King Tiger makeover 2017

Phil Woollard · Post by **Phil Woollard** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:17 pm

Weathering underway.
Mick your like a spring chicken , that RR is going to be good!

Hi Vince, ref the tracks question, as the track pieces come from Armortek they have a rather nice matt blackish finish which is fine for a vehicle just off the production line, so if your portraying a new vehicle that base is fine, I wouldn't worry to much about cleaning the links first either, maybe just degrease and let them age gracefully, for that aged look a rust wash from a spray pen in all the nooks and crannies then remove the unwanted with a rag and meths. For a used in the field look then you will need to add greys, buff, browns, blacks and rush wash, which takes forever as there are many links as you know each with a myriad of surfaces.The base colour is dependant on the condition in theatre but generally black is a good start.

The camo application, I use a spray pen and pin stripe masking and a brush, the units in the field used what I know as an underseal spray gun, leaving a fuzzy edge most of the time, some was done with a large brush giving a sharper outline. In our scale a sharper outline looks more convincing in my opinion, if we use a brush and leave brush marks in scale they look lumpy and raised .My lines are not perfect but I will blend in just a tad and touch up where necessary.

A spray pen/air brush costing around ten pounds lasts me one year but I do use a large compressor and I mean large as in 25ltrs.

Hope this helps regards Phil.

Vince Cutajar · Post by **Vince Cutajar** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:40 pm

Thanks for that explanation Phil.

I don't have an airbrush but (like you), I do have a large compressor. So it seems that one can connect an airbrush to a large compressor. I guess an adaptor is required to connect to the smaller airbrush air line.

Vince

Phil Woollard · Post by **Phil Woollard** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:31 pm

If you type in modellers airbrush to eBay you should find the kit that will have adapters for just such a connection and the glass paint hopper the same dia and thread as the Tamiya xf paint pot range, so it's very convenient. Around £10 to £15 is good enough, you just have to learn how to drive the thing!

Regards Phil.

Phil Woollard · Post by **Phil Woollard** » Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:02 am

Some nice weathering reference photos for your "rat rods"

Please note this is just my humble opinion regarding practical weathering.
What some find hard to grasp is, it's not real, it's a compromise, it's a bit of theatre, it's a lot of theatre, it's practical, it's messy, it can be expensive, it need not be expensive, its time consuming, it's artistic, it's as accurate as it is in the eye of the beholder, it's your own but above all it should be fun and enjoyable!

Good debate.
It would be sad to think that builders could be put off posting on this brilliant forum for fear of their efforts not being appreciated.

Phil Woollard · Post by **Phil Woollard** » Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:11 am

The KT is almost done, just the fiddly details to paint then some test driving trials with some VT see how she looks and sounds, and then she's up for sale.