Ok, I have a two part question for my first build. I am working on the Tamiya M1A1 Tank build. Its been a lot of fun to build, and I am thinking about expanding into armor a little, but first, I want to get this one done. My first question is this. How do you guys paint all those road wheels? My first thought was to airbrush them the camo color first, then brush paint the black, but if there is a better way, I’m all ears [:D] my second question is about the paint color. I bought MM Sand, and going by the FS number, its right, but I found another color " US Armor Sand" which is darker, so does anybody have any experiance with these? Would the darker one be right, or should I just go with what I’ve got??? Thanks in advance gentlemen!
I’ve always painted the base colour first and then brushed on the black for the tires. Some people spray the tires first and then use a circle template (available from anywhere that sells drafting supplies) to mask the wheel before spraying the centre. If you have a circle cutter (basically a drawing compass with a blade instead of a pencil lead) you could cut your own mask from thin sheet/card.
MM Sand should look just right under a bit of weathering. US Armor Sand is, as you have observed, too dark.
Easiest way to paint road wheels is with a circle template. You can buy one at an art supply stor or craft store, or make one yoursself with some thick sheet styrene and a drawing compas. It is a sheet of plastic or metal with varous sized holes. Find the one that fits the inner metal wheel of your roadwhels. First, I leave the roadwheels on the sprue and spray them overall flat black. Then I take my circle template and spray the wheel part the hull color. Remove the wheels from the sprue, assemble, clean up the attachment points, and touch up the paint. That easy.
The correct color for modern CARC Sand is the Testors Model Master Sand, FS33531. The US Armor Sand is from a shade used in ODS ('90-'91) that was based on a commercial paint color. It was sprayed on vehicles in Saudi Arabia to quickly get them all a sand color. It was not an FS # color and was only used in ODS.
Well, I already put the road wheels together… [oops] I guess I will just brush them this time, but for my next one, I will know better! This has been pretty fun, heck, one more thing to add to the stash I guess [:D]
Thanks for the info about the color, I was hoping it was the right one, but I wasn’t sure. Thanks for the quick replys!
That’s the thing about this forum. There are alot of good people with good advice and loads of experience willing to share their knowledge with others. The talent on this forum is amazing.
Ron
You said it Ron. If it wasn’t for this forum and people willing to help out, I wouldn’t have improved at all since I started modeling again. I have learned a lot here, and gotten a lot of inspiration to!