Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tamiya M4A1 Update




Here are a few more pictures of my in-progress M4A1. I've applied some base coats and highlights to the tank, which is completely assembled except for the rear grate and the stowage on the rear deck. I used Tamiya acrylics for all the airbrushing. I will use a combination of Vallejo acrylics and oils for the detail painting and weathering effects that will come later.

I painted a base of Fat Black on the entire lower hull making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. I followed this with a pre-shade of the hull top with more Flat Black. As stated earlier, the grate on the rear was left loose and just pressed into place to allow for easier painting of the exhausts later. The hull has a base of Olive Drab followed by a highlight coat of Olive Drab and Dark Yellow mixed in no particular proportions. If you look closely, you can see some of the vertical streaking on the side. I intentionally mix it slightly on the light side since a coat of Future for the decals will darken the finish considerably and minimize the different paint tones.

After the upper hull was dry, I mixed some Flat Earth and Flat Black for the first set of earth tones on the suspension. I will apply some more highlights using different earth tones to bring out more of the detail later. I generally follow the logic that recessed details will be darker and those closer to the viewer will be lighter so the bogies will be painted in lighter tones.

I'll try to post more photos as I go along.

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