Pegasus 1/72 German Army Truck - Part 6

Weathering and chipping...
Having weathered the underneath of the trucks it's time to work topside and add some character by means of dirt and scratches.  I started with a light airbrushing of dust (Vallejo's Model Air Yellow Sand)...

Light dusting of...er...'dust', then onto the pin washing.

This just gives a little film of dirt around the bottom edges of the trucks. Then I start adding the chipping. Now I suppose you could argue that you should do the chipping first THEN add a dust film, but I did the chipping second so it stood out (I could always spray a light coat of dust over that if I want to tone down the chipping scratches). I then did the pin-washing to accentuate all panel lines - as usual I used AK's Dark Brown Enamel Wash [AK 045] for this.

I then used Vellejo's German Grey (995) for the 'chips'. It's a dark slate grey which should give the impression of unpainted steel showing through the scratched top coat of paint. Now this part is open to interpretation and I would suggest you use a good reference photo when weathering and chipping or - like me - you may be tempted to go a little over the top (I like the heavily weathered look, but I am aware it can look a little gimmicky). So, sorry if my chipping isn't to your tastes!

Now, obviously, this dark chipping works great on light or medium coloured vehicles, less so though where the vehicle colour scheme is predominantly dark - as in the case of my second truck. There didn't seem much point in trying to paint on dark grey scratches on a dark grey truck! But where there are light patches and white decals I did add few grazes and spots.

The wood panels on the flatbed were next to get some attention.

Pin washing between the planks of the cargo flatbed. It makes them stand out.

And finally, I like to finish metal surfaces by running a graphite pencil over 'sharp' and 'worn' edges. The graphite can be polished up to give a metal shine that really gives the impression that there is a metal body under the top coat of paint. Also, I like to use the graphite in powder form too by simply sanding the pencil 'lead' so that I have a tiny amount of fine graphite which I can judiciously brush on to the surface to give a metallic sheen where I think it is appropriate.

Just finishing the wear & tear on the drivers step. The graphite
pencil gives the impression of the top paint being worn away.

This finishing effect is great for tank hulls where paint coats where thin and the metal bellow just starts to show through. On trucks I like to use this on the cab exterior, especially on the roof. But less is definitely more with this technique!

...Taking stock as we approach the final hurdle...
The last part of this project will be the painting of the canvas tilt cover and the fitting of the windshields. This will be the next - and hopefully the last - instalment of this blog tutorial.

As I have said in this post though, weathering and chipping are very much a personal thing. More than any other part of the model-making process this is your chance to be creative and express your own tastes. Yes, you can adhere strictly to historical photo reference but - in effect - in the weathering of a model you are trying to tell a story about that model.

I think I forgot to mention, the Mercedes badge on the right is
simply made out of paper! I printed out the shape and then cut
it out and stuck it on with PVA!

In weathering my German Army Trucks I was attempting to say something about the German army post-D-Day so I perhaps exaggerated the wear and tear to suggest the 'fatigue' that must have been affecting the Wehrmacht by this stage in the war. But again, this was a subjective impression.

In effect, you are actually being a little 'artistic' (with a small 'a') - and I like that.