Tutorial: How to make a white winter camo

Winter's camo are some of the most looked by modelers, it can be used over the 3 majors armies of the WW2 conflict (German, Soviet or American's) tanks and vehicles.

This technique I'll be describing here under can also be used for other camo like the desert camo.

Vehicles used for a long period in desert operations like the Afrika Korps or more recently in Irak are also a good exemple on how we can use this technique. The DAK vehicle were painted in dark grey and later on painted with desert tone over the dark grey.
With the combined effects of sand and wind the desert tone is removed or almost washed letting the dark grey coat appearing.

I even used this technique on my wreck tank, where I wanted to get the dark green colour almost washed off of the tank revealing the rust tone underneath.

So back to our winter camo, a little description of what you will need:

Chipping fluid or hairspay
Thin Brush N°00
Flat brush N°3
Round brush N°2
Custom made round brush, I used a round brush with hard bristle and cut the top
Tap water
Enamel Thinner


AK Interactive:

AK013 Rust Streaks
AK017 Earth Effect
AK024 Dark Streaking Grime
AK089 Heavy Chipping Fluid (if you are not using hairspray)

Tamiya acrylics:

XF-2 Flat White
XF-10 Flat Brown
X-18 Semi Gloss Black

Dark yellow wash (I'm making my own wash. When I'm brush painting, I'm using a recipient to clean my brushes. One for the dark tones like green or black, one for the brown and one for the sand or dark yellow. At the end of the day, I'm not throwing these tainted water, I let the paint settle down to the bottom of the recipient over the night. On the new day, I'm removing the excess of water as most of the paint and pigments are laying on the bottom. I'm recovering this very diluted paint into an old Tamiya bottle and my wash is ready. When I need it, I've only to shake the bottle before use. You can do it by diluting paint directly but it's just that I don't like to waste things.As this is water based, it will be useful to wash the paint out.

Here is the Tiger I'll use for this tutorial, the tank was first painted with the usual German camo and once dry, a coat of satin varnish is sprayed over all the model.

I recommend you to work on one area at a time, so the chipping fluid or the hairspray isn't too dry when you will be removing the white paint.

So, first a coat of hairspray or chipping fluid is sprayed. You need to protect the areas you're not working on with masking tape.

Once this coat is dry, it is time to spray the white. An other important point: the mapping, meaning you must spray less paint in some areas compares to others. Also depending of the effect you want to achieve very worn or not, you must spray less paint.

With a mix of dark yellow wash and tap water, using a flat brush, with vertical movement from top to bottom. It is important to get the brush barely wet. If your brush is wet or too wet you will remove more paint.

It is important to know where you want or need to remove the white. The areas where the crews are climbing on the tank or passing must reveal more of the original paint. The same with the edges, hatches, tool boxes etc.

Slowly, with low pressure on your brush, you will wet the paint, that will came off.

On the top of turret and flat areas on the hull, I'm using the hard brush, here not moving from top to bottom but in circles:

  This is how the turret looks now with the white paint being partially removed.

It is now time for the most laborious part, the bare metal chips. I prefer to do them with acrylics, as later we will use enamels for the streaking etc. For the bare metal colour, I'm mixing X-18 Semi Gloss Black  XF-10 Flat Brown. To drawn them I'm using a small thin 00 brush. In some areas I'm using the sponge technique too. I added some chips and streaks of dark yellow and dark grey in various places.

As you can see, by using a water based wash, diluted with tap water, this is creating light streaks and shadows.


We now have to let it dry for few hours before going to the next step: Streaking and dusting.

Now that our turret is dry, we can work on the model without damaging the previous work.

On some of the chips done previously, using the rust streaks I'm drawing small irregular lines.
The same with the streaking grime.
After a few minutes, with a thin round brush wetted in thinner, I'm stumping them.

On the welding lines, I'm putting first some thinner followed by small drops of streaking grime. In various places, I added rust, also blend with thinner.

Finally around the hatches, welding lines etc I'm adding earth colour again blended with thinner.

As you can see, it isn't hard or complicated to get a nice weathered winter wash for our tanks and vehicle.

WPL B 1/16 R/C Military truck painted as U.S. ARMY Truck

WIP U.S. Army truck with MERDC Camo

Like many I like the new truck made by Heng Long WPL B Truck, it can be an interesting add on for any tank unit.

