I must admit that one of the main attractions of this army list, apart from its utter lack of subtlety and debatable balance, was the relative ease for which it would be painted up. I have always found tanks of 15mm scale quick and relatively easy to paint up, which was lucky as I'd actually end up having three weeks in which to get the entire force ready from boxes to battlefield.
Painting followed my usual techniques for this scale. 15mm benefits from fairly high contrast styles of painting and shading. I know i won't win any awards but I find basic colour shaded by ink washes a quick, easy and effective technique.
I did however pioneer a couple of things I have had yet to try out. The first was use of Model Mates Rust Effect and the second, weathering powders from the Dust Effects set by Combo.
I used the Rust Effect on the command tank only, applied to spare track pieces that my company commander had attached to his tank for added protection. In models depicting tanks from other theaters I would be tempted to add the rust effect to the tracks of each tank, however because in the desert the moving pieces are in contact with the desert floor they are steady sandpapered they do not corrode unless left at rest for very extended period of time.
The Rust Effect is very easy to use, simply brushed on like paint. the immediate effect isn't seen really until it dries. Generally it seems that the thicker on you paint it on the brighter the rust colour is when it dries. One thing to note is that you do need to paint the surface you are rusting with their "original" colour before rusting up. Another thing to note it this product is water based, so is more forgiving than some of the other products out there which are much harder to alter or remove.
Lastly it was time to use the weathering powders. Now this is an area that I've been researching for some time but had up until late not been brave enough to use. I mean come on, you use them last, once the models are complete and cock ups at this stage can potentially wipe out hours of work. Never the less, I'd see some impressive results, especially with desert vehicles, giving them a really nice dusty look which can't really be replicated fully by other means. So on it went. I simply brushed on the powder directly the the models with and old worn brush and worked it until each tank looked suitable dusty using archive photos as reference. (Which makes for some very dusty tanks!) Overall i'm pleased with the result, however in experimenting with fixing down the powder using varnish, found that the varnish actually washes the dust away and spoils the effect. So i have forgone varnishing and fixing the entire force. The dust seems to stay in place in any case and I'll just have to add more dust if it turns out to rub off over time. (It hasn't at time of writing after several weeks and a weekend tournament of use). I will endevour to find a way to fix it at some point and would welcome suggestions.
Next up: The tournament weekend itself! Sturm Uber Dunkirchen!
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