1/100 Plastic T-34/76 Kits - Part 4

One Track Mind...
Er, make that 10 track mind! The downside of production line model making for war-game is; yes, you get a nice little army of models at the end, BUT this means that every stage in building and painting becomes a intimidating and repetitive chore...

Tracks all-over primed and track links painted base colour.

I'll be discussing my exact paint process for these 1/100 scale tanks and their tracks in my next post (about my SU-152), but here's a quick overview in bullet-point form:

• Prime tracks (mine are all over light olive)...
• Paint tracks base colour - I've chosen a metallic dark-brown...
• Apply dark wash (Citadel Agrax Earthshade) all over...
• Dry-brush highlight green on road wheels...
• Highlight track tread with metallic colour or graphite pencil...
• Pin-wash road wheels and track treads with black (Citadel Nuln Oil)...
• Apply dust of mud effects (to your tastes)...
• Seal with varnish.

Next: Painting the hull and turret.

Battlefront 15mm Panther and Jagdpanther

This is the final part of my 'GF9 Tanks Starter Set (Panther Vs Sherman)' series and comprises of the production of the German opposition in the game, the Panzer V Panther. However, as I mentioned in an earlier post about this game set (link to post here), there is an option to mount the Jagdpanther upper hull on the Panther chassis to get two tanks for one (with some sneaky use of mini-magnets)!

The 1/100 Battlefront Panther and Jagdpanther kits are rather nice - if somewhat 'chunky'* and simplified - models. But, they are - in my opinion - on the higher quality end of the wargaming quality kit spectrum. They have packed a good deal of nice surface detail into these little kits and have some very nice track detail.

* I have noted on several occasions, when talking about these sort of 'wargaming quality' kits that they can be a little 'chunky' and sometimes over-scaled (Plastic Soldier Company models are a prime example). Well, I've come to understand that is sort of deliberate to make the models a little more durable as playing pieces. Zvezda scales their 1/100 models more accurately, but - as I found out with their M3A1 Stuart kit - this means details like guns become very fine and therefore possibly prone to breakage. This over-scaling is sometimes referred to as 'Heroic' scaling.

Anyway, back to the job in hand. Having mad up my Panther/JP model for playing purposes (unpainted) it's now time for my GF9 panzers to follow the example of their Sherman opponents and get a lick of paint!

Choosing a Panther Camo Scheme
As I found with my 1/100 'Elefant', the choice of German WW2 is wide and wonderful, and this is particularly true of the later war panzer schemes. Starting from D-Day the variety of camouflage patterns seemed to snowball from the fairly standard - but still variable - 'three colour pattern' to - by 1945 - and almost anything goes 'let's just get the tank on the battlefield' (sometimes not painted at all) attitude!

So, I decided that the best place to start was to pick a specific period and/or theatre. This would help me pin down a sort of historic parameter for camo choices.

I wanted my Panther/JP to be D-Day specific - so as to be suitable opponents for my D-Day Shermans - so this ruled out a lot of the more weird and wonderful 'late war' Panther schemes. I eventually came across a 1944 3-colour paint pattern that I liked (I sort of prefer large, harder-edged patterns)...

I will be using this same pattern for both the standard Panther upper hull and that of the optional Jagdpanther hull.

Hairy Stick Time
As I am still without an airbrush at the moment, it's another chance to practice my brush skills (another reason to go for a 'hard-edged' camp pattern). I began by priming the Panther hulls with Flames of War's 'Panther Yellow' and then I worked on the brown patches of camo using Vallejo Model Color 'German Cam. Med. Brown' [826]...

My LED desk lamp made these a little over saturated, the colours are actually
a little more muted than this.

I tried to follow - roughly - the same shapes on both hulls so that they would neatly join up with the pattern painted on the lower hull. One thing I like about painting patterns using a brush is that if I vary the dilution of the acrylic with water you get a semi-opaque - almost 'watercolour' - effect where the paint is not uniform and 'flat'. This can add to the impression that the camo was added over the Dunklegelb base colour in the field and also that it was 'faded' in places (that's my excuse).

Next I start to add the green 'blotches' using Vallejo's Model Color 'German Cam. Dark Green' [979]. Now, I know there is some amount of debate as to whether these two colours are true to the original German paint colours (the brown doesn't seem to be red enough and the green not green enough, allegedly) but I want a more muted effect...

Lighting was a bit dark here, but hopefully, you get the idea.

Emblems/Decals
Doing an 'authentic' scheme for Battlefront's 1/100 game tanks models is a bit of a 'DIY' process. Unlike 'display' kits these little models don't come with decals or a 'suggested scheme', so you are left to your own devices as to how you paint and decorate them.

Also, authenticity isn't, perhaps, the absolute priority here as these models are playing pieces, so there's an accepted leeway for 'artistic licence'. Basically, nobody will pull you up if your chosen camo scheme wasn't entirely correct for this or that theatre or period or unit, so long as the spirit of the national faction is adhered to for the game. Players of this game don't tend to be rivet counters or pedants (IMHO).

