I need some advice on applying mud to my tanks road wheels. The method used in Modeler’s Guide to the Tiger Tank has the look I want…but I can’t find powdered pigments anywhere. I have the acrylic matte medium stuff, now I just need the mud. I’m thinking of trying some sand from outside, sifted to scale…any better ideas before I screw this up?
Look for MMP powders. Try www.ww2modelmaker.com. Click on the ad at the bottom of the homepage and follow the links. Apparently they’re pretty good. There are other brands as well.
Hey Deicide,
Not sure what you are looking for, but I use a combination of (some shade of brown, close to the mud color you want) acylic paint, white glue, flour and coffee grounds. Sometimes I’ll mix pastel chalks ( in with the mud mixture) to get the color I want.
Oh, excuse my manners. [#welcome]. Hope you enjoy your time on the board.
Joe
With the mud I’m planning on putting on my dio, I am gonna buy some textured paint. Although this may not work for 1/35, for my 1/144 dio, this should be fine. Just buy some textured brown, and possibly add some brown pastel shalk to it to make an un-even-sorta lumpy look. (warning! this may not work, but It’s a suggestion)[:)]
[:D]for mud ijust use coffie grounds and i paint them the culor i want it to be ,but i use white glue to stick it on the kit and paint.[:D]
If you are having trouble locating powdered pigments, go to an art supply store, pick up some pastel chalk sticks in the colors desired, and grind them up.
I ddin’t see where you are from, but you may try:
They make a very nice set of 12 colored pigments for around $25 USD.
HTH,
Ted
My favorite current method uses Tamiya Polyester putty, a mix of acrylics (flat earth, mud, red browns and khakis), and shredded woodland scenics grass.
I like the coffee ground idea… I’ll have to try that one.
Ryan
The coffee ground thing sounds good! I’ll have to remember that too!
Hey Deicide,
Here’s some examples of the results I got using the methods I described.
Hope this will help you.
Jor
I also use coffee grinds. For this Stug 3 I used a mixture of coffee grinds (prepackaged for drip filter coffee), tamiya grey putty and Tamiya thin poly cement. The glue makes the putty a thin slurry that you add the grinds to, then using an old bristle paint brush, dip the end in the mix and stipple on the model. The glue/putty mix makes sure it all sticks to the kit and does not break off later.
Hey Peter,
Great job on the Stug [tup][tup]
Joe[:D]
Good luck w/the mud. Just be careful or you minature crew will be spending more time changing wheels than operating the vehicle. Mud is the number one enemy for wheels on tracked vehicles. I have many memories of spending my time cleaning the mud from the wheels of the tracks that I commanded while in the service.
Ch
I ended up using some ground up pastels applied over a thinned coat of the matte medium…after a few tests on scrap wheels/plastic sheet, I came up with a decent mix…my Sherman is complete!
I’ll try mixing in diffrent things you guys mentioned…coffe grinds sounds good[:)]
Hey Deicde,
I’m glad that you found a method that worked. Any way you can post some pictures?
Joe
I use Gravox, that powdery stuff you use to make gravy. I ‘paint’ on some mineral turpentine or paint thinner, something that will evaporate quickly, then using a flat brush scoop up some powder and press it onto the wet spot. After it’s dry, I tint it using a mixture of artist’s oils (burnt umber, raw sienna, raw umber) mixed with paint thinner. Works great! The ‘tinting mixture’ soaks into the powder pretty quickly so don’t be afraid to slap it on. Also, if any ‘mud’ falls off, it looks even more natural. Here’s the result on my StuG IV
Cheers,
John