M3 Stuart from Warlord Games

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Today I want to showcase my M3 Stuart from Warlord Games. As always after some quick facts, I will jump right into the painting process. Finally, I will also share my opinions about the M3 Stuart kit from Warlord.

History

The M3 Stuart was an American made light tank during World War 2 and was used on American, British and Russian sides. Some captured M3s were also used by the Axis.

Due to its light armor and high speed, the Stuart was mainly used as a recce vehicle. In direct encounters with German or Italian tanks, the M3 Stuart and the later produced M5 were almost without a chance.

For wargaming, the Stuart is a good light support option. Obviously, the M3 is not your answer if your opponent fields a Panther or a Tiger. But in regards to Chain of Command, the Stuart costs only 5 points including a Junior leader. A good deal in my opinion, because with his MGs, he also offers some serious fire support for your infantry.

The kit

M3 Stuart Warlord the kit

The M3 Stuart from Warlord is a plastic kit. It comes with two sprues. Besides the actual tank, the box also includes unit cards, decals and vehicle markers for Bolt Action. I really like the kit, because it offers plenty of variants. For example, you can build the Stuart with or without a tank commander.

How to Paint the M3 Stuart FROM WARLORD

Time needed: 2 hours and 30 minutes

But now, let’s start painting the M3 Stuart tank.

  1. Priming

    In the first step, I primed the Stuart white, using Vallejo Primer. I applied the primer with a brush. But any primer in a rattle can will work too.

  2. Painting the hull

    I like to give my vehicles a more rugged look. To achieve that, I applied some weathering techniques. Because of that, I painted the whole model with Vallejo Hull Red (985). After chipping the base color, this first layer will shine through. So basically, we will create the illusion of small varnish cracks due to heavy use.

  3. Applying chipping medium

    After the Hull Red dried up, I applied Vallejo Chipping Medium. This will basically provide the chipping effect.

  4. Applying the base colors

    My go-to base color for American armor is Vallejo US Olive Drab 887 (previously labeled as Brown Violet). For the tank commander, I used Vallejo German Cam. Beige (821) for the jacket, Vallejo Basic Skin Tone (815) for the face and Army Painter Leather Brown for his cap.

  5. Activating the chipping medium

    After the base colors dried up, it was time to activate the chipping medium. I used an old toothbrush and some water for this task. Gently brush off some of the base colors and you will see the Red Hull paint beneath it.

    As a bonus, I applied Vallejo Environment Rust Texture to the model.

  6. Shading the tank

    To improve the flow of the quick shade I sealed the model with Army Painter Anti-Shine before. After that, I used Army Painter Quickshade (Dark tone) for the actual shading. I applied the shade with a brush, but even then it is kind of messy.

  7. Applying decals

    48 hours later, it was time to add the decals. I used the ones for the American version of the tank because I play US Army in most World War 2 games.

  8. Weathering the model

    I also added some more Weathering effects to the model. I used Vallejo Thick Mud (European Mud) and Vallejo Splash Mud (European Splash Mud). Obviously, I added the mud mostly on the tracks and the lower parts of the tank.

  9. Sealing

    Finally, it was time to seal the whole model. I like this task especially, because it indicates, that I almost finished another model! My go-to product for this job is Army Painter Anti-Shine.

THE FINISHED M3 Stuart from Warlord

Building and painting the M3 Stuart from Warlord was fun. The kit offers plenty of options to build different versions of the tank. To recap this post, the M3 Stuart is a great kit and offers a great value for anybody interested in wargaming World War 2.

If you have any questions or comments, please put them down below in the comments. And as always, happy wargaming!

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