Yes, Desert Armor Can Get Rusty | Crusader Mk 3 | Tamiya 1/48 

The Brits used a ton of rivets on their tanks because many of their factories were used to using rivets to attach thick metal plates onto vehicle chassis. They didn't have much time to replace the factories' tooling, and retrain workers to weld plate armor given that 1.) the UK had just barely managed to set up their industry to handle the war effort before the Battle of France, and 2.) the Royal Armoured Corps had lost most of it's tanks and equipment at Dunkirk and was in desparate need of replacements. Thus, riveted designs endured in Great Britain's tank factories long after most other countries had ditched them for welded designs as riveted tanks are heavier due to the added weight of the struts the plates are mounted on. The Covenanter tank was even redesigned from a welded design to a riveted design as the factory making them used to be a train factory and rivets were the standard for trains back then.

You should work for the Tunisian tourism department: “tunisia isn’t all sand and rocks, a lot of it is just dirt”

Night shift be like: **Makes something 100000% perfect** ,,Eh... its not really good..."😂😂😂😂 But tbh Night shift is just the best modelbuilder ever!

Why all the bolts? The reason those earlier tanks were bolted is simply that it's easier than welded; it doesn't require as much skilled labour. Of course, it adds a lot of weight since those bolts need an internal framework to be attached to...so there's a lot of extra steel taking up internal space and weight.

Normal people: Oh i look forward to friday because i can finally relax! Me:

One Comment for The algorythm

These videos are getting me through quarantine and every time I see a new one I get happy.

Since 5 Out of 6 weeks of Summer vaccation im every friday Like:YES Nightshift Video And Noooooo one week less now I only have one week left (im from south Germany If U Wonder why i still have vaccation) of "YES and Nooooooo" 😂

When you click on the video before you get the notification

I think the search light turned out very well. It looks good enough for me to incorporate that style, myself. That's the cool thing about modeling. We can share techniques that we might not ordinarily be able to find out about. There used to be a product I used many years ago to make window panes. It was a liquid that you "stretched" between 2 fixed points. When it dried in place you had an instant window pane. No reason it wouldn't work for a lens. I think it is still around.

Howdy partner.

Hey uncle 😉, could you make a video where you put all your models side by side and talk about them and compare them for example, what would you change on them and so on... Love your stuff ❤️

One of the reasons so many of Britians wartime tanks were riveted was a compromise to use existing skilled labour. Overwhelmingly the tanks were made by railway carriage companies, where rivets were tried and tested, and weight was less of an issue. The British army definitely wanted the weight savings, and extra integrity of welding. But it needed tanks fast, and those in charge of war production figured an okay tank now was worth a whole lot more than a slightly better tank (with an unknown delay) in the future. The welded centurion is probably the best example of what British tank corps knew it wanted (at the time cromwell and comet were in production and service) if they only had the luxury of time for development and to gear up production.

I´m stunned... Imagining this model is only about 4-5 inches long.. You Sir are an artist!

British tanks were made in different elements like bolted and welded because of speed of fabrication and cutting the sheets out for making. There was a reliability in putting things together like that... Sad side of the story is riveted tanks like the Crusader when hit by shells, had a chance of popping the bolts off and sending them flying insider the tank like another projectile. Which happened more than the military liked.

Its the same thing JUST WAOWW AMAZING. Thanck for this, more videos. Manu

Thank you , Uncle Martin .

I love your videos, Uncle! Hello from Russia, Nizhny Tagil))

With the miniature painting techniques on the sandbag, the main advice I have for getting better results is to push the contrast. That usually means pushing things back and forth in order to get good blends, and is therefore rather time consuming, but it's what I have learned underpins almost all miniature painting techniques. So, for instance with the stippling for cloth textures, it might involve having quite a few different steps mixed up on your wet palette from the darkest shadow to the brightest highlight, and then going back and forth until the contrast is strong enough to sell the object in the scale in question while also reading like there's a texture from the weave. Great blends across strong contrasts of light and shadow are the manually painted chipping of miniatures. Hours of work to get something looking natural.

