Ready for earth effects!

My friends, I spent the majority of Friday and today painting all the small surface details on this model, and although it's mostly a grey monster, there are lots of small things in different colors! 

First of all, the tools at the back were painted the usual way as on all my other models. Then there were the exhaust pipes... a grey base coat, some light grey mottling, some dark chipping, and a generous enamel rust wash. 

Continuing with some additional wood effects, I chipped the planks under the loading tray. At this point I wanted to take care of the hydraulic pistons on the mortar. For this I have a sheet of self-adhesive chrome tape that used to be sold by a local modelling club. I used it in the past on some of my models, namely the D9R bulldozer, and it does the job beautifully, you just have to hide the visible joint somewhere out of sight. It tends to peel off when the cylinder isn't thick enough, and that can be fixed with a bit of superglue, but it's a messy job. Luckily, it's holding in place so far. 

More shiny steel surfaces are present on the model, especially the working surfaces of the loading tray and the elevating mechanism. Here I wanted a darker look. Something like dark steel that's polished by use, but not as much as, let's say, road wheels. For that, I painted them with a dark rust base coat and applied VMS liquid polished steel that comes from their Pigment Jockey range. 

And finally, highlighting all the bolts, rivets, cables, handles, etc. This might seem a bit controversial, especially on the walkways, but I have a plan there! After the model is weathered, I'll give them a quick rub with a pencil and it should create a nice 3D polished metal look. 

Now I can focus on the earth effects. It's best to start with the lower hull if you're unsure about the finished result, and that's what I'm gonna do here. Besides, I'd like to have the model finished this week, so I hope it'll all go smoothly!