Gettin' muddy! (Patreon)

Muh friends, my apologies! I don't know what happened, but I just had the weirdest mental block in a long time. As I was getting ready to start adding mud effects to the lower hull, I simply froze in place. I wanted to try a different product (and approach) and I was very unsure about the process and results. But okay, after much struggle I've got the lower hull and wheels (except the sprockets, these will be weathered with the tracks since they're glued to them) weathered. Some additional stains and contrast will be added once the entire running gear is assembled. 

So what was different? I wanted to try a dark muddy paste as I decided to situate this tank in an autumn setting. Wet Ground from AK is nice and dark, but it's extremely glossy. Not even glossy, it's downright shiny! This created an awful effect at first, but luckily it was easy to knock it down with VMS Flat Varnish (this thing can save anything, lol). After that I piled various natural debris such as sea ball, leaf scatter and those birch seeds I collected a few months ago. Everything glued with VMS Ballast Freeze and then I "post-shaded" the texture with Buff Tamiya paint. Just the relatively "clean" areas to give some impression of a drying mud.

Then it was, of course, all about enamels, and I used the same approach as on the Jagdpanther, just in different intensities. It's interesting how everything can be dictated by the texture (acrylic mud and loose debris). While the enamel techniques were pretty much the same, the effect is vastly different. 

Wheels were done in the same way. I didn't glue them in place just yet because I'll add some extra dark mud and maybe a few oil leaks here and there. That will be determined by the weathered tracks - it's easier to achieve harmony when you see everything in place. 

On a side note, I've shown the model to my airbrush guru friend and he said the posh shading looked alright, but it could use some additional variety in a few places, such as less texture and maybe more gradients. Sort of a combination of mottling and color modulation. Noted and we'll see how the next model will look like! 

Lastly, my HS Evolution died the other day and started leaking air. Ordered a Fengda BD230 in my local airbrush store and it arrived today. It'll be my main airbrush for "rough" work such as priming, base coating, varnishing, etc. so I'm running it with a 0.3mm nozzle :) 

I wish you a great weekend!