Since I'm still very amateur, (with only 5 models under my belt so far), I'm still trying to hone my skills to produce something acceptable.

The question I pose here is:
Have I gone overboard with the weathering on this Sherman?
I didn't want heavy mud, but wanted to simulate recent operation in a very dusty environment.





Any thoughts or tips are appreciated.

Cheers,
HS

Well your Sherman looks like if it were in a muddy environment more than a dusty one.
Here is my trick to depict dust, I spray some light color (buff, sand ...) all over the vehicle. Of course I insist on some logical spots.
The more the color is diluted the better the effect is. At first, you'll only get a wet vehicle. The "secret" is to let the thinner dry on its own. Don't try to accelerate the process with a hairdryer for example. If the result is not enough, you can do it again and again till you're satisfied.

HTH
Olivier

Thanks bison, good tip.
Unfortunately, I don't have access to an airbrush.

I suppose I could use that technique to brush some areas with a really thin sandy wash, and build it up.

If it's dust you want it's hard to beat pastels for that. There are a variety of pastel powders specifically formulated/marketed for modeling, but you can also get artist pastels which can be crushed into a fine powder to do the same thing.

Olivier's idea works very well, and can be done with a brush as well as an airbrush since you're basically lathering your tank up with HIGHLY thinned paint and then letting it settle into the nooks and crannies to gradually dry. Just have to be careful, because, as Olivier pointed out, if it dries too quickly or not consistently you end up with streaks that look more like dried mud than dust.

which product did you use? pigments? If so, rub the surface with a stiff brush to spread it more evenly. On the vertical surfaces, only move up and down.

Just colored chalk, scraped & mortared into dust....applied with a wet brush.(It's what I had handy)

I wait until it's dry, then remove excess with a stiff-bristled brush.

I think I'll try hitting it with the stiff brush a little more, then see what the dullcote does to it.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Pigments are really much easier to use and will give you more control over the final look. You "hold" them with mineral spirits/white spirit, and when dry, can brush off as much or as little as you want. The finish is matt and looks much more like dust than chalk applied with water. HTH.

Yeah....a trip to the Hobby Store is in order.

I've read back on the "armor/afv" forum back to 2013....nobody seems to have good results with "sidewalk chalk".

I'll try some pigments.

(But it has been fun trying it "ghetto style")

FWTCYG, right?

Paul,

What I'm going to write may seem like a lot of criticism, but it's all meant to be constructive, so please don't take offense, it's all in aid of better modelling:



Perfectly good technique, but for mud as opposed to dust. You are essentially making mud by adding a liquid to the chalk on the wet brush, so no wonder it comes out like dried mud, 'cause that's what it is!




This will make it look like dried mud that has been scraped off. It's a good technique, but again, not for overall dust.




Spraying anything over a chalk/pigment coating is very, very likely to significantly change the colour and appearance of the dust. Don't do it. The pigments and chalk should be the absolute last thing you put on the model. Fixing with thinner is possible, but can affect the colour, especially for some lighter colour pigments/chalks.

For an effective dust you can use the overall overcoat with a thinned dusty colour to lay down an overall yet translucent dust colour. Then mix a wash using the same dust colour. Lay the wash into all the crevasses and valleys on the whole model. Then you can try one of two techniques to show wear it the dust: dry brush some of the basic or lightened OD onto the high points where the crew would transit the vehicle. Imagine where the crew would rub off the dust and hit those points only. These would be pretty localised applications and build the areas up very slowly. The other way is to take a paper towel slightly moistened with the same thinner used for the wash and lightly dab away some of the wash and overall dust coat on the same high points. There are other ways to do this as well.

After the liquids are quite dry, and as the last step ion the model, a light overall dusting of chalk/pigments with a soft brush will add that level of really matte dust you want.

A few other pointers and feel free to use or ignore any of this as its all about being your model, so do what makes you happy:

1) the "41" decal is inappropriate for a tank, it belongs on a recce unit in an infantry division, generally a carrier, a light armoured car or a scout car. As the formation is the 5th Cdn Armoured Div (green square) the recce unit was the Gov Gen Horse Guards and the unit sign should be a 45 in the green over blue square.

2) the piece on the end of the gun muzzle seems to be backwards. The muzzle bore is too small for a 75mm tube. Plus that small piece needs to have the seam filled to invisibility.

3) the track attached to the tank is essentially backwards. These pieces, when used as armour, were welded to the hull with the teeth being the parts actually welded to the surface and the pad therefore offset from the surface.

4) on the right side of the turret you have three track pads, but no end connectors. Without the connectors or a track link box, the links will fall apart and can not be secured to the turret. The pads are rubber and can not be welded to the armour surface. I think you're also missing the track pins that stuck out of each pad and were used to secure the pad to the end connector.

5) You seem to be missing the large armoured cover over the hull engine air inlet immediately behind the turret.

6) The turret hatches are at two different angles. They should be either both dead flat or both at a slight upward angle, about where you have it, but not at two different angles.

7) Canadian Shermans very, very, very rarely were seen with the .50 cal on the turret. Crew members considered it a hindrance on getting out if they were hit and of no practical use in combat.

Real nit picky stuff...

Commonwealth tankers sometimes used the US tanker helmet, but were almost never seen with a leather jacket. They were issued the wool battle dress, coveralls or, later the winter "Pixie suit" in NW Europe.

