the part and gives the build a nice blend .

Terri

petero · « **Reply #69 on:** July 17, 2019, 04:14:14 AM »

Thanks, Rich and Terri!

It's starting to get dirty here. I've used AMMO By Mig Europe Earth Pigment to streak the tank overall. The pigment was mixed with tap water to a slightly thick wash, then applied with a flat brush. This left much too much pigment, so a clean, damp brush was used to spread the pigment and remove the excess. The great thing about the pigment is that it can be totally removed with water, so there's no worry about botching it

I'd planned to use the pigment for mud also, but to my eye it's much too light to be earth tone. It's almost the same color as the beige camouflage. I've ordered Vallejo thick and thin mud pigments for the next step in dirtying. Vallejo has excellent YouTube videos demonstrating their use, so I won't have to figure out how to do it on my own.

Thanks for watching!

Peter

kensar · « **Reply #70 on:** July 17, 2019, 04:18:34 AM »

It's starting to come alive now, Peter.

RAGIII · « **Reply #71 on:** July 17, 2019, 04:36:12 AM »

I really like where you are going with this. The pigment is working great!
RAGIII

petero · « **Reply #72 on:** July 19, 2019, 06:09:12 AM »

I've had a bit of a detour in the weathering. My plan had been to complete the weathering, then spray a final matte coat over everything, to kill the previous gloss coat and seal the weathering. My friend Eric recommended I test that plan first, since the flat coat would affect how the weathering looks. I realized that too, but didn't think it would make a big difference. Boy, was I wrong

. Once I sprayed the flat coat on a test piece, the streaking all but disappeared.

So, I changed my plan. I'll spray the overcoat first, then do the streaking and mud, and leave it uncoated. Here's what the tank looked like after spraying it with Alclad Klear Kote Matte lacquer, just heavily enough to kill the underlying gloss coat:

Streaking? What streaking?

And here it is one more time, after redoing the streaking. I had to change my method because of the flat coat. Instead of using water with a drop of Windex to break the surface tension, I had to use a drop of Dawn dish washing liquid. On the flat coat, the Windex mix just beaded up and wouldn't spread out, but the Dawn worked just fine.

Now that I've got that sorted, it's on to the mud, using Vallejo European Thick Mud and Splattering Mud. First, though, I'll need to experiment to find out how to do the bottom of the tracks, so I don't stick the tank to my workbench. Plastic food wrap or parchment paper should do the trick and peel off afterward.

Thanks for looking!

Peter

RAGIII · « **Reply #73 on:** July 19, 2019, 07:06:02 AM »

Your Mk. IV is really looking Outstanding! I love it Now and can't wait to see the Mud!
RAGIII

kensar · « **Reply #74 on:** July 19, 2019, 09:25:37 PM »

Make sure it's European mud or it probably won't work!