Thank you everybody for your awesome compliments and warm welcome. This was a fun project of a cool old kit (what? Late 60's early 70"s I think.). It's simple enough to easily be a weekend build but with enough room to spend forever adding as much scratch built goodness as you please. Particularly the fairly well detailed engine that just begging for plug wires, bolt heads, belts, fan ect...as well as the tracks, which leave a lot to be desired. I kept it a minimum because of my self imposed dead-line. The convertible top, seats, dash, door pouches and a few other bits are all scratched. Along with cutting and re-positioning the figs.
Jim- It's an all plastic kit. The beat up finish is pretty easy. I start with finishing it as normal with a good paint job and decals with a final coat of Future. Then with a piece of torn off of a cheap foam brush I slowly dab brown and red-brown on the areas of heavy wear. Trying to keep in mind where boots, hands and the environment are mostly likely to effect it. Then came multiple oil washes of raw umber, burnt umber and burnt sienna. Areas of newer rust and sand accumulation got treatments of ground chalk pastels set with turpinoid, for a much more orange-red or dusty and textured appearance. A final black pin wash made certain details pop All of this was sealed with a couple coats of flat. Finally, after masking the wiper swipes on the windshield, I quickly and lightly sprayed it with heavily diluted deck tan for an overall dusty look. That's it. If I can do it, anyone can.