Burned out AFV

You don't love your models very much do you? lol. just kidding.

Well, so far I can set it on fire, blow it up with firecrackers, and smash it with a hammer. This just keeps getting better!

Mike,

If you are representing light metals (fenders, door panels etc) on thin skinned vehicles, they are going to be warped and torn both from the effects of the explosion and the ensuing fire. Armor plate on the other hand doesn't tear or warp but breaks or shatters and occasionaly bends from the effects of the explosion but doesn't really react to the fire. Shep Paine once stated that the best way to represent this was to smack the model with a ball peen hammer. Which is somewhat drastic if you ask me.

Steve, some good points..thanks. Question. The rust would be heavier at the point of impact I would guess, but anywhere the paint has been burned away would show a lighter layer of rust, corrrect? Also, what would the texture of the metal be and what steps to you take to replicate it?

Mike,

There are lots of ways to do this. I like to use pastels, sealed with a super flat overspray. Mixing dark red, brown and black and going over the areas that I want to look burned. I know from my combat experience that once a burned AFV sits for a day or two, the rust really takes over, (unless it is aluminum!). A lot of folks leave the rust thing out of thier depictions. Another trick that works, but is a little smelly, is to lay a piece of sprue across a candle wick until it fires an emits black smoke, then suspend parts over this to get real soot on the surfaces. I've even used charcoal residue from the backyard grill, looks pretty realistic as well.

Steve