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

[@notagoodsitrep]

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.

[@impguardwarhamer]

tbh britain embraced the concept of "it doesn't matter how good it is just build, it we're desperate" stronger than the soviets did.

[@migeater6577]

To expand on that, one of the main reasons is that the British used a type of face hardened steel that was very difficult & time consulting to weld together. So in order to simplify production they decided to continued using riveted armour.

[@pickledtezcat]

Also, welding isn't an easy skill. Especially welding armored plates. The Italians were another nation that used a lot of riveting, and it was for a similar reason; Lack of skilled workers. It's easy to train up a bunch of riveters, and set them to work. If they are sick, or go on strike, or want more money, then you can replace them with more unskilled riveters. Even if all the men have gone off to war, you can bring in "Rosie the riveter" to do the work.

[@pickledtezcat]

The French had a lot of problems with their very modern designs, because they were suffering from conflicts between the bosses and the workers. A lot of the workers at that time were communists or anarchists, and many of them were against the war. Some of the French tanks and aircraft were deliberately sabotaged (or that was the story put out at the time, maybe for propaganda reasons). Maybe the French situation would have been different if they had focused on putting out cheap, easy to build designs in large numbers. Or maybe not. A lot of the British tanks sent to Europe before Dunkirk arrived with serious manufacturing or design faults, and weren't battle ready. Overall, tank technology was still at the bleeding edge during the war, and it took a long time for a design to mature, by the end of which, it was usually obsolete.

[@kaneworsnop1007]

@@pickledtezcat I've always been told that the French tanks at the start of the war were superior to the Germans, the Germans were the first country to fit every tank with radios so could send orders and sighting quicker and work better as a unit. The French only had a radio set in the troop leaders tank who then passed on orders by sign language or actually getting out of his tank and climbing onto one of his troops tanks to tell them what he wanted them to do. The Russian tanks were definitly poorer construction, there were always gaps between armour plates which were machined or cast accurately, often the gaps were big enough to put your hand in. The Russians just never cared about their soldiers lives and would rather field several poorly assembled tanks instead of 1 properly assembled tank.

[@terrariabuildings9011]

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

[@michalorszulik1018]

There was no technology in British manufacturers to weld big surfaces back then.

[@MrGoldenV]

What about building the tank transporter for the crusader?

[@Panzermeister36]

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.

[@nonamesplease6288]

Not only did they add weight, but they also could break off when the tank got hit and could ricochet around the interior injuring the crew.

[@Franz-fi4tu]

And sometimes, when the tanks gets a hit, the kinetic wave breaks them and they start travelling inside the tank like if they were bullets

[@CharlieNoodles]

That’s not entirely true. It’s not that riveting is easier so much as it was that Britain mostly had riveters. To retrain their workforce over to welding would have taken a long time (not to mention having to retool all their factories) and Britain just didn’t have the time. As I understand it the Covenanter was supposed to be welded in the original design but the company that was going to build them convinced the designers to make it riveted because it was easier then converting to welding.

[@Panzermeister36]

@@CharlieNoodles most of those facilities had been making locomotives, which are largely welded. Fact is that casting and welding are more expensive, so riveting prefabricated plates was simply the cheapest and quickest option.

[@kemikade]

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

[@BrailleScale]

😂😂😂

[@woody5109]

Who cares, it’s about painting the tank, not Tunisian

[@stephenbridges2791]

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.

[@galapot2380]

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

[@georgianfishbowl170]

Relax with NightShift!

[@kalnieminen65]

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

[@fluffysh4rks738]

Looks great as always!

[@SmallSoldier]

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!

[@BigBadBvids]

The new ones aren’t nearly as good as the old ones, though. 😕

[@SmallSoldier]

Andy Butcher Agreed m8. I’m sure the old ones had lead in them and nothing covers better than lead based paints.😉 My relationship with humbrols goes way back as well and I remember them.

[@BigBadBvids]

Yeah, I dread to think what they used to put in them 30 years ago. Made them work great, though. 😉

[@SmallSoldier]

@@BigBadBvids Yep!

