i was wondering what base color everyone uses for their tank treads and then how they weather them. i usually use gunmetal and them dust the tracks with a rust dust made with pastels. then i drybrush steel over the treads where they would hit the ground. this usually looks ok but last night i put the tracks on my panther f and the look almost too new with this technique. any ideas on what to do to make them look more worn and battle tested? also, what could i do in the future to prevent this. thanks guys.
Welcome Trailer. Everyone, I imagine, does something different. I’m still experimenting, but on my last tank I primed with black, sprayed rust, gave it a dirty raw umber wash, sprayed lightly with Tamiya buff, and used metallic grey to highlight.
One thing to consider is that not all tank treads look alike when new, and not are all made of the same components, so they will weather differently. Of course, dust and mud are dust and mud, but even those things look a bit different depending on where they tank is supposed to be fighting.
Frinstance, a tank on maneuvers in muddy ground in Georgia (USA) would look very different from a tank fighting in the mud around the Pripet Marshes.
I like to prime in black. Dark rusty brown wash. Then I mix up a dirt wash of pastels and water/alcohol. The pastel wash takes some time to dry but makes a convincing dirt to me. Mud is a whole nuther ball of wax. I use a mix of plaster, pastels, brown paint, herbs,and white glue to make my mud mix. Applied with a brush and tapped with a tooth brush to “scale” down the mud. Just remember dried mud doesn’t last long on a moving tank on hard ground… So pay attention to your setting.
Good Luck …
i would just spray the tracks with the black bu the prob is that they are already on the runners and wheels, glued down. any ideas on how to weather them so not so shiny? i did a rust wash and it did a little. i might try kennethc’s pastel/water/alcohol mix. any suggestions are welcome.
Welcome trailer
You’ve got some good advice in the other threads, I think the guys have covered it. By the way, “treads” are something that comes on tennis shoes. Tanks have “track”! Heh…Hehh ( can’t help it , former Army tanker)
Again welcome to the Forum
Steve
thanks steve. you think i would have known that since i was a history major. sorry for the blunder.
Trailer36, you have no real choice but to brush paint them in place. It sucks but there isn’t much way around it…
You could try hitting them with a dull coat while you’re dulling up the rest of the tank. Then you would probably have to dry brush a bit of steel back over the hight points. But it might work. I hit mine with a bit of Floquil dust and mud. That REALLY toned them down (almost too much). I’ve got to go back over with steel myself.
As far as how I initially do them:
First I spray them with flat black, then dry brush them heavily with Model Master (enamel) Steel, then wash them with a thin mixture of Humbrol #62 (sand) and a bit of burnt umber oil paint. After that, its just a matter of picking out the high points with silver.
Good luck.
“Tracks” are something you run around on when wearing those tennis shoes. [:p]
I thought they were something you made in the mud while you were running around in those tennis shoes!! lol
I thought they were something my wife complains about in the house after running around in the mud in the tennis shoes.
And finally… They are something I make after my wife complains about after I run around in the mud in tennis shoes!
…nevermind…[V]
For all steel type tracks, I usually prime my tracks with cheap black acrylic, particularly vinyl tracks because of the problems with enamals adhering to them. Then I usually give them an enamel wash of of a rusty color, but this depends on how old or used I want the finished tracks to look. I’ll seal this wash with Dullcoat and dry brush them with steel enamel to bring out the wear points. Finally, I’ll add the same pastels that I’m putting on the rest of the lower hull. U.S. style rubber treads are a whole different matter and I’ve only done one set that I wasn’t really happy with.
Stop it please. [(-D]
I think we ran out of definitions for track!! lol
So, guess I’ll stop tracking this one and be done with it!!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist one more hit!!) [(-D][(-D]