VEHICLE AND TANK ACCESSORIES

The small things that make a vehicle model

Once the hull is painted and dry, the impression a model gives rests on the equipment around it. Empty cartridge cases on the floor of the fighting compartment, a fire extinguisher on the fender, the glass of a periscope, a sooty exhaust muffler, a coiled rope and metal tools on the sides. Those are exactly the items the six colors in this package cover.

The brass tone is prepared for cartridge cases and ammunition belts, the flat red for fire extinguishers and warning items, the dark blue-gray shade for the glass of periscopes and vision blocks, the brown for mufflers and exhaust pipes, the buff for canvas, ropes and straps, and the last, a tempered metal tone, for tools, hammers, files and the unprotected parts of weapons.

How to work with the shades

The binder is a water-based acrylic and each bottle holds 17 ml. Small surfaces are applied with a brush, ideally in two thin coats, because on small parts a single heavy coat creeps into the engraving. The metallic tones will take polishing with a cotton swab once the paint is dry, and gain the look of a handled surface that way.

The colors are not tied to one period or one army. They find use on German, Soviet and Allied equipment and just as well on modern vehicles, because cartridge cases, fire extinguishers and periscopes look much the same across the decades. That is exactly why the set is worth having even for a modeler who changes subjects.

The rest of the package aims at the finishing touches: the buff tone lightens old straps, the brass brings the latches of crates to life and the dark blue-gray shade serves for signal lamps. Those very small things are what separate a painted model from a finished one.