Renault FT FINISHED: part 6 the weathering

Hey dear Readers

The Renault FT is finally finished and now waiting to be glued on the diorama that is still in progress. The three tone camo was first faded with oils (cadmium red deep, yellow ocher light, grass green and titanium white). After this, raw umber was used as a wash around the details and in the recesses and also used to emphasize the shading. I then left the tank to dry for one or two days and used raw umber and buff oils to create rain marks. The buff colour was also used to simulate the accumulation of dust around details. To prepare the tank for the final step I sprayed the lowest parts of the tank with highly diluted Tamiya buff. Finally I wanted was to represent a mix of dried mud and sand on the running gears and on the tracks. To achieve this I tried a new (to me) technique: I mixed some Vallejo German beige camo, Mig Productions Gulf War Sand pigments, a bit of plaster, water and Distress crackle paint medium from Clear Rock Candy. The hardest part here is to find the good quantity of each components, the mix shouldn't be too dry nor too wet. The aim of the crackle paint medium is to make the paint crackle so that it really gives the impression that the mud has been on the vehicle for some time and has dried so much that it started to crackle. To reach this purpose we must bear in mind that we are working on a 1/35th scale model and several tests are advised because a thick coat of the mixture will give more crackles but these will be also bigger than when we use a thinner coat of mixture. Nevertheless enough crackle medium should be used because otherwise no crackle appears after drying. This product is also quite glossy even when it dries therefore I used plaster and pigments to "mattify" the mixture.

Recap of the different previous steps of the building and painting process of this Renault FT:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

OK enough talking here are some pics. I hope you'll like the result. Enjoy and don't hesitate to leave comments, questions and / or constructive criticisms.

HAPPY MODELLING!