I have three questions, and I thought I would put them in one post and save some server space.
Most of the pictures I have seen of German WWII uniforms show brown leather belts for the equipment. However, the instructions with the Tamiya Sdkfz 251/1 I am finishing leave me with the impression they are the same color as the uniform. What color were they and how best are they painted?
When you use pastel chalks for weathering do you treat them to make them permanent or just let them sit? I tried overspraying them with dullcote to “set” them but the effect went away.
How do you make tarps, blankets, and other pieces of fabric that are often hung on, over, and around armor? One source I have described using wet tissue paper and painting it, but that seems very difficult to me.
I prefer not to use anything to seal in my pastels. It’s the final step I do in any of my builds and once finished it’s “hands off” time. I’m sure some others will give some advice about sealing pastels too. Boils down to personal likes and dislikes.
I make all of my tarps using tissue paper and a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water. I cut the tissue to the approximate size I want, then soak it with the mixture of glue / water by brushing it on. I also use a toothpick or any other fine pointed object left laying on my work bench to adjust the tarp at this time. After the tarp has dried, then I paint it and weather it appropriately … works great. You can also roll up some tissue and treat it the same way to make bedrolls, etc.
1.) I have some original german field equipment and the color ranges from a dark brown to black. I recommend doing a search online and seeing what is out there. This site is a good place for uniform information: www.atthefront.com
2.) Like Robert, I don’t seal my pastels. The effect does go away or it can look like fake mud, which has happened to me.
3.) I do the exactly what Robert does to make tarps. I have one other thing to add, if you use paper towels, be sure to avoid using any paper towels that have any type of pattern on it. For some reason, patterns will show up when you least expect them.
The standard enlisted man’s belt was of black leather, often worn to a dark brown, with the M36 buckle. This remained the standard throught the war. The M36, “Gott mit uns” buckle was made of either steel or aluminium, with several manufacturer’s variations, in both natural metal and field gray. There is also a olive colored canvas belt for tropical use and a late war olive colored canvas belt with the field gray buckle. Officer’s belts were a 5cm wide, light brown in color early in the war, black worn to dark brown late war, with some variation in color and width. The standard officer’s buckle was a rectangular, open faced, two-pronged buckle of natural metal finish. Generals were gold colored. There are also Parade Dress belts and pants with internal cloth belts. This covers most of them. … and then there is the SS. That’s another page.
I just tried a lil’ bit of aluminum foil, it turned out really cool for a tarp (it has that stiff plasticy look to it when it’s painted and dry brushed. I’ll have pics of it up when I post my finnished M2-A1 Bradley.
I too use tissue for blankets, bedrolls etc. I found that personally, I thought that tissue lacked the “weight” for heavier coverings. After some experimentation, for thicker canvas tarps, I’ve had some success with paper coffee filters. They seem a bit more hardy looking than tissue, but you can treat and set them the same way.
I like coffee filter paper too. It is more durable than paper towels and tissue, so it holds-up well to vigorous dry-brushing and it has lots of little wrinkles, which look very much like rough cloth in scale.