I’m in the process of putting the final touches to my WIP Dragon Panther G.
I’m going to be doing the tow cables shortly. I’ve done the eyelets-they are fine. The cables actually came in metal & twisted for the best accuracy! No Tamiya string on this build!
They came all curled up in a small bag so both ends have been sat in a vice all week with a heavy hammer hung in the curl to stretch it out-they are super straight now!
Obviously I know the tank crews need to look after these cables so I’m not going to cover them with rust as that is far from accurate! Some specks of light rust but that’s it.
What are the best methods for weathering metal tow cables so they look dirty and ever so slightly rusty. Pigments, oils, paints?
Is there a ‘recognised’ method as I’d like these to look really good?
I normally paint with gun metal, then dry brush with steel. Once that’s dry I put on a heavy black oil wash and let that dry. Then I burnish a little dry graphite on them and hang them on the tank. Once mounted I weather right along with the vehicle so they look like they belong there. Unless the vehicle is a wreck or abandoned I don’t rust them at all. There’s probably a hundred ways to do it and they all work.
black base (Testors Acrly aircraft interior black is what I use), steel color drybushed over the details, then various rust colored pigments ( lightly done). Or you could use Blacken-it as it gives it a nice natural oxidizied color.
In the past I’ve either used plastic or them awful string tow cables or, depending on the kit, none at all. These are the first time I’ve used metal cables.
I’ve given them a basecoat of Flat Black then I’ll be drybrushing some Tamiya Flat Aluminium over them tomorrow. I’ve got various MIG rust pigments and MIG Gun Metal Metallic pigment which I’ll apply by finger rubbed over the surfaces until the combinations look right-that seems to be be the general concensus.
I know that the tank crews would have taken great care of their tow cables seeing as they could prove to be a real life saver should their tank get bogged down whilst under fire. A neglected, rusty tow cable would, I imagine, snap pretty easily with one 50 ton tank attempting to pull another from clinging Russian mud! I’m thinking a little rust but I need to ‘keep it real’ so to speak!
Also, I’ve found some lengths of 3 core 0.5mm, 1mm & 1.5mm flex for lamps etc in the garage-when the insulation is removed the cores will make great tow cables as they are the perfect scale-the 0.5… is ideal for 1/48 btw.
