Painting/ weathering/ RAIN STREAKS

[John Fitzsimons]

I'm painting my Tiger 1 at the moment and doing a little weathering. I'm using some AK Interactive products. My question is, When painting rain streaks on the wheels do you streak top to bottom or centre outwards? The products are working quite well on the hull.I will add some photos of progress to my tiger build soon.

[Tim Page]

Hi John, I normally add streaks from center out to simulate oil leaks from the hub.

Tim

[John Fitzsimons]

Makes sense for the oil streaks but what about rain streaking. Or would streaking on wheels be incorrect in the first place as the wheels are not static.

[Stephen White]

John, hi. I've hesitated to comment for fear of seeming negative. In the end, it's a question of what you think looks best for your model and whether (weather?) you prefer to follow the latest modelling trends.

My take is that "rain streaks" are an urban myth, in the same league as rusty tracks and "chipping", designed to sell weathering products. I don't ever recall seeing anything like "rain streaks" on the tanks I served on. That's not to say though that done subtly, they can look good, as a model painted in the modern style. Not on the wheels though. Tim's oil streaks are maybe a bit closer to reality, spread from the centre outward by centrifugal force but I'd put the driver on a charge for not servicing the hubs properly - he's either overfilled them, not done up the filler tightly or has a damaged seal. Whichever you choose, it's not a tank to be proud of.

For what it's worth, my enduring vision of operational tanks, is of a dusty, oily layer of grot covering the whole tank. If you can get that right, all the other little bits can follow.

Rather than criticise though, I decided to see what all the weathering fuss was about and, with Tim Page, will be at a workshop at the weekend, run by the weathering guru himself, Mig Jimenez. I'm sure there'll be a lot to learn and we'll see how much transfers across to one sixth scale.

All the best.

Stephen

[dennypatterson]

they would,nt last long enough in WW2 to get them|||||

[Adrian Harris]

I have to agree with Stephen.

As anyone who has seen it can attest, I don't wash my car from one season to the next, and it never gets vertical streaks running down it. Splashes of mud up the wings from the wheels and an overall patina of dust/dirt maybe, but no noticeable streaks.

OK, I'm not driving around the actual countryside, but it sits on the drive when no in use and gets its fair share of rain.

Adrian.

[John Fitzsimons]

Thanks Denny and Stephen,
I agree that the WW11 tanks would have such a short life in some cases that over weathering would be wrong approach. I weathered my other Tiger a little recently but just lightly. I have no experience of real tanks other than museum exhibits so your input is greatly appreciated. I will try to get some photos of progress so far. It would be great to get some feedback on the painting masterclass and how the techniques can be used on our 1/6 scale. I have watched some of the DVDs and like the effects to a certain degree but think they just go too far trying to create battle field wrecks.

[John Fitzsimons]

Adrian,

I live in Ireland. We get rain. I drive quite a bit in countryside and as you say mainly overall dust layer and mud build up. I'm driving from Ireland to Montenegro in a few weeks time. I will photograph what state the car is in at the end of the trip

[Adrian Harris]

> I live in Ireland. We get rain

We were in Kerry a couple of weeks ago and I can certainly agree!!

I've just done Dublin to Montenegro on the TomTom routing website:

1829 mi - 33:22 hrs
Includes traffic delay: 1 min

Looks like you should have an easy run, with only a 1 minute delay in 33 hours driving

I've just had 30 minutes delay getting back from Birmingham

Look forward to the photos

Adrian.

[John Fitzsimons]

1 minute delay, haha. Did the trip before a few times. Last time I got to the mont blanc tunel to find it was closed for the night for maintenance. My stopover destination was half an hour away in Chamonix but I could'nt get to it. Spent the night in the car. I would have been earlier and got through if there had'nt been an accident on the motorway causing two hour delays. This time travelling with two 2 year olds in the back. Might be able to do a stop in Saumur on the way back.

[Tim Page]

Most of my tank weathering experience has been on 1/56 ww2 tanks as well as a number of 1/16 RC tanks.

All the tanks i have weathered are normally painted, then given a dark wash. Decals are then applied. I then add any oil or heavy grime areas and streaks from fuel spills etc.

I then do some level of dry brushing with a light colour which helps to tone down the paintwork and also give an overall dust covered appearance.

Stephen, I will bring my well travelled 1/16 British Sherman 2A to show what I mean.

I am really looking forward to Migs workshop to see what he does .

I generally thing that in the case of wethering that less is best. Rusty tracks and massively chipped and stained tanks are a real turn off for me.

Ive attached a photo that i took last year of the King Tiger in La Gleize clearly showing the leaking oil seals on the hubs. I realize this is not an in service tank, but the oil staining is likely to have been a common occurance in the field.

Tim