Eventually the tank artwork was finished and I could relax
into weathering the bones, this was executed using Liquitex water based acrylics,
I used techniques that are common to model makers, washes, dry brushing and
even chalks and pastels, the whole thing being built up layer by layer, this
technique is very labour intensive, but gives the surface a visual texture and
depth that cannot be achieved any other way.
This area along with the rear guard were sealed and matt lacquered.
The
next job was a base coat of black to support the artwork, once out of the
oven the shell was flatted then left for a day to fully cure.
The following day I started the artwork, I decided to start the mural on the
tank area first as this would absorb most of time and be the most visually
critical, so it had to be right..!!
Working freehand can either be like riding a bike, (it takes a bit of concentration
but the further you ride the better it gets, and you start to get a kick out
of it) or it can be a train crash from day one.
Well this
artwork started off as a nice bike ride until It was eventually hit by a train.
Iwas
well into the artwork when I noticed that the material I was applying appeared
to be slowly absorbed by the black base material, at first I thought it
was my imagination, but I then started to notice that the whole shell was
starting to craze and move, the fact was that the idiot who had base painted
the shell had forgotten to add the necessary hardener to the paint did play
a major part..
Under normal circumstances I would have insisted that they strip it, but
to be honest at the time I had to question his intelligence...!!!
I was so annoyed, I suppose the process of stripping the shell with solvent
was therapeutic to a point and saved me from a theoretical jail term..
