9. Start by thinning 1 drop of Blue for Panzer Grey enamel wash with 1 drop of thinner. Take a fine pointed synthetic brush loaded with this, and carefully touch the tip into the recesses of the armour panels, and around the rivets. A small drop of enamel wash will be deposited, immediately flowing into the recesses (it's like magic, and saves so much time and effort!). Also, if you make a mistake, simply take a cotton bud loaded with thinner and wipe it away.

10. For the final shade step, we're going to apply a Black Wash enamel wash. Again, thin 1 drop of the enamel wash with 1 drop of thinner. Apply this using your fine pointed synthetic brush, but this time only apply to the deepest recesses. You don't need to apply this around the individual rivets. Leave it to fully dry before moving on to the weathering steps.

11. Out in the open, a tank will find itself subjected to the full force of the weather. Being exposed to rainwater will have the effect of slightly bleaching the colour of the hull paint. Therefore, the first weathering step that we're going to follow is creating the effect of water stains on the hull.

To achieve this we're going to use an oil paint (Abteilung Dust), a thinner, and a synthetic saw brush (sniper brushes and other synthetic brushes can be used, but the effect is easier and faster using the saw brush).

As shown in the image, apply small dots of Dust oil paint over the hull of the tank. The more oil you apply, the lighter and more stained an area will appear.

13. We're now going to start to make the tank armour look increasingly aged and worn.

First, we'll start by making the hull paint appear chipped. One of the easiest (and I think most entertaining ways) to do this is using a piece of sponge. Sponging is a really great and accessible technique that ensures you retain some control as to where the chips will appear, whilst still producing a naturally random finish.

To make the sponging tool, simply take an old sponge (sponge from miniature packaging is often great for this), cut off a small section, and then make the edge a little rough by tearing away small bits.

For our miniature, dab the sponge in Burnt Umber. Remove any excess on a piece of kitchen paper. Now, dab the sponge around the edges of the armour, and anywhere else where you want the tank to appear worn. I always do this around hatches and hinges; paint is very unlikely to remain intact where there are moving metal on metal components.

14. There may be a few aspects that you wanted to appear chipped, but you couldn't effectively target them using the sponge. Therefore, use a brush to get these spots, again using Burnt Umber.

17. We've now made the hull of the tank look aged and weathered, but there will be aspects of the tank where the bare metal has only just been uncovered, or gets knocked so frequently that rust does not have time to sufficiently develop. Therefore, the metal will still be nice and metallic, and we need to represent this on our vehicle.

To achieve this effect we're going to use possibly my favourite technique for weathering metal vehicles: using a soft graphite pencil (I used a 5B)! Simply take the side of the pencil tip and rub this over the raised edges of the hull.

When using the pencil, do not rub on the paint too vigorously, as you do not want to damage the paint beneath.

Professional Tip: You may want to make some areas look highly metallic (the rungs of the access ladder, for example). To do this, you can simply make your own graphite powder by scraping a knife along the side of the graphite pencil tip (always be careful when using a knife, and shave away from your yourself). Then take this powder on your fingertip, and rub your fingertip over the area that you want to make appear highly metallic.

Finally, seal in all of your hard work weathering using a varnish. I used a satin varnish, as this is the finish I wanted on the hull.

18. Paint the piping, grills, hinges, exhausts and any other bare metal component using One Coat Silver. Thin 4 drops with 1 drop of water. Make sure you get a smooth, opaque finish. 

19. To make the pipes look greasy, dirty and used, we're now going to apply washes using inks.

Make a thick glaze by mixing  1 drop of Neutral Grey with 3 drops of Transparent Burnt Umber and 4 drops of  Matte Medium (you can thin with water, but the consistency of the wash will be much thinner). The thickness of this glaze means you'll have great control over where it goes, and that that you spread it around on the miniature.

When applying this, I recommend applying near the source of a pipe (where it emerges from the hull). Do this relatively thickly, and then use a clean damp brush to feather out the glaze over the rest of the metal piping. This will produce an effect where it appears that most dirt and grime has collected near the source of the pipe.

Don't worry about being neat and tidy; dirt and grim is deposited in a random fashion anyway. It's even fine if your brush strokes spread this glaze onto the hull, as it will simply appear as if diesel or grease has spilled out. This is something very evidently done in relation to the legs/supports, where I painted oil dribbles down the side of the hull. My brush strokes were uneven and jagged, to make the spillages appear natural.

25. Sponge on Silver, targeting the raised aspects. As before, the sponging technique is used as it hits some of the raised aspects in an ad hoc and natural manner.

26. To create a hot and charred effect at the thruster opening, we're going to take an airbrush to apply some weathering. For the charred effect, take Carbon black, 1 drop thinned with 2 drops of isopropyl alcohol, and carefully target around the thruster opening. Once dry, apply additional Carbon Black if necessary.

To create the impression of heat damage, spray on and around the Carbon Black a Muted Violet Ink. If you don't own an airbrush, you can apply these inks as glazes, building up the layers to create a similar effect. Try to feather the edges of the glaze layer to create a smooth transition.

With our Huntsman, you'll find over 8 different weapon options to choose from to go in the front and back! You can use this guide for painting the hull of the tank, including the weathering, for painting the weapons.

For guns, focus your highlights on the mid point of the barrel.

The key to making a gun look effective is to weather the muzzle. This can be done using an airbrush, but I find pigment powders produce a more natural effect. Simply load up a large brush with gun powder colour pigment (I used Old Grease, from Wilder), and dab it over the end of the muzzle. You'll want to create a faded effect, where the pigment is applied more intensely towards the end of the muzzle. I fixed this in place by giving the whole gun a spray with a satin varnish.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Please post pictures of your printed and painted tanks on social media using #printminis 🙂

The Paints I Used

• Grey Dark Base, Ammo Mig
• Grey Base, Ammo Mig
• Grey Light Base, Ammo Mig
• Grey High Light, Ammo Mig
• Wolf Grey, Vallejo Game Air
• Black, Vallejo Game Air
• Bonewhite, Vallejo Game Air
• Dead White, Vallejo Game Air
• Blue for Dark Grey Filter, Ammo Mig
• Blue for Panzer Grey enamel wash, Ammo Mig
• Black Wash enamel wash, Ammo Mig
• Odorless Thinner, AK Interactive (enamel thinner);
• Vallejo Gloss Varnish
• Vallejo Satin Varnish
• Dust oil, Abteilung
• Oil Expert Enhancing Medium, Vantage Model Solutions (oil thinner);
• Burnt Umber, Model Color
• Light Rust weathering pencil, AK Interactive
• 5B graphite pencil
• Silver One Coat, Warcolour
• Neutral Grey Acrylic Ink, Aero Color
• Transparent Burnt Umber Acrylic Ink, Liquitex
• Matte Medium, Liquitex
• Old Grease Pigment, Wilder
• Carbon Black Acrylic Ink, Liquitex
• Muted Violet Acrylic Ink, Liquitex
• Wolf Grey, The Army Painter Warpaints
• Ice Storm, The Army Painter Warpaints
• White acrylic paint