Hi 1Scott,

I did not use an airbrush on my Pershing because that sort of precision is not needed in my estimation (tanks appear pretty rough on the exterior). I was guided to the idea of using the oft-mentioned Krylon olive drab for the paint finish. It is economical, accurate enough (at least for me) for WWII "lusterless olive drab" and one 12 oz. can can cover the whole tank. I will most likely add progressively lighter washes of Testors OD to represent faded paint so the final effect may be different from what comes from the can. There's so many variables with paint anyway.
ModelMaster FS34087 Olive Drab is good I hear...

I took the tracks off, masked off the roadwheels and painted the lower hull from all different directions. I have remarkably good coverage for a measly spray can. I painted the steel rims/hubs of the roadwheels but didn't feel like repainting the black rubber "tires" so I made a simple circle template cut from index card to mask off the adjacent areas from overspray.

I'm not going to use decals for the bumper numbers/reg. numbers but am thinking of just spraying white paint, again aerosol, through a template cut in masking tape or plain paper. May use dry transfers for the lettering. Some experimentation is in order.

In lieu of using modeling putty for plastic models, I picked up some Bondo glazing & spot putty and am amazed how well it works. It dries fairly quickly and almost has the durability of dried cement. Easily sanded and yet can be carved to a certain degree. I'm going to mix some with acetone, apply it to turret and hull and stipple it with a brush to replicate the cast steel surface on the real thing.

I'm having fun correcting all the minor scale errors on the Pershing at this time but I expect to post pictures soon.

Apologies for being so verbose.
-Harq