Model Military International – September 2019

16 Model Military International - September 2019

FEATURE ARTICLE Takom 1:35 Mk. IV Male/Female 2 in 1 • Kit No. 2076

PAINTING THE TRACKS

The track runs were airbrushed

with Tamiya’s XF69 NATO Black.

Earth coloured chalk pastel dust

was mixed with mineral spirit and

daubed onto both sides of these

runs. Once this had dried, I used a

stiff paintbrush to scrub off some

of the accumulated pigment, where

bare metal would have appeared. A

metalizing colour of Testors silver

enamel and a little raw umber oil

paint was mixed with a stiff brush

and dry brushed onto the tracks

to highlight the edges that would

show wear.

WEATHERING

To emulate the filthy look that

these vehicles had, I combined

some paintwork and the addition of

chalk pastel powder. With the base

coat of a muddy brown over the

dark pre-shadow already complete

and markings applied, The next

step involved adding a pin wash

onto the details of the vehicle, and

there were a lot of them. The Mk.IV

tanks were covered in bolts, rivets

and various other interesting bits.

This step took several sessions

of application, drying, studying

the effects, and re-applying as

necessary. I began by dampening

the surface with mineral spirits,

then mixing some black & raw

umber oil paints in the solvent, and

then touching the mix in various

proportions onto the details. After

a few minutes of drying time, these

accumulations of thinned oil paint

were smeared downward using a

brush dampened very slightly with

the mineral spirit to produce a

streaked look.

I airbrushed a light dust colour

in a downward streaked pattern

using a mix of Tamiya acrylics

randomly on all exterior surfaces.

The next layer of weathering

involved taking pastel chalk

powder of varying dirt colours,

mixing them with mineral spirits,

and streaking them down the hull

sides. A small bit at a time goes a

long way, and this process again

was repeated until a desired effect

was achieved. This also involved

waiting for things to dry, then

continuing to modify or alter the

look accordingly.

To continue this process, a

thicker amount of pastel “dirt”

was mixed up with mineral spirit

and daubed around the track

areas of the hull to show small

accumulations of mud. To make

this look more effective, Tamiya’s

X22 Gloss was diluted with their

X20A thinner, and this was painted

To apply the pin wash, small areas were dampened with mineral spirit, and then diluted black & raw umber oil paint was touched into place.

After a minute or so, the washed detail was worked downward with a dampened brush.

Small, irregular patches of dark grey/brown acrylic were painted onto the muffler and exhaust pipe with a fine brush.

Small amounts of brown and orange pastel powder was scrubbed onto these areas to give the impression of corrosion due to heat.

After other detail like gun barrels and the exhaust were painted, the model received an airbrushing of

light dust. The rear plate marking was corrected later.

Various shades of dirt-coloured pastel

chalk powder was applied to the hull

exterior using mineral spirit as a solvent.

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