One of the greatest benefits of building model tanks is the ability to add as much detail to them as you would like. From adding custom paint schemes to changing out parts, you can do as much detailing as you could possibly wish. One of the best ways to detail a model tank is to age it so that it looks like it has been around for as long as the real thing.

An M1 should look like it is thirty years old or more rather than looking like a tank that has just rolled off the assembly line. The first step in aging your tank is to figure out exactly when the original was first manufactured. By knowing the models relative age you can then decide on what sort of damage to add to it according to which war or conflict it was used in.

For example, the tanks that saw action in WWII and the Korean War saw quite a bit of action so they would understandably have a good deal of wear on them. An Abrams that was produced for the first Gulf War would not have seen near as much damage since not one was lost during the entire war. Pock marks can be easily added to your model tank to help simulate damage from enemy gunfire or shrapnel. Just take a hobby knife with a sharp tip and lightly twist it into the plastic of the body wherever you wish to add the damage. Make sure to do so very lightly as a bullet would never be able to pierce a tank. It would only chip it or make an indention at most.

Land mine damage can be added this way as well. Just take and very easily skim some of the plastic away to create indentations. You can even take and cut chips into the body as well. You can take some of the chips and glue them in other spots to simulate embedded shrapnel as well. After you have painted your model you can add more damage by carefully flaking paint away in spots where the damage should look the greatest.

Many attacks took place either head on or from the sides. With a bit of creativity and some experimentation you will soon have a model tank that looks as if it has been through many battles only to be parked out behind a base somewhere to rust into obscurity.