Mud recipes anyone?

Maybe this would work... brown flocking mixed into mud-colored flat paint. If you do it with enamel, it might even be able to stipple shoot out of an airbrush such as a Paasche H with the largest (#5) head assembly. Keep adding thinner until it does come out of the airbrush (if it ever does). I don't know. It's just an idea.

Many years ago my roomate used to use instant coco mix and white glue. Not only would he brush it on but I remember him loading an old tooth brush and fanning the bristles to splatter it on his tanks. I wish I'd paid more attention but his results were very good.

There is a good article in the May 2003 FSM about applying mud to armor, if you have any back copies.

I use chalk pastels fixed in place with gloss clear.
The flash from the camera has wiped out alot of the detail, but the mud effect looks pretty real.
After I applied it, I placed a little dry pastel dust to give the impression of wet/dry mud in areas.

I've used pastel chalk dust mixed with an acrylic clear as a binder, and it seems to come out pretty good, more or less the same technique as what Sean did with his Panther. I have also used sprayed the mixture out through a anir brush in the manner that David suggested (not a Paasche H but a Chinese clone of a Badger 350, more or less the same as an H), and with the tip opened fairly wide it sprays easily enough. By spraying, you can give yourself a dusty appearance, or blend dustiness on the hull with matching "mud" on the tracks.

Andy

What would happen if you used actual mud? I have plenty of it here. I could ship it to you....for a nominal fee

I've been using two techniques in conjunction with the MMP weathering powders. A little cap full of Future mixed with the powder color of your choice, and applied with a old brush. Works like a champ.

Second technique, is to take the same powders, mix them with rubbing alcohol, and spray through the airbrush. The mix wants to separate immediately, so you have to keep it stirred and spray only small amounts at one time. The effects are perfect dusting, that nice thin layer of dirt or mud, and ground-in dust in high traffic areas like hatches and front glacis plates. It also works real well if you want to deposit mud or dirt into crevices like road wheels, on tracks, etc.. It will get quite dark when you apply it, but once the rubbing alcohol evaporates away, it returns to the original color. Apply it a bit heavier than you like, so that once you've dull-coated it, there's something left, as the clear flat tends to negate much of the effect.

Jeff

Mud recipe
Mud was a mixture of:
Fine grey railway ballast - 50% ground fine, 50% left normal
Two types of fine brown railway 'scatter'
Green and brown static grass
Tamiya Nato Brown
Tamiya flat white - mix until required shade
Water

Note* The wet mix is MUCH darker than the dried finish - be aware when adding the white to the mix
Highlights were airbushed onto the mud using Tamiya Nato Brown+Hull red 50/50, 70/30 thinners/paint, and also Tamiys buff (same ratio)

look in sheperd paine's book on armor vehicles and dioramas, they have sections on mud on vehicles and groundwork.

My idea might PO the ladies, but take a good look in the makeup section of some drug or varity store. The bottles of liquid foundtion and pads of eye makeup come in the same colors as mud and clays from any place on earth. Years ago, I noticed that when my wife's " natural " ( ??? ) foundation dried on the threads of it's container, it looked exactly like the Oklahoma mud outside. She didn't think it was funny, but our daughters thought it was hallarious.
Anyway, take some of this stuff, tint it a little with some Ritz dye ( clothing dye and a little bit of that goes a LONG way.) to dial-in the color you want. When it's applied and dried, you'll have it made ( mud ? ) in the shade. Even if some eventually falls off, the residue will still look like mud stains.