Weatherimg

[pamodeler46]

When it comes to weathering a military subject mostly a tank of armor. Occasionally an aircraft. How do you determine what type of mud - dust - sand - etc goes on each model and how do you determine what color of said item to use ? How do you know how much or little to use ? Is this where your reference materials come in handy or for instance a pic from a World War. Will be in black and white. Does it al boil down to researching said vehicle your building and looking up the terrain it’s used on etc ?

Any weathering advice u can give would be appreciated How to determine material to go where - what color material - how much or little -
Thank You

[digger303]

Not a easy question to answer. Some make it easy and put in the pigment description of what area it could be suitable for. My personal favorite is VMS ... https://www.vms-supplies.com/spot-on-pigments-picker.... click on this link and you will see what I mean.
There maybe a website somewhere showing soil types , but I don't know of it.
As to how much you apply, that will depend on the situation you envisage. Fresh mud will have lots of mud, Having been in mud and it has dried several days ago will have less. A desert scene would have so much dust it might even obscure the colour of the tank or it might have a lot less as a strong wind ma have removed a lot or only on one side. It is up to you.

[alextheblue]

When it comes to weathering a military subject mostly a tank of armor. Occasionally an aircraft. How do you determine what type of mud - dust - sand - etc goes on each model and how do you determine what color of said item to use ? How do you know how much or little to use ? Is this where your reference materials come in handy or for instance a pic from a World War. Will be in black and white. Does it al boil down to researching said vehicle your building and looking up the terrain it’s used on etc ?

Any weathering advice u can give would be appreciated How to determine material to go where - what color material - how much or little -
Thank You

Ah, weathering. The Holy Grail of modelling. I think the key to weathering is to look at lots of reference material. First though, work out what it is you want to achieve. Do you want an accurate model that depicts a certain scene, or do you want to try and replicate the look of someone else's model. A lot of modellers see a photo in a book and try and replicate that, whereas, other modellers are inspired by other people's work.

For me, there's no right or wrong way, only what is right for you. There are many different techniques of achieving a certain "look", but you might prefer one over others. Some people use the hairspray method for chipping, whereas others prefer to use a sponge or brush. The more accurate method is to remove paint, but you might prefer to add the chips. Both look good, it's what looks right to your eye. There's some basic rules to bear in mind. Such as, which panels and surfaces are more exposed to sunlight and which are in shade. What areas are likely to get pranged and dented, and which surfaces are going to be well worn by the crew. Where is likely to get muddy and where would dust settle.

Practice is always my watch word. Get some cheaper kits and have a go at the different techniques. You'll quickly learn what works for you and how to achieve the look you want. And don't be scared of making a mistake. There's nothing that can't be fixed and if it's a cheap kit, you can keep it as a practice piece.

As I always say, it's your hobby, it's your money and it's your time. If it looks right to you, then it is right!

[Tomcat64]

Not much more to add to what the guys have already said but this is spot on from Alex:

As I always say, it's your hobby, it's your money and it's your time. If it looks right to you, then it is right!

When I started back in on weathering I just used some clay washes (grime/dark dirt) to give a general grubby surface and to accentuate the panel lines and other details and have gradually moved on from there. These days I'll try and match the weathering on an AFV to the theatre it was operational in so Russian mud tends to be thicker, stickier and darker than western European dirt, which in turn is generally a slightly darker than southern Europe and then as Digger said there's sandy operations too - and there'll be variations in tone for all of them (take a look in your garden). Most of the manufacturers produce earth or mud tones in various shades to get you started in the right direction and some of them also produced textured paints which can also help as a starting point. One thing I will say though is that using pigment powders can get really messy really quickly!

Modelling magazines are a good place to look as well as they often have build articles which include the weathering stages, but don't feel that you have to try and replicate everything that you see; pick and choose what's right for you and build up your skillset that way

As to how much to apply that's really down to when you feel it looks right and comes back to the quote from Alex. If you have something specific in mind then let us know and I'm sure we'll be able to find some reference or guidance to point you in the right direction.

[digger303]

Were we of any help ? or was there something else we didn't touch on.

[Gregwatters]

I generally have an idea about what im trying to achieve from reference materials, and what the dio im building should look like what story im trying to tell. I then just kinda go at it with washes etc and hope to get tank looking natural for the story. Ps Ultimate washes are great as are tamiya weathering sets. Im still learning so am intetested in this post aswell. and sometimes if it doesnt go well then i just edit and change the story of the dio lol.