A AUTH sts TUN VBI 0)Ter SRV VO)contact information: tankart@me.com ‘TANKART Vol. 1 WWI! German Armor Copyright © 2012 by Rinaldi Stu Press, LLC All rights reserved Al madels, photography and txt inthis book ae copyright © 2012 by the authors uniess otherwise nated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval sys tem, or transmitted in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, photo copying recording, or otherwise, without te prior writen permission of the publisher, Rinaldi Studio ress, LIC. Graphic design, art direction and copy editing by Michael Rial Author: Michael C. nal Contributors: Mario Eens Marin van Gils Published by: Rinaldi Studio Press, LLC 9501 W Sahara Ave Unit 2272 Las Vegas, NV 89117 vow rinaldistudiopres.com tankart@me.com Designed in the USA Printed inthe USA 1st Editon, December 2012 US ISBN: 978-0-9883363-1-5 Special thanks to Rhodes Wiliams, Mario Eens, Marin van Gils, and especially to my parents, without your neverending support none of this would have ever been possible model bulging friends and supporters, this book is for you.FOREWORD INTRODUCTION PRODUCTS & MATERIALS WEATHERING PRINCIPLES HAIRSPRAY TECHNIQUE OIL PAINT RENDERING BEFEHLS PANTHER AUSF. G TIGER | INITIAL PRODUCTION JAGDPANZER 38(t) HETZER SD.KFZ 251/22 PAKWAGEN PANZER IV AUSF. E DAK FIGURE - MARIJN VAN GILS 38 70 102 132 162 198FOREWORD 's modeling art? question some would answer with yes, and others with no. What exactly is art? Why is one painting regarded asa valuable piece of at and another as a piece of kitsch? As at isa sociological psychological and historical bound understanding, there can be no exact efniton to what art realy i. In an attempt to give a defnition one could enue that art is anything that is made by man with the aim to stimulate both the human senses and spr by originality and/or beauty If we now subject modeling to this defrition, could we then say that some of it could be regarded as ar...? The same as with conventional pees of art like paintings and sculp {ures there can be, shoud be, thought behind the creation of a model ood models are not made without propery considering all aspects in volved. Be it the camouflage patter, adding damage, weathering and chipping, et. Same as with ‘proper’ works of at, there needs to be a good composition behind it to attract the viewer’ attention and above to keep it f the model does not look appealing, the viewer will get bored easily and wander of. Soif not art modeling, good modeling could at least be regarded as ats. Mike nad, the author ofthe book you are about to enjoy, is very ar tistic modeler Like al good modelers, Mike has his own style thats yet very familar and realistic. Every model he approaches inan artistic way, which results in models that keep the viewer interested and fascinated, Asin traditional at painters are inspired by each others work, so are we ‘modelers. t's fun to get ideas and techniques from fellow modelers and rends and in tun to inspire ther. Tis way we shoud all become bet ter modelers inthe end, for one have been inspired by Mike's work on ‘many occasions and 'm sure by reading this book so wl you Mario Eenshe seed wes planted fortis book years ago. | have long desed to collate my madels into how-to bok series, designed to educate a itustrate the latest n painting and weathering processes and ideas. But that wasn the tot emphasis behind this endeavor. wanted the models tobe something moe, mare than a magaine arte, more than an onlin photo ebm. To me, the volume of work that | have crated over the past 9 years has so much substance beind it and in each case | have never been abet tel the fll story of what went into them. Not just the how, but the why aswel The anaunt of editing for bath the copy, and the numberof images was often quite dramatic within each magaxine article | wanted to tll a moe involved stry,thase personal detail that | never have enough rom to dig when witing an article or even aforum post. Those techniques that am doing on amor subconscious level that come from yeas of training and practice) o capture the mood, ra, theater and imate hat | sualize within ech pice To pu ital together in an efor to share this rawiedge with the hobby Its been a ving force for along time There hasbeen a ack of fulfillment that | couldnt shake withthe usual media out lets, and creating this book series was the ultimate expression ofthis goal. Even more so than producing DVDs, because you can't always refer to a DVD when needed, not everyone fas their computer by their bench, nding the right “page” can be tedious, plus the very eal copyright intemet issues (pray) that continues today, whereas a book can be easily handled, refered to quickly, studied intenty, kept handy on the bench or des, and sofort, But what would set this book series apart from those that have preceeded it, or come after? To answer this question | have tobe frank and honest. First, | have had ths continua thought that translating thoughts and actions ito words and Pictures should be accompanied by a certain level of candor. | wanted to stand back and look over your shoulder to provide a more authentic behind the-scenes approach tothe howand the why of each project, or technique, And from a more personal level of saying tothe world, “This is who | am, and what | have created to share, teach and inspire” ~ to give something back oa hobby Second think the usual publishing mediums are simpy to restctve by agenda, formats, or inclusive of other material. You see as long time magazine writer, ‘graphic designe, editor even, Ihave been involved with all aspects of magazine production and they are ultimately 2 major compromise to the tre level of et fort associated with professional model building, | dont mean that statement as ‘overtly negative, oro insult their purpose, just that | feel a book can be so much ‘more; a book can have aver diferent set of goals and reasons for being, and this {oes not have to follow the path of many newsstand publications. | could start with my own fresh outline. A book can be more from a graphics standpoint too, it can bring to bear a wonderful level of ilstrative ability tat isnot restricted by ‘@ magazine’ inherent format. Here is where | felt | coud bring alot tothe table with my background as a profesional designer, adding something more beyond the models themselves, hid, end this sone of those more spiritual statements that we sometimes make, but | want my work to inspire. | recognize their is some ego in that statement, but that doesn't change the truth of i. Nothing drives me more ‘on a personal madeling evel than being insp- red by someone else who has created a won- erful bit of work | want to reciprocate that emotion and return te fevor to so many of you ‘ut there that inspire me. It, to me, is one of those magical feelings we get frm this hobby, you know when you fp thru an article, or see a model on the show stand, it just hits you “Wow, that model is so amazing!” or, “Wow! how on earth did he do that?” Honesty, its that typeof feeling that has sustained my dive to continue producing new modes. its a spe- Cial thing we all share, and | fee strongly this book can realy participate foreach of us on that level Well, with all ofthat said, there isstillthe main crux of any such project ~ compromise. As much as | would ike to make a huge unlimited age count volume, that simply is not realistic from any level. Thus, | must reduce the work into a manageable and reproducable format. This initial volume on WW German Armay, is ‘what | would call the fist snapshot atthe mas- sive variety of subjects avilable to chose from inthis arena. My chapter choices are intended to cover most of the major camouflage fishes used, and hit on each key area ofthe painting ‘and weathering praess to give you maximum information over the length ofthis series. And ‘then ontop ofthat, | will speak specifeally to cortain techniques that pertain to nearly all ‘project, so you get avery complete picture of the methodologies at pay. | say this because inside these pages you wil be given what | feel is a rare glimpse into 2 ‘modelers mindset, | will make every effort to ut into words and pictues the techniques of using certain products and tools, and how | achiove the results that | do. Something that | hope is quite removed from the simple step- bystep process. | want you to know what in ‘my mind as | am working the proces. Here is here this book will come to life and I believe You, the reader, will be drawn further in and find new methods, ideas, and inspiration to apply to your own workWhat’ in the books name? | want to touch on ths for ust ‘2 moment to expand on my thoughts for the tte ofthe se- ries - TANKART. | have to believe the main reason you are reading this book is thatthe finishes | achieve have really drawn you to my work. | am known for my painting and weathering, and Tm righty proud of this, but I didn't want ta lay outa product that was not authentic to me, orto ‘what | do, Honestly, know | do nat make the mast histor cally accurate models, isnot my primary motivation for my ‘work, nor ist fo this book. Thus, the bulk ofthe focus will center around the notion of painting and weathering a tank model, pure and simple. All of which is fine with me, and all the while ery honest to the tye of modeler that | have become. And indeed ou hobby is thankfully fl of materia ‘that cover in wonderful detail all ofthe other aspects ofthe model building process, which also helps to free me from that responsibility and concentrate on what | do best. ‘TANKART is intended from the outset to compliment the ‘curently available products onthe market. The work inside is simply a representation of what can be achieved using similar methods and approaches to each project. The adage that what makes this hobby great is that there is no preset notions of what an or cannat be done is one | believe in, and my books ae just one pont of view towards that end. MY MODELING PHILOSOPHY |'can imagine for a great many of you that there is a set of values, o guides, by which you govern your own work. | can also imagine that it is not a simple and easy set of pararmeters to come by; here is where experience must have aninuence, adit was no different for me Ws taken ‘mealong time, anda great many models, to realize certain aspects of what Ido and how that dictates the final results of each piece. As can only speak of myself about what my philosophies are, | must say it has become quite clear in recent works. For me, can simpy and narrow it down to what | term ~ “arts scale-i. |dn'tthink of myself as a hyper realist, as have been called sometimes. Ora rivet counter, or any other numberof terms we label us within the hobby. My focus, my driving mantra that pushes me, that keeps the work linear and always moving forward is the singular gol to recreate each area in-scale as | can ‘muster and within my defining artistic abilities. There isa fine line between ths idea and realism, To me, realism also speaks to historical accuracy, and here is ‘here | usually diverge fromthe actual uth ofa subject. Why? Is very simple re- ally. You see unless there isa substantial numberof photos ofa specific vehicle at that moment in combat that has captured most aspects ofits nish, how can you be too realistic in every area ofthe model? It becomes such a force to deal with that I lose that batle every time. 'm talking down tothe tiniest chip or scratch | usually ony have the laury of ust one or two photos, and sometimes they re ot even of the same vehicle. Achieving 100% realism has such a way of sapping my energy, Ihave come to realize tis notion and embrace it. | thik this could be described as semantics, but fet its avery viable point. Inthe end, | use photos {as a guide, and usually nothing more. But again, everyone is different, and has ‘vary cifferent goals within your own work. ‘Ihave other ideas that play an equally important role in this book and how best You can us it In ation to the above main mot, pat of my thesis i ute "ong that many tchiques have avery road range of opacities bul within them, wich nearly any mel can apply toto work nas stong, or as sub, ofntnsity you dese or require ome sis avery power concept hate. aly expanded my viewpoint onthe hoy, an how bes to approach it. Suen, | went fom having alt of specie ecniqus and products fr each specific reed an each specie area of a mode to having far ewer processes, but each having mich broader lee of applet, thus reat simphing my ste-bystep maths all round, This was avery feing idea tat has huge infuece onthe cca of each model, the timerame equire, the lvl of practice needed for ech technique, and so fo. Itchanged how | approached anew piece, and my conidence grew at the same time ‘As| sot forth to proceed with this new series of madeling books, please take with ity gratitude fr your continued suppor of what itis that do. Like so many large ‘projects, the level of committment and time required to see this become a realty ‘equies so many thanks to al of the people touched by this process along the \way It simply would not have been possible otherwise. With that ll ai, please sit down at your workbench, pt the ovehead light on and tum the pages. | hope you will ind within them the many ideas, techniques, method, reasons wy and ‘how that | use to make my models, and from there begin your own joumey within ‘this wonderful hobby of ours. Enjoy the music inthe background, smile atthe cool subject before you, and always sive to push yourself further. ike | say, “You can never have too small fa chip” Best, Michael C Rnaldi is cea October 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada, USAet ideas on what warks and how much to spend; this greatly affects what sav of us on our workbenches, However, | can say towards that ends that rks for me, and has been proven aver the course of nearly 70 models in Having the confidence that what | am about to attempt with what product and knowing within spitting distance either way how it will tun out is very Approaching a madel that you've just spent countless hours assembling, most likely adding considerable costs thr aftemarket accessories too, only to muff it his never a pleasant episode. Believe me, we've all experienced that crisis, so hopefully with some basic principles and solid choices, I can help you take @ worthy crack ait sm going to assume your model is built since that makes tis conversation a ft seuss. What tools you use to build a model is actualy relatively similar 3s the plant; hobby knife glue, sanding paper or sticks, putty, et, with only the brand and some minor differences coming into play. But with fishes, itis a whol fferent ballgame largely because itis a chemically based system of products rt by saving. the advice within this book i simply that, advice. It isnot to eer ns ee ty ere ey: wll havea very good chance at succes ec PRIMER | don't say to everyone that you must primer your model, but I do recommend it. | a ways prime with my work. Why? Because it has never let me down, the extra cost and insurance is ather minimal, and | have never hada pintjob fail because | primed a mo del, And while nat ahvays the case, usually my models are multi-media affairs, sot prime’s main advantage her is to give the paint a common surface across the boar, ‘meaning the paint will adhere strongly, and te color will appear evenly as intended. This process falls under the “keep it simple, stupid” mantra, and tend to stick wit what works overtime wit steps lke these f you ae familiar at all wth my work, you can easily guess my product of choice here ~ Gunue Sanyo Mr Suracer 1200 inthe aerosol can. 'm usualy able to prime 34 models per can, so at approx. $10 each, that is fily economical, and most important, the resulting rsh s superb. Perfect forthe paint, neary any brand at that, to adhere to with strength, which is very important in the weathering stages. So yes, Ido recommend that you prime. There are ther quality rodvts available from Tamiya, Testor, Vallejo and so on, and due to my dominant ‘use of acrylic pains, Mr. Sufacer 1200 is my preferred product. Modem acrylic paint performs at a very high level conjunction wit ft, thus it gets my vote PAINT In truth, | only use acs. tis onthe very rare occasion {ust one time) that | have ventured into enamels (Humbrol), and for a good reason. | paint 100% indoors, and have never had te lunury ofa propery built-in and vented spay booth, so gravitated towards acrylis from a very early stage. That is nota bad thing though, bec ART 10 rd PHO Buk ott EiFst Gare Sanyo Me Sue 120 ier‘are exceptional choves readily available to us from nearly any quality sou Tamiya - these have been my personal favorite ever since bought my fist mode! in the local hbby store decad ‘ago. While the color choices have not changed much since Gosia fist detroyed Toyko, a modern revelation has put these oldschool paints back on the map. Tamiya's (and Gunze's Aqueous colors too) are chemically quite similar toa lacquer in their properties, and appropriately caled lacquers. 