Battle Damaged Tanks

[BG. Foster]

So with most stuff on hold it the moment I got to thinking about finishing the tank I started and the logical next step would be battle damage and weathering.

I already have an idea on how to do the weathering so I figured I'd ask how you guys do battle damage. I've seen people do bullet holes with drills and other things but I want to know how you do yours!

Foster

[Dazza22]

The best way to do bullet holes is to drill a hole and then get a blade and take nicks out of it so it's not so pristine and round.

[BG. Foster]

To be honest I was going to shoot them with a BB gun and see how that looks, then do the nicks with a blade.

[Dazza22]

That's different. Real bullet holes in your tanks! I would test that on something other than one one of your tanks first. You don't want it to create too much battle damage.

[BG. Foster]

They are plastic BB's so cant see it doing too much damage

[DadCRO]

In that case, it's called an airsoft gun.

[BG. Foster]

In my experience airsoft guns tend to be electronic not spring action this isn't, hence me saying it is a BB gun.

[egon]

Aug 11, 2012 9:19:52 GMT -5 DadCRO said:

In that case, it's called an airsoft gun.

Actually, it's called "nit-picking".

Jokes aside, I don't think plastic BBS have the power to penetrate vehicles plastic. I'd try it on a piece I didn't plan on using first.

You can get a cool melted effect by heating a piece of wire and pushing the end against the tank. If it's thin enough it could work as bullet holes. Do a string of them to simulate automatic fire.

Lighting a match and pressing it against the vehicle also works. Just make sure not to do it for too long or it will look weird. Good for melta/plasma damage.

[wulfric]

To get good looking shell splash, drill a hole through the hull before you assemble it - about 3mm (1/8 inch) works well. Stick a fillet of plastic card on the back to cover the hole. Fill the hole with filler (milliput by preference, but greenstuff works too). Press a rounded tool such as the end of a paintbrush into the filler; it will splash forward around the impact. That's why I like milliput, it gives a sharper edge to the material forced out.

When you paint it, the crater needs to be metallic, as does the splash.

[AshotNINJA]

Don't shoot the tank with your airsoft gun... it's likely to snap or crack the plastic rather than go through... in fact... I bet you money it won't pass through ... and btw... any 6mm plastic pellet firing gun under 2 joule of power is an airsoft gun... electric, spring or gas powered...

I recommend drilling the hole as described earlier ...

[BG. Foster]

So I read every ones advice and like I always do decided to carry out an experiment. This involved turning a tank on it's side and shooting the bottom of it from various distances with both my pistol and rifle. At 6ft nothing happened at 6cm they both managed to dent the paint a little, out come of the experiment - waste of time.

Now where did I put my drill?

[Peter Cooman]

What about crushing the tank underfoot and calling it stompa damage??

[BG. Foster]

Did cross my mind.

[Peter Cooman]

And now seriously , do you have a center punch?

It works wonders on plastic, just make sure you don't hit it too hard

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_%28tool%29
Again try it out at the bottom first...

[BG. Foster]

Of all the tools I do have I dont think I have a center punch.

[Peter Cooman]

A good sized nail would do the same trick, as long as you keep with plastic. Just don't hit it too hard

Different sized nails make for different calibre bullet holes too

[Adkenpachi]

Depending on the nail you will likely need to round it down somehow... Hit it on some metal i guess

[BG. Foster]

I'll have a think and will show you the results when I decide what to do.

[Adkenpachi]

Find a test panel