If you are an experienced modeller, this book will best serve you as a guide to the products required for your model as well as a quick reference of the correct order to follow during the painting and weathering process without having to question what the appropriate colours are for each effect or the best medium for each technique is.
Although this guide is intended as a standard solution for the most common problems, you can always improvise and change the order of steps or colours used, as well as add emphasis to any effect to better suit your intended goal. Here you are presented with a convenient base to begin working from and achieve quality results in very little time. We also intend for this title to serve as a springboard for you to improve along with over time to reach the next level, as well as discover and implement new tricks along the way.
US military vehicles are one of the more interesting and attractive WWII subjects for lots of modellers. American armour and soft-skinned vehicles offer almost infinite possibilities with a range of models, versions, and settings from all over the world to be depicted in scale. Europe was arguably the most extensive theatre of the war, it was here that a huge range of all types of equipment were put into service including artillery pieces, trucks, half-tracks, tanks, and auxiliary vehicles such as bulldozers and cranes. With this guide, you can paint any olive drab-colored vehicle that operated in Europe. Although we have chosen an M4 Sherman tank as an example for this step-by-step guide, the same processes can be applied in exactly the same sequence and methods to any other US vehicle including trucks, jeeps, half-tracks, or a tank or self-propelled gun. Now you just have to grab your favourite model and start painting without further delay!
Keep in mind that all US vehicles in Europe were exposed to the same weather conditions, although some to a greater extent than others. You simply have to adjust the intensity of the weathering effects (mud, dust, dirt, oil and grease, chipping, etc.) to your subject and setting and then simply follow this easy to use guide. All the products shown are rather basic and the most adequate to recreate the effects shown. If you maintain the order of application and drying times stipulated, you will be rewarded with great results. Now buckle up and enjoy the experience of being guided by the hand of a master modeller!