[@fordguy8792]

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

[@manoflego123]

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

[@DhonJoe]

Howdy partner.

[@rockycockatoo7944]

Howdy it is

[@c-r]

Yee, and I can't stress this enough, haw

[@TheScaleEngineer]

Yippiayokayey

[@tk9780]

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

[@patrik-4163]

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 ❤️

[@dirtydandinoman8902]

Uncle Nightshift, you are... my friend!

[@cinamontoast2555]

and.. Uncle!

[@ХаосНеделимый-к5у]

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

[@NightShiftScaleModels]

Privet!

[@noahstorstein7313]

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

[@MrGoldenV]

Loving the crusader it's looking amazing.

[@globul3410]

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

[@tobysellors941]

Lovely work mate

[@rexjolles]

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.

[@jtacomm2960]

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

[@mladtheimpaler]

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

[@jaanikaapa6925]

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.

[@NightShiftScaleModels]

I think that Leman Russ is becoming the most requested tank on this channel 😅

[@jaanikaapa6925]

Night Shift It's one of the cheapest ones and also a legend in 40k lore. :)

[@jaanikaapa6925]

52 Miniature's channel's owner is going to do a tank for his friend. I recommended to check out your channel. Even a few things you do done on a gaming figure would make a basic tank an army's center piece.

[@lesliebatonyi9479]

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

[@ZeroWalker26]

Bloody love this I could not even pain one color with out shaking the tank apart.

[@robertlavery6896]

I'm amazed that you can paint so well while holding the brush handle so high.

[@nickbutler7935]

Some very subtle and worthwhile effects.

[@trevoratchison3904]

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

[@mitchellsumpter4807]

That shovel…looks just like the one I use around the house; rusty and well used!👍🏼

[@FinestBritishTea]

Whoo! im not bored anymore

[@bushiestwook5202]

That "damn son" though 😂

[@yalelingoz6346]

And since I've gone to the effort of answering a (possibly rhetorical) question, I should say how much I enjoy your presentation and skill. I really rate your videos and work. :)

[@od1452]

Nice. Working in a small scale amazes me.

[@fonesrphunny7242]

Got into the habit of painting my thumb when switching to acrylics. Had no experience with them previously and it really helped me get an actual feeling for mixing the paint with water/retarder. Still doing it every time before I even touch the model.

[@foreverplastickits138]

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

[@jonathanmock614]

Best modelling channel out there!

[@herrskeletal3994]

Night shift with paint marks all over thumbs Mini painters: One of us! One of us!

[@cygnusx10]

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

[@lordzombey1337]

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" 😂

[@dotdashdotdash]

Germans are always on holiday

[@nickbrough8335]

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.

[@Vincent-gc8zd]

That searchlight looks brilliant! Bye bye silver!

[@carnificusworks942]

This guy is just too wholesome

[@peerfridge2391]

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

[@burntbybrighteyes]

About rusting the towing cables: I’m walking by a scrapyard everyday on my way to work and there’s a couple of these lying out in the open which have been there for years completely exposed to the elements and they are literally rust free. The entire cable is covered in grease and oil and that seems to completely protect it from rusting.

[@xXSuCkSeEdXx]

I really enjoy watching those videos. I am not a scale modeller myself, but I am doing miniature painting. Watching these videos really makes me want to do a 40k baneblade tank using all your techniques.

[@emilbt7588]

When you click on the video before you get the notification

[@emilbt7588]

@Oliver Viehland oh yeah, just a busy with school and stuff. So im limited to work on the weekends..

[@krautreport202]

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.

[@toastycarpet9873]

Beautiful tank my friend

[@andrewschanck3363]

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

[@HyperVillainy]

I love all of your videos, but following the journey has this tank has been especially awesome! I love the camo on this one, and it's really cool to see you try a few new techniques on this. I can't wait to see it finished!

[@MichalKaczorowski]

Great inspiration and also very useful with German Dunkelgelb tanks. Greetings from Poland.