'm no expert, but this tidbit of knowledge s8ed around a few years ago that sad if you thin with Tamiyas own lacquer thinner they wil airbrush withthe best paints around, including enamels. OK, so that Sort of fles inthe face of my efforts to spray indoos, but hey I can't win them al. After some tests, | was happy to realize that this is indeed very tue and found the abt to achieve smooth fishes and extremely tight camo patterns an experience | have not had the pleasure of before when, sing acrylics. twas ike a whole new lease on life, Ihave ntained drawers of Tamiya pains in my storage cases, tut they were rarely used until combined wit sad lacquer thinner, now | use them quite often, And try to use Tamiya, Gunz, or Gaianates brand lacquer thinners, ra high qua lity art store brand ~ trust me on tis point) Lifecolor- these acrylics hail from lay and are one ofthe newest brand on the market, and what an aray of color choices. They have recently expanded into pre-packaged color packs that focus on specific themes or subjects, and overall they are a superb brand of paint. Fort st they airbrush thinned with simple tap water nearly odoress, thus well suited for indoor painting. Se cond, they brush paint with the best of them and this gi ves them incredible versatility, again thinned with water. Some guys have experienced cificlty making a transition to them from regular enamal painting, but once the this hing ratios are properly sorted, they perform at the highest levels. They have excellent leveling qualities and this is important when the paint dries tight around fe details, They alsa dry dead matte and this gives us maximum op tions to impart metalic sheen from there, versus having ta fatten them further. Their increasing popularity means they are readily available from alt of good online sources, {And | wil give one additonal recommedation, | fndLifeco lor some of the best outofthe-botte colors avaiable, and they look right to my “eye”, or usualy inscale, something critical for success Vallejo - these are also Spain. They have been on and produce a dizzying array of products, beyond paint eptonal paints and arive via 3 market for afew years now Ta Ayes op) ier eyes ay ile ltl his pn) aE : ~ {88 Wun‘ducts even. For our purposes, the Model Air and Model Color nes are the two most, important. Model Color is engineered for brush painting, so figure modelers are well \versedin their quality, bu this also translates to painting details on armax. In adton, ‘they are sod in bottles wth a convenient eye-dropper style top, and this makes for very efcient usage overall, My only real rie with Valejos, and mast acrylics in general, is that they dry rapidly onthe tp of the airbrush, with the resulting paint build-up ‘equiring constant attention to keep the airrush performing perfectly. Vallejo are the ‘worst culprit with this, so tend to shy away from them in hotter drier weather, or add 2 lubricant to stem the drying. Beyond that, they are exellent paints and considered ‘one of the best for ou hobby needs. Also they are readily available from almost al ‘popular onfine and local hobby shops. Overall Valljos have great coor choices, spray ‘and brush paint very well and dry quickly toa durable surtae allowing us to proceed uickly to the weathering stages. ‘A couple of quick points on Lifecolar and Valeo. They are chemically ctferent from Tamiya thus they are not interchangeable, Wel | certainly donot recommend mixing either brand with Tamiya; have not had any success in doing so | tnd to keep to one brand of paint throughout the course ofthe model's pantob, so the decision on which touse, and when, usually comes down tothe chosen scheme and what color choices | have at hand. And | must say itis nota popularity contest forme, they all work great after some practice; they are a tool ust ike any other, and combined with a quality airbrush all of them wil offer the required needs ofeach project. ‘As for other brands of pant, | cannot comment with much authority because the 3 brands above are my primary choices. Space is rather ight atthe end ofthe day, and ith paint in genera, find practice and experience are as vital (or more so than the label onthe bottes, AIRBRUSH & COMPRESSOR U have to tackle this devisve topic because what airrush to use is akin to trying to ‘advice the public on what brand of car to dive-heated arguments and debates are rather neverending. But, be that as it may, and because airbrushes and compressors ‘are regarded as one of the primary (and the most expensive) tools you wll be required to purchase it isa must that | discuss these two items to some deg In my experience, | have had great luck with my chosen arbrushes, and over the past few years have acquired certain tastes on what features | prefer. | lok for these fea- tures regardless of brand, so | wil stick with my advice on them rather than the brand ‘names. These ideas would most definitely come from experience and usage overtime, since the painting of a lot of models wil illuminate quite @ few tings, undoubtedly. ‘Starting with the airbrush, it you can ony afford one, then by all means save up and purchase the absolute best one you can afford. Price pont is @ great indicator and ‘while cheap overseas eBay arbrushes lok tempting | woud say be ready to spend at least $80-100 depending onthe brand. Again, | am purposely shying away from saying you should use this brand or that, but on my bench | have the Tamiya Super Fine, and the larger of the two MiG Productions aibrushes, which isa great entry level hobby _TANKART airbrush | would also imagine many of you already have Your setups, so from there I can only emphasis practice, Practice, and more practice. It does make @ world of dif. ference. Once you learn to thin the paint correctly and set Your pressures, it can be a beautiful thing when the pint flows as it should | do have some specific feature preferences, and while few, they ae critical to how spray and achieve my rishes. The first feature | prefer, isthe top trigger style airbrush | ike how I can contro the airflow in tis manner, and not that the gur-tigger style is better or worse, this is simply my preference, Second, | like the top feed cup style because they are easier to clean. Yes, the side or bottom feeds me- ans you can switch colors easier, however, always cleanin betwen colors, so quick, easy cleaning takes precedent for ‘me. Third, and most important, | always add an adjustable rear handle that controls how far back the tigger and thus the needle) canbe pulled back. Tis feature is critical for spraying camo schemes, and when used in conjunction with the right thiming ratio and air pressure allow for maximum paint control on tight or very faint camo pattems. | cannot tell you how much this feature has allowed me to be ac curate inthis regards, so each of my brushes has one ited. Some higher priced AB already come so equipped, but if not, definitly order one immediately! Beyond that, | can add that! maintain an airbrush for each chemical typeof paint that | use. Ths, Ihave one for spay- ing Tamiya and other lacquer based products, one forthe Lifecolor and Vallgjo products. Why? Well it goes back to the cleaning topic again. | found over the years, trying to tse one airrush for all paints takes i tol onthe internals, and often when an airbrush stopped performing properly this was the main reason. Some other type of paint was still Jodged inside, and the new paint was causing havoc withthe needle in mast cases, in essence small died gunk of different paints would build up inside. Once | switched to dedicated arbruses foreach paint type used, ite gota loteasie Ths is obviously a lot more critica if you paint a lot, ite do (na normal year, | am painting 10-12 models) Which is another reason | prefer the top feeds, they are simpler to disassemble, and the least amount of time spent doing s0 is fine with me. In regards tothe compressor, in a perfect word, every mo: deler would use a similar setup to mine, Once obtained, 1 never looked back. In fact, my hwata artank-syle compres sor has performed flawiessl for over 6 years now, (mine is the 35 liter capacity Power Jet, and what it does is twovery wonderful tings. One, with its large intemal capacity ai tank it builds up air pressure that i then readily available for immediate use, silent, which leads to a far quieter painting ‘experience. If not familiar, these artank compressors tum on automatically once the air pressure is below the setting, and refling the tank takes about 30 seconds, While it does kick on and of with some noise and vibration itis afar moe pleasant process than using a straight blower compressor that is running continuously, I's one of those tings where once you experience it you can't belive you ever used the ather ones ‘And two - my compressor can aso run two separate aibrushes, hich canbe very handy for camo painting. Now, | know ths is sictly a cost-based issue, but | strongly recommend the same ‘ora similar airtank compressor, and ike | sad, thas performed Without a hiccup and wil provide many years of professional level use With al that sad, however, there ae other great options on the market today. I believe both Badger and mata produce sill relatively quiet pump-syle compressors that modernize the ex Patience to where the neighbors won't be knocking on your door at 2AM asking you to stop Astoairpressures and thinning ratios, believe thy ae related to your region and time of year (how your work area is hea- ted and cooled, or put anather way ~ the environment. While | wil definitly tell you what | do on each project. remember that! spend my time indoors in Southern California and Nevada, which are essentially arid dry desert climates with relatively low humidity values. And in the cases where | did lve next to the ocean, my painting dd perform differenty to ving inland, so {had to make adjustments. What works for me in Aplin SoCal, ‘maybe an entirely different mater to @ modeler in Canada in "November, or another guy in Norther Europe in August think itis one of those dark tpies we rarely discuss and honesty itis ‘as much art asi is seience. ‘Advice is usually only a starting pint and fine tuning the ratios to your needs and region will be necessary. In simple terms, the two important areas of viscosity and drying time are the mast tical properties with airbrushing. So that means your chosen ‘ir pressure and thinning rato wil be affected by your environ: ment, how you are lying iton the model, the camo scheme, and 0 on. There arelts of variables involved, and the main reason | thnk the common questions of "How much do you thin brand 2X0", or “What is your compressor setting?” are not simple de: facto answers for everyone. Otherwise, it would be a slamdunk topic andthe answers placed in the pinned FAQ threads on all the online forums. Ti’ Sipe Fie (1-5 sik, et MG Pode cp ih, 13FILTERS AND WASHES {will discuss the attributes of applying both fiters and washes in much greater detail in the subsequent project chapters, so the use and purpose ofeach one will only be touched upon now to help set the background. Ina tried and proven fashion, I paint with ‘acrylic basecoats and then use il and enamel-based washes andfites on top of them because of the durability factor in how acrylics are not chemically destoyed inthe process. This creates a very stable and repeatedable basic painting outine whereby ‘any modeler can achieve success on every occassion. Considering the rising costs of ‘everything we buy, this is important to our long term mental and fiscal health, Let me fst add some definitions, because these two are the most commonly confused and misrepresented as to what they are, and how best to use them, Fitters -In essence a ites tinting layer. For traitional painters thisis referred to as a glaze coat. The intents to ater the underying coor in avery subtle manne, adding visual depth tothe affected area. iter canbe applied toa small area, oras an overall layer to the entire model n a harmonizing effec. tis created by taking 95% thinner to about 5% paint and can be applied by brush or via an airbrush. When I make my own, | prefer to use Humbrol pant, which give consistent results. ‘And, as you ae likely aware of, today we also have ready-made fiters from both MiG Productions and AK Interactive that facilitate this process, and bath do the job ‘equally wel. And for those of you that donot use enamel, Vallejo now provides acrylic filters to, but in each case itis important to keepin mind its purpose~fiters are for tinting base colors | like to think of them like acolred filter ona camera lens, they ada another color layer of depth tothe equation. ‘Washes - These differ from fiers in two distinct areas, One, they are created from 2 ‘much more concentrated rato, anywhere from 10-20% paint-o-thinner. Two, they ae intended to enhance details by roviding additional false shadow-lke qualities, visually forcing te raised, or engraved, details to pap out more. Traditionally, wash colors are typically dark brows and black colors, but depending onthe model or theater of action, light tones to represnt dust and sand are aso used to god effect. ‘Again, washes and fiters are easily made at home with enamel or cls, or you can use the ready-made products from MIG Prod., AK Interactive, or Vall. | try not to coverthink the washes though, keep the premise simple and straight forward, (ART 14 ‘Sa ndses Fits WP (0) Pouch red rm antl ame ()PIGMENTS Arguably, pigments are some of my favorite (and most important) weath- ting products to use. They are simply one ofthe best mediums to repr dust, rt and mud, even better than what you can find in your garden, in my opinion, due to their excellent in-sale and adhesion qualities. Because of the chemical natu of what painting and weathering is al about, pigments ft into this scheme perfectly, and there are methods and addtional products that provde a cohesive bond between this process and the other weathe ing stages, both vsualy and physical. From my extensive pigment experience, | have come to rely heavily onthe pigments MiG Production. They really do an outstanding job with them, thay have a great range of coors, prices are reasonable, and they are readily availabe in today’s market. Even my local hobby shop stocks them, whic saysa lt, and when used properly they last very lng ime over the course of many madels. They work as intended and provide some outstanding re sults Recently AK Interactive is als sling pigments, but they ae usally included in their pre-packaged weathering sets along with othe and fiers, and they work exactly the same as MP pigments. Pigments are concentrated ground-up paint pigments and these are simply superior in adhesion and color saturation to pastels, which were commonly used before pigments came along. The idea is essentially the same ~ to represent earth effects ona vehicle, however pigments allow forthe entire range of dust to wet mud, and everything in between. They can be applied dy, witha “fixer” agent added, or pre-mixed into various solutions and app lied wet to the surface ofthe madel. My main reference isthe former, almast always apply them dry to @ model, then add the appropriate fixer to setthem into place, Once dry, the ofthe mos realistic eather effects possible ys tp th ut use apy fe a te dal Pers ne ae th rth eect andor swf. 15 aDEFINING WEATHERING To properly discuss armor weathering, it helps to define the topic. To me, weathering ‘means the affects onthe surface of a tank ftom combat, climate, theater of operation, crew usage, time inservice, intensity ofthe era, and mother nature. | lok at weathe ting a the combination of the vehicles patina from its use, plus te affect ofthe na- tural setting ofthe subject. nthe wristwatch warld, the Japanese have aterm for this idea called wabi, which loosely translates tothe beauty ofan object over the course of it lifetime". find this idea very applicable to armor modeling, I's one of those subjects ‘here the final look is strongly dictated by these principles, and to me this has avery anistc implication, hence the book’ title ~ TANKART. We should also include the maintenance of the subject and the ability of the crew/ ‘owner to repair the vehicle at any given time. Certain subjects, such as those covered ART 16 in the German armor volumes wil have a clear indication of tis as a result oftheir struggling efforts to keep their Vehicles operational under constant combat situations. All of these are factors in how a subject can be portayed, and this allows fora ton of variations for us to pursue ad i lustate With that general outline of what weathering entails, the next integral idea of tis book series is how best to re present the myriad of effects possible, And it can be a staggering endeavor. Paint wear and ter, dust, it, mud, oil stains, ust streaks, pant chips and scratches, tacks, barrels, so on and soon, All require a certain level of at tention, and the best method that | have found to tackle these is to /ayer the effects throughout the course ofthe Project. LAYERING. Layering is atthe heart of everything that | do. I isthe fundamental comerstone of my work, nothing gets past this idea. | layer all of my processes, one over the other, and repeat a often as | feels necessary to achieve the f nal results. One ting | eared that rarely does an effect achieve the desired result in just one go or one applic tion, The models you seein these pages are the results of ‘8 constant process of layering one technique (or process) ‘upon another, and nat being limite toa stict outine for the order of them, only use simple guideline that directs this flow, This layering concept, which | have mentioned since iy east articles, is criven by the subject and theater of operation ofthe vehicle. Naturally, a winter schemed ject wil take on different characteristics to a desert themed project. So it helps to have an understanding of each technique and how its best applied to a specific stage ofthe projec. When to add a pinwash? When to 99 over a fitered area with anatherfiter? Where to add paint chips? These questions, and many more, become both routine and endless. Each model brings its owm set of values to them and ths is where experience and practice come into focus, The beauty of the layering concept is that it requires fewer actual techniques to implement. With a refined concept of what techniques provide superior results for 2 given effect, we can narrow down our processes al- lowing us to gan both quicker expertise with them, and (greater efficiency ver th course ofa project. Ths is very important because itallows forthe flow ofa poet tobe better maintained, and tis is a huge consideration for so ‘many of us, myself included. can't count how many timesTime Su Au Bini whewah ca be en in Cnr Ping Su akwhere | drive my ca to work every morning, This is my job in essence. f | can achieve these concepts, then | eel good that | am doing my job core This is what dictates what techniques, products, methods lu ving, one 'm rather fond of using: “You