The antenna base is for US antennas. Canadian tanks were fitted with the Brit No.19 Set which had two distinctive antenna bases that were very different than the US ones.

The two bags attached to the turret between the track teeth really need some sort of strap that they hang from. They can't be just stuffed in that space. You've tied down a bunch of the other stowage, these should be too.

The two lifting rings on the front hull are both canted off to the starboard side. They should both be perpendicular to the glacis surface.

Again, I'm not trying to be a knob, just pointing out the things judges and experienced builders look for at contests and the like when judging models. These are things you can address if you want to improve your modelling.

HTH

Paul

As a fellow noob modeler, (and a cheapo), I find that dollar store acrylics are best for making a dusty effect. If you mix a little bit of paint into water (the final consistency should be a little thinner than 2% milk), all you have to do is use a big brush to put it on the model and let gravity spread it into the corners. And it's very easy to adjust the amount you put on since it's basically just dirty water. All you have to do is dab off the part you want to redo with a tissue and brush another layer on. Also, you usually end up with more paint at the very bottom of whatever container you mixed it in, so you can make certain sections extra dusty using that as well. If you feel like you want to start over, just pour water on it. The best part is it doesn't smell and you don't have to worry about any fumes. Once you're done, you can just leave for a few hours to dry. Don't forget, this costs like may be five dollars for a few bottles of paint that you can use a bunch of times if you're using the paint only for weathering plus however much it costs for like 50 mL of tap water. The one bad thing is that this is very messy and it flicks everywhere, so either do it in a garage or in an unfinished basement with plenty of lighting ( I once made a purple dust wash because there wasn't enough lighting in the basement...). One last thing is to remember to make room for the air to pass underneath the tracks so your model doesn't get stuck on the painting table as it dries.

I hope that rant of mine was helpful.

Oh sh!t....this is gonna hurt, isn't it?




Seen....Excellent tips, much appreciated.




Totally my fault.....I so far only build OOB, and only had a "41" left over from a carrier.
I figured, "what the hell, it's still 4AD".




This I can fix.....Thank you.




I actually wondered that while applying.....I guess that's my bad for using the box for reference instead of "google images".




Uhhhh.....I'll blame Tamiya for that one?




But it looks SO MUCH COOLER without it......(again...me)




That I think I can fix, thank you.




I had no clue about that, another good tip.




To the "spares" box, Batman!!!!
(I'm happy I haven't glued him in)




Well....now you're picking flyshit out of pepper.

:) I kid.




Yeah, I was wondering if I'd get called on that.
Time for the tiny scissors and PE scraps.




Noted...amateur mistake. Can't fix on this one, but I'll be more careful on the next.




No harm, no foul.
That's why I posted here, to get useful, constructive criticism.
Much appreciated.
HS

I'll definitely add this to the arsenal!
Thanks!

When making washes (which is what you are describing) using predominantly water based thinner (i.e. in this case water), you get better results if you add a small touch of a surfactant to break the surface tension of the water so it flows better into small areas and doesn't bead up. A tiny touch of clear hand soap or a couple of crystals of TSP into a thimble of water will do the trick. You can test it on an area of painted plastic and if it still beads up, add a little more.

You can also thin these things with artists acrylic mediums and achieve similar effects, but the mediums are not cheap and we _are_ talking about "cheapo" modelling (though I prefer to be considered "thrifty")! :-)

Many craft acrylics have coarser pigments than most model paints. Taking them down to a wash can result in visible grains in the water and the paint film breaking up. Ya gotta watch for that. As cheap, er, thrifty! as I am, I avoid craft acrylics for anything other than broad applications to my bases. They really aren't formulated for models and can have significant drawbacks. Some examples can be good, but a lot aren't and you do get what you pay for.

HTH

And Paul? I'd never intentionally slag, ya buddy. I was born in NS and grew up on Nfld. I could never dis a fellow Maritimer!

:-)

Paul (and you have a fine name, to boot!)

Hi Paul:

The short answer to your question is NO !

First let me say that you have done a great job on this. And then just a note that the real thing gets very dusty when driving in dry conditions. First because in WWII Sherman tanks (all tanks really) almost always moved around in numbers. Not individual vehicles. And that usually means that all the vehicles get covered in the dust from all the other vehicles. And an armored unit can tear a dirt road into a dust bowl very quickly. here's a good link to some pics that show what they can look like.

http://wwiiletters.blogspot.com/2008/01/color-photos-of-fort-knox-m-3-and-m-4.html

Don't be shy about dusting it up. And as far as what to use. You can buy the special purpose made pigments, and they will do a fantastic job. Or you can do what I do, and go to an art supply store instead of a hobby shop (if you are lucky enough to have one near you) and purchase a small set of pastel chalks and make your own "pigments". You can buy one bottle of the special purpose pigments for anywhere from $5 to $7, or you can buy a full set of pastels for the same price and simply grind them on medium sand paper to make your own powder. And also you can mix the colors to come up with just about any shade you need. If you do get the pastels, make sure though that you do NOT get the oil pastels. You will want the dry chalk pastels.

But most important is that no matter what you choose, have fun doing it.

Gary

Hi Paul,

Look for TankArt books by Michael Rinaldi, they will help with different techniques for weathering.