Cool little project.  Stickpusher just finished one of these.  I'm not an armor guy either.  Figure turned out nice.  I used to have a Nikon coolpix camera that had a great macro feature but would really intensify shades of orange.  

I’m gonna say dial it back several notches. Operational AFVs are not going to be so rusty. Especially on large flat areas of armor. The edges of the stowage boxes and fenders, a little wear and tear is typical. But then it might be a good idea for some dents and bends on that sheet metal. A small bit along hinges and hatches. Paint used on AFVs is pretty tough. And unless it’s a sheet metal area likely to flex, such as the fenders and stowage boxes, it won’t easily chip off. The mufflers will get rusty, but more of a dark shade, not so bright.

I agree with Stik, back then, armored vehicles had just replaced horses as the primary mode of transportation of soldiers. Horse soldiers took very well care of their animals and tack. That translated to taking very well care of their mechanical horses.

That tradition remains today with tankers and artillerymen taking very good care of their weapon systems.

Yeah as the guys said the rust is a little excessive unless it's supposed to be an abandoned vehicle. Otherwise nice work, the figure came out great.

And as you said those vintage Tamiya models are a great chance to learn about building armour with a cheap kit.

Thanks for the comments and tips everyone. I didn't see any historical of them rusted out like this either so I know I missed the mark on accuracy. I was wanting to try the rust kit and went overboard a bit lol. Next time very minor rusting in specific areas as mentioned above...

Also in terms of rust, metal on an armored vehicle varies greatly and the amount of rust on those parts will vary as well. On the actual steel armor plating, you're not going to get much rust. However, on sheet metal items like fenders, brackets, etc. they can get rust especially when they get dinged up, scraped or shot up in combat.

Then there is the unpainted metal of tracks and exhaust components. They tend to get surface rust.