Love Fridays with the "Uncle"!

Sounds like you need to build another Sherman, not only to redeem your weathering on the first one but to redeem the disparaging comments about Shermans......LOL

Looks great as always!

Wonderful!

Yep, you should be happy with the results I think you knocked it out of the park. As far as enamels go you can't beat Humbrols! I've had some colours for 30+ years and they rarely go bad. I'm not as keen on bottled products. Great as always. Cheers!

Uncle Nightshift, you are... my friend!

You're a talented painter, you could do a photo realistic painting on the searchlight with a reference image. I think the one you did is very convincing at certain angles.

I know you enjoy the rust, but honestly buddy: The subtle approach looks better. Not only has a slightly more realistic taste, but it looks... Cleaner and more refined.

AAAAH! Martin just disliked the sherman! Heresy!

fifty millonth

I'm so happy that your finally doing a British vehicle. You should definitly do more after this one.

You could try putting some small steel beads into your dead enamel paint and shake it before and after every use

Whoo! im not bored anymore

Would love to see you do a 1/16 scale panzer

please make a German half track (ideally a Sd.kfz 251/1 stuka de fuss)

Dude, don't pay mind to haters. You take your time. You create art. Also I'd love to see you do a Leman Russ.

GB used a lot of riveting because a lot of manufacturers were locomotive or other heavy industries that knew riveting. But GB had a lot of cast components, and welding in there too. So they weren't all riveted. Watch the Tank Museums Matilta Diaries for more details.

I watch your channel, but have never BUILT a model, I have model paints and glue, as well as Hobby Boss thunderbolt fighter and a Revell 1960's Chevy suburban kits all sitting new in their box lol. I just never have any time to build them. I really want to get into the hobby, it looks fun.

British infrastructure for arms production, including the original “tank”, were produced in the railroad industry. This was what they had. As a result, rivet and bolts.

I guess the tanks were bolted because less experienced workers can do that so you don't need expensive specialists

According to your video, you added about 12 drops of drying retarder to the first paint mixture.

That "damn son" though 😂

Could you do a FV4005 model? Amusing Hobby has one and I would love to see it, it’s my favorite tank!

I actually really loved the light you painted! I think it’s the best one I’ve ever seen :)

I love the glass effect on the search light! It looks more realistic than some of the clear plastic lenses provided with many kits.

Thats 100% perfect... ill never be able to do this... 😍

Loving the crusader it's looking amazing.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for a scenic base!

Always enjoy a new video! Btw do you have a discord?

Please note he's holding the brushes 2-3 inches from normal

Mmm yes

THE CRUSADE INTENSIFIES!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I want to get into professional modeling and I have a few questions: 1. What cement/glue do you use? 2. What kind of paint should I get, and what brand? 3. What model brands should I buy from? 4. What are good beginner models? 5. What tools and brushes do I need? And what are good brands? Thank you in advance if you answer this!

Not bad

interesting FAQ the british army got bogged down in Tunisia when the winter rains started

I know gaming minis and war modeling don't have *too* much overlap, but Camo Specs Online has a video on jeweling cockpits for Battletech minis that might inspire some ideas for things like the searchlight in the future.

It's probably been said before, but it'd be really awesome if you did a Warhammer model! Hopefully something imperial guard like a Leman Russ or a Baneblade. It would be a great excuse to go all out with the weathering considering how old some of those tanks are. I'd also love to see what changes you make to the model as you build it like adding armor texture and welds. Also, the crusader is coming along very nicely! Can't wait to see it finished!

Another great video my friend!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Hello, Martin, would you recommend I do a similar weathering procedure to a 1/35 puma sdkfz234? Thanks, have a great weekend!

Has anyone ever told you you were too tallented and also I hate you? *likes video*

I got a surgery so I cannot build any models for some time. You kill some of my hunger for modelling. Build panther plz.

Gah. “Iraqui” sand. Triggered again.

ärster !

