just about put the finishing touches on my latest project, Tamiya’s excellent (if somewhat simplified in areas) Mark IV Male.
I replaced the kit supplied simple chain for the unditching beam with some smaller brass chain, and the shackles/clevis and track fittings are 3D printed by myself.
Stowage in the grouser box is a mix of Valuegear crates and plus model POW cans.
Had a bit of a hiccup with the kit tracks becoming fragile from enamel thinners and falling apart, so replaced them at the last minute with the metal Friul offerings, they need some modification to fit the kit, and are a bit slack as they are impossible to connect if I remove any more links, but once sitting on a flat surface should be able to take up the slack I hope.
Painted with Tamiya and a bit of AK RC and 3rd Gen acrylics, and weathered with Oils, AK’s new Gouaches and enamel earth effects.
Still sitting on it’s painting stand while I sort out a temporary display base for the club competition at my IMPS branch meeting this week.
It will eventually find its home on the diorama below, but not had time to finish that yet!
Thanks, and look forward to any thoughts, or questions!
Dan
Oh boy that’s some lovely weathering right there! That particular tan shade makes your efforts really pop- the dark grime and dirt on the rivets and in the various fittings, nooks and crannies. The streaking grime from the circular openings is well done as is the bits of earth and soil deposited by the tracks on the horizontal surfaces. The exhaust shows a nice bit of corrosion too leading the eye down to the various bits of gear stowed on top with the equally rusty chain and some more brightly coloured bits that stand out well.
@Karl187 Cheers mate, I tried to keep the basecoat pretty pale so there would be plenty on contrast with the weathering effects, and not have it all blur into one brown/muddy mess - which probably would have been accurate for the time period, but not so nice to look at
@SSGToms Thanks! Base was Tamiya XF-49 Khaki with a little XF-60 dark yellow added as I painted over a black primer, the Khaki on it’s own would have gone a bit too green. I then added Deck Tan into the mix and lightened up over a couple of highlights. It’s not an accurate colour match for the much more brown tone I believe they would have originally been painted in, but I think it helps balance out the weathering and adds more interest having a lighter base to work over.
I’d like to see it sitting on flat ground as the finished article. And then if I was a judge I’d give it 1st prize against all comers. Looking forward to seeing it in a vignette/diorama, on the evidence to date you’ll carry off a 2nd gong too. Brilliant.
I’m curious about the color. I was under the assumption that WW1 era British heavies were painted some sort of overall green, or in some instances, camouflage. But you’ve painted yours in a tan or desert yellow. Were there instances when British Marks painted as such?
From what I understand the current thinking is they were a somewhat ugly ‘milk-chocolate-brown’ kind of colour, the Tamiya box art probably isn’t far off. The Mark I’s had some pretty complex camo examples, but they very quickly got covered in mud so that was dropped with later versions. The Germans definitely painted captured tanks in camo pretty often too.
I mentioned it earlier in the thread but it’s more of an artistic/stylistic choice to go for a lighter, slightly khaki, base colour - I wanted the weathering and details to have a good level of contrast so that you can ‘read’ the surface of the model easier, even more so when it eventually ends up on the muddy trench diorama. It’s somewhat darker under natural light and not studio lights.
Didn’t want a brown tank, covered in brown mud, sitting on a brown base!
Nothing wrong with a little artistic license, and I gotta say that I do love it. I was simply curious as to wether that color was used on the Mark IV….. A few months ago, I purchased the 1/35 Vickers No. 1 Infantry Tank by Vargas Scale Models. The Vickers No. 1 was a prototype British interwar tank, circa 1921, only a few years after the British Marks. According to some of my research on the Vickers subject, the Vickers No.1, was apparently painted in a very similar “tannish” color to your Mk IV. This in itself wouldn’t be unusual, the British, like other countries would use a number of standardized colors on various equipment, but I have not seen “tannish” colors on WW1 British Marks. Of course that doesn’t mean anything either because I am always learning something new about tanks -especially on this site.
When it comes to colors on WW1 and interwar tanks, the color can be a mystery as most of the images were in black and white. I once built an Emhat Mark IV in the late 90s, and painted it grey because I had no idea what color they were until I visited Bovington in 2005.
But anyway, your tank looks amazing and I would not change it, if it were mine
its more than amazing, a masterpiece! Congratulation 
and I gotta say that I do love it. I was simply curious as to wether that color was used on the Mark IV….. A few months ago, I purchased the 1/35 Vickers No. 1 Infantry Tank by Vargas Scale Models. The Vickers No. 1 was a prototype British interwar tank, circa 1921, only a few years after the British Marks. According to some of my research on the Vickers subject, the Vickers No.1, was apparently painted in a very similar “tannish” color to your Mk IV. This in itself wouldn’t be unusual, the British, like other countries would use a number of standardized colors on various equipment, but I have not seen “tannish” colors on WW1 British Marks. Of course that doesn’t mean anything either because I am always learning something new about tanks -especially on this site.