Thanks guys!

Chris: Yeah, everything was airbrushed. I've seen people here and elsewhere get spectacular results with pigments and pastels but I've never had much luck with them. Most everything here I borrowed from Steve Zaloga, I've tried a number of different styles but really like how he does stuff.

I just painted the thing in olive drab and then used the hairspray technique for the whitewash. You just spray some hairspray over the olive drab and then apply an uneven blotchy white coat over that. When it's dry take a moist (not wet!) stiff brush and drybrush it over the high points. The white will come off in an uneven streaked finish.

The 'mud' was just 'stucco' paint from the craft store applied over the lower hull and running gear in an uneven clumpy effect. Then I sprayed it all with Tamiya dark earth. I highlighted this with a little Tamiya buff working up the hull to blend the olive drab and white upper hull to the muddy lower hull.

On the Sherman I'm working on now I tried the hairspray technique on the 'mud' allowing me to chip and flake it away in places and get some nifty rain streaks on the mud splattered on the hull.  

I really like it,looking good from the whitewash and weathering along with the stowage,nice job.

I really like this build Gamera, I especially like the transition between the mud and the white camo.  What that airbrushed?

Hey thanks guys!

Jack: You got that right- it's one of about a dozen distractions... I wish I could be one of the those people who start one kit and work at it till I finish and then start another instead of having about two dozen unfinished projects lying around.

That is pretty cool looking - now I know why you haven't posted  much progress in the Japanese III GB - lol.

Again, Nicely done.

regards,

Jack

I agree with all of the above. Nice destroyer. Which way to Bastogne? Bob

Armornut: Thanks and good point there!

Terry: Hey thanks!

DM: Thanks a bunch for the help, I've been doing stuff the same old way for years and I'm trying to pick up some new stuff from guys like you and Karl. It's been a little difficult for this old dog to pick up some new tricks and I appreciate the help!

Gamera thats one great build, I especially like the way you blended in the weathering. Your winter weathering is awesome and you can see the attention to detail on every part, real nice….

Terry

Gamera

DM: Thanks and yeah on looking at the same photo there I noticed the shiny aluminum muzzle... I was just waiting for someone to point it out! Guess everyone was being polite until you were honest with me?

I didn't put any snow on the front of the tracks since I figured the vibration and heat from the friction would melt it and bend it with the mud. Maybe? I dunno... The snow on the running gear does need to be blended in better, sorry first time with this and I'm kinda bumbling around in the dark. Thanks for the advice - I can use all I can get!

 Nothing wrong with being honest about questionable details as it can be a big help; it's just how you say it that counts for a lot. That's one way wars could be avoided.

 About the track snow. If it was on the track (at the rear just after leaving the frozen ground) and headed toward the front  it's just a matter of seconds before that frozen snow would be present at the front.

And as far as first time goes...... 

        "we all   have to start somewhere".

It doesn't take guts to freeze your tail off , you just have to believe in doing something bigger than yourself , no disrespect intended to those who served or the ones who still are or yourself  Gamera just saying, those of us who've been in harms way did it so hopefully NO ONE would ever have to face that challenge again. As I should have led off with , your model looks fantastic, for your "bumbling attempt" ya knocked it out of the park. Thanks for showing and keep up the good work.

DM: Thanks and yeah on looking at the same photo there I noticed the shiny aluminum muzzle... I was just waiting for someone to point it out! Guess everyone was being polite until you were honest with me?

I didn't put any snow on the front of the tracks since I figured the vibration and heat from the friction would melt it and bend it with the mud. Maybe? I dunno... The snow on the running gear does need to be blended in better, sorry first time with this and I'm kinda bumbling around in the dark. Thanks for the advice - I can use all I can get!

NH: Thanks! That's a good tale, wish I'd have that much guts while freezing my tail off!

I like it!  I like it a lot!  And what is funny is it reminded me of this historical snippet from the battle of the bulge I saw recently. 

Dec. 23, 1944 - "Battle of the Bulge" - An entire U.S. armored division was retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American digging a foxhole. The GI, PFC Martin, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked, "Are you looking for a safe place?" "Yeah" answered the tanker. "Well, buddy," he drawled, "just pull your vehicle behind me...

I'm the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the b*****ds are going."

Brian

This looks super/great and all the advice given should greatly enhance your efforts.

 It would surely look fitting setting next to my M4A3E2 Sherman.

 The snow on the tracks (needs some on the front) looks proficient however I DO believe you need to mix a bit 'O mud with the track/snow effect though.

 Now, you just need to plop a drop of flat black down the barrel of that main gun.

 Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing a shine all the way down to the south pole in that barrel.

Hey thanks P38!

Looking pretty sweet.. !!

I did a similar build a few years ago of the same tank..

I do love those Miniart figure sets! So realistic in their poses. Karl's idea of meltwater and ice streaks on the side is a dang good one I think!

Thanks BD, not sure if she's all that but a big thank you all the same!!! Not sure when I'll get around to the abandoned German AFV and the dio but I do have this set of American tankers in overalls that I plan to use. Really nice set, they really get across the impression of these poor guys freezing their tails off in the Bulge. As you said if I can get across even a little bit of the blood, sweat, toil, and tears of these guys to give us what we have today I'll be very happy. 

Gamera. Fantastic build. I don't know how the snow looks in real life (The camera shapes perspective and reveals things my naked eye does not pick out initially.), but it sure looks good in the pics. Congrats on the snow. I have always felt that it would  be really hard to depict a snow scene. But with yours, I felt cold just looking at it. Then I got to thinking about the men who had to sit in that during the winter. In my opinion, the best tribute one can get from a model is to know that it causes people to imagine the real thing. Well done and congratulations.

Thanks Karl, didn't think of that. Great idea - I'll see what I can do.

Looks really nice. I would definitely add some glossy streaks though, to simulate meltwater and even frozen ice trails down the sides.

Thanks again guys!

Cody: Yeah I was very happy with how the white star comes though the whitewash like that. Wasn't really planned but it was a lucky accident! The vehicles I looked at didn't seem to have much other in the way of markings.

SP: I like the idea of the melted snow but not sure how to do it without having tell people that it's supposed to be wet and melted snow and not glossy areas I missed on the model!  

OK, now I got a better look at the photos on my tablet as opposed to my tiny phone screen. The snow effect definitely works. One thing I might suggest for your diorama is some wet spots or pools on the engine deck to suggest melted snow in that area from the heat of a running engine.

Yeah Gamera I like the snow.  Especially the fine layer on the top.   I especially like seeing the star even though there is a white wash and snow layer.  Very realistic.

Thanks SprueOne. I'm intending on working her into a small dio with an abandoned German tank sometime in the future so I just slapped her on an unfinished base just for the photo.

Your first attempt at distressed white wash looks good.

The 'snow' works for me. The white wash explains the winter snow story. If it was an olive green tank with the same sprinkling of snow on a non diorama, plain base like that, then it may not have been as clear 

Hey thanks guys, that means a lot! I tried a couple of new things here and I think they mostly came out pretty good. Funny, I tried some colour modulation but you can't see it for the whitewash and mud!

You guys think the 'snow' looks ok? As I said I thought about removing it, still sorta sitting on the fence. I tried to concentrate it where I thought it would collect and away from the warm areas like the engine deck and where the crew would knock it off.

I like it! Well worn from hard fighting in the Ardennes.

Nicely done. An impressive build.