Stripes, Decals, and Chipping – Leman Russ Strike Tank

When I first got back into modeling in 2006, I fell into the trap of reading forums and being infected with the idea that if my model wasn’t perfect in every detail, I was wrong, and I owed the interwebs a sincere apology. However, Sergeant Bius, the old paratrooper who still sits in a corner of my mind sipping coffee, had about enough of that nonsense and quickly set me straight.

“Don’t worry what others think” he said. “They’re all legs anyway.”

Some of you will get that. The rest can look it up. 😄

The Joy of Painting (Stripes)

I like painting stripes. I have no real reason why… I just think they look nice. Whether it is black and yellow warning stripes, or red and yellow, or D-Day invasion stripes… I love the way they look.

Even when they are a pain to mask, which they often can be, I still like them. Which is probably the reason I gave up masking stripes and now I either freehand them, or use penciled in lines.

I think the trick to dealing with stripes on a military vehicle is to realize rarely is perfection involved. I recall several spirited forum arguments about how precise someone’s invasion stripes were on a Spitfire. Then a fellow posted a photo of an RAF ground crew painting them on… with a mop.

I’ve learned that less-than-perfect stripes are an advanced modeling technique, in the sense that you’ve reached a point of understanding it’s simply a plastic toy. And if you do obsess over them it is because you want to… not because the internet and the infernal Book of Faces demands it.

So here are some stripes, some decals, and some chipping.