I am trying to wrap my head around the steps required to paint a decent camo scheme and then weather a walker. I am a decent painter but the work I've seen on the walkers is amazing and a few steps above what I am used to doing. I really want to get up to speed on this. To do so, I've been watching a lot of youtube videos on weathering. I haven't been as lucky to find stuff on painting realistic camo though. I am curious what steps the vets on this forum take to get from the model in the box to the finished product. Some of the pics are simply amazing.

I plan on using the existing color of the tanks as a base. After painting all other base colors, I plan on adding masking tape, painting the second camo color on, then sponging the rust. After that, I plan on using Vallejo weathering powders to finish off the look.

Doing the camo/rust/weathering will all be new to me so I'd like to think it all through before I start. Any tips or tricks I should be aware of before I venture down ths path? I am open for any insight in this part of the hobby.

I am considering an airbrush for this project. I'd like to hear if that makes the process any easier.

Thanks!

Just remember that weathering powders are effectively colored dirt that you're smearing on your model. You'll need to spray on a matte sealer afterwards if you intend to play with the models, otherwise the powders can wear off with handling. Modellers will usually leave them unsealed, since they just display their models, and the powders usually look a little better unsealed.

Give some thought to the kind of camo scheme you want to achieve. The steps you outlined are perfect for doing camo- in fact you can remask over previous painting to create a three or four color camo scheme.

Another thing you might want to consider is how "historical" your scheme will be. I know Dust is a work of fiction but it is based upon an event with a lot of background. Consider the fact that most Panzer crews were applying camo in the field with anything they could find- brushes, mops, brooms etc. The camo paint colors came in cans of semi-solid paste pigment that were mixed with gasoline and applied either by some poor crewman and a brush or mop or by using a sprayer and hose running off of the tank's compressor. These paint jobs weren't very pretty. Three colors that were issued (at least on paper) by the Wermacht in late 1944 were reflective green, dunkelgelb (German tan or mustard) and Iron oxide or Oxide brown. These three colors put together or in different combinations are all very good places to start color-wise.

The best advice I can give on painting these vehicles is just experiment and see what happens. Slight differences between vehicles will add to the realism of your overall force, unless you are going for some really ultra uniform detachment or something. Just play around, experiment and have fun with it. It's a learning process- enjoy it!

Thanks Softbatch! I agree with your point about a fictional game universe grounded in a real event. I do want to pull my inspiration from WWII and apply it to what I do in the Dust world. I think that is what is so appealling.

I've watched some videos on the whitewash applied to tanks as well. Since I do want to mix it up paint wise, I may try my hand at that also.

I really wanted to make sure my plan of attack on the camo/weathering was not missing anything. I expect a few bumps along the way but I am hoping to mitigate them as best I can so I don't completely hose my models.