How Good is this Acurate Armour 'little Willie' painted by James Tainton

[aircav]

Just seen this over on the Landships Forum   :





This is how to paint a tank  

Link:  http://landships.activeboard.com/t47228319/accurate-armour-little-willie/

[Damas]

Oh delicious!! 

Overall stunning, but that weathered hatch on top is just...woof!

[OSHIROmodels]

What a cracker 

cheers

James

[Johnnytodd]

I think he's done a masterful job of making the tank look 100 years old - like it sat in a junk yard and rusted... but I'm not convinced this is how it would have looked in combat - remember that many of these tanks arrived at the front only weeks after manufacture, and then how long would they last at the front - maybe a few more weeks?  not much time to rust

[Plynkes]

but I'm not convinced this is how it would have looked in combat

Little Willie never saw combat, it was a failed prototype (the next one, "Mother" or "Big Willie" was the familiar rhomboid design that was adopted for the first tanks). Would have looked muddy but not rusty while it was in use. This is what it would have probably looked like some while later (post war), as it languished unused for years before it was restored and put in the tank museum at Bovvy.

Fantastic job.

[mpennock]

Great job on the weathering.

[carlos marighela]

Nice weathering techniques on display, excellent work. I very much doubt the actual article looked like that. Not sure why the round section atop it would have weathered at a completely different rate to the rest of the machine. Maybe there is an historical reason for it but it looks most unconvincing. Looks like an old barbeque plate has fallen on top of it.

[aircav]

Nice weathering techniques on display, excellent work. I very much doubt the actual article looked like that. Not sure why the round section atop it would have weathered at a completely different rate to the rest of the machine. Maybe there is an historical reason for it but it looks most unconvincing. Looks like an old barbeque plate has fallen on top of it.

Probably due to the fact that its an unpainted steel plate & the rest is painted 

[Plynkes]

Here's a picture of Willie looking a bit clapped out and possibly rusty, showing that such a paint-job on a model isn't actually wrong (can't see the rust levels on the turret hole cover, unfortunately, Carlos). I am convinced the date on that caption is wrong, though.



Here he is earlier, looking a bit more pristine, and still sporting the natty rear wheels...


As I said, I don't think that date can be right on the first photo. Number One Lincoln Machine (the turreted version with different tracks that later became Willie) only started its trials in September 1915.

Couldn't have gone from this...

...to that first picture in a matter of days.