can never small ofa chip” | say this because, one, felt i true, and two, | thnk it keeps myself in check: pushes me tw achive greater both realism and aistc techni ‘que. Becoming stagnant in one's work is the quickest way to death in my eyes. Fe training was to continu path for steady and manageable improvements In my design education, | was taught to never fal in love with my work, in fact disposing of old work is preferable (saving 2 record of tof couse, and in our hobby word | nd this principe very applicable and allows for the neces sary growth factor to be achieved that pushes us toc objects tothe lave seen on these pages. For some of you, his wil il be a foreign concept. But it was the ke factor1/95 Panera whew ve nny tse oti te 90 on th xt Fr. inhaving each model stand on its own merits, wile still being a viable project within my library of models. is this greater body of work that has allowed me toc this new book series. Without it, could’ expand these principles and illustrate them fully That constant goal to never have to st is part ofthis process, and it works well with the Jay- 3 within my overriding principe of artistic of this is brought together within ch model projects the root of the books model chap ters, and with that said | fel strongly, you te reader, will beable to discern and embrace these ideas for your So how is all ofthis acheived? | ike to break it down into the basic elements for discussion, It starts wit the model ready for painting, and the particular color scheme and unit markings decided upon. Its very des rable to have your reference images and/or color plates at hand, study them and plan out certain aspects of the ear and tear, and where you want to focus your wea ring steps upon. Again, only you can determ but itis highly recom your head before setting 0 ended to have a genera id (GENERIC PAINT & WEATHERING OUTLINE Painting is the fst stage to be completed. Ok paintjobs are the foundation forall that isto come. s time and practice are immeasurable fact Chipping is going to depend on how you want the ver all model ta lok, so you can use HS layers early on, or you can apply chips after the pantob is complete via ‘a sponge, oF a brush (ral of the above if you prefer ile there are tons of cho whenever possible, Markings follow next, an 25, | tend to paint them o Fiters are used tote all the colors together, tne down certain areas and/or markings, to tnt coors, and add depth tothe general color scheme Pinwashes create false etal in the model dows to help bring out the Oil Paints are used to render the surface their fullest affect. Pigments Heavy washes and stains are a ed areas like the engine deck and crew hatches 19a MUS Poe ee UC ceed TRES TWO™ Drs HAIR CuHS FOR ALL CHIPPING The real strength of using hairspray for chipping is that it allows us to recreate this effet in the most in-scate manner possible today. Add to ths, the ex: cellent randomness charecterstics and it becomes ‘quite clear why using HS to perform all of the chip ping tasks isthe best method to use. | say tis even with the quality of using the sponge method, which is arguably abit easier, however | think the shape mation of the chips and scratches, (which are justasimporant, from using HS has afr more rea liste visual effet. Implementing this idea into the pantjob from the very beginning was the key factor in puling out the fll value inthe HS technique, especially with German armor fnishes and red primer being such a prominent element throughout ther wartime pain ting, By utilizing HS fromthe sta, we can now layer the chipping effects in aver realist manner and the resulting chis ae actualy tue paint chips, they lok and act just ike real chips, as opposed to those painted on after the fact, which require even more efforts to make lok rea. HS eliminates a lat of that extra effort on the back end, and building the chips into the paintjb from the first step is both more et cient and provides superior resis. th that sad, lt me start with abasic breakdown the process, and then wil talk specifically about hich products perform the best and how best to achieve a variety of nishes depending onthe type of paint jb and theater of operation GENERAL HS OUTLINE 1) Red primer is the best starting point fora regu lar combat vehicle, Fr severe weathering suchas @ tuned out tank, start with a dark metal layer first 2)HS 41 apply two even coats of HS. 3) Base coat this will be either Panzergrau, or Du kelglb depending onthe timeframe ofthe subject. One - red primer In eer eae eee ‘applying the second, You can paint the top eo eter ce aC at erect oer car one tintiinen ety Perera arenas oe Sere: one Se ee at atime with enough water to see the glossy sheen, near spelen Serer sre ns that replicate the marks in a natural manner4) Chipping rushes, the in al paint chips a hipping the anding of the pros in to the actual pro ork in a superior manner airbrushing Stage from the model, and the speed of you s spraying mation are also key factors. |ee (© Panther in winter whitewash over dunkelgelb painjob. A cumi- © Ferdinand in a very opaque whitewash finish, over a two-tone Dun. lative project that inchices HS for all he regular chips, and then _kelgelb and red brown camo scheme. There are three layers of HS er ees Penner eemnarer ener hy enemy ny De a SE ee ‘the Ferdinand, used to express maximum depth fora distressed wash fniah over a Panzergrau base coat. This i further enhanced eee een ee eee eee as Ce ee ne eee eee layer of paint tothe las, including a very faint whitewash effect. with that sort of hostile environment. The excess heat will cause ee cers Beer ae enone ere eeepeers ee tothe exterior, and on this Sd Kis 251/22 interior it eta Pee Sep ent er (ART 24 like to old the model in my left hand ('m naturally a right hander), at arm's length (atleast 12-18" away), and with the HS can in my right hand, start spraying infront ofthe ‘model, (before the HS hits the surface), and work across the model to the earn one smooth quick motion stopping after pass the edge of the hull. This technique is exactly the same that is taught fr any typeof hand held aerosol spraying. The worst thing to dois to move slowly, and stop (on the model itself. The volume of HS wil simply poo to fast, and this isnot what you want. Work your way around the entire model inthis manne. Lay dawn one even coat. It is best to cover aloft, rather than risk not having some where you need it. Once completed, lett dry tothe touch, ether by air or hairdryer. Then repeat the process fora second layer, and yes, once dry you can paint straight away. PAINT APPLICATION With the model ready forthe second layer of color (the layer of paint hat willbe chipped), spray the base cot just as you would under normal circumstances. Looking atthe Tiger I photos on page 22, you ca clearly see the dnkel gel isa solid layer of color. Other than thinning the Tamiya paints with water, | do nothing different than | normally ‘would for spraying the base coat ‘Why? That means the resulting chips will be a lot fewer, some hard to create even, ad this is very intentional When chipping a normal combat tank, we want some chips and scratches to give it fe, but isnot the same etfect as a heavily worn whitewash. By spraying the paint in a rnomal opaque manne, we can control the chips alot more keeping them from overpowering the made. The goalis, as | mentioned before for everything tobe in-scale and that means also the quantity, notjust ther siz. My genera rule forthe size and quantity on a combat tank is to pull back 23 from the madel and squint my eyes, if | can't see the chips and scratches iis ust about right. They should just about disappear when you squint rom afew feet away. ‘quick note on thinning Tamiya paints with water forthe HS prooess..ypicaly thin them with lacquer thinner, but inthis instance the superior adhesion qualities make using an opaque base coat dificult to chip with water I simply ong of bare s0 thinning them with water results in conjunction with HS chipping CHIPPING - WATER, BRUSHES, ETC. With the paint applied, its now time forthe fun par. have up of water handy its simple room temperature nd a couple of chipping brushes. One has shortand stiff bristles, the other a flat thin bristle brush, and another with an angled fat tip. This will cover most of the chipping needs, and then I have a couple of sharp toothpicks, and the ever handy Tamiya Paint Str Stick, which is smooth chromed metal with excellent fine ges for makin seatches with, Cambined to gether these tools provide the best results for ost style of marks required. fetes! wat plain, she nal ston tt mol tht ugh vet gate pat wet tse lk wet, ft Using HS for noasly any form of chipping, including re: Sn ac er tes a st te pea peirreie bre ee RORRI ote ipcay te votes 0 fow no cx beso eb estan tey oa IEWOT distr ptt diag he {Stang whamers ont of tnt $9 wtf err rm perp coat Secperuiaearentergat ogres a ery ge gto chao, ohn ‘ou cp wot yar waynes maa pec hae | use the short bristle bush for most basic chipping, the fat brush for those areas I want to have some sot faded gradations (great for pore hoe an appearance typical fora voteran atant or heavily worn out vehicle. ee ees aera et ees Sr te eee reer eer per eer eer epee ener erent enter er eee 25\whitewashes), and the sharp angled brush for longer chips ‘and more linear style marks. The toothpick and Stir Stick ate usually reserved for dedicated log scratches and re (quire singe one rection swipes to achieve. But the marks ‘are mostly dependent onthe mation of your hand as much athe brush tip itself. isnot unlike drawing, the mation of the hand will tate the marks of the pen, so itis wit the chipping brushes. And variety is key and this is wher Practice and experience realy hep alt. have found whe Aiscussing wth experienced modelers that ititakes them 2 103, sometimes as many as 5 or 6 projects under their belt using HS to realze the level of refinement possible. They all have that “ah-hah!” model where it licked, so | not say this emphatically enough — practice practice, and then practice again, The process is quite simple and very strightforward, no need to ovethink anything about i it isas simple as described, but the subtleties are what take time and practice. And then more practic, but soitis wth this hobby from basic airbrushing to figure painting, to HS, YOU must put inthe time with to achieve its best results PAINT BRANDS FOR HS CHIPPING Thisis another topic that gets abit dversive, would guess ‘mainly because we tend to use what we have at our bench at hand, or what is available to easily purchase, I've tried them all even enamels, and, in general ll paint brands. will work because, again, the water is dissolving the HS not the paint. Is simply a mater of allowing enough wa ter through the top surface to make it happen. Here are what I ee the best paints to use for HS chipping Tamiya -in a pertect word, this conversation ends here. They simple do work the best fr this techngive because of theirungiue properties, or rather the lack of properties they have. Because Tamiya acrylic pant doesnot dry ta a solid vinyl layer of a shell like the other two acrylics, the results are Superior, easier to control and replicate. The main rea iis important to fora the removal of the top layer ina reali SSUMERERTEEG tear acpearsice and more reece eomperrty ee ‘38 result. When used as | describe above, they rarely shes a fake of in large undesired chunks of paint. | preter Tamiya hn regular base coat pant and extreme fnshes using whitewash or heavy desert paint wear Vallejo - these are, as we know, vinyl acrylics, and be 2 of this charateristc are not going to perform to quite as Tamiya. Ys, they do work and can have chipping results, but it requires a few areas of thin ion to allow for the water to get under, and for the occassional large paint flake to hap Valeo, they chemically harden after a period of this is when it gets alot more difcult to contro! (reict the style and sizeof the chip to be made ART 26e - the model pai oeret: ‘Stage Two - the whitewasch is applied and chipping can begin. Depending on the Peete errr ert eres the look you are after, but the reaulting ee eee od areata eereeea tobring out the details, and also Lifecolor - while thes lejo in make-up they perform somewhere in between Tamiya and Valijo in how they can ioped. They dry like Vallejo bu not as pronoun: 3 very similar to Val their shell char d as Vallejo’, so sucess isa litle easier achieved. They also perform a bit better than Valejos when thinned mare, they can handle being thinned lot and stil ry level and this be applied an this tie HS proces oveal, allow helps with the: Humbrol - yes, 've ev his process, and while its 10 have success | would basically recommend Humbrols only fr a really extreme paint job lke heavy winter whitewash or desert camo nat will get very distressed, thus equi cuter layers with ots of areas of almost paint, which allows the water get tothe HS. Otherwise, if you use them as a very opaqu ‘ute layer itis almost impossible to chip used enamels for ritely possible {final thought on HS, time isnot a huge fac tor overall, HS wll not eally dry out if covered with te pat, yett also stays protected so ture issues are not 2 p fully re-chipped areas as long as 3 months a he intial pantob was applied over the HS, so is very time flexible for our needs. 27e (FA ee ead eee treet ts Eeree reer rs Peers a cro poeonyr genni ores eee eee Eee ete ete peated paneer penne Peete eeen feel What 1? During my fr my industrial design degre, term renderings defined for lstation as max drawing’ eve eto visualize a product’ physical elements toa client. Tis is com design illustration practices. Thus rendering forthe sak transcend from the design world into the hobby. Te surface @ model, especially ones that see combat service can havea quantity of information that ca be clealy presented to the viewer, and how to achieve this effort ith the cil paints. By creating a tothe models panto, we can go back over every area of the pate recteate, enhance reduce, add contrast, fa ear an rehicles painted surac See ert ee teed pe pen ee oer ae eer ees ee ees painted. Here, 'm starting to darken the fender edges to show dit build-up and rust et ee involves keeping the blending brush clean and noazly dry. The amount of oil paint Applied should be very small so blending is quick and oasy.Ss rea ener c ART 30 Having determined the value in oif paint rendering (OPR), it now becomes necessary to break down the technique into a teachable method of application. Forty nately, the application process itself is simple and only requires afew basi tools, most of which we already own, (Outside ofthe actual ol paints used, you will only need a few good quality brushes anda high quality odorless tur pentine forthe blending, (OlL PAINTS The brand of ol paint is important, as is the thinner. It is best to avoid very cheap product asthe results will be hard to contol and decidely inferior. And void hardware store thinners, they are chemically too hot for our needs. (vera high-quality ol pains are actually very economical because the amounts we use ae tiny, so the tubes them: selves wl ast for years, In fact, | am stil using the same. tubes of certain colors from when fist bought them years j ‘ago. | have used most store bought brands, as well as those created forthe hobby, and here are my references: 502 Abteilung (MiG Productions) - These are my prof red brand of oil pants. They were designed for modeling with a slighty diferent manufacturing process to the art store brands, and | have found they have the best blending abilities for modeling, and work every time as intended. Combined with ther Ooourlss Tupertne, the results are superior. and cannot recommend them highly enough. The 502 Abt. Odourless Thinner has a silly quality tit that realy is noticeable, and | recommend it over other enamel based thinners, even the MP thinner. I isnot available definitely try to buy a comparable product. | alsa feel itis important to buy te ol colrs that you need, and not be too concered withthe actual name onthe tube, tis only ‘name, and not important to how or wy we use them, Winsor Newton - These are the art industry leader brand of cls, and thus ae easly obtainable from any art store, have an excellent range of colors and ae of superb qua ity. use a few oftheir colors stl, and they were my fist brand of cil. They actually cost more that 502 Ab. in most cases, but without a doubt they are the standard quality brand for ol paint. ry to stick wth those colors related to our weathering needs, but they also are widely used in figure painting, and have many uses beyond OPR, just like most ol pints. Grumbacher- These are amore cost efficient alternative, they work well and have ance range of colors ral, | would simply state that price is relative to the{9 - Now I go back along the top edge of the turret wi ener rrr ts Se es Emaar iets (ART 32 aint pigments because the processes used to or do vary, so the more expensive brands are ly color like white, rt high standard du palibrary of colors overtime, Like I said paint last avery long time, so in the end 1d out over many many projects.. ale re ee eer one et er Se ee ers See eee TYPES OF BRUSHES ‘There are only afew brushes that are needed for this technique. Again, price is relatable to the quality ofthe brush and usualy buy a mired and like Loew-Cornell? in most cases from my aca at store. We do tend to abuse them rather quicly, so buy some good quality brushes but know they will need to eventually be replaced ona regular basis. have @ preference for Round #2 brushes for most of my work, because they hold 2 fair amount of paint when needed, and keep their sharp tp nicely over time. When working onthe model, typically will have one brush for eact range of colors on my palette, so that means | havea brushes ready to use fr each project. eee ee Seer eee Se te Se 16 Switching to my flat blending brush again, use a stippling ernment rr ie ene Seen the frst one is alld a 1/4 dts thin, fat and has