Once the basic camouflage was applied I wanted to add some light scratches and chipping.
I made a wet pallet for acrylic paint and added to it all of the colors I had used on the camouflage, as well as white.
To apply the paint to the model I took the smallest brush I had and cut all but a few strands, giving me a super fine brush. This was perfect for painting in long thin scratches and building up the chipping with total control. I kept mostly to panel lines and raised areas with only some in the middle of panels.
once I had gone over the entire model it was time to add deeper scratches with black grey from Vallejo.This time I added the paint only to some areas I had already been, painting inside the existing scratches.
The model was then ready for a clear gloss coat. A couple of reasons I do this, first it protects all of the work that has been done so far and second it sets the model up for decals.
I used Tamyia's TS-13 Clear Gloss in a spray can, I love this product as it sets very level and it dries to a nice hard glossy shell. The down side is it is very volatile and if not careful it has the potential to ruin a model. I make sure to only spray in light coats, letting it dry in between.
For the decals I used my usual routine. Micro-Set before I applied the decal and Micro-Sol after it was in position. For the blue hearts on the turret I cut slits in them so they would fit over the lifting hooks, then I matched the blue and painted the hooks.
To keep the continuity throughout the tank I added scratches to the decals as well, some light and some heavy scratching.
The model was once again coated in a clear gloss ready for the subsequent oil weathering to come.
