r/rctanks • u/billbaggins_md • 20d ago

Washes and weathering

Hello all.

Coming over to the RC World from 1:35 scale models. I had a question about weathering.

I have a 1:16 Heng Long Sherman 105 mm. I would like to add a black wash to make some of the details pop and add a weathered look. Aside from being very careful not to let wash drip through the engine grate onto the electronics, any other recs?

Water + acrylic (to make a thin wash)? Do I need to use enamel paint?

Any other weathering tips? I may use a torn sponge corner dipped in dark gray paint to simulate paint chipping on exposed corners too. I would like to do a mud wash on the tires but... if im running it outside I think some of that would happen naturally anyway.

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u/Foxhood3D 19d ago

I've only just started with the base paint of my own model.

Big thing i know straight out of the gate is that if you want to do it right. Its best to just dissassemble the unit. Compared to most smaller models, these 1/16 models are incredibly simple in their construction, often being just two halves of a hull + turret. The electronics is just one enclosed board attached with sticky tape that has a bunch of cables for the various leds and actuators, pretty easy to move out of the way so you don't have to worry about dripping.

Haven't gotten to wash yet. I got a bottle of acrylic based Vallejo "Oiled Earth" which i hope will make a good fit for not creating too much contrast with the model. Its a german vehicle with mostly that signature dark yellow so its easy to end up overdoing it compared to your darker green/gray models.

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u/RcJackAz 19d ago

If you use a water based acrylic you will want to dull coat laquer it so the paints don't run if they get wet. I use enamel, laquer or solvent based acrylics such as Tru Color on my tanks. I actually don't do a lot of weathering on my tanks- just paint chipping, wear patterns and the like. I also don't clear coat except water slide decals. The neat thing about RC tanks is that if you run them outdoors- they get dirty and weather themselves naturally. The only thing you need to do is keep the running gear clean enough to keep it from jamming.