Building a wreck - Update #2

I've been making some progress this weekend on almost finishing the base off; I will add some vegetation to it once the tank model has been finished and attached to the base, so that I can put track marks in the right place.

I have also found a great video from Vallejo on Youtube, which demonstrates exactly what I want to achieve. There are quite a few videos and tutorials out there, but this is my favourite so far: How to burn out effects on tanks - YouTube  It is also within my capabilities (I think!)

Here are some in-progress shots. I cut a small piece of 3mm MDF for the base and sanded the edges to create a chamfered edge, so that it blends with the gaming table as much as possible. I really detest bases on vehicles, especially 1/56 scale, but because I want to add debris, then a base is a must. 

I layered on some wall filler to create a bit of texture and then sprinkled sand and fine grit onto it. Once dry, I sprayed it with diluted PVA to bind it all together and then, once dry again, sprayed it with grey car body primer from Halfords (my go-to primer for everything). The tank was also primed at the same time.

I chopped up several bits of the model when assembling it to create the debris, plus some selected parts from the sprue, plus a few odds and ends I had in my bits box, such as jerry cans.

After the primer had dried on the base, I super-glued some wreckage and debris onto it and then gave the whole thing a first coat of a pale-ish brown paint (cheap tester pot from B&Q). Once the base coat had dried, I created a wash using a dark chocolate brown paint and dabbed that randomly to create some depth to the colour.  Once that had dried, I lightly dry-brushed a pale cream colour on and picked out some of the larger rocks.

I painted most of the debris in the same colour that the tank will be painted: a dark panzer grey, then gave it a light dry-brush with a pale sand colour to highlight some of the detail. I then used Agrax Earthshade from Citadel to darken the recesses on some of the debris.

Finally, I got out my airbrush and sprayed some dark panzer grey paint in the place where the fire from the tank would have scorched the earth.

The final step for today was to give the whole tank a spray with Vallejo Model Air Panzer Dark Grey 71.056. I'm going to leave that base coat for at least several hours to cure before I start with the next layer of paint.

I'll post up some step-by-step progress shots of the tank model soon.

Latest update here.