Rolling Thunder : M7 Priest Painting and Weathering

In this video I'll be painting and weathering the 1/35 scale M7 Priest model from Dragon.
The M7 Priest was a WWII Allied Self-Propelled Howitzer. This tutorial will help guide you painting and achieving realistic looking results.
The 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle. The M7B1 was based on the M4A3 Sherman chassis It official name 105 mm Self Propelled Gun M7, 'Priest' by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring, and following on from the Bishop and the contemporary Deacon self-propelled guns.
It was standardized in September 1943
WARNING: This kit does not supply enough track links to complete the model. Beware

[@gruppenfuhrer45]

Just wow, another amazing job!!!!

[@afv-studio]

🫡

[@CWModelling]

Superb build Mark 👍

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Ian, my figure painting needs work 🤣

[@stevebrooks1456]

Fantastic job!

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Steve

[@KGmodels]

That figure looks amazing ,even though his eyes are a bit crossed,but it just looks amazing,and the weathering is immaculate!
Great work mate!

[@afv-studio]

Thanks KG... You noticed the cross eyed lieutenant 🤣

[@KGmodels]

Hah,it looks better than most of my figures anyway ! 😂

[@lugri52]

Precioso trabajo

[@afv-studio]

Thanks

[@paulus1412]

Great looking end result 👍

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Paulus... Apart from my cross eyed commander, I think it turned out good 😆

[@paulus1412]

@@afv-studio figure painting is always "fun". I still struggle with it so sometimes i even skip the eys and just make them white/grey for this scale :P

[@jimaltergott9326]

I like your paint process. It is very similar to how I paint figures. I see in the description you included the cautionary message regarding the lack of enough track links. Certainly hope this is not the case with the 'Sexton', although I fear it maybe so because Dragon probably used the same chassis & hull on both M7 & Sexton. Loved the results of your work, as always 👍

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Jim, I'm not 1 of these exceptional figure painters. I just 'wash' and 'dry brush' and try to pick out details with a brush. 1st time I have attempted to paint the whites of the eyes, and it fell short... I dont know how they do it.🤫... You might be lucky with the Sexton.. I think they pack according to the count on the instruction sheet. My Firefly had about 20 extra links on the instruction sheet and it that is where I took the missing links from. Now I have a Firefly that will be short. Somewhere along the line I will end up buying aftermarket tracks.☹

[@lesthiele4921]

That was a absolutely outstanding result with the painting and weathering, congratulations on a job very well done, best regards from Australia, Les

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Les, Yeah I'm pretty happy how it looks... Onwards and upwards 🫡

[@markc7002]

Exceptional weathering skills! Your subtle application makes it look ultra realistic!!

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Mark, It didn't turn out to bad in the end 😉

[@user-zw7gp8xb8f]

🤝👍

[@afv-studio]

👍👍

[@ArmorModelsbyGlennBartolotti]

😎👍

[@afv-studio]

Thanks Glenn

[@Michu32421]

what width of nozzle do you use for making highlights

[@afv-studio]

Its the .28 which uses the .2 needle. I think this has part way toward the improved response when you 1st start to pull the trigger. That and the complete trigger redesign on the Evolution 2024 makes it the nicest brush I've used, and I have an Infinity and an Iwata HP-C to compare too. Check out www.youtube.com/@dredfxcustompaint and see a master at work.

[@Michu32421]

@@afv-studio and if I do color modulation on turret like Sherman or Churchill crodild should I highlights the center of the turret or the edges?

[@afv-studio]

@@Michu32421 Interesting 🤔Here is my take on this. Top surfaces should be lighter than side/vertical surfaces. Add to this that the top 1/3 of a vertical surface would in itself be lighter than down near the bottom of the same surface. Now the flat top surface is going to be lighter than any of the vertical surface. I would look at those 3 tones on a turret and then add an extra light mottling over the rest of the top surface staying away from the edge and away from things like hatch cupola's (if that makes sense). I would also use this lightest 4 tone to paint the centre of hatches etc and leaving hatch edges darker so they stand out a bit more. Now with the Sherman and Churchill you have the added feature of a curved edge 🤯 and a curved edge always throw off a strong refection point so i would try to catch that strong refection . It's tricky to get your head around. I would take a look at some pictures and some Box Art and see how an artist makes a surface look flat or curved. It can open your eye to how to go about shading a model.