I was told to create a desert themed set of tanks that looked like they'd been in the field a while. They came primed the lovely tan color that is the base on all the vehicles.
After a bit of research it occurred to me that my typical rust approach wouldn't really fit in with a desert theme.
So, rather than rust I decided to try to make them look like they'd been sand blasted.
Step one was to sponge some scorched brown over all the the edges. Any corner got tagged with a scattering of brown paint.
The next step, which was probably the most time consuming, was to carefully paint a coat of silver inside the brown from the previous step.
I then picked out all of the rivets to add a bit more interest.
After that it was just a matter of finishing up the details and sealing everything.
I'm rather pleased with the final look. There's a few things I think I probably could have done better though.
Some level of shading/highlighting to the base color I think would have made the final product a little more interesting.
The tan surfaces are still just a little too flat, but once the weathering went on there was really no way to go back and change it.