This is a mini tutorial on how to do some weathering and add some details to a military model. This tutorial and the pics were created by John who makes models in his small business called Hobbies in a Barn and you can check out the facebook page to see more pics and get more info: Hobbies in a Barn on Facebook

Weathering of Military vehicles is an art all unto itself and if you want a realistic looking tank you have got to mud it up some! That is unless you want to depict it as it just comes out of the factory or wash basin! So, john has given us some great techniques on how to weather the tanks.

First off you might want to research some camouflage patterns. John thinks this is a great idea and there are lots of different authentic patterns you can use. He then does some of the painting with an airbrush while the parts are still on the sprue, it makes it so much easier to handle and paint the small parts.

Next use a thin black acrylic paint to wash on the affected areas.

Then cover it with powdered artist chalk. Let it fall in random patterns. You get this fantastic mud strewn look. These are the wheel wells so there is lots of mud!

Here is a closeup look of that weathering. Absolutely Fantastic!!

About the Chalk used

You can use regular artist chalk or even better you can use Billiard chalk. You know, the kind that comes in 1 inch cubes for chalking up pool sticks. Just be sure to get it in the various colors like brown, black, reddish brown and tan. These match the cloth colors.

This is John's Technique for applying the mud:

The method for applying the mud is easy; I apply a thin wash of black acrylic paint to the effected areas and scrape the chalk onto the still wet paint letting it fall randomly as mud is quite simply randomly sprayed onto vehicle wheels, tracks etc. I then dry the area with a hand held hairdryer set on LOW heat which sticks the chalk and black wash to the model.

24 Soft Chalk Pastels Set for Art Drawing, Scrapbooking & More -Assorted Colors

Some Details on the Tank

Now let's take a look at some small additional details that John added. These can make a big difference in the final version of the tank.

He used thin copper chain and some thin braided wire on the front of the vehicle. for the braided wire you might want to try something called "Solder Wick". It is a braided wire that is used for soldering.

Some Tips on the Paints:

As I might have mentioned I use all craft type acrylic paints for all my models and dioramas, these will actually match any color sceme for any type of military model with the help of a color chart. You might recognize CreamCoat, AppleBarrel and Anita's as brand names as these were first brought out for use with ceramics, hence the ability to dry them evenly wtih a hairdryer and have a solid, almost impervious coating on models. I use the glossy blues for my collection of 1/48th scale WW2 US Navy aircraft and they come out great! (see the photos of the inside of my barn) Over the years I steered away from oil-based Testors and other paints as the acrylics mix and clean up wtih water and airbrush very smoothly with blue tint windshield wiper fluid at about 50/50% and about 25psi with the spray setting on "fine" as seen on the Bear.

How to Make Rubble in a diorama

Rubble is an important part of military diorama making. In this tutorial Glen shows us his tips and techniques for making it - from start to finish. How to make rubble in a military diorama

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