Today was one of my more-productive sessions in a while. I started in on the pigment weathering for the tracks and this is where using a set of workable tracks really pays off in my view. I used the same water-and-dish soap approach here but used Mig Dry Mud pigments. It's a lighter pigment that works well with the dark color of the tracks and I applied it only to the bottom surfaces of the links. The intent here is to get it into the faces of the tracks but not as heavy an application as when I was working on the lower hull.
This is allowed to air dry, the result is much lighter than the wet mix would lead you to think, and I used a round stiff bristled brush to remove most of the pigment.
The reason I don't apply the wet mix to the top side of the track is that it's not necessary. The process of dealing with the bottom side translates into a light coating of fine pigment ending up on the top side due to the action of the stiff bristled removal from the bottom. Sounds a bit counter-intuitive but it is the result. Some adjustments with the same round brush on the top side and this is how the track run ends up.
I installed the tracks on both sides and glued the sprockets into position. Once the sprockets had set up, I used some dry Mig Dry Mud pigment to lightly dust the wheels and suspension as well as the hull side to create an additional layer effect and tie them in with the tracks.
Front hull received some dusting as well as did the spare track runs. I also applied some black artist pastels inside the muzzle of the 15cm gun to improve its look.
The rear hull and spare wheels were dusted along with the exhaust. Then I added the radio antennas using 2m brass rods from RB Models. I cut the rod down for the star antenna to the proper length and used CA gel and the kit-supplied "star" portion to assemble.
The fun part with the antennas was getting the tilt and alignment right on the different antennas. The impulse is to have them both straight and upright but that's not how they were due to the different bases and points of installation.
There are just a couple small things left to clean up like adding a little bit of bare metal wear to the track faces on the sprockets and idlers since the pigments largely removed what I'd put in place earlier. Tomorrow will see this one in the photo booth for the walk-around completion pics!