Tamiya M48A3

Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. The Tracks came from Dragon.  

Testfit 

Loaders hatch reconstruction 

Movable 

Driver, TC, Loder.  

Testing the location 

A very angry tankdriver 😉 

First coat of Primer. There are still some holes and other unclean areas. 

The driver smokes a cigarette to calm down 😉 I currently realized that Verlinden did not include microphones🙁 

Some color experiments. I have countless original pictures of vietnam AFV. Unfortunately, they all have one thing in common. Dust and dirt everywhere, which makes it difficult to see what the coloring actually was. But one thing is for sure, there were two shades that were used. An almost black looking olive drab (most vehicles had this shade) and a very dark dark green. It remains difficult and I have to try to create a coherent overall picture by trial and error. 

Note that the ammunition cans were often the same color. 

Note that the ammunition cans were often the same color. 

To paint the tank, I removed the DS tracks and wheels. The Dragon DS tracks have become hard and brittle in some places. I have no idea why this happened but they are no longer usable. 

Luckily I still have T97E2 from AFV Club in my stash. These were actually reserved for the Dragon Kit. Probably the better choice anyway. Maybe they adapt better to the unevenness of the diorama and the suspension. 

The sandbags are usually painted in an ocher or sand tone.
This fits WWII or earlier. As you can see in the pictures, these nylon bags look completely different. 

I have a look like this in mind for my tank. I use three different tones. 

I think I'll leave it like that. This could work well with a wash and pigments. 

I gave the backpacks straps made of tape. 

Unfortunately, there are no details to be found on the back. With the one on the right, I tried to recreate as many details as possible. I'm happy with the result.
 

The tracks are fully built and painted.
 

Weathering with pigments.