Martin you did a fantastic job on this. I really like your videos. If you dont mind I have a friendly request from you please talk less on your videos. If you watch your videos again you will see what ı mean ; it's non stop. Anyway keep up the good work you are awesome😎

Can you help me with some suggestions for the base colors for an Type-69-II from Iraq?

Awesome looking Crusader Uncle Night Shift!!! Wow, Colonel of Truth rocks!!!

What about tamiya rubber black for painting rubber? Its look very much as rubber on car tires for me .

See . . . Whilst I admire your abilities, which far outshine mine, I fundamentally disagree that a Tank would acrue that much rust whilst in Active Service. Scratches, dings, dents and all manner of collision-type damage & wind-blown sand erosion in North Africa YES but not rust and most certainly *not* on those towing hawsers - the Crew would be on jankers in an instant if they let their equipment get like that! "...Das kann drei Tage kosten..." as Marlene Dietrich once sang . . . There's weathering and then there's unrealistic weathering. Especially considering the Crusader Tank you've modelled - T126799 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_tank#/media/File:Crusader_tank_III.jpg - is barely more than 6 months old at this point, that being 1st January 1943!! The first MkIII's didn't roll out of the factory until July 1942 . . .

For dirt and mud effects i propose to look at pictures of Rally Dakar.

Tunisia - land of mystery, rocks, sand, bushes and dirt.

Not quite 100% perfect... but that 99.9 recurring to infinity is close enough. TFS, G:)

Most of the British factories which produced our tanks were used to designing and building steam engines (Trains) which are mostly rivited together and screwed together using nut & bolts. Welding was a very primitive and not really developed because of the tried and tested method of riviting.

Amaaaazing video!!! Thanks for sharing us your valuable knowledge!!!

At 12.35ish I tried wiping my screen because of the spec of paint on the table 🤦‍♂️

Okay can we go back to the chipping techniques video and find this comment? Someone has to let them know they're famous! I did a lot of scrolling but you're almost at 1k comments on that one 😮

Many British tanks arriving directly from the UK to Tunisia would have left the UK in Khaki Brown (SCC 2) not just Green. The pattern you painted was adopted from October 1942. The camo scheme was intended to paint naturally shadowed areas on the upper of the tank dark. The aim was to break up the hard straight line created by the different angle of the tank body verses sun position. White was also used to counter-share dark areas under the hull and the lower underside of the gun. The Middle East command instructions stipulated a dark green colour for the disruptive colour (although Black was allowed where the desired paint colour wasn't available). Many (perhaps most) tanks would also have an RAF style roundel painted on a flat surface as an air recognition element. Mike Starmer has done extensive research on UK WW2 camo schemes and has self published a number of guides, which can be bought from him.

One thing you forgot is just how acidic gunpowder is add that to the rain and cheapo paint used even tanks in the desert get a bit rusty lol (also I live in PHX Az. and my 47 willys jeep can confirm rust even n a desert :P )...oh you might also want to check out Miniac or Squidmar or Midwinter Minis...i forget who but they all do pretty sweet mini paints...I think the cloth stipple effect Miniac did a great vid on recently....anyhoo just thought you might like the content they make...keep on slinging paint :D

Welding in the 30s/40s was still a fairly specialised skill and in wartime most able welders would have already been employed in niche industries or in shipbuilding , and when your island nation's wartime Prime Minister happens to be it's former First Lord of the Admiralty, you can expect ship builiding to take priority over tanks and those welders to stay where they were. Why riveting instead of, say, casting, if not welding? Britain in the interwar period did not have a particularly healthy tank-building industry. A combined result of post-war politics, national debt, etc. culminating in very little money for tank design/research/manufacture, with some wanting to abandon the tank idea entirely. This led to a bit of a technological stagnation. However, what Britain didn't lack at the time was a base of well regarded train manufacturers, who could produce high quality, machined parts with riveted assemblies. Early on, adapting these same methods for tank production was deemed acceptable, rather than trying to start building tanks from the ground up (again) from a skills base that didn't exist yet, if it meant tanks were being produced at all. The trouble is, no matter how well you machine and rivet the parts on your tank, eventually, anti-tank munitions will -and did- become nasty enough to defeat the riveting process itself and you'll have no choice but to look for alternatives.