fine bristles for dragging and blendin colors. T jn blending brush is @ 1/8 Angular that is smaller and has an angled tp, whichis ver versatile in how it can be used to blend the oils. In dition to these two, also ha ‘one clean new #2 Round brush on hand as wel itis always useful for fn streaks, or fr those tight places that are hard to blend. A new brush wil give the ose very fine details. |alsokeepaclean folded paper towel atthe max side to, this i forthe constant removal of brush tips because keping the quantities wed o this techniques success atPee et ee peter recast sane eet ety — pert a vertical streaking motion, and rere Keeping the colors simple and related to the scheme ofthe model is the foundation of what the process is all about, so try not to overthink the The most impor each area. Gen ‘que, and the ph strate ths nicely, en using OPR, in your mind as you apply th 1d more i needed, versus hem, which is nearly always a recipe for trouble 35(ART 36 Besides the amount of cis applied, the use of the thinner isthe other key to success. Her, the blending brush i best ‘when almost dry. I'does not take much thinner to make the oils tun into a wash and this not what we are looking for when blending. The blending process is one that requires the most practice, and te drier the blending brush te bet ter. The blending brushes require constant cleaning and e- ‘wetting during blending, so this is why the paper towel is important, it ealy comes into its own for creating the ight level of blending brush dryness. To prepare the blending brush Im going to use, | quickly dip the tip of the brush into the thinner to get a small amount inta the bristles, but not to soak the brush, and then dab ita few times on the paper towel to remove most ofthe thier | check it by lightly brushing it against my finger, there should only be thin, visible, glossly line of thianer that dries quickly on the skin. This is about right for the ‘amaunt of thinner needed on the brush, and you will quickly ee if too much is used, which you can then wipe on the ‘paper towel again. Infact, many times, the drier the brush the beter, since a dry blend will create the gitty type of blend we are usually looking fo Vertical streaks is where the blending brush can be slightly wetter to help pull the color downwards usualy work rom ight to dark, and then top to bottom, But this isnot a strict rule because once you get familar and ‘ate experienced enough to know when and where to apply certain colors, it eventually becomes second nature, That is why | used this whitewashed Panther turet as my prime ‘example it clearly shows how the darks and the light colors play against each other, and how subtle the effects can be ‘wile stil being very dramatic and visible tothe viewer, wt hut overpowering the fnsh ofthe model. All of which is critical tothe success of OPR, But it extends far beyond thet. OPR can be used for ne- aly any type of nish on the model. Its perfect for rusting toolheads, staining pain, fade colors to show age and sun effects, enhance whitewashes and actually replace the mapping step if need be. It can replace filters and wash: altogether if you are so inclined. It is all related tothe amount of oil used, combined withthe amount of thinner used. believe OPA to bea 0-100% typeof technique, and ithas true untapped potential. My goa sto streamine the entre weathering process and maximize the pant fishes within each camo scheme. It can showcase a fresh com- batant to an overused veteran tank The power of OPR is just being delved into, and even beyond ths fst volume of TANKAAT, it willbe the foundation process that I se for ‘many more models that | create forthe entire series.© Here is the Panther turret after the completed OPR effects and added spare track armor Throughout the OPR process, am constantly con- sidering the overall appeal ofthe model, and the composition between areas and this helps to determine how much weathering to apply {mach stage. My goal ie always artistic cale-ism and to maximize eack section of the model, while maintaining a strong viaual harmony. = (© This photo ofthe near complete Tiger If mode! illustrates to a greater extent the shear volume of effects achieved using OPR. After pain ting and chipping with HS technique, all ofthe weathering effects seen on the painted areas were created with the ols. From the residual patches of worn whitewash the myriad of rust steaks, tothe dirty and rusty shovel head, the heavily weathered side fenders, the subtle faded Dunkelgelb on the front fender. the shadow tones from the missing tools, the dirty discolored areas around the hatch.tc. OPR is a Pattern eS ent ncn ne enn tet et neat Sec Leena enaBACKGROUND This project was orginialy started by a 00d fiend, Daryl Dancik, who built up the older Tamiya Panther Aust. G Late kt, then ‘added a host of photo-etch upgrades and the always impressive Friulmodel tracks to create a stellar platform ready to finish Once | saw the completed build | knew | couldnt pass up the chance to paint The construction process is nothing out ofthe ordinary, and Daryl built the Kit to the instructions and then replaced the kit tool storage and bracket assembles, font fenders, side skins, and rea stowage bins vith the requisite PE pars. He also tok the time to add some subtle dents and batle damage into the fenders, side sks, and tear stowage bins, which | would use as ky points for heavier weathering later on, The barrels the beautiful Aber metal repla ‘cement, andthe Fius track being the ial ‘ouch, While the Tamiya kit is showing its ‘age, once updated to ths level it can hold its ow against the newer Dragon releases and sil gives aver fine representation of the breed After t was in my hands, | set about plan hing the various elements for the color scheme. Here is where | usually agonize the most. | tend to review a lat of refe ence material regarding what scheme to choose, Even though | ad a good idea of what | was trying to achieve beforehand | was still somewhat of comered withthe 40 i iw ofthe compted es Pater a6 wih istic "trowed paceman sie hi.fact the model was built upasa ver late war Befehlswagen Panther Aust , of which there were not many manufactu red to begin with and finding specific reference on difficult Now le ofthis book isnot solely focused ‘on historical accuracy, | simply don't have the authoritative knowiedge to author that way, but sill put forth substanial cffort with ning a suitable paint scheme to use, Soin th tend | went with what | wanted it to look like based upon time, versus being 100% accurate tothe paint schemes used. I decided to show a SS Wiking nd that gave me all the necessary elements for ed color scheme, Utimately though, ! would have to concede the camo pat tem eror was not applicable because the S$ Wiking Div never upgraded thir Bfehls Panther Aus. A tanks tothe Ausf. G when it was deployed, and research discovered after the fact sums up mast Befehls Aust 6 units were in some form of hard edege camo pater. SS Wiking infact soldi red onto the end ofthe war with their older tanks, so the scheme I'm showing is probably best replicated as a dard Heer unit command tank BASE COLORS This is one of those fundamental steps of the px basis ofthe entre painjob stats here and thus it isa very critical step both in color choice and the quality ofthe act airbrushing, The challenges are choosing a color suitable for the intentions and goals of the project and also to have quality of ish to the surface soas all the weathering can take place ona smooth surface, which is always preferable,Because | knew | was painting a winter scheme, itis bet ter to uilze a slightly darker than normal choice for a light base color such as Dunkelgelb. Contrasts more im portant than the actual specific color (2. being absoutaly historically accurate}, and the final result will be dom: nanty white with heavily wor areas showing the base colors and it helps to havea stronger level of contrast. The painting process starts off in a rather straightforward manner, After the model is primed withthe Mr. Sufacer 1200, | spay the German red and grey primer colors as shown n the photos at right-these acting as the fist lay ers of paint chip colors. Believe me, while it seems i lot of work. itis very beneficial to buildin your pain chip colors at these initial painting stages when using the HS technique, and i the main reason why | adhere to using this method throughout many of my models now. Using the process that | describe in detail inthe earlier chapter on the hairspray technique, | add the HS tothe model and then spray the Dunkelgelb base colar, on top= ‘Sgn pin ia Sate, am Ir ‘Sg dpi od fe ak edgy pet uae Sloe Ths - moll cred with ve vn yrs HS i papetn arte ba cor. ‘of which, | spray the Camo Brown color inthe in tricate SS Wiking criss-cross pattern, From here | spend a lt of time chipping and scratching in a very careful manner since | want some decent wear and tear. However, because this was a very late-war tank that had shor service life, albiet very intense, (and under rather extreme conditions late in 1944 and into early 1945), especialy as an Eastern Front combatant that | am choosing to show it, itis a mix of harsh wearin an intense combat zoe, plus some minimal wearin lesser used sections. During te initial painting, | also take the time to add the fist layer of turret numbers. As was somewhat ‘common fr German tank unis, when they were de pleted from combat losses they reorganized and of ‘en the tanks were renumbered accordingly, so here add an earlier style command tank number tothe turret sides will then adda different one during the whitewash phase). | almost always use the Edvard viny\ number spray masks whenever possible, same with the Balkenkruz emblem, which was a standard style on most Panther. ind spraying the markings results in a more authentic look and allows for @ slightly faded effect, which looks better inscale to my eyes than decals or transfers. Often decals and dry transfers are so opaque and the whites and blacks so perfect, they take on a tylite appearance tome. Sometimes they ae unavoidable, butin gone- ral, armor wit large areas of fat pates allows fora greater usage of vinyl mass, thus | take advantage of them whenever | can, 45‘Soe The - as aif bushes and nthe with ART 46 (Once I had completed the lengthy chipping and scratching process on the Dunkelgelb and Red Brown colors, where there were larger chip and scratches I went hack over the center ofthese wit a dark charcoal grey/brown paint ti lustrate exposed metal | kept this effect toa minimum and confined tothe sharper edges where it was likely to happen. Now i the time to hand paint ll ofthe small details ike the tools, spare track and tow cable. Another important note to ‘mention-notice that | painted the rubber ties ater ll ofthe chipping is completed to ensue they are crisp and look uni- form, and dont suffer any unwanted damage from the chip ping process. I's much more efficient that way then trying to keep them perfect and doing touch up painting afterward. WHITEWASH With the base colors applied, fst round of markings added, details painted, everything properly chipped and scratched, ‘can now add another layer of HS and then the main layer of whitewash using Tamiya XF-2 White as my prefered color of choice. 1 add afew drops of XF55 Deck Tan to dirty the bright white color sight Tis is subtle addition that | use in my whitewashes, which allows for more contrast with the subsequent mapping step giving the fished result slightly more depth without using fiters in between to dirty up the ‘iit paint, Is more of a process preference than anything clse, but worth sharing nonetheless. It comes more app rent after a round of mapping, andl discuss that in greater detail later on. For the whitewash layer itself, spray the madel with ava ying degree of opacity, concentrating more white in areasthat would naturally have a harder time being wor away. After | cover the model once, | then go back over and begin to add various pattems and streaks withthe white to give the look ofa more improm- prt field applied whitewash, These elements really oi ry paintjob le ding the madel a more authentic appearance. The best paris nothing has tobe perfect, the follow steps of chipping and mapping wil futher enhance the whitewash, Note that | also allowed for a fai amount of overspay, especialy on the road wheels and the tres. They were obviously not masked inthe eld, so this is anice detail to represent accurately. the impression of a non-fa WHITEWASH - CHIPPING Now the really fun part happens next with the chip ping and scratching ofthe whitewash. Here is the defining stage of the paintob, so itis important that | take my time and ensure a quality chipping job is performed, To repeat, the process i rather straight "Sd th mst ingorant ep! was he whitewash tap up 47forward and simple, butit does require a deft ouch and knowledge (or practic) with what style of chipping brush will yield what type sults. | chose my heavily worn #8 round gives a nice scrubbing effect without 9g too stiff and this helped to create alot ner Chipped areas such as those around aches to show a more gradval gradation hipped whitewash. x this effort, | found it rably helpful to study close-up pho- ios of wartime whitewash fishes of combat nthe field. Thankfully, there are plenty of lable with good photos of such ve- and | kept them handy, | won't be inclu ding a bibliography with this series, but found e great winter war images in the Ju Fe- dorowicz ttle 8S Armor On The Eastern Front by Velmir Vusic, and there is also a healthy numberof good reference images in the many Concord Easter Fonttites as well Without these reference photos at hand, it ould be far more dificult to replicate @ natu ral and authentic looking finish, Boing able to clearly see how the chips and scratches look ART 50 The te fier. spline weal iris pel ee Be lr ween as ‘cht ap th cms pe is nw uel ao bh whe mene ar sul peaonthe real tanks andhal-tracks termine the intensity of the chipping | apply to the del, Remember my adage is artiste scales and thsi the stant that helps to keep the weathering in check With that in mind, | work my way around the entire madel ing all the accessories, wheels, the main gun barrel going ver every area complete Ty tt does take afar amount of time, but the results speak for themselves. To try and recreate this look by hand painting is ne arty impossible, so HS a key tool fr creating such an intricately chipped fish, Next up, | apply a single fi ter layer to even the tones of the model somewhat using an Stage Hen piel nee maped ees thw enn sig he woe,fe color for gray basecoats. | also appt the outer, oF ew, turet marking number representing a unit rorge rizaton had happened, Again, I tum to the Eduard vinyl ‘masks and airbrush the markings on | spat spray a quick HS layer undemeath each area first, dy it then spray the markings themselves and naw I could chip them to blend into theres ofthe fish very eas MAPPING (ne ofthe key steps in a quality whitewash panto is the mapping stage. While it is rarely discussed, i is @ powerful step that gives much needed life to certain ypes of schemes suchas this one. The basic idea is to ad random areas of more opaque top color inthis case white, and this ads much needed depth and visual in terest to the whitewash. Again, ths is a rather simple 1d easily achieved process that only requires a quality The whitewash et cea ding he mpi ge and ese at shape he am brush (I prefer #2 round), and some white acrylic paint thinned to about the same consistency as you would for airbrushing, The Vallejo Model Air pants work great fr this step because they are near perfectly thinned inthe attle to what we need for mapping, In this case, | will actually do both acrylic mapping and enamel mapping se with the different properties I can achieve dt ferent effects star by using the white acrylic and hand paint on more ue white patches, steaks and stains to the main ‘model fish. keep the effect concentrated to areas that would retain more ofthe whitewash overtime, such as around joints andthe myriad of details on the surface. 