In the past few days Achzarit has undergone intensive treatment. I have first focused on the top of the hull and used it as a test palette to see how it will go.

First came the washes, using primarily dust & dirt enamel, which was heavily thinned not to overkill the effect – the look after this step can be seen on the side of the hull.

I have then toyed a bit with oils and was able to add a lot of depth by adding darker tones in corners and generally adding color variety and gradation to larger surfaces. Unfortunately only very little remained visible after the next steps – pigments.

I am usually cautious with pigments as they tend to overwhelm other weathering effects under them, but I took the risk and went for intensive application.

I have been playing with pigments quite a few days, applying them on dry surface and fixing them with thinner, then correcting the effect with brush with additional application of thinner to kept the surface wet. At the end the effect was sufficiently realistic to my liking while also not looking too bland.Part of the secret in my opinion is using pigment mix using at least 4-5 different pigments shades. This adds very fine contrast to the pigment layer that keeps the effect realistic.

The oil & fuel spill effects were added with enamel products from AK in multiple layers in between the subsequent pigment application stages.

The next step will be working on the sides to match the weathering level making the whole model look and feel consistent.

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