Puttin' on a Sheen.

[GaryG64]

I finally had a little time to work on the Tiger.
To show a type of "bare" metal sheen to the wheels I used a Prisma Color 2B lead pencil then used a silver pencil - Goldfaber Aqua from Faber Castle over the lead then used a very soft brush to blend.

 

[urumomo]

Cool , but way too silvery .
Look at modern , in use construction machinery for reference .
The steel alloys used for Tiger wheels and modern equipment are a bit different but neither would polish up shiny silver .



It's amazingly difficult to find good photos of bulldozer / excavator running gear surfaces on Google Images ,
but the steel is closer to the darker , graphite gray or umbers from the unavoidable oxidation of the freshly worn steel .

The topside of railway track will give the most polished surface appearance out of steel on steel conveyance you'll find , but you have to take into account the fact that it is stretched out straight and providing the ideal angle of incidence for lighting to make it shine .
With scale models you need to compensate for the vast differences in the effects that lighting has on a scale subject and a real one .
Even though certain wear points of a full size machine may appear shiny to an observer in real life , that point-specific observation is impossible to convey in scale .

This photo below demonstrates how the return rollers appear very bright in this viewing angle but if the camera were repositioned only slightly they definitely would not . It's only due to the perfect angle of incidence of the lighting .

 

[GaryG64]

Cool , but way too silvery .
Look at modern , in use construction machinery for reference .
The steel alloys used for Tiger wheels and modern equipment are a bit different but neither would polish up shiny silver .

View attachment 94309

It's amazingly difficult to find good photos of bulldozer / excavator running gear surfaces on Google Images ,
but the steel is closer to the darker , graphite gray or umbers from the unavoidable oxidation of the freshly worn steel .

The topside of railway track will give the most polished surface appearance out of steel on steel conveyance you'll find , but you have to take into account the fact that it is stretched out straight and providing the ideal angle of incidence for lighting to make it shine .
With scale models you need to compensate for the vast differences in the effects that lighting has on a scale subject and a real one .
Even though certain wear points of a full size machine may appear shiny to an observer in real life , that point-specific observation is impossible to convey in scale .

This photo below demonstrates how the return rollers appear very bright in this viewing angle but if the camera were repositioned only slightly they definitely would not . It's only due to the perfect angle of incidence of the lighting .

View attachment 94310

Thank you for your awesome advice .

I did have the light shinning at an angle to show a lot of reflection off the wheels. In actuality they are more of a shiny pencil lead color which could be dulled down or painted mat-steel.

 

[urumomo]

You can go around them lightly with an umber pencil or pastel .
Avoiding a monochromatic appearance will give a convincing effect .
Easy to experiment with and easy to wipe off and start over if it looks wrong .
An acrylic wash might work also , nothing will really stick to graphite but it will work for a static model .

 

[GaryG64]

Ok. Thank you