[@danandresvillablancavega5995]

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

[@Agakhanyansmotivation]

Really liked the imitation glass. Thank you.

[@johnnycooper7019]

Dear Martin, Another thoroughly enjoyable tutorial. I can't wait for the next installment! Kind Regards Johnny

[@myles-cohenchan4282]

Uncle Night Shift day is very exciting! Another extra fun activity on Friday!

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Uncle Martin .

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

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

[@terrariabuildings9011]

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

[@ScottKenny1978]

Yes, stippling is about like chipping for fabrics. The "Golden Daemon" painting competitions that Games Workshop holds are a great way to see this. Lots and lots of textures added by paint, to the point that a model that doesn't have them won't make it past the first round.

[@paralipsis]

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.

[@JedenSiedemDwa]

That lens is absolutely stunning. Absolutely great! ;)

[@RESlusher]

Looks great, Martin! Thanks for sharing!

[@thewierdpaintbrush7121]

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

[@nickcharles5891]

Love Fridays with the "Uncle"!

[@Manu1876]

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

[@havanadog7987]

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.

[@mrtyalcnky4586]

4:39 "tiger thumb" 🐅

[@the-primered-thumb]

My Saturday morning is complete 😁👌

[@Blockio1999]

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

[@rongray8416]

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

[@SudsyMedusa53]

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!

[@orbitalair2103]

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.

[@sebastiannicolaikaupe5175]

It might also be a case of priorities-France, for example, had workers capable of welding tanks together, but they were mostly employed in the shipyards and needed there, so they used casting or riveting on some of their tanks because labor capacity for that kind of work was available without stealing away labor from the navy. I like the subtle chipping approach, by the way. Your videos inspired me to finally give properly painting a tank model an actual try and I can now definitively appreciate your fine brush control. My DAK Panzer II turned out somewhat...overchipped, I think. As if it has been busy driving through sandstorms for a few months.

[@markfergerson2145]

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.

[@lordzombey1337]

One Comment for The algorythm

[@alejandrosalvadorcastilloh1163]

Wow incredible art, you are the best of the best

[@thurstablelane7567]

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.

[@MrGoldenV]

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.

[@Enemy0fMine1415]

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.

[@superprecise]

Superb videos every week!

[@jasoncoates1835]

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. 😅

[@plethman3669]

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

[@yalelingoz6346]

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.

[@thatonedaniel98]

That light looks pretty good actually

[@JAY-ch6ee]

Britain converted alot of train factories to make tanks, steam engines were all handcrafted and riveted so that's what they did to the tanks. Caused problems with spare parts too as there was alot of variance in the parts thanks to them being handcrafted so different vehicles had slightly different dimensions.

[@ScottKenny1978]

That "handbuilt" problem lasted even to the 1990s or so, the Nimrod MRA4 program blew up because no two planes had their wings attached in exactly the same place.

[@fellowketchup4458]

Mmm yes

[@shorok9333]

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

[@sidwainhouse]

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.

[@TonalASMR]

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.

[@BanzoSan]

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.

[@limoucheu8522]

It is so impressive, with skills like yours when you will go the the final step of modeller, including figures what will do your models more life? All the best.

[@MariusIusan]

That was a funny one: „the Holy Trinity of mainstream tanks”! :)

[@emilbt7588]

AAAAH! Martin just disliked the sherman! Heresy!

[@michaelnorton3042]

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.

[@rainwater739]

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

[@NightShiftScaleModels]

The amount depends on each manufacturer. AK retarder usually needs 1-3 drops, VMS recommends 30% because their retarder also works as flow improver.

[@martinrwilsonshetland]

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.

[@Modkits131]

I concur, the Crusader is a nice dessert.

[@Modkits131]

Also will you bring back Tamiya DIY rain marks?

[@TheGar1968]

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

[@garoscale2587]

excelente , me dieron ganas de armar uno!

[@luisfranciscosoto]

Wonderful!