Finishing with dirt, oil and bare steel for weathering scale models

If you look at any photo of a Char B1 Bis tank from WWII, you will notice they are usually very heavily weathered. That was the goal I set when painting this model, and for all weathering of scale models. I even chose a horizontal camouflage pattern that would contrast nicely with streaks and stains. I think I achieved that, re-enforcing the weather and grime streaks with mud and oil stains.

But before I did that I added an acrylic medium rust wash. I applied it over top of the existing dark rust spots, to give them a staining effect and blended it in with some thinners.

Adding rust wash.

Blending the rust wash to make stains.

Streaking some of the rust wash.

Then it was time for the underside to get dirty.

As a foundation for the dirt and mud I used some acrylic mud from Ammo, it is a thick resin with grit in it which dries slightly opaque. The color was not such an issue at that stage as I was going to add my own colors anyway.

I applied it to the underside of the fenders, along the track skids and around the wheel bays. Also not forgetting the mud shoot and the spills down the side of the hull. I added it in stages because it dries relatively quickly. Once a stage was done I blended it and dragged it down the sides using thinners, tap water works fine too.

Adding the acrylic mud base to the sprocket bay.

Mud along the skids and in the mud shoot.

Blending the acrylic mud.

Once it had cured it was time to add the color, I did this in three stages. The first was a watered down mix of two light pigments, ashes white and brick dust from Mig productions. This acted as a light dried mud color and I applied it to all of the areas that had the resin mud.

Applying the first pigment wash.

A heavy wash for the undersides.

The next was a more concentrated mix of burnt umber pigment from Vallejo. This wash represented damp mud and I applied it only inside of the light mud areas.

Adding the Burnt Umber pigment.

Heavy mud streaks in the wheel bay.

The final stage was a dark earth pigment from Humbrol. Just like the previous steps , but this time kept it to the very middle of the mud patches with a fine brush to represent wet mud.

Final pigment, Dark Earth.

Over flowing mud shoot.

To tie all of these coloring stages together I added a splatter effect using the same pigments as before. To make this effect I loaded a brush with wet pigment and then flicked it over a toothpick on to the model.

Starting with the mud splatters.

Flicking mud on to the fenders.

The mud effect is all coming together.

Using lighter colors.

The heaviest splattering on the rear of the hull.

The final result looked like built up mud and grime flicked up by the tracks and collecting on ridges over a period of time.

Next up were some serious oil and grease stains. In fact I had a specific weathering product for this called Fresh Engine Oil from Ammo. It's a dark, semi translucent mixture and it dries to a gloss finish.

Firstly I used it around the fuel cap as fresh gasoline spillage. I also made a couple of other spills on the top deck.

Fresh spills around the fuel cap.

I then moved on to the caps on the drive sprockets, the greasing ports, along the sides of the hull and the mud shoots.

Grease and grime from the sprocket caps.

Starting on the spills for the side of the hull.

Adding grime to the mud spills.

I made another pass with the mixture but this time I added a little bit of black oil paint. I concentrated it in the middle of the streaks to give it a darker contrast.

Heavy spills a common sight on these tanks.

Going over the spills with a little black oil paint added to the mixture.

Staining the greasing ports and the grills.

Darkening up the sprocket streaks.

That was essentially the weathering on the tank done, I still had a few bits and pieces to paint up before I added them to the tank.

The tracks I had to treat a little differently on this build as apposed to say German or American tank tracks. These were steel welded pads and had a large surface area, so I couldn't do the usual and have them black with metal and rust highlights. I really wanted to capture the bare steel look and roughness as the cleats would have scraped against the ground.

I primed the tracks in Mission Models black primer for a starting point. I then dabbed on different shades of gray to create a sort of mottled effect and then finished with a light gray for highlights.

Base coating in Mission Models black primer.

Dabbing on a mixture of grays.

Sponge chipping some lighter gray.

Adding highlights.

It was ok, but it didn't wow me and say bare steel. Then I remembered I had a couple of tubes of True Metal wax paint from AK Interactive, Steel and Brass. I'd not used them before, but this was the perfect opportunity to give them a go. I mainly used steel and started to dry brush it on. I also mixed in a little brass and some burnt umber oil paint as I went to give the surface some tonal variation, which worked really well. It made it look like worn tarnished steel.

Dry brushing on True Metal wax.

True Metal wax can be buffed to give it more shine.

Here I have added brass and burnt umber to the steel.

Next I started on a series of washes. First was a black pin wash then a burnt umber wash, with oils.

Black oil pin wash.

Dark rust wash using burnt umber oil.

Then another pin wash with rust pigments and finally one with earth pigments.

Rust pigment stains.

A dusty earth wash with pigments.

To top it all off I ran a graphite stick over the cleats and raised areas.

Art graphite stick for metal highlights.

Running the graphite stick length ways across the cleats.

The chains for the back I let soak in a tarnishing liquid a couple of times and then dry brushed on some of the wax paint and added some rust pigments.

The shackles and chains were done in a similar way to the tracks.

Adding the chains back on in a particular way.

All of the loose parts were then added to the tank. Antenna, tools, exhausts, chains, shackles, and the tracks held in place with a metal pin.

The tracks go on to complete the model.

The tracks held in place with a brass pin, they remain moveable.

That was that, and the Char B1 Bis was finished. Over all I've loved building, painting and weathering this tank.

I've been able to use a great deal of techniques, even some new ones to achieve the finish I wanted.

Adding all of the textures and cast markings, scratch building the radio equipment and railing. The heavy weathering and mud. Getting a realistic metal finish on the tracks and chains. They have all added up to something I am very proud of, and it makes me excited for more French armor in the future.

As this is a finished model there will be a full gallery of images and a YouTube video to follow.

Here are a few photos of the result.