Armourfast Stug II - Part 3

I am my own worst enemy - this was supposed to be a 'quick' project, just to get some much-needed painting practice in. But, I just had to tinker, didn't I?

As this Stug is meant to be a later war (Normanady, 1944) model, I decided that I wanted to give it the war weary look of a veteran unit by adding some of the accoutrements of an experienced armoured vehicle crew. In other words, stowage...And lots of it...

As usual, photographing pure white Milliput is a little challenging!

I did buy the Plastic Soldier Company's 'German stowage and tank commanders' accessory set, but some of it's stowage items look a bit unconvincing so I ended up only using a couple (the dark grey items in the photo). The rest of my random collection of bits and bobs were scratch made from styrene or from white Milliput.

I didn't go as far as throwing in a kitchen sink, but there I've pretty much filled the cargo area. In reality, I believe so much stowage - especially the large oil drum I will be adding - was perhaps more relevant to vehicles serving on the Eastern Front (where they had to travel long distances from a depot). But, I think it gives my Stug a bit of the 'lived in' look!

Note: The dust particles aren't part of the weathering! :)

Priming - With Vallejo Surface Primer 'Dunkelgelb'
With regards to my Stugs priming colour, I've dodged the whole question of what exactly 'Dunkelgelb' is (the mustardy dark yellow that the Germans used as a base colour) by actually going out and buying Vallejo's Acrylic Polyurethane Primer German Dark Yellow (RAL 7028).

This is the first time I have bought a proper modelling primer rather than using a Halford's or Autocar rattle can primer. So, it will be interesting to see if there is any real difference in quality.

The Vallejo primer is designed to be applied by an airbrush in a few very light coats, so no more impatient lashing on of a thick coat of Halford's then!

Spot on for the 'Dunklegelb', but...

To be honest, as I begin to lean more and more towards wargame modeling (as opposed to display modeling) the care with which this methodical priming process takes is probably overkill. The Vallejo Surface Primer should be applied in several light coats, slowly building up the opacity. This takes time, as does the drying as the model remained tacky for several hours (apparently the process can be sped up by using a hairdryer)!

For war game models, I have to concede that a quick squirt of Humbrol acrylic spray (Desert Yellow in this case) would have been perfectly adequate. And the drying time is much faster. (I would just have to modulate the Desert Yellow to give it a more mustard tone.)

Still, that's the model primed, with the tracks and some of the stowage primed in black. Next, I have to plan which camouflage pattern I want to give this Normandy Stug. (I read that German Army vehicles came with their base colour - Dunkengelb or German Gray - from the factory. It was up to the troops in the field to apply whatever camo pattern their unit deemed suitable over the top of these base colours.)