Whitewashing history

     In an attempt to keep this blog alive (I've been busy) I thought I would do a quick post on a project I started at new year and a show a technique that I have been playing with - how to whitewash a WW2 Soviet tank. Ignore the bad lighting etc, I took these photos more for my own usage than to go up on here.

        First up I did my normal tank painting routine. Spray the appropriate colour, do the tracks and tyres, add the transfers and you have a factory fresh pristine tank with no highlights. At this point I gave the tank a quick varnish just to stop anything happening to it in the next stage.

       Next I sat down with a bowl of salt on my painting table. I blue-tacked over the transfers and then, using a wet brush, painted over the areas that I thought the whitewash would chip or rub off of the quickest, dunking the model into the salt before it could dry to stick the salt on.

      The next stage was to leave the salt to dry and once it was drybrush the whole tank white, then repeat the drying process. Once the white has dried (half hour or so just to make sure) wash off any salt your brush hasn't already taken off and remove the blue-tac. At this point, it is worth using more dry brushed white to tidy up the messy bits - so around the transfers and any bits that just plain got missed.

      Then the last stage is to do whatever counts as normal weathering for you. I went a bit over the top rusting the front armour tracks but I am pleased with the rest. I was aiming for an army set at the end of the winter so the whitewash is coming off and is caked in dirt. I also tried to add some of the snow flock I used on the bases of my soldiers just to tie them in but I think I will down that down on my next few tanks.

      The last photo is of my tank being used in it's maiden game (as a painted model), it did worse than the unpainted tank it was paired with but that's the way this stuff goes.

Thanks for reading