This first model, I decided to get small up-date on it, new door handles, mirrors, lights covers etc.

First, it is important to get the right reference for the camo scheme:

I decided to go for the Winter Verdant topical of the U.S. vehicles used in Europe end of the 70's until beginning of the 90's for some of them.

I also pick up various exemple for the variation and worn effects:

Before starting the painting, I wanted to improve the model, so I removed the original printed front grill and created a new one with plastic card board:

First I painted it with a dark green primer:

For the next step I'll be using Vallejo acrylic colours 71.294 U.S. Forest Green, 70.873 U.S. Field Drab, some drop of 71.001 White to create the mapping and airbrush thinner.

While it dried, I painted and weathered the interior as well as the fuel tanks.

I made the fuel stains with AK Interactive Dark streaking Grime and Wet Fluid.

This is how it looks for the moment, a little bit too clean and new:

So, now let's start the weathering process.

For the weathering I used various AK interactive products:

AK080 Summer Kursk Earth
AK024 Dark Streaking Grime
AK074 Rainmarks for NATO Tanks
AK079 Wet Effect Fluid
Abteilung 502 Odourless Thinner to blend them

First I draw vertical lines from the top to the bottom, alternating each colour.

I repeat it various time

The body and chassis are now almost ready, the bed needs now to get its weathering too.

For the pigments I mixed Vallejo 73.104 Light Sienna and 73.121 Desert Dust. I fixed them using Abteilung 502 Odourless Thinner

How to weather tank tracks

How to weather tank tracks

Depending if you are using plastic or metal tracks, you won’t get the same aspect, even more if you are using your tank outside.

In this tutorial, I’ll be weathering 2 kind of plastic tracks: Tiger 1 tracks, they are without rubber and U.S. T91E3 track with rubber.

What I’ll be using for this:

Acrylic colours:

Tamiya:

XF-9 Hull Red, XF-10 Flat Brown, XF-64 Red Brown, XF-52 Flat earth, X-18 Semi Gloss Black and XF-16 Flat Aluminium.

Washes:

Vallejo rust effects wash

Lifecolor LPW 07 Eroding Dark Rust, LPW 08 Eroding Light Rust

AK Interactive Streaking Rust Ak 013

Pigments:

Vallejo Dark Red Ocher 73.107 and Brown Iron Oxyde 73.108

Home made Graphite Black (made out of pencil)

After a coat of primer, I’m applying various layers of Tamiya acrylic brown tones randomly:

XF-9 Hull Red, XF-10 Flat Brown, XF-64 Red Brown, XF-52 Flat earth.

Once dry, with a brush I’m putting washes once more time randomly but on the parts less in contact with the ground.

On the rubber tracks, it is the time to paint the rubber pads. For them I’m using a mix of XF-1 Matt Black mixed with XF-57 Buff (80%-20%). You will have also to damage a little bit the rubber pads with a sharp knife (being careful for your fingers) to simulate the damages made to them as on the top picture.

Once completely dry, I’m dry brushing a mixture of X-18 Semi Gloss Black, XF-16 and Graphite Black. (75% - 10% - 15%)

Followed by some rust pigments:

While, on the rubber tracks, it is time for a dust wash followed by a dry brush with XF-52 Flatt Earth mixed with XF-67 Buff (75%-25%)

Of course depending on the operational theatre, you must match the mud and dust colour you’ve applied on your tank.

Now it is time to work on the inside of the tracks, where the wheels are in contact with the metal.

As you can see the track pads don’t show any wear (for the moment).

Time for the dry brush. I’m using a mix of Humbrol enamel: 21 Gloss Black and 191 Metalic you can also use metal cote gunmetal 21004 after a quick polish on it.

I’m using a custom made brush that I use only for that purpose.

First we need to put masking tape on the sides of the tracks where the wheels are not in contact with the tracks.

Once done we can start our dry brush. You must know exactly where your tank wheels are in contact with the metal of the tracks. In this example I'm using Tiger 1 tracks, in this tank 3 lines of wheels are in contact, also don't forget the guide horns on the inside, track pins and connectors on the edges and sides.

Here is the result once the masking tape is removed: