I'm working on a M1A2 at NTC dio. and im going to have the crew using mud to "paint" desert cammo over the 3 tone NATO scheme . When i was at NTC in 99 TEAM TEXAS did the same thing to their M1A1s. I plan to show the tank 1/2 way covered ,as dry as it is at NTC the mud would dry quickly so i want to try to have a mix of both wet and dry mud on the tank. I'm using real dirt ,so what i need is a few tips on how to make the mud look "wet ".I'm open to any suggestions , thank you .

Maybe if you paint the mud whatever color you want first,and then you can apply a gloss coat to the mud you want wet.

The big difference in wet mud and dried mud is color, not gloss or flat. The wetter mud will be much darker in color than the dried. Simply show the wet mud as a couple of shades darker than the dried mud. I think that should work.

Patrick

Why not try to mix up the dry dirt with some Future in place of water?

You can also use weathering pigments to simulate mud, dry or wet.

A nice dark wash would be sufficient IMO. I did that to my Sa-9 Gaskin model. When the mud dried on my model, it looked like dried sh*t - really (sorry for the profanity, but I'm being honest). To make it look like wet mud, I just applied a dark wash over it. Looks nice also since the dark wash on the non-mud areas looked like the model came from a river after fording it.
What's nice about this "technique" is that if you overdo the wash, i.e. it goes beyond the muddy areas, and just want to concentrate the dark wash on the mud parts, you can easily wipe away the excess wash and don't need to overspray the model with a flat or gloss coat.

for wet mud what i did was to apply the mud mixture onto the tank and let it dry. then for the ares you want to look wet go back and brush paint them with Future fllo wax. you max have to apply 2-3 coast and be liberal with the Future.

you can check out my dio at www.pbase.com/pervez

Mind the mud texture as well. Dried mud has a muck more "grainy" appearance than the "smoother" wet mud...
Ciao