Nice trick leaving the "out take" in the video at 14:00. ;>) Have you considered making your own rust washes and colors as you need them instead of buying specialty products that turn to Jello? All you need are flat red, yellow, black and white to make many shades of red, orange and brown. You can mix in or dust on some baking soda for texture. You're no stranger to mixing paints, and since different grades of steel produce different colors and textures of rust, you can customize it to mufflers, rivets, gun barrels... I'm also a little surprised you didn't just drill out the searchlight, paint the inside and make a lens out of clear plastic, but the technique that works so well on vision blocks seems to be okay when scaled up.

Nightshift i would really like to build a Leman Russ tank (Warhammer 40k), please do one!

British tanks at the start of the war were poor for various reasons Martin. Basically lack of funding for the Army and the time required to weld as opposed to riveting and bolting was expensive to fund. Welding was also slower and the British had to arm fast to try and compete against the Axis powerful manufacturing capability. This is a reason why the Brits used American Shermans etc via the Lend Lease program. I am not 100% saying this is absolutely all of the reasons but at least some of them. Hope that helps.

For my rusting I have a small steel plate with many of the different colours and I just scrape it with my paint brush wet with water. Works ok for me. Happy modelling

Good job. The Crusader looks amazing, to make headlights, I remove the contents of the interior leaving a concave. I use aluminum foil to line the interior and make the lens with transparent styrene, using a punch and die set. Here one example in a Ural, 172nd scale instagram.com/p/CBGId58BNUe/

Looking really great. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Great vid thanks for sharing.

MARTIN!!!!! Dude. How are you so dang talented? That is all.

Enamel lifespan really is a complete gamble. Had some go bad insanely quickly, but others I'm using are leftover stocks from my dad that were produced before the cold war ended

The Crusader was actually designed to be all-welded, but the contract to build them was given to a steam-train manufacturer, who changed the design to riveted. This extra weight made the Crusader woefully underpowered and unpopular with crews

Really liked the imitation glass. Thank you.

Funny what you said about enamel paints. I bought a set when I was 12 from testors. Certain colors (ahem, yellow) are basically useless now but other colors like green, silver, and gold are as good as the day I bought them.

Used to paint GW minis, have a couple Golden Demons to show for it, etc. Just wanted to confirm that yes, the thumbnail makes a great little palette when painting minis. 😅

*Good result, some little brushstrokes and the tank is weathering and realistic! 👍*

Some of us try to avoid any enamels and lacquers. Do you think you would be able to complete and show us a model only with acrylics? Think of it as a challenge. Thank you.

Brilliant. the video brought back great memories of 40 years ago.

Lovely work mate

I've watched these crusader videos loads of times for inspiration as I'm building a 1:35th crusader II. Today I noticed that if this tank gets hit then nobody is escaping out the forward hatch because someone put a sandbag on it.

Most British armour was riveted mainly due to cost. It was a hell of a lot cheaper to use existing and known techniques to fasten two pieces of metal together as less equipment was needed and labour costs were reduced. Also welding was still a developing technique and was more than likely frowned upon by designers. It's only really when they realised that rivets turned into very fast projectiles when shot did they start to weld vehicles together. A lot of crews were needlessly lost due to this.

Mainly riveted tanks as that’s how British coach/machine/train builders were trained before the war so it was very ‘Do something we’re good at and do it well’ or learn a new technique which will take time and effort and won’t be as good 👍

There are many very skilled/gifted model makers and painters, but you are very good and your sense of humor is excellent

Rivetting will go back to the fact that tank producers like Vickers were connected to ship building where the rivet was king.

welding large plates was still in its infancy. basically you had the Germans as masters at it, and then everybody else which was just figuring out how to do it.

How far back are you holding the paint brush when you do the chipping?