Here's an example of Panther numbering and emblem format that
I quite like. The plain white numbering suits my intention to use
dry transfer lettering as I have similar font/styles.

So, with this in mind, my camo scheme for the Panther/JP was a 'generalisation' and that's how my decoration will be as well. I'll be keeping it simple, with just a couple of German crosses and a made-up vehicle number...This model is NOT based on any actual identifiable historic tank or unit!

I'm using Woodland Scenics dry transfer numbers for the Panther and the decals for my Jagdpanther are from the Skyrex AD43 German Tank Numbers and AD28 German Crosses. I have to say, I'm not so impressed with the quality of the Skyrex decals, I think they are short run printed decals and their transfer film is quite thick so I'm having to use Microscale's Micro Sol to help settle them in nicely.

Applying one number at a time is a bit tricky as you are never completely satisfied that everything is straight and level...

And that's nearly it for the basic paint scheme and decalling. I have to go around them again to do a bit of touching up and add some metalic dry-brush effects to the bare steel part and then the everything will be real for a coat of satin varnish. This helps seal the decals and prepares and protects the paintwork for teh next stage, which is an overall wash.

15mm Scale Shermans - Part 2

I'm experimenting with and modifying slightly my 1/72 scale painting techniques for the smaller 15mm scale models. Because of the smaller scale, and commensurately smaller detail, painting is a little more 'impressionistic' and I am doing things with broader brush strokes than normal.

Here's where I left off. A bit too clean and sparkling for my tastes.

I have seen plenty of very experienced 15mm scale model veterans paint in this scale to a very high degree, to the point where you think they are working on a larger scale. But, as I am fairly new to this diminutive scale I am going for a wider picture and fudging the minutiae a bit.

So, here's the process I've planned...

1. Taking the Shine Off
My newly base painted Shermans look a little too factory fresh for my liking. Sure, they might have looked something like this fresh straight off the landing craft (if not so glossy) but I prefer the dustier 'seen some action' look to my tanks.

So, the first job is to take the shine off by applying a very light overall wash of Citadel's lovely Agrax Earthshade. I dilute the wash slightly with some water as I want a soft surface dirt effect and not the deeply ingrained mucky look that neat Agrax normally gives...

The wash effect is subtle, but it just scuffs off the shine so they don't look like
brand new tanks. The wash also defines some of the detail (like a sort of pre-
pin wash) and you could leave your tanks like this, as if they were just off
the landing craft. But I want to go a step further - say D-Day + 30 days.

This stage is - in effect - a 'pre-weathering' preparation, so I conclude this phase with a light coat of gloss varnish to protect and preserve it.

Next: Stage 2 - Staining & Streaking with Oils.

15mm Battlefront Panzer IV

You could argue that you cannot have a mid-to-late WW2 German armour force without including a Panzer IV. This tank was the bread and butter of German tank formations on every front right up to the end of the war (despite more advanced and formidable tank designs being available).

Historical aside: I won't get into the whole 'if Germany had only concentrated on the Panzer IV instead of playing about with 'super tanks' controversy. I'm glad the Germans wasted huge resources on their so-called super weapons, their constant tinkering hastened their ultimate and inevitable defeat.

Anyway, about the model...This is another 15mm (approx. 1/100) wargaming quality kit and is designed to compliment the GF9 TANKS game I am currently playing. It's made by a company called Battlefront which pretty much concentrates on military vehicles for the more complex 'Flames of War' 15mm wargame (GF9's TANKS is seen as an introduction to Flames of War).

I enjoy these tiny kits as there isn't as much pressure on detailing and you can just get on with some relaxing painting. These models are just 'game tokens' and not intended on display items and extraneous detail is a bad thing, anyway, because they are designed to be handled. So, component wise, there isn't much to this panzer...

However, it is a quite nice model with a respectable level of detail and could be prettied up to an impressive level if you wanted to. As with the rest of the GF9 tanks I have, I'm quite impressed with the quality of the kit's one-piece tracks, the tread pattern is quite detailed when you consider it's just a 1/100 scale piece (again - Armourfast take note).

I won't run through a load of pictures of the construction because I suspect it took me about as long to put together as it did for me to type this sentence!

OK, bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. In readiness for painting, I glued together the major sub-assemblies to make it easier to spray everything and get the paint into all the nooks and crannies...

I opted for the rather hastily put together looking armour 'skirts' as they have a bit of character (I'm going to paint a bit of a battered looking war horse), but the kit does come with a set of pristine side shielding too.

And that's it! Ready for priming, I just have to choose a suitable camo pattern for a Panzer IV of the Normandy campaign. But as the common German three-colour camo scheme of this period was applied in the field you have a lot of latitude of some free-hand painting.

A quick Google will provide you with a plethora of camo pattern options!

Next: Priming and painting the camo.