Rain streaks on active AFVs, your views?

[AndrewCJ50]

Dear Colleagues

 

For several years it has become the norm for armour modellers to finish their projects with a greater or lessor degrees of rain streaks of dust and dirt.  But how realistic is this look for a vehicle in action?  I can find this rain dirt streaks starting to form on my car but only after it has been sitting idle for a few weeks (thank you corona virus).  The slightest touch will disturb/destroy them.  I know that if I view an outdoor exhibit at an AFV in a museum (don't touch) the rain mark/streaks are very eye catching.

 

Have we got carried away thanks to viewing outdoor museum exhibits?  I'm not saying these rain streaks would not be present on vehicles in action, but I don't think they would be very eye catching.  The crew would be constantly clambering over the vehicle and the multiple challenges from wind, rain, dust and mud would surely destroy most of these filigree rain streaks?

 

What do you think?

 

Andrew

[Dads203]

They do exist on the real deal and it doesn’t take long to happen, take a tracked Or a wheeled vehicle out onto Salisbury Plain Training Area  for a weeks exercise in the summer and have a few hours rain.

All that dust that settles then gets washed down the sides, I would go as far and say that modellers do not take it as far as they should. If you have ever been on the plain or any other training area In the hot months then you’ll be familiar with the fine dust that gets everywhere. After a few days the green and black cam on the vehicles merged into a beige almost white mess. Add rain, oil, grease, boot marks and hand prints and a touch of rain on a matt paint job  ...Et voila ! 
 

In winter you get mud so the same thing happens just worse. 

[Longbow]

The best examples to see streaking are the Sherman tanks. 

But take a look at the M1 Abrams in Iraq, and you can still see streaking. 

 

How far you you want to take it is a matter of personal preference. 

 

[AndrewCJ50]

Thanks Guys

 

I guess the key ingredient here is rain.  I have been around tanks too on filthy wet days and the everything gets everywhere.  I suppose you need parts of tanks which rarely get touched and has suitable nodes for the streaks to build and start from?  Like the rear quarter of the Sherman above?

[Jasper dog]

Just to chip in, as well as has been mentioned above the difference you notice on a car compared to afvs is the type of paint and also the finish. Modern car paints are glossy, trendy matt and satin paint jobs aside and fairly resilient to most things (Not as much as they used to be but the "good" ingredients have been removed due to health and environmental concerns). And that's before we've even looked at the preparation prior to paint. Afvs mostly are matt,  these degrade faster in UV resulting in the fading you tend to see, it stains quicker and dirt clings, not to mention the preparation and then the finish is generally slightly inferior to that you might find on a new BMW for example.

 

And the discussion of scale effect on paint opens new rabbit hole to fall down!

 

Hope this helps

Darryl