1 execution process is abit similar to how you apply a piwash and where, but it's spread out aver larger area. | then use the same #2 round brush and paint to add afew highlight edges along the chipped areas and this lends a slight 20 effect to the whitewash as well. But m cautious not to apply this effect everythwere, keep it minimal yet noticeable. | add highlights to only the upper edges to illustrate light catching the edge of the paint, Keeping this technique inscale is paramount! the paint and my brush to Humbrol ena ‘mel Matte White and repeat the process, working to add more specific effects more along the lines of stronger visible streaks and stain within the white pant. Tis is very noticeable on the mapping ofthe road wheels and side skits. Areas where the white would clearly bleed or run when fist applied. Because of the enamels ble ding qualities | can use some thinner and hep bend out some ofthese streaks 1o make them look more natu |used this process to good effect onthe side sks, gun leaning tube, turet sides and road wheels, oy asf ans of isl ist wih uo uc ponEXHAUSTS The Panther exhausts are a unique feature of this tank and due to their exposed location are perfec for some extra at temton, Because of the high heat element present both me. tal and paint take a beating and like the resto paitjb | built the layered finish into the painting from the ing HS in between each color so | can create a worn cut patna effect on each pipe. | actually repeat the fist coloring process twice to ‘much coloring depth on them for ther small size as | then add more HS and spray some Dunkelgelb that event ally gets heavily chipped to keep as much ofthe under colors ‘exposed. Tiss seen in Stage One photo at right. Pus, !add some intial rust streak cover which | wil layer an- other HS layer so white (the main whitewash ayer described previously. After the whitewash is applied chip it off until it matches the ret ofthe model’ finish. Asthe rest ofthe model's weathering progresses through the filter, pimwash and mapping stages Uattend tothe exhaust treatment atthe same time. add dark soot stains along the tp edges ‘and down the sides, and then the last layer of rust streaks and stains complete the exhaust painting, The inal results are seen inthe Stage Three image atthe let PINWASH At this point inthe painting, Ihave the model entirely chipped, scratched, all the lite details attended to and now can begin the weathering of the paint. fst need to create a pinwash co lor thatis unique to the model and compliments the tones of how the colors are heading, and as you can see it is @ necessary to work with the warm dity white paint that 've achieved to this point. | take a few ofthe new AK Interac tive washes and mix up a pinwash coor that is dark dity brown with a hint of ochre coloring to it Once ready | attend to the execution of the pimwash phase. | much prefer this to ar brush shading since the it has superior contol and work better to enhance the molded detail on the model. To complete the pinwash stag, | apply it with a #2 round brush and starting in ‘one section | work my way around adding the wash to every panel line, molded detail on the surface to create a soft shadow effect, which vrks to pop the details off the model better 55 Ste Three mapping in he whe ans fathead dg ptt ad hn a one mrt wh PRforthe viewer. | ike to maintain a subtle approach now, then cing to darken certain areas late | work my way through the weathering. While 'm applying the pinwash | also ike to begin to add the frst round of streaks to those details that ‘Would most ely create such an effect, usally tool bracket ‘mountings and so forth ‘OPR Nit the model ata very convincing stage inthe weathering, an now tur my full attention tothe main technique that wil see the model to completion-OPR, However, because I sed tis model forthe subject inthe earlier chapter on how to use OPR, | won't get to detailed with itn this chapter. | start by creating my oil palette on scrap cardboard focusing ‘on those color related tothe model ’spaintjb, which ranges from white, mast of te ight tans and medium browns to the darker rust and dark brown tones. Some coors are stapes te, black, shadow brown, raw sienna, bunt sienna, Poe oe od bos a e Ea Thies ay st baring! wating te pu ase twee mado mle es, now bp eng mee sas ands ae pa. (ART 56Y 2 oc | 6 alight use for on each model. The follow the model mor closely. 1d and dark mud, all of which | usualy find a good ofthe oil color choices these pages the worked my ter by studying the images on (PR process. In essens the entire ts of fades, streaks, and shadows to model. Some areas such 2s the spare tracks onthe hul sides received considera jon to distinguis ‘and onger visual contrast to the surround ‘areas. Anywhere thatthe crew frequented and performed maintenance (especialy the hatches) |paidexta attention tothe surounding paint and trated to give it the appa ance of constant use,Te ayes aa eof esiy age la p iipet r t pcs. SPARE TRACK ARMOR {planned early oni his project toad the dis tincive Panther turret spare tack ‘model as one ofthe main area colors to sea of w concept is achieved via some items, but here | wanted to utili tracks mare to convey ths idea to th | already had done this to a certain ext the spare track inks mounted to the hull which Uillystrated to show they have been stored the re fora while, at least before the whitewash was applied, so | wanted a somewhet alto gether diferent result forthe turet mounted trac links. For this | used the Lifeclor Rust & Dust paint sot tots maximum potential Because these spare tracks are all Fils, | frst go through the Blacken-t process to give them 2 proper basecoat coloring. Once they are dried, | applied the 4-color Rust paints from Liecolor starting with the light yellow frst and work my way all the way through to the dark ust shadow color. | use both a sponge and brush to paint the variety of tones, and as you can see, | spent some tm altering the in tensity between the various links to arr 2 subtle yet distinctive visual quality to them. 61The campleed sos Pater ith te cme de kit the heaydatmpipent pati ate mae bl og ova ar ek brie wine toe a eg of lh.These paints are more like a liquid pigment and dry toa very matt finish, and work great wher heavily thinned with w varity of opacities. TRACKS AND PIGMENTS The actual amount of pigment application this project was limited: one, because on Panther its so hard to see the lower hull th ‘ough the overlapping road wheels, ad two, ido't want to hide the extensive winter pal ting efforts over said road wheels as | quite ked them with the simple wash and minor Thus, | confined the pigments to he hull mostly. | aplied darker to ntrast tothe white, wet permafrost earth that up asthe tank maved along Fril tracks were given a healthy bath of ich is my prefered chemical of hoice to fnish metal tracks with. After that step, | add the same pigment colors | used on ‘the lower hull and set these into place with a rather substantial amount of dark brown and rust coloed washes, | intentionally kept the track tones dark and quite ominous looking. | felt ths range of colors onthe model lent areal ‘dreary desolate wintery feeling and ths com plimens the late-war last stand type of status typical ofthese subjects, (AL DETAILS ‘The model is atthe final completion stage now, With the main tracks mounted forte ast time, | also add the command antenna, tow cable and side skits. For some adtional visual ap peal, repaint one ofthe side skits to replicate the factory applied 3-tone hard-edge scheme that perhaps this crew used to replace one of theirs lost inthe fed | painted it using the same layered HS technique as before painting and chipping each camo color over the lighter toned Dunkelgelb, creating heavy chips and seratches that look distinctly diferent to the model to futher illustrat this piece was from another tank altogethe (ART 64 (lsu thet sie ann aad eck sieht Te mya ofc wer cea ply va he SigE << s* Peas og tcaadaa) oe eee ce) ART 70i ULTh ial etter tyra ea werk This model ad wo sin oe CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS Fist impressions put in check, and accolades aside; how did the kit go together? Barring one issue |had withthe ft of upper hull plate to the frontal amor, the kit, while complicated, was overall a huge leap foward for Dra gon. The only real weakness ofthe kt is the instructions. There is a distinct gap between the quality ofthe plastic ‘and quality ofthe instructions. In this particular case, the kitis billed as @3-n-, meaning you can build any one of three distinct versions. The problem is that Dragon insists onillustrating a ft declaring which pats ae toyour own wares about th in tat reference material on th to come by, and there is no boo what was fitted, and when, to what t mention a few mislabeled part numbers, which to the frustration. But the details are amazing, so to forgive this issue and move on, Because of the nature of the subject, this wasn'ta quick tuild by any means, The Tiger I was an over-engineered beast of tank, and Dragon captured that element perfect ly, both literally and figuratively. Two areas, in particular, caught my attention. Fist, were the missing engine grille screens, which | used the Aber PE set for. And second, | decided to go with aftermarket tracks from Frivimodel | gave up the accuracy of handed tracks fora set with hol low guide hors. lus, the Fruls can be fished toa very high standard with Blacker The surface details ofthe kit are excelett, so! only added ‘wing nuts tothe top of the tol brackets along the edge of the upper hul, and added the raised cast two-digit amber on the top ofthe mantle. The rest ofthe kits bul straight from the box. Al ofthe nice weld beads are molded in and ‘everywhere you lok te attention to detail is topnotch, 73‘Alte Places aspen i fa atone ice, ART 74 also seta personal challenge for myself to see how well Jd reproduce what i ikely the most popula and mo dele tank kt in istry. Never having built a Tiger before, knew was not up to speed on every detail and this would be ahindrance that | must overcome. It all starts with the bascoat PAINTING BEGINS Normally a tank made is built complote and then painted ‘asa whole, but here a litle forethought helps to solve the problem of panting al ofthe overlapping rad wheets. In stead, | paint ther while stil onthe sprue, which I found egy, if not time consuming due to the quantity involved, to spray each wheel with the tre color frst, then mask off the center using a circle template and spray the Panzergrau cover ths. Next on the agenda was to decide on the actual tank | wanted to depict |had made most ofthe necessary ati tions tothe model tonarow down what few choices | had, and from this I chose tank number 117 in the end. Also, ' had previously purchased a rare magazine from a Russian publisher called Frontine Publications specifically on the Initia Tigrs from the 502 Abt. The book was not in English, but it did include English-language captions, which really helped. The Frntine Pub. book was the best source of early photos | could find and this helped a lot. Inside was also some nice coor illustrations and from this Ihad all that neded to precede with the painting, (ne profile drawing of 177 stated it wore a two-tone camo pattern of RAL 7005 Mausgral ver the existing RAL 7021 Sweragral base coat. | was skeptical ofits accuracy, butSmee ECiiarel VA 034 FS 36251 net 22 mi anu ght Got rig ch ois cat Gm Jausgral witha mixture of UA 029 Grey and UA 034 Light Grey Inthe process, masked off the main gun to keep it inthe darker gray coor to represent grey primer. Next was to paint the tools and exhaust pipes with the appropriate colors ‘Another incident of good timing heppened again with this ode | had originally painted the exhaust wth Humbrol rust tone enamels, but Lifecolor always introducing new products) developed a specific series of paints intended to reproduce accurate rst fishes called Rust and Dust from their Diorama series. Iwas quick to buy a set and wasted no time re-panting the exaust with these st PAINT CHIPPING A great trick to se fora unique peint-chpping lok s when You have atleast two layers of color ovetiaping each oth , you can use alte paint thinner and a clean brash and gently remove the outer layer of paint creating very paint chips inthe process. The idea is to conwey a worn paint ina controllable and subtle manner. In‘Soe Oe thet cnt ars pied wit Lina U2 Gy. ‘Se The matigs a pid vi exelent Lin oar PE tempts ae Ear vi as, sed Vallejo’ Airbrush Cleaner, which works well a @ thiner/leaner for both Vallejo and Lifecolor acrylics, and is just strong enough to rub off cry paint without causing too much damage. Iam always nervous showcasing any technique that i ofthis type, so | strongly sug gesta tal run before you work your own made in this manner. The trick isto keep the brush almost dry and do not put a lat of thinner on it Keop 2 paper towel handy to dab the brush (on frequently. | worked on every area of high use by the crew with this technique, the rear engine deck, turet edges and hatches, and the front hull around the crew areas. After all of this | carefully went back around and select vely hand painted some ofthe lar layers of red primer and bare stel riety and show heavier use ‘The next step was the turret numbers, which | sed Edard’s Medium German Number spray ‘mask set with a slight modification to the end of the number 1 to better replicate the font style in use atthe time. Te process was hel ed with the use of Tamiya tape for lining up the masks so the numbers would be painted on straight. Asa further adition tothe Bakeneruz painted on previousy, made some thin masks with te and added the blak lines along the inside ofeach cross. This was a rare form ofthe national markings and | really tked how they changed the look of the model, even if it was ever so slight. WEATHERING BEGINS With the main painting stages completed, could now get on with weathering this tank [My fist order of business was to apply a pin wash made with a Humbrol earth colored ena: aarel, Because the layout ofthe armor panels is ‘actually rather simple, this step went quickly, and will add much darker pane ine washes in the later stages ofthe finish. Next up was a major step in the process, app Lying the pigments. Tis was directly due to the compleity ofthe suspension and road wheel design, and | forced myself to teat both si 3d whee! equaly regardless of 3 surface would be seen or not. And You. lt ofthe work is impossible all mounted tothe hul PIGMENTS, ROUND 1 Over time, Ihave developed an easy way 10 apply large quantities of pigments along the vertical edges ofthe lower hull. start by pla cing the ull on its side. This has the obvious gesture of making a vertical surface horizontal. Now | can a dry pigments, as much as |want without worry of them aling of. To set them in place | add drops of thinner o fixer to the edges of the surface and let the capillary action flow the liquid throughout the area. What is great about this is that you can repeat this process ‘many times. When | work with pigments, | do nat use just one coor, I make mixtures of afew (ART 78 Dts adit in pl. ‘li Abhi ats entice his at ot poo dee.pigment inthe tones | want to use. | creat Light ‘Meaium and Dark blends by vay colors after make the frst mixture | store these 3 colors in 35mm fm canisters for use over many mo a dals. Once apo this proces ads 2 emendous gg we sana sud ated thay wee sy te co wal be amount of depth tothe area and looks remarkably realistic. The front and rear ends of the hull are also treated as well for complete coverage Overall, the pigment application process itself is straightforward ~ with the hull on its side, | cov the area withthe medium pigment fist, add he lght color along the upper third and then the dark ‘along the lower third and around the suspens ‘ams. | then add the fixing agent to set them alin lace, and finally dry the area off witha hair dryer set to low heat. | usually add some mor pigments on top for added depth, and then really get things diny with dark washes and stains around the mo- ving parts. ‘Ater each side had been so treated, | added tiny stains tothe sides by licking various dark brown and black wash mixtures with an old brush, This is an ‘oldschool technique for making random spats and stains that | use quite often to obtain that “gity” ‘appearance. From here | tuned my attention to the road wheels, | worked on one applying pigments and stains ina random sequence to achiove as natural ofan appearance as possible. The pigments were applied in the same m the hull and on some wheels, | would add mare pig- ments to create some variety. Once each wheel was dry, | added various stains with darko leaking bearings, or recent maintenance Y Ide chs thie tped ash cata ait wom ec et ae caHEAVY METAL TRACKS (One ofthe more enjoyable pars of working with Fridlmodel ‘racks is the way in which you can fish them. | lve to use Blacken-it, whichis a chemical etching and darkening solution availabe from specialty hobby shops and better ‘equipped railroad modeling stores. The process is rather straightforward, but there are some tis that can make ser, and almost foolproo. It starts with having astc containers with lids that seal tight. | prefer the small plastic bow style found in the common gro stores made by GLAD™ The small bow size is perfect to fit Fil tracks into when they are rolled up, then they are filed about 2/3 with Blacken-t, or enough to completely 38 ofeach run, close the lid, shake them for a few minutes and then let them sit until the iquid goes clear again, That is usually a good amount of time to give them However, | was far from done. The basic color was set from the solution and now | can add the dit and additonal Ciscolorations. | don't really do anything diferent when it ino te ret anes ata igh edd ae hot math plats etic Deere eared eertrepiepeetcaptateanrte mereemepciteta PresentStage igen sein plac wi ig ger cha Tam timTete era pgm gmetad yd ols et ashe comes to ading the pigments lay the tracks outwith the cleat side up and add the dy pigments with an old brush. Then |take an eyedronper and place large drops of thinner over the tracks until each side is soaked. | ty them witha har dryer and flip them over and attend to the area where the road wheels run across, To give the impression of worn areas from the wheels, | used a thin sanding stick and gently rubbed it along the length o the inner faces on each side ofthe guide teth. For the exposed metal, | used a more aggressive sanding stick for those areas. The result of ll ofthis isa very realistic Foking metal rack that replicates the weight and sag o the real tracks quite well knew that alot more werk was needed to bring t model up to the level I wanted in my head. For lack of Hel tacked “poo” and was rather dull sto deal with the exhaust pipes. tle the fst time around and withthe help of Lifecolor’s superb Rust paint st, I completely repainted cased pipes | repainted each lucent manner letting the previous thru. This added aot of depth to the coloring and really brought it to life, as 4 hoped it would. | nished them off with Smoke from their Tensocrom paint Set, and some Black Smoke pigments for the exhaust saiASTANTLY : IS METAL ee een ener rer Re Pasion preva eey ep mep ny eye oy eer er pieny meyer ey pre ey . ee ret et ot et ee tr taboo Se eee eee eee eet Se Ce eee a eee ee enters ketenes eset er eens creer er nesOIL PAINTS & PIGMENTS, ROUND 2 Having successfully refinished the exhaust pipes, | now tured my attention tothe application of dust ver the entire model. Here is where I put the most energy of any stage ofthis project. One ofthe most significant steps for effective weathering comes from the use of oi paints. cannot think of any other product that offers up the level of control that ol paints do, as I've explained in previous chapters. I was time for the