To Texture Or Not To Texture, That is... J Matthes No question. Texture! I know there has much been debate on the accuracy of this technique for German Armor and whether the texture would be seen in scale, but to me, it's an important step. Rolled Steel Armor has pitting and subsequent abuse during construction and use are bound to mar the surface of any AFV. I don't believe the pristine area on the left can possibly look realistic without alteration. I certainly wouldn't get the whitewash effect on the right without it. I begin with a dremel held as flat as possible, skimming across the surface. The bit is a small bur and the idea is to carefully skip it across the surface. I use a flex shaft and bend it a bit to try and slow it down as much as possible. Held perpendicular, you can add some small arms damage as well. Small metal 'splashes' should be added after painting, since they would be bare metal. Next, some scaling with a dull X-acto and further poking and prodding with a dental tool. The idea here is to rough up as well as level out the surface. Here's where we are so far. I know you are thinking it's a bit much right now. A little Apoxie Sculpt dragged across the surface will make some of the holes appear more rough. It's important to keep the surface flat and only fill the recesses a bit. By the time the hull is primed, basecoated, Futured and then the whitewash is applied, you can see that the texturing does not stand out, but in my opinion, adds to the effect. The bullet splashes, water stains, oil, foot traffic, snow, dirt and other assorted weathering will be applied once the entire whitewash is finished. The holes that are small arms damage will have the paint scratched out and filled with either red primer or bare metal as I see fit. To find the products used here, click below. J Matthes resides in New York where he really needs to get this project done. copyright©2007 ausfwerks