Some time ago I thought: why not to paint an armored vehicle for a change? So here it is – M4 Sherman in 1/56 (28mm) scale, an American World War 2 tank. It’s made by Italeri for Bolt Action wargame. It’s my first 28mm vehicle so I used it as test subject for practising airbrush painting and weathering. I didn’t study any historical documentation – it’s made out of the box. Assembly was simple (because of reduced number of parts) and took me one evening.
I focused more on painting. The main color is olive drab, highlighted with adding a little yellow. Single color paint scheme for US WW2 vehicles was an advantage for me. I used inks instead of washes for shading, as I did not have any. Making the paint chipping and scratches was my favourite part. In the end I applied dry pastels for dirt and dust effects.
What do you think about my experiment? Would you like to see more tanks in future or should I stay with figures? 🙂
The tank looks great! Excellent work on the weathering.
One suggestion – I know you didn’t use any references, but the anti aircraft machine gun on top looks odd in that blue, almost like it’s glowing, and it distracts the eye. Old photos show the MG finished in matte black and I think that might look better on the model as it won’t draw the eye away from the bulk of the tank.
Thanks! Maybe I used too much fantasy approach. You’re right – there were no chrome or silver MGs 🙂 Next time I’ll paint .50 cal (or any other weapon) on tank I use black or dark grey.