model to relly get dirty, and | wanted to give the model a proper ook of use, so ator the top hull plate had been re-weathered with the il, set about to rework the rear and the sides of the hull ext | used a lightened batch ofthe fist pigments that I made and forthe rear hull, set the \ ‘model carefully on its nose and replicated the heavy eee pigment application that | previously used on the lo er hull sides. was abit more random with how 1 placed the pigments here and thats what led to the rather patchy appearance of the final result. The sides however were much trickier and required lot more care to get jut right. Because | already had a base of dust layering to stat from, Ichose to use oil fist. | started by aig thin layers of Abt (088 Basic Earth along the lower edge of the sides. followed this with a light layer of pigments that were then set with Fixer via the aitrush, which adds a very subtle softness and discoloration over the oils. Now here is the tricky par: | then took 2 clean fiat rake-styie brush that has a superfine edge and with some Fixer dragged the brush down the sides in a vertical motion, After that, I sprinkled the pigments as you see here~concentrated around the rear comer area and then very gently aibrus: hed more Fier on top. To finish it off, | then took ‘the same rake brush and gently epeated the vertical Stoge Thre he dost oli pdt nd cnet te wea ft xs pes streaking, and was very careful to not remove to0 much ofthe pigment clumps onthe side as possible. With the hull sides and rear up to par and looking like what | was ultimately after, the front end re quired some extra effort too. However, on the font | was not looking for the same grty texture that I created on the lower sides and rear. | wanted the front to have a heavier, yet fine layer of dust. To do this, aggressively scrubbed in the pigments dry and then sprayed Finer over this. | repeated the layering TSC 208 process a few more times to build a higher level of SMOKE ‘pacity withthe end result being @ more consis i tent and dusty appearance. To finish it of, | used Ste Four dass coed wi sme Tescam Sola nd Ba nat pignns 87style brush and added some subtle vertical aking with Fixer to create @ harmonious lok with th pigments over the model sides. | then decided the outer road wheels needed additonal ef 10 bring them upto the same levels thatthe rest ofthe mode! now shawed. Here | went back to using the ol paint to add in the same richer earth tor 1 had applied above. | have no qualms with layering ois over pigment and in fact think some of the resutng effects can be ve unique and realistic. In this case, a bit more thinner used since the pigments tend to absorb any extra liquid, Time was a smaller amount of sur with than the hi the extra weathering stil required fair amount of time to e. Fundamentally, | repeated all of the same step that | used eater withthe hull, but | us ers sto keep t properly balanced tis usu va more realistic look to apply lighter colors the higher the madel you go. Tis adds tothe visual weight ofthe 1nd your eyes read the model in a correct manner 7 darker heavier areas down ow I also used les quantities forthe obvious reason that it is lot harder for large amounts of dust and ditto ge op surBy dine ry ies nat et he unease ale cat is ge ere, ces. Plus, that is where the erew moves around the most, which in tun will keep the area freer from dust and di NEARING THE END | was finaly coming tothe end ofthe long pro cess of reworking the entire weathering on this ‘model, but afew areas still neded more work. These included areas like the hull top section axjacent tothe front engine intake grilles on either side ofthe turret race, which requied ‘another round of ols and pigments to get bet ter depth tothe dust colors. added more cont rast, and as a resut made the center engine ‘access panel stand out more thr variations in contrast and/or opacity. After | corected this area, | continued to go around the entire model and tweaked each spot to ensure eve 1ything had a pleasing balance and contrast to the surounding areas. Hopefully my vigilance paid of, because the final element to add was ‘the myriad of stains that gives the model that last touch of looking like a true combat veteran (Once the stains were applied that would ba- sically conclude the weathering processes, so (te td wh wet ack vr he iinet we eyeing ews, 89~The del ow eng cnsetn wih hea ees ae ewes ing ef iy‘one realm futher than the ater, and this is sucha case with the final weathering elements. To me its almost ike adding Your signature, and as such is like saying this is my model ‘and what 'm about. It is what gives the model that needed bit of life, I eamed tis back when | was studying design hool and producing detailed renderings for my work it was always that last 5% ofthe messing around th the drawing that reall allowed it to reach ts full poten. tial, | use the same principles here Lused the same basic icking ofthe brush idea onthe rest ofthe madel too, You can also execute this same basic idea with a pigment/wash mixture, Just remember thatthe pig ‘ments will dry much lighter than the color of when they are wet, but itis a perfect method to replicate mud spattrs from a vehicle diving quickly off+oad. Some people have even taken ths idea futher and used ther airbrush to blow ‘a wet pigment mixture over the rear areas of @ model to replicate generous amounts of spattered mud. Either way controls the best approach and | recommend building up the effect slowly, checking your progress often to see how itis tuming out You can always ada more, but never take it away, ‘0 proceed with caution when doing ths final stage | would hate for someone to get all the way tothe end and then ruin their model using this method. FROM START TO FINISH [My thoughts turn back tothe star ofthis project and how im Dressve the kit was atts introduction, We naysayers stood in ciel at how far Dragon had come in suc a shor time frame. Those feelings were helped by the fact that no one was expecting it, so suprise was on their side. Of course, since then we have been witness to a relentless release schedule of associated German WWII armor kits in 1/3. [Most of them are superior to wat has come before it and have really set te standard ART 94Maseli INITIAL PRODON URL ORTai ehsEASE OF CONSTRUCTION (One ofthe shortest conversations that we as ‘amor modelers could have would be to dis cuss the construction ofthe Tamiya Hetzer kit I could easily sum it as open the box, clip the pats off, remove the buts and sand off seam lines, and then simply read the instruction and follow the steps until completed, it will tke ya few hours. It really is that god of aki from both an accuracy point anda fitment per spective. As the cliche goes, no kit i perfec, has done a very admirable job of ss with a state-of-the-art kit that look ofthe subject faithfully and ike a great model shoud, alo wing us to spend time on all the other aspects worth noting, such as supe-detaling oF the finish. If ever there was a prime candidate for a high-quality out-of-the-box kit to simply glue together and enjoy the paintiob and know the final results are pretty damn accurate, this itis onthe Top 10 lst of models for sure And such was the nature ofthis project ~ en joy the build, and then put maximum effort into the painting and weathering, and in this cas, tackle the challenge of replicating @ factory hard-edge ambush scheme in all ts glory. But first, it is necessary to build the model and as indicated by my comments so far, its @ joy to assemble. Thoughtful touches abound, and in recent Tamiya fashion they ensure as mistake free ofa build as possible. The suspension bo- Gies for example are set in exact height by a very handy sprue pat that keeps all evel while the glue dries, Taking a cue from their successful ine of 1/48 kits, Tamiya provide the tracks as superbly cast link-and-length plastic pieces that actully ft perfectly together allowing for the corect amount of track sag to be imparted into them 2s they dry, all of which realy helps the ease of assembly. While | was admitted very temp- ted to swap in a set of Fils (when am not? ART 104 ‘real ew te compte Het ita an ein in epenig oe te most compcatd cam ates adithese tracks were too god to nat give them a try and see how well they can be painted to represnt the level of fish | wanted to achive with The resto the model is ater straightforward assembly, with everything literal falling into place. Even the main gun bra is used fom thei itis that ice and tue My efforts, the refore, were coreentrated on thinning certain gars to better represent scale thickness, and that means on any Hetzer it thining the font and rear fenders. Swe there are wonderful PE sets for this pupose, so you have options either way, But sticking to the 008 theme loved using whats given and receive stsac tion wrking in such a manner ofthis time-o nored tradition. | also dled cut the two sal antenna holder brackets onthe lft side ofthe hull and since Iwas dling hols, opened up the end ofthe muffler to mae it ok like rel exhaust tubing, wtich is always thin-walled aur The tc nd wh we gel phe st es pig te steel piping 106Tak saci oy deg pu fh acs ad hho w et lr whol nin paceBASE COLORS Getting started with the paintob is really where some thought and planning are necessary given the 3 reatng a high-quality and accurate ambush amofiage scheme, At the time of tis project, there were no masks on the market to facilitate the task, so that meant ony one viable option was avilable ~ handmade masks, And for this process there is really nly one decent choice to use for masks and that is using Tamiya yell tape, a truly fantastic product that! It adheres well tothe surface, lays down edge, and has alow tack backing that paint underneath, Because of the precision of pattern end u ox sian products (Blu ype of pattern maskin factory applied schemes sed repetitive hard masks and followed set pater 8 I get tothe masks, had to decide onthe fstTh ein clear iin tee and ead te a peta ane hee cig mx. color layer, which | would add the ambush pattern ‘on top of. My choice was simple, paint the basecoat of the made in the dominant color, then add the other two colors over ths. On ths vehicle, the green is the mast prominant, and that is what | painted first onthe upper hull. Ofcourse, | primed the bare plastic beforehand with my favorite Mr. Sufacer 1200 primer. After that laid down alight Sand from Lifecoior to represent the lighter tone of Dunkelgelb used on these Panzerjagers on the lower chassis ‘areas, which arent camouflaged. Now | was ready to spray the green upper hull and | used another Lifecolor paint, a aircraft color RLM Light Green actually, because | liked the tone and | always start with a lighter than required camo color since the weathering wil build up darker tones from ths point onward, Otherwise the end result would be a very dark and out-f-scale looking model. As you read this book series, you wil see I prefer starting with lighter base colors on nearly every project duet this Threats pated sy Be car ea te al igh A the tnd east tle pig, 123Thigh sil aos iste weathen ie a te erie, because isonet vies a ear eo sy wi ad make snp stn ole model ve gti anki dow tlh wen i hay it op fn to wht ole al in stab poet matches he ey sd shape of Hee5 een poem tl te sto veiThe fist order of business isto give the mo- dol a dusty look, ( had descded to maintain a late springtime/summer style of dusting to show muddy areas, but not heavy winter style mud buildup). So | start by dusting the hull one section ata time. | use the same process of light dusting that | used on the Tiger where | apply the dust pigments to the model dry using only alittle bit on the brush, scrubbing it in @ natural fashion, then airbrushing aliquid fixer in avery light misting pattem from farther away letting ‘the fixer mist down upon the pigments and setting tham in place. | repeat the process a few more times to build up the dust opacity slowiy until 'm happy with the look. I then layer additional stains to create a better sense of depth tothe finish Now I can break out some oil paints and add the final touches to the weathering. luse the oils to fade and alter certain panel tones to break up the model a bit more, plus | add ‘more subtle streaks and stains tothe surfa- ce concentrating on making the Jagdpanzer took well used, but not excessively so, As | am doing this, | feel the model needs that last bit of interest to pul it all together. Heters rarely had any extemal stowage ad- ded, so my last weathering efforts are exe- cuted with pigments again. This time | went for a very intentional level of asymmetry across the hull from one side tothe other. reasoned that in a very similar fashion to dri ving @ car along a road and half the car dri ves through large puddle on one side only, 00 | felt could splash pigments along the left side in a way that clearly illustrates this common occurence when driving around. | imagined this late-war Hetzer hustling along a lone dirt road on its way to position itself for a final defense ofits home town. !oaded an old brush with wet pigments and pro- ceeded to make it happen ART 126 Theil ene o wetting wi te pment be et ting impesin on heme.PN CORTHa lehPaice’ iad SaaS Dre PenaMC ART 132CHUTZENPANZERWAGEN‘TAMIYA QUALITY egardss of what madel company is being Aiscussed, itis hard to ignore that any conver sation about how a kt goes together, its fit and finish, i rarely not compared to what we have come to expect rom te stel molds of Tamiya In todays market we have many new manufac turers and more than a few have risen to equal and sometimes surpass Tamiya, but Tamiya ha usually en associated with that benchmark of quality the rest get compared to Certainly they are not nearly as aggressive in the armor market asin previous years, but that does not dish the actual build quality of what kits they do produce. I isnot so much a ‘question of who is beter, but moe tothe point cof how best to produce @ worthy kt for public consumption, and I feel Tamiya have historical ly been the bar all thers ar judged by. I can't member the last time Tamiya had an actual error in the instructions, ora boxart was nat worth of hanging onthe wall, or the parts on the sprue were not exceptionally molded and ‘once trimmed and sanded for assembly, the construction was precise and effective. This left rom for me to decide what detail to add (or ignore, and more importantly to get to the painting and weathering stages in a hassle free manner, which i obviously an areal spend But thatisjust opinion ofcourse, when the glue bits the plastic that is when the conversation is @ moot point and becoming a modeler is far ‘more important, no matter good or bad the kit is. These 1/48 kts, lve o hate them, ive up to allo their lager 1/35 cousins and indeed pro- © Aananed on ree hs Pbwapers see i oy alee mene vide a worthy template to workin. The aftemar- ket companies have also provided excelent upgrades as well, and here | used Gasoine’s resin conversion to create this variant. And it all starts with preparing the plastic bits forthe additonal ofthe resin pars, _____TANKART 134Const stats inmadiay wi het pieces fn ore ied ht the a. (CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION ‘Almost immediately with the project, adding the resin parts was a necessity | focused on the hull build up and lft the simple suspension areas for later both for easier handling and to clear any fitment issues present in resin pats right away, focusing my energy into the clean-up of these pats and to dry the majr resin pieces and make adjustments to ensure they ft as well | can ‘make them. The Gasoline parts are largely blemish free and cast straight and tre, so that is great to not spend ‘much time straightening the parts and fixing casting er- rors. The fist bits it int the lower hul area without too ‘much hassle, but once | go to the gun mount itself was less impressed. Like any good project, tall starts with proper reference and | had the oer, yet still excellent, Sturm & Drang Japanese language book on the Sd Kfz 251 series and inside there was both the image | wanted to paint the ‘model like, and it also had some good images of how the gun looked sitting inthe chassis. | wast keen on the Gasoline solution, so| tok the sratchbuilding route instead and made styrene support mounts to integrate With the resin parts in a more accurate fashion, The re sin parts were also too simplfd for my tastes, even though the idea behind 1/48 kits isto utilize a simpler detail level to speed up the construction process. Here because | was adding extra effort into the conversion I felt it prudent to make the added parts ina more presen: table fashion, especially since this model is an open top Vehicle and these specific areas wil deftly be seen afterwards,‘Thi un any with etre ingle ye capes ao 7S gu we.Th pent te int he a mow sgh wae ees get ih ART 138 ‘So with what limited reference | had create the impro- ved support arms and gun mounts, add them to the re- sin parts and fit the assembly inside the hull, Fortunately, ‘the gun itself was an excellent collection of resin and me- tal parts and Ino issues with i, building it up as a stand ‘alone subassembly for easier panting. Yes, it was simp fied, but did capture the look enough for me. After | had fished the new gun mount, test ited eve ‘ything including the upper lla lower fitment to ensure had done it correctly, which thankfully was the case. | also glued in the new front upper hull armor panel, which fi near perfectly with little effort I's unique shape is design to allow limited side-to-side gun traverse. The gun satin the mount on its own, and was removable for panting, "Now| turned my attention tothe front suspension, tracks and road wheels. The front suspension is simplistic by nature and goes together very easily and quite fast, 25. wal asthe excellent front wheels, which ae eft lose for painting, Next, | prepped all the road wheels and the ink and-lengt tracks fr assembly, There is no