Madbadger , for weathering ( just one idea) I use pastel chalk applied with a brush. Any art supply shop will have these. Just shave some off grind to dust and apply with brush, of course you must use a clear matt coat overall to finish. Best part about this form of weathering is , if you dont like it , you wipe wash it off and go again easily.

hi i bought some tamiya weathering kit yesterday, i have ordered a tin of Dullcote and will cover it once i have finished weathering. I want to bend/damage the side skirting, have you any suggestions on how to do this without damaging it to much, e.g. melting it with a heat gun??

Kev

Haven't been game enough to do this myself, however from what I've read , a heat gun , a soldering iron and some pliers. Theres no coming back from this process , so take it slow and deliberate.Others have replaced the mud skirts with brass and heated it till it becomes plieable then bent it. I like that idea better myself. I am doing two tigers at the moment, and one is my KEEPER ,so it gets a lot of attention. I have spent a lot of time on the suspension so that its no longer the standard weak heng long variety ( 6mm metal axels) Its unbreakable now.Completly recommend the steel tracks, there great.

First I thinned them out by sanding them down. Then I heated them up with a soldering iron, never touching, just as close as I could get and when it started to bend, used pliers or an object to replicate damage. Take it slow. If you remove them from the tank it's easier to thin and heat with a hair dryer instead then glue them back on.

The 142 Tiger didn't get the guards thinned, just heated and bent. Be patient and take your time. Also consider what realistic damage would look like, you can see some examples that seem pretty far fetched in the gallery.

Ohh, the fenders on my Tigers are the earliest 2 piece design so if you replicate missing fenders on tanks other then the 501 tanks that went to Tunisia, there would be nothing left but the mount for the screws on the hull side, little squares.

hey madbadger did you get my PM, i sent two but according to my inbox it says i have no sent messages?

Madbadger, your tank looks great. I would suggest you spray your tank with Dullcoat before you start weathering. This will seal and protect your original paint job. Weather with washes of thinnned acrylic paint, and dust up the tank with your airbrush. If you goof up the weathering, you can then use Windex to strip the weathering off and do it again. The coat of dullcoat will protect your original paint job from the stripping action of windex.

Also if you use chalk powders, be warned that when you spray this with Dullcoat you loose at least half of the intensity of the powders on the tank.

thanks for all your info, i have been weathering with the tamiya kits, its looking even better now, i can recommend these kits, they really do make a difference. I will post some photos for you to look at, just a few more hours and i will be ready to photograph....

cheers

Kev