Armour newbie tips

[binbrook87]

Hi All.

 

I've dabbled a couple of times with smaller scale armour models but being an aircraft modeller I am looking for some tips on painting armour.

 

Do you assemble the entire tank (or whatever) and then paint, or perform some pre painting on the hull, wheels, tracks etc first? I've seen youtube clips where some just build the whole thing then prime with a dark grey or black... then top coat. This surely leaves some areas either unpainted or not painted correctly (like the rubber of the wheels or tracks). Or does this really matter as you likely going to cover a lot of the paint up with mud and grime etc?

 

Be interesting to hear your thoughts on your preferred methods, as being an aircraft modeller pre painting becomes the norm but can be time consuming hence the attraction of armour where you can just 'crack on' 😁

[noelh]

Well I always pre painted the wheels before assembly. Just try to paint the rubber tyres on a Tiger or Panther with all those interlocking discs? Also the lower hull before adding the wheels. Same with the tracks. With some  tanks like the Churchill you might  get away with it.

 

You  can't  rely on weathering to cover it up unless you are simply going to  daub mud everywhere.

 

My main tip is to avoid too much rust unless the tank is burnt out. 🙂

 

Yes the advantage of armour modelling is that you can 'crack on' and mistakes are easier to hide. 🤐😏

 

But if you look at some of output from the really good  armour modellers. You can see the real skill.

 

 

 

[Stef N.]

Similar to noel. I tend to paint the main components separately.

 

Wheels so you can get paint on the backs and paint tyres etc.

Body so you can get the paint into all areas and the beginnings of weathering on the under carriage. This is easier without the wheels in the way.

Turret.

Tracks.

Tools depend on where they are on the vehicle. Some are easy to handpaint in situ. Some are awkward or in the way of other sections so they will painted off and glued on later.

[noelh]

Yes as Stef says you can  paint the  main components separately. For example I'm  building a  Meng King  Tiger at the  moment so I  built the  turret first. I'm  well  pleased with it.

 

Now I'm  working on the  tracks. Yes I  foolishly  bought the separate individual track kit. You have to  be bit zen about applying dozens of tiny track pins smaller  than,  frankly bloody anything. Just  so you  have realistic sag on your tracks  which  no  one except YOU will notice.

 

So yes modelling  armour  may seem easier but it's  just  as complicated as as aeroplanes if you're  not  careful.

 

 

 

 

[Tojo72]

I generally assemble almost the whole tank including on board tools.I will leave of road wheels and tracks,I will paint and weather them off the tank.

I also leave off small pieces and antennas that are easily knocked off.

Also I don't use grime or mud to cover up sloppy modeling,leads to bad habits,assemble and paint everything as if it's going to be seen.

That's just me.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Tojo72

[Modelholic]

If the kit has individual or link and length tracks I assemble and paint the lower hull. Paint and fix wheels make the track (with sag where appropriate) paint and fix. Then mask all the track and wheels with  'boxes' made from paper before continuing up the vehicle.

Armoured cars and trucks definitely have their wheels fixed after major painting.

Tom

[binbrook87]

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. 👍👍 Seems like painting the wheels, tracks and hull separately is the way to go. I suppose it also depends on the final colour too and if the wheels are covered with side skirts etc. 

[Pete Robin]

Sorry, can't offer any sage advice here, but I will say approach it logically and work out your own approach. It'll be obvious if things need painting before assembly, BUT don't make assumptions. LOL. You'll find out that at some point you won't bother painting something cos it's not visible. WRONG! LMAO! It's just like building a/c, or cars, or diggers, or whatever. You read the instructions. Then disregard the sequences to suit yourself and your technique. Disasters are going to happen. Embrace em. Keep em for practice. I had a few in a box that had been used as test mules. Now they had some interesting paint schemes.😉

Above all enjoy the experience oh, and welcome to the murky world of AFV's.

Regards

Pete

 

[sardaukar]

Smaller scale? Is that 1/72? I think it can be a bit more forgiving than 1/35 if you choose to assemble the model entirely before painting. Most youtubers I see who work in 1/72 seem to do full assembly first.

 

I mainly model in 1/72 and tend to work in sub assemblies but it depends on the kit, look at the instructions and try and work out a sequence and it probably won't be the same sequence as suggested by the instructions. Turret generally always stays off until the end.  Most kits you can assemble the Hull fully and leave off the wheels and tracks for separate painting. However any tank with side skirts is likely to mess that plan up.

 

In 1/72 it is worth considering the impact painting parts is going to have if you are going to glue them together later. Link and length tracks can be a bit tricky to paint and the glue together. Rubber band tracks will often lose a lot of paint when trying to fit them. Either way you may end up doing touch up work. Camo schemes are something else, I might just base coat the model in sub assemblies and do the camo when fully assembled, you may end up having to mask areas like the running gear later to achieve this.

 

Also using a dark undercoat colour can hide mistakes later when your base coat doesn't go into every nook and cranny. 

[binbrook87]

Thanks for the comments again guys. Much appreciated. I've tackled a few 1/72 and 1/48 armour models before but was never quite happy with how i went about painting and wondered if there was an easier way in 1/35. Think I'll tackle each build separately and see the best way to pre-paint or not. I've been watching some of 'Andy's Hobby Headquarters' builds on YouTube and he seems to always prime with Nato black hence why I was keen to see what you guys tend to favour 

[sardaukar]

For small scale armour I'd recommend watching Plasmo although for larger scale stuff Nightshift is probably the master. There is a ton of stuff on youtube although not always easy to find when the algo keeps trying to show you frowning cats or whatever 😀.