right or wrong ‘way to build up ths area, sf you feel more comfortable ‘adding the tracks after the fat, or using a combination ‘ofboth ideas and leave off the auter road wheels for ex- ample, it all works OK inthe en, I's more of a personal preference and how you use your processes. if you've ne- ver tried it this way before, give ita shot tose if you like it. This area is small regardless, soit doest take long to ‘get ital together andthe top track uns have some gentle sag worked into ther, which are then glued down to the ‘op ofthe rod wheels to haldit in place. Each side is then slipped onto the ales to dry an for my photo sessions.INTERIOR PAINTING tall begins inside, as they say. Planning the pantob onthe ‘model, ke | said previousy, | knew the process that | was going fo use in my mind from the word go. Ithad to be dane with the HS technique bacause | was certainly nat going to apply marks of any knd that come even close to being in-scale in 1/48, | had used HS enough times prior to this, ‘model to understand it's true power and | was fully exited to put into action | was confident it was up to the task at hand, so with that in mind, | primed the interior areas with ‘Me. Surfaoer 1200 and then laid down a layer of red primer paint wit Valles Model Color Cavalry Brow, which | use straight the botle thinned about 50-50 with water. This ‘ould be the color of the interior chips and scratches, and ‘on top ofthis | sprayed my HS in my usual manner of two even ayers, ‘After the HS was dry, could then apply the Dunkel gel in terior color. | used Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow with a few drops of XF55 Deck Tan added to tone the color down a bit, which was airbrushed onto cover the interior ina solid ‘opaque layer. | then add abit more Deck Tan to this mix, thin ita litle more, and then do some minor highlighting ‘and fading, just enough to break up the single color a itle more. And due tothe diminutive size ofthe model, this all proceeds ata raid pace, suc isthe way with modeling in 1/48. Did | mention that it is also a lot faster modeling episode at this scale?as igelb applied, | could begin to ad chips and scratches onthe inside surfaces. Na turally the process is actually one of removal but the att mall around the model in ths fashion to create the paint ar. The floor received a bit mare more effort, and ral | was happy how it tuned out. One thought aque paint layer is that you and ny is best them). Other marks are created with sharper tols like a toothpick, which ha es buts stil smooth enough to not damag The perl jedi plata einai comple gt as pf. 141EXTERIOR PAINTING The exterior process mimiced the interior pain p dure in more or less the same fashion. For this st | had my one main reference photo at hand constantly checking to get as close to the heavy wear an | could muster. t was the primary focus of this project 0 achieving that level of quality and scale in my efforts \was of paramount importance, it truly was a challenge de tothe limited surface area present in this smaller model know that | willbe using Tamiys paints as well. Once thinned with water and applied over the HS layers, it wil give me the best chance of success withthe chips and scratches due to the manner in which it comes oft. This was probably the single most critica HS paint chip ping that | had dane to date, and while | knew in my head it would work as intended, the pressure was ce tainly on to perform, With thse thoughts in my head, | proceeded to prime models exterior subassemblies. | fist taped off ner edge of the exposed interior and then filed the mai hole in wit tissue to protect it fom any overspray that could easily rin my interior painting efforts. follow the‘theese ren ope pe cveape wih Me Stace 120, Thins filowed ya pine unos cg Ver exelent Cy Bow ae ‘To ren ay eso net — he dls oe ese it cami. prime just s | did before with the Cavalry Brown for my red primer choice. | then mask off the back of the (gun and spay the barrel itself ina dark gray paint to represent the heat resistent bare primer commonly sed and seen in reference phates, HS TECHNIQUE |’ now time to get serious and buckle down, am ‘ead to begin the main phase ofthe entire opera tion It starts with my now routine process of spray ‘wo layers of HS, dying each and then the model is repped forthe baseeoat of Dunkelgel For this color, | wanted a slightly different tonal ve- Iue tothe color | used on te inside, so this time | add a bit of Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow tothe XF-60 Dark Yellow 2s my base Dunkeld | pray it ope que enough to cover properly, but anywhere as re- ferenced in my photo that showed heavy chipping | back off onthe coverage to leave a hint ofthe red primer showing trough, similar to how whitewash is sprayed so the resulting chip willbe much fner ‘and gradiate out from those areas. These were ‘mostly concentrated around the rear of the hull This step was key, and | cannot emphasis ths detail enough, otherwise the chips would have been too large and too strng not giving me the worn lok | ‘saw in the photo, This was also true ofthe barrel, barely covered it infact, because | knew most of it was coming off inthe chipping stage. With the ist panting pass completed, then added some XF-2 Flat White to my paint mix, plus a few drops of water to thin it even more an then sprayed some faded areas and streaks across the upper hull 143 Snag commie mma sy SRThe Dns iid to th ve Tania ais nd in wit water api hinge,and down the sloped sides. With the base coat com- plete | clean my aitrush and then load a heavily thinned pale green camo color and spray very very faint green camofiage spots to the model ‘And naw the real fun begins, Not wasting any time, | begin the all important chipping process. With my reference nearby, | tart atthe right rear comer and gradually work my way down the sides ofthe hull in an effort to capture as much of the chipping and scratches as possible. Relief does start to set in as the procedure goes of without a hitch andthe paint ‘wear is coming out exactly as | intended, and most importantly the marks are in-scale. | make good use ‘of my brushes, butt was the Tamiya Paint Stir Stick (seen above) that really came int its own, | used it to start chips and aso to apply those long linear horizontal scratches. To do this, | used a small piece of wood a couple of inches thick to rest my hand on ‘as | moved the stick across the surface of the model ng as abridge o steady my hand's movement, 145With the right side ofthe hull completed and my cor dence working hard, | continue around the entire model inane sitting thankful forthe smaller sizeof hist. |fet e | was really in the grove and the chips were co ‘ming out s | wanted them to, | Kad to keep going. It did ke a few hous, but it was realy worth it and chipped e main gun and the road wheels as well. ‘Afterwards, | breathed a lot easior and then added the side markings, a simple unit number sprayed through some Edvard German vinyl masks, and | used the tik to ‘pot spray some HSin those two areas so could chip the numbers as well, which worked perfectly | also added some very faint residual whitewash areas, making tis ‘an early 1945 springtime vehicle. Again, | used a touch (of HS under those areas, spayed a tiny amount of white paint over them, and then wore i off as before al inten ed to give the model just hint more visual intrest and you almost dont see them at fis.Pals wor wed rae eo and eae a mete vin et. 147"Urethane wa nova a eth mal he mpesinn had een sd 2a iemain part of the model painted, cUg wa des we pet ake hina ela maner yo ces with as le ‘he fil ett ai weer mat eo ede 151(PRs puta eta mre pie ag ato he tah hve bn eaeWEATHERING BEGINS It was great to finally ative at this stage with the model ooking as it does. | was very sats fed with the efforts I put into the HS chipping ‘and, but| stil had te challenge to fish it off ‘orepresent an abandoned vehicle a tricky pro cess in itself I start with a filter layer, and here | wanted to sdeadon the colors a bit, not enhance them or brighten them in any way. | wanted the model ‘tahave a flat lifeless look tothe paint and used 2 gay tint anda hint of orange colored filter. airbrush one nie even layer on the model, dry itoff, and mave onto the pinwashes next. The exteriors actualy quite simple and void of a lat of details, and combine this with the small size of the model this step to goes fast. From here | can now break out the oil paints ‘and | use every 502 Abt. color have that has ‘any relation tothe paintob, 14 in all! In tue CFR fashion | basically set about to subtly repaint the entire model | know that sounds strange, but | go over literally the entire model to fade the paint, dy it up, tnt certain panels, essentially get ito the final nish stages. also highlight some ofthe chipped paint edges and ‘add @ host of subtle stains and steaks into the paint. ils were perfect for this and the model ‘was really looking the part now, But | am not finished just yet, | work up some essential interior bits to strewn about lke old ‘tos, empty amma casings, anda couple of ex tra road wheels. Onthe rer ofthe hull make a ssmll bucket that is hung from the tow shackle With this last effort | decide one element more is needed. When vehicles were left abando- ned by roadsides they were given a cautionary markings in bright white so the oncoming taf fic would see them at night. | wanted to illus: trate an Eastom Frony unit as well, so | spat spray some HS and set about to hand paint the ‘white caution markings, and the white accoun ting number the Russians painted on derelict vehicles as they advanced West into Germany. CART 156Thee visa cya the may eee et coe peter ne ek om eines sewn tate ication marking the as 157ClaesCHUTZENPANZERWAGENCHIPPING DETAILS CHIPPING DETAILS ran cuccn(e} ya Lo a < Eee Se Se pores Seer ee EE = ———— ia Pree sete perenne eee Tort a = { SCS Ee ty DSA nrtoreterpranate}2 AS) ee~The imag wel ue bi thebestof German fos iat AeHISTORY SAYS SO ‘Afew times within the war there are moments regarding paint schemes whereby a crossover of elements creates a unique situation that provides us the modeler with some fantastic ‘opportunities to express a finished model in 2 truly original pant job, The early DAK units Wore just such case and thankfully there is some excellent reference fr te pupose of re creating the look ofthese units. The story ofthe Afrika Korps is quite legendary. Combine harsh desert climate and terain, a toe-to-toe fight withthe Allies ld by such notaries as General Montegomery and later General Patton, and the interest to work on a piece fom this pe Find of actions overwhelming. personally feel every true WWI armor modeler should have at least one North African desert combatant in their collection, since modeling a dese ‘a comerstone to having a complete experience in the hobby. Te very dfition of riding a tank into battle is such a classically romatnic note tion during this period ofthe war, know | am personaly fascinated on multiple levels when studying the two sides This first book the TANKART series stars off with a very late-war Panther clothed in wom whitewash expressing the cold harsh crama of the last desperate days of ghting, and by cont rast this Panzer V in DAK livery ilustrates the bookend of ideas with a dry, hot weather and combat beaten tank ghting atthe height ofthe strength ofthe German armies ‘THE BUILD-UP This model in particular was unique in thet had ver clear idea in my head of its ultimate look long before | started to gle the parts together. "had a road map in mind about the construction process, the modifications and upgrades | wan- ted to make, and what sort of paintob | was going to apply tot. It doesn't happen al of the 165time, but | was certainly well prepared for this journey. ‘And i was eacited to say the last! This kit followed closely on the heels ofthe Tiger tial release, so | had a good indication it would be a superb ‘model to work with and it didn’t let me dawn. Yes, it id have some issues, mostly with less than perfct fit in a few spots, but no real negatives and the builds like mast inthis book of being largely out-of-the-box. ‘The basic construction was fair straightforward, but the fact there is @ substantial amount of turret interior pov ed | did have to carefully plan the build and then painting oft The manner of constuction ofthe front ofthe turret ‘armor pate that hold the main gun being the tricky part because for an accurate Panzer V that joint seam of the two pars fas a visible weld bead in real fe, so had to ‘work out that process. More on that later € That aby iw etd ad gun sgt wo pi, The rest ofthe model was built as most tank kits are ~ suspension fist, then lower hul, the rear fing, then fenders and joining evrything tothe upper hull withthe turret being a separate series of subassemblies. This is the early it kitrolease that exhibited minor ftment is sues regarding te fenders and rear hull joints, later Pan- zerV kt releases corectd this problem, to Dragons ere- dit. The kt also provides a metal main gun bare a small limited E fret, and excellent nk-to-nk plastic tracks, all ‘of which | put to good use. My main aeas of attention regarding any changes wast thin the front, ear and side of the fenders and add battle damage, add the fuel can rack, small retaining springs onthe rear fenders, and use the PE provided for the tool clamps and idler wheels ‘eal al an ssp seme exe ig me stadt Pace se, ‘This eel mdel ht yes vey witht in PE nde he plac ial tilda in ART 166Asie as this Panzer IV its, constructions nota rapid endeavor, and overall it does require attention to detail due to the complex nature of the kit and the vagerios present in the instructions, (a weak point of Dragons Kit), butt goes off mostly without hitch and the com- plicated process of painting the model can finally begin BASE COLORS ‘Any time that you create a paintjob that isa result of two completely different camo schemes, such as the whitewash over the Dunkelgelb on the Panther, or the Send on top ofthe Panzerrau done here, its a benefit to the process to use a strong and non-lightened base smofage. This is important because what transpires after you paint the second round of camo will iterlly destroy any efforts of lightening, fing, shading, even color modulation toa large degree. Thus, the effective solution to avoid ths pablem isto maintain 2 dark and strong base camo, so when the wear and tear does hap en, that color underneath looks as it sho RE ea Sa touflage Series t RAL 7024 4 VA207 Pa 2Sie Oe pine i Me Sec 20 ‘See bsnl exit Peg, inert chip ole dere ebro, Ste Tre HS iia, ib he Eble, wh wl bch. With that concept in mind, I prime the entire ‘model per my usual practice with Gunz's Mc Surfacer 1200, and then go about painting the exterior in a strong Panzergrau color straight from the bottle using Lifecolo’s dedicated CCamoufage Series paint for this purpose, RAL 7021 Panzergau, It has a fantastic hue that | imagine close to what a rue Panzergra should be with aint of blue in it that we tend to pre fer. Coverage is superb andit sprays beautifully thinned about 20% with water. These newer Lifecolor pre-packaged paint sets are fa thin ner consistency than their UA line of paints ve grown very fond of using them as often as possible ‘TURRET NTERIOR At this point, | now tum my attention tothe in terior ofthe ture. | wanted to add a myriad of chips and scratches that would be appropriate for a desert fighter and proceed to cover the turret assemblies in hairspray. dry the HS and then paint the interior in Xtracryix XATB18 German Tank Interior Cream forthe standard issue Eifenbraun interior color. had read good reviews on these paints and how they were very accurate out-of the-botte and Iwas quite happy using it was worried it looked to tan in the bot, but once sprayed felt it had that just right look to iy, | was also not too concerned with the fact the interior was already painted dark gray because once closed up, the details are very hard to see throught the small hatch openings and this ‘model wll eventually be displayed with figures in each hatch, futher reducing the need to go 169The ett aay oe wetng Chi ein wih wat and aso sf isle sh, ‘ART 170all out on painting accurate interior colors. | stuck mainly tothe basic, and those areas that you would see close-up. ready and my brushes in hand, work the chipping around thse interior areas the crew would Tkely do the most damage too, focusing on the hatch openings, the areas around them, where the crew would place their boots when entering and exiting the turret and so forth. also chipped the gun breech the control handles. I is all rather basic chip ping but would stl be perfectly adequate once the turret was closed up, I wanted enough visual cues to ilutrate my pont, and did't get too ca But before | can close up the ture, | compl weathering of said chipped areas by adding some simple washes and cil pint effectss to those same wor and affected areas to further cstress and dirty the near-white paint. Grimy hands will cause this effect almost immediately as we can attest to in ‘our daily ives, and the Germans certainly id not have ready aocess hand washing facilities nearby. Because | had kept the two side hatches movable, | spent extra time and effort with their inner faces since these wil be the most visible on the final mo al inthe open position. With that task finalize, then paint the shell catch basket under the breech to \wrap up the interior painting and weathering. | can The taint re tb dae up an ema lage in Fe view 171now close it up for good and prepare to get back onto the exterior painting, ‘As mentioned previously, once the turet is sealed atthe front, there is prominent weld bead that must be added to the intricate joints common to ths style of turet. | suppo: I df dane al ofthe interior fist, then painted the nzergrau but | decided to only paint the color one time nd be dane witht, ether way or process the results will the same inthe end, The reason i | used a simple weld