The latest round of effort focused on the tracks and beginning the weathering process for the exterior. First step with the tracks involved airbrushing a base coat of MM enamel Burnt Umber and letting that thoroughly set up and cure before proceeding with the next steps. This is something I had done last week, so they had a full week to sit before work began with them.
Next step involved dry-brushing MM enamel Steel with a 00 round sable brush. This adds a metallic look to the links and replicates the contact wear from the idlers, return rollers, and sprocket teeth.
Track on the left has been fully dry-brushed, track on the right is in the base coat only to show the contrast.
Next step involves applying a wash of enamel Raw Umber using the same 00 brush. The wash isn't applied too heavily but is used to blend in the Steel from the previous step and provide a more subtle look/feel to the track.
Track on left after wash, track on right pending wash application to show the contrast.
This gets the tracks ready for pigment weathering in later steps, I also dry-brushed Steel on the track faces but didn't apply the Raw Umber wash there as there's no real point to that and it runs the risk of getting thinner into the pins, which can make the runs brittle potentially.
I turned to the exterior and started the weathering process with the application of an enamel Raw Umber wash. This is only a foundation for the later dot filtering steps and will get blended in with that process.
In the course of applying the wash I noticed something strange going on around the barrel sleeve. At first I thought a small hair had gotten left behind by one of the brushes but closer examination revealed it was a series of hairline cracks.
I hadn't dropped the vehicle and it hadn't taken any damage, so I can only assume this is a legacy from the fit issues I had earlier with the ball mantlet. A quick check on the other side revealed similar cracks appearing there also. These didn't show up during the assembly process or during painting, but we have had a lot of rain lately and perhaps the increased humidity caused it to flex and reveal the cracks.
I had to give this some thought as to how best to repair and settled on liquid glue to fill the cracks and restore some integrity to the sleeve. I used finger pressure to help seal the cracks but that alone wasn't enough, so some added putty work was necessary. I used small amounts of Squadron White putty rolled over the cracks with a round toothpick and carefully sanded down with a sanding twig. The liquid glue application revealed the extent of the damage was greater than I had originally thought.
Some careful work with a detail brush and some light dry-brushing restored the finish.
I'm going to let that sit and fully cure and then will have to re-seal the barrel sleeve with Future before the weathering can proceed. Didn't get as far as I wanted to as a result of the repairs but glad they surfaced now instead of later on when it would've been much harder to fix!