Hi Gofaster. Do you use an airbrush on the aircraft models? I've not built tank models, but I have a friend who has. He even went so far as to make shell holes in the armor plating using a hot wire, and then painted around the shell hole area using flat black for the smoked part, with tiny silver flecks around that, to show exposed metal from the shell bites.
My limited model building experience...it's always better to paint individual parts before assembly on the tree. For me, assembly is easier with the parts painted ahead of time.
I would handle the treads like this:
Paint yellow ochre mixed with some flat black...with flat black accents here and there. Then, (and this is the hard part), figure out a way to fill between the treads with modeler's putty, and paint that flat orange so it resembles red clay. This step would have to be done so the treads could be assembled while the putty was still not dried. Probably very difficult to do. Then use judicious amounts of the putty in the wheels and under the treads, and paint orange after it's dry.
I would use real red clay dirt on the road bed, after first modeling tread marks and ruts in the road. Plastiline clay (oil based) would be ideal for the foundation. For a muddy effect, I would use very small pieces of mirror to simulate water in puddles.
Depending on the size of the diorama, a tree is a definite possibility, with maybe some talls weeds along the side of the road. Hobby shops sell great diorama trees, bushes, grass, etc... Sage brush would take some imagination to do.
It would take a lot of patience to do right.
Les