bead technique of painting athin line of Gunze’s excl lent Mr. Dissolved Putty around the glue joints, and after a fe minutes added the weld texture with a fed toothpick, lt that all dry for about 30 minutes, then simply handpainted the bead with a fine brush Quite easy and no problems to report. Mr Dissolved Putty is a eat product to have handy for these sorts of odd needs. : With a fully asse nd to bled and painted made, could now at markings and painting the tools, spare tracks, nd other exterior fitings not cxiginally painted ART 172Fee ivieonont a reer een pre fey teeny te eytery hentai terete “ls hanged othe model | ie sed seamen wir cates ant Th mings mio ea ft cat pss, dst pleat DAK sys,in camotage. At this period oft the factory process to paint th nus these pars, an them one the tank atved to So! proceed to paint these items as appropri fore te with one exception. | incoretly painted the or Dunkel fender mounted fre extinguisher in red, and it x was later determined all exterior fre extinguis isan ty hers are base camo colors, UA 704, ae 4 tentious subject but evidence surfaced to make the case. But ather than that, the colors of he fii as shown inthe photo. Fr 3, ther that woul table, but my personal preference (fo fing purposes is fr lighter hickory 1001 handle, but feel fee to choose your wood jor as needed, As far as the markings go | used a mix of de als from the kt forthe side crosses in tl unusual location across the hull side and the antenna mount, and then spray masks forthe DAK symbol and secondary crosses onthe hull |iked the end result because itd balance between a the field applied palm tree DAK logos. EXHAUST PAINTING Im neatly finshed with the fist lve of pa | still had to attend to the exhaust minenty splayed at the ear. By now, you are certain to realize | enjoyed myself with my favorite Lifecolor Rust paints This time though, | did not want any original camo evident knowing | would have some hea wily worn away sand camo applied later on. So | proceeded to paint the muffer in a mo opgaue fashion the other exhausts in his book | stl use translucent layers and build up the colors slowly, but | ative ata compl painted muff inthe end. Ste Troe - noi hbase te fiers beg a U2 rope stad pat One additional step | dois to a final heavily faded tonal layer on top of this eff (ART 174 the dt shows cars pied in cater ome ayers al comply cvs ex ae,Ete {mouflage Series RAL 8002 Signalbia’ UA 209 {net 22 mi nl fet wiht ad aid of sins and moire amarTRES Oe ee Tel ped sae alos an petals and ently vere iw ver ys se EET he poorer pnd peepee er er ars prego et ntethr porated ee ee ee) perpees tree ee ree tented Perret re a eee ar ere pasWt ovr | i et odin ahr aan avi eyes ith ig esd ps eb strips oe ho ~ « yO Ze ——| “OaThe ess oh ching weer eat met of hs eng sedan ab cay ened ‘head ana am css nd ora nage. Theat ene om hit dal set andres es oad save wy nde eis ART 178 RAL 8002 Sigalbraun color as a god choice to recreate this suitable eect. | really ied the end result because it stood out diferent than my other efforts with these paints (Fm a big believer in not having identical looking models across my collection), andi ft the scenario of @ dry climate rusted exhaust system. HAIRSPRAY, THEN SAND CAMO {At this point inthe painting, stage oneis complete. The ‘model isin its base Panzergrau camotage, all the ex terior fittings are painted and the markings are applied Now comes the next and ver critical stage of adding the hairspray layers, airbrushing the impromptu style sand ‘camo and then distressing this paint layer in as accurate a process asl can muster, To begin panting stage two, | pray the entire model in two even HS layers, drying off the fst before spraying the second, which is then dried of again. Once dry, there is no need to wait further and load the airbrush with a ‘modu of Lifecolor UAG8 German Desert Yellow and 'UADGO Sand to represent the fld applied colo. | tart by spraying the lower hull sides to replicate what | saw in my reference photos, it was a patchy hastiy sprayed area and | wanted to capture the human element in this step. After that, | sprayed the rest ofthe model in a much stronger more opaque cama layer, and | used @ trick to achieve a certain special effect while doing so. [first mounted the kit supplied tow cable, (which wasvery nice by the way) o te rear hull mounting area to act as 2 spray mask. Photos showed it was often missing in the field showing the patter created when the sand camo was obvicusly sprayed while it was stil in place, ‘and | wanted to show tis off ~ again al part ofthe story teling process. also kept the tut stationary during tis painting stage so that when it was later shown tured, i dd even more emphasis that the sand was field applied. CHIPS AND SCRATCHES The next major step inthe process was tchip and seratch the model with water and my favorite brushes and tools that describe inthe eafier HS chapter. In fact, | put ton ‘of focus on creating a lot of chips and scratches in-scale because | did not want the effect to overwhelm the mo: yt stil impart clear visual impact that this tank has seen some action. These heavily worn effects are clearly seen inthe many desert combat photos, so there is no de"Tar pts xsi aged et i apy Bi ci ying ths fact, but| had to ensure they did not get too large and lok unrealistic. This partis paramount and | can’t emphasise this thought enough, The suocess of the model depended on ‘me achieving tis primary gol. So startin one section and patient, diligently work my way ‘around imparting fina chips and scratches into the top layer of paint. The HS technique pro ving its worth with each stroke. However, my mind is processing an additional level of wear and tear and had thoughts of ding this onthe Tiger Ito a certain extent, but here hada mind touseit ful effect LACQUER THINNER REMOVAL ‘had a desir to ty and replicate a worn off top ayer of paint that was nt necessarily chip ped via the HS process. The sort of look one 20s if you were to sand away the top coat i- tentaly but | couldnt use sand paper or steel woo! because I needed much greater contol and beable to get int all the tight spaces fora Fealistic look. | also wanted to compliment the chipping and werk with for an overall cohesive finish To acheive this deisred effec, | decided to experiment and use some pain thinner on 2 brush and ub the top layer of paint to see what results I could get. So | setup a scrap model section painted in the same two colors and be- gan to practice. After afew ties at the idea, | 181realized it started to work quite well when the brush had aimost no thinner ont. By carefully scrubbing away atthe paint | could (after some time) remave it in a much softer loking style than the sharper looking chips and scratches This was exactly the effect | had in mind, so | prepared myself to attack the model withthe lacquer thinner as | had just practiced. It was abit nerve wracking to say the least and itis a dalcate thin to do, so ighly recommend you tie tis before attempting it on the real model, There were also a few spots | overworked and| did have to go back retouch some edge inthe base color again, but overall the technique hed as | had hoped. | focused my efforts along al of the top surfaces, basicaly anywhere the crew would work sitand move around. And | coud also impart some sharper ‘edged areas by using a smaller brush as shown below, and by using this method alongwith the HS chipping | was able to fully realize the extensive level of pant wear that | had seen inthe reference photos,PINWASH, FILTERS, AND PIGMENTS This model stood in stark contrast to any of my pre vious efforts, the desert scheme are definitely unique ‘and require so focus to ensue they maintain that look all the way through to the end, After the extended time spent chipping and wearing away the paint with the thinner, | could now push onwards and the next level of weathering. Next, | add a pinwash and fier layer, however on this project! wanted a distinctly different look. Studying desert photos | realized the Binwash should be very mellow in tone and just give the slightest hint of shadow, too dark and it would immediately look more lie a tank from the continent, and not fighting inthe dry desert theater. Same with the filter, almost any color would richen the sand too ‘much so instead of one overalfiter, | decided to only fiter certain panels, to break up the surface a little bit more, This worked quite well in the end and | was able to give the model some needed depth and stil keep the desert theme strongly intact. Same goes forthe pigments knew | couldn't simple layer them on as | usualy do, bt | certainly wanted to ‘ad some simple dust colors that would still ook like desert dust on top the light sand camo. This was abit trickier than it looked and | worked in only the lightestseu ofthat acs wits se tes. ya ead sme pert no, ART 188 pigment colors | had. One aspect of the pigments is that they are so mate it really added a subtle visual transition element from painted metal tothe dustier sections. For the application itself wanted to avoid tide marks at all costs, so | used the same airbrush method to spray on the fixer in light mist layers to set the pigments in place once | dusted a section. | worked the pigments into the model until with the dusty appearance. ‘TRACKS Provided in the kit are some impressive link-to-link 40cm wide tracks that come in bags already removed from their sprues. Plus they are handed and cast in slightly different color grays to help us keep them sor ted properly To assemble them, I first lay down on my bench a strip of 1/4” wide double stick tape approx imately the length of each track run, and then simply click the links of each run together on tp ofthe tape, which is conventiently holding them in place for me. The links click together well enough, but they are nat workable systems and wil fal apart right away, so the tape is like the third hand. | then add a drop of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement between each ink and this sets up to dry for about 15 minutes. That may seem long, but the joints are just phyable and strong enough to re- ‘move each run from the tape, wrap it around the road heels, secure it with a piece of tape and add some aceurate track sag. | do this process twice obviously, then set the model aside to let the tracks dry comple- tely overnight. | am careful to not glue the tracks tothe wheels end | leave the last link unglued so |/can easily remove the tracks for painting and ‘Weathering, which is the whole point of going through this much effort. And because Dragon provides us with plenty of extra links, | create five ‘additional spare track armor sections that | will use to cover the front ofthe hull with and place ‘on top ofthe turet, as was often in done by the DAK armor units ‘ter these were all dry and solid, | removed the tracks and prime them accordingly. To paint them | sed a blend of Tamiya acrylics to create a dark grayish-ed brown base color fram XF-69 NATO Black and XF-79 Linoleum Deck Brown, which | then airbrush on, Next | mix some rust colored washed together and apply these with @ sponge all along each main un and spare track section to create a subtle dried rust tone. However, | think191The everinportat spre tc aways ety mated with wie ses to aia wile. the effects were too subtle and are hardly noticeable in the end, but | stil felt they looked lke proper desert tracks inthe end | finish them off with the same pigments that | used on the model, applying them dry first then adding the fixer, this time with a brush so they flow more into the myriad of holes and details on the links. | can then put the tracks back on the model and glue the final link together to hold them firmly in place. Af terwards, | was happy that they looked liked they were not used often because | wanted to avoid the cliche look of having bright me- tal cleats showing. Often in the desert car paign there was a lot of downtime for the tanks with the lulls between fighting, soit ‘wouldn't be out of place to have all the ex posed track surfaces rusted over after sitting for a few days. The next to last order of business was to get the spare road wheels in place and weather them to match the rest of the mode. For a splash more color | painted the road wheel ‘mounted on the righthand side ofthe hull in primer red, and placed the gray ones on the nose, supported by the spare tracks moun ted there, which | then add pigments to. The last bit of painting was for the water cans mounted on the eft fender. | painted them in the same order as the tank ~ Panzergrau fist, HS layer, then the sand camo that was chipped and worn away. The white crosses ate sprayed via dedicated masks by Eduard for German Jerry cans, and | added slightly darker ftes to the three of them to help vi- sally set them off from the tank better. 193aN1Sengi ie : Re oo A ee é Danse) Sot) MARKINGS & DETAIL PAINTING been)ete ch ashe eed NE Z Ce)meta POEs eeu oa uR uemore contrast the ate inapo ropsiate contrast by painting shadows and highlight in the wrong places. This will inthe begining tain you due t lack of techni and finesse of handing the brush. D il lear this wth time and practice. T ason for mispacing shadows and hig more important: lack of kno er to put the Note how not only the details are painted according to overhead lighting, like for ex- ample the fingers om his left hand, but also the main volumes, The shoulder is ighter that almost e ‘han the chest, andthe upward facing par of the arms are lighter than their lower half projec IN PRACTICE ure is differ dy te lig Dee tee ee ee eee ere ecCee ees Ce ee ee eee eee eet eters ae conan a seer LE eae NT eee eee Se ene eee etter eet eee ee eee) ‘actly what you want When you dake re not to ake the nck oolong (common mit) Tt an re te Ser eT) fore, i figures 3 op painters, photographs of real pe nd portrait paintings, and of co actice@ lot. This wil develop you abi ye can lear ‘common fgur:paintng mistak ighlight protruding elements comple ch ight. Usually this is combined with ang the entire deeper ing areas, not y the part that ae actually in ight i fling, andlower pa ip ofthe protruding part ther common mistake is to forget the that de in the trap of highlighting othe maximum, forgetting that they re par of an tment But of course a fold 0 underside of a slave wil itis thus important dimensional lity of the enti ing and shadin entire volume is shaded and highlighted lighter, vertical surfaces a bt less light, un eed eee ee ae cana eee etree ate eee erty Ses eee tne nee etn ennai ee ee perenne onsite cent eer aT eet pace prey eineyemeter vr sapaiert sre miten ren onto Percent ech en eye erecta er neared Sear a aes eae ee enna eared Pecirernin crane per epemeneprecranentunny ia sereSe Set - inca ON eee Ft enereareenrsregad ah fb thin highlight directly above Se eed WAS — Correction of the Aightigtingae eet ee) ee ee ee ear reece reer! ere Sarena een re ee ee eee ete oer ys ep See ee ee Perenga ee ee Se eee Pere ee ere ee eee eee et Perera ne sere eet ocean et ee peerage Speen ey en leer et err See oe etme trees ee een) Eee eee en oer eee cen Sitoeeeneisneran net hohenneeee Testy ie eee Eat) rae eT eee eee eoeiaiial Dene ee eee eee eet Serta eae eee eed a en Saat nee re perernten rotor iret oct menor eyin creer Eire eet rer et en Eircocese see poet veenr esol nis eee oniecine nee eT Eocene! See tence keene Ce ron Palace te det mucoid ieee Secret aa aad Prete beer neon rer eens pec aren tere nearer rer rere meet ecard ee a ee ee eae en N er eer ee eerie eee eee Cs Piet opener sermerrey hr er Conroe et ceenc een ner einer tones caren enone eeneee eed oe Ee et reed ects eae} Eereerepierenprrererarn 9 ns oo eee eee Proernrepreennee nena nnne cena pay Parone ree Image Pee eens omen Se eae ead ee ee erate eet iee Dairy Sr es Pret Seneca] Cope eee Cee ered et eee eT paneer epee popper reriront poem Seaeeoea Porenararniwaen ree ienineeton Petre rend Hert seer earned ern nara rd beetespehr evap dp enenrperne eee ne) Cet eee Pre reece eet peace rence tod Pee eens pacrenpyepeperntenerontita Prorat any ee ead Pree pers Precrra ties re ener Poets aes err ry ee eer + Session 4:Stading (Ih of work) Oe eee! ne aee ee SnotTho finished figure: wa You shuld expect to invest for this level of results. some pe ed more and some need less forthe same result. tis certainly po to paint much faster than ths (which ean be @ good i figures for a ma rama, or if you are person or simply dort want to spend mare time ont this wll of course derease the finesse of you work. You can only ‘ut ofa figure what you put into it vel of finesse can only be achieved through yeas of practice, raged if your ist (or even 30th) figure doesn't look like the oes in ths chapter, Dor't expect perfect results immedia tal, just enjoy the process of slowly building up your level of finesse a every figure get a bit better than the previousee eee eed percep Pook et eerie ener Pore Serene apne ati” Pee Cae en tener Sereene men tere orion ike batons and buckles ee en ee eens rrregenrenn ienn apmeen eer ee ed oe terme tren et reer i ees peererer beer te eee Perera Leper en greece ener oars Pre ee ey tas Prrsireyternetrchyeprrrs precerenty ca een teeter tet ee ee eee iene eran ad Peter terrier aan Pe ere beeen et etre) eee te ee eee i epee eer comment aee tee peer treet fe eee enterprise] Ee eg eee ea First Mighight - With evoryhighighting step, more russian Peeper epee beter ca era ‘Second Highlight - Note how th ron! of his igh oe highigh prereset ith Menten Pe arent oe ee eee eT SAT ee ea eed arava ar erey emer ents ete ete reer ats preteen eee ane teen et earner oe eee ere ee ert eer ee PL ser Ser ee eee ee nner RC ea eer eee error ari perermeny ney penterag oe ene ert eens eters een hen ear er merecertet ard Peretti nen Senin re ee eee etree er ary arora tee tenets eee ee ean are eee ened poss apron eres piven were ee ee en eras fosmmmnnrtincips-apeni pemintes rere rey ee ree tries arijn van Gils, 207IN TODAY'S WORLD ii | iil ercre M8098 356315 | |