Fading away

The next step in weathering a tank involves fading the paint. Especially a Sherman tank in the Pacific, the paint took a beating between the sun and the rain. So my plan was to fade it on the top and sides. I did not fade the bottom area (the boogies, etc.).

Fading a green tank is relatively easy compared to tanks with complex patterns. My method is to use oil paints – Vandyke Brown, Yellow Ochre and White. Please remember that different color tanks use different colors. I use Turpenoid as my thinner – it is odorless and doesn’t seem to damage the paint as much as other thinners.

I work in one section at a time. The first step is to put small dots of paint of each color in the specific section. Watch your colors – too much white will fade the paint more. Use the darker colors (Vandyke Brown in my case) along the edges. Do not use too much paint. In the example below I used too much paint and had to slowly remove it to make the overall effect look right.

Next you take you brush, dip it in the Turpenoid and wipe it on a cloth. You do not want a “wet” brush that allows the paint to flow. Next you blend the paint evenly. If are working on a side or vertical area then always brush downwards. It takes time to get the right look but well worth it the end.

Below is a comparison – the turret has been faded, the lower hull has not. The picture is poor and doesn’t quite show the contrast – look at the differences in white lettering.

The last picture shows the entire tank has been faded. Overall I happy with the results. I let the tank to dry several days before moving on.