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Tanks in Russia I
•Tanks of the Eastern Front, 1941-1942: Painting and camouflage •Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. B:10. Pz.Div. •Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. F:7. Pz.Div. •Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. H:3. Pz.Div. •Tracks & accessories:Painting and varnishing •Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E:6. Pz.Div. •Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F-1:5. Pz.Div., Pz. Rgt. 31 •Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F-2:14. Pz.Div., Pz. Rgt. 36 •Identification symbols:The
emblems used by German crews in the Eastern Front, 1941-1942.
Tanks in Russia II
•A further analyse on camouflages based on new information. Assembly and superdetailing of Russian and Germantanks and specially the following models: •Pz.Kpfw.38 (t), •T-26 •T-60 •T-34/78 mod.1940 •T-34 mod.1941 •T-34/76 mod.1941/42 “Ekranami” •BT-5 •BT-7M, , •KV-II mod.1939, •KV-I mod.1941 •KV-IE.
Tanks in Russia III
•Emblems of Armored German Units on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945 •German Camouflage Colors,
1943 (RAL 840R)
•Russian Camouflage Colors, 1943 •Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. M -Pz.Rgt.3., 2. Pz.Div. •Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G - 20. Pz. Div. •Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. D - 51. Pz.Abt., III Pz.Rgt.53 •T-34/76 Mod. 1943. 30th Guard Armored
Tanks in Russia IV
•Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. A, 5.SS-Pz.Div. “Wiking” •Perfiles: Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. A •Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger Ausf. E , 2. Pz.Rgt., SS-Pz.Gren.Div. “Das Reich” •Perfiles: Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger Ausf. E •Pz.Kpfw. Vi tiger Ausf. E , Sch. Pz.Abt. 509 •Pz.Kpfw. VI tiger Ausf. E , Sch. Pz.Abt. 509 versión invierno •IS-1 (KV-85), Unidad de entrenamiento cerca de la fábrica Kirovski •IS-1, 13 regimiento de choque de carros pesados de la guardiaTanks in Russia
The beast of Ladoga
The Tiger I is a frequented piece among hobbyists, because there’s always an interesting version of it, with an interesting camouflage to reproduce. Other options are also explored in the color profiles.
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Hetzer The 1/48 scale is becoming increasingly popular. We can find a wide range of kits and a number of accessories. These kits are easy to assemble and paint too.
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BMP-1 This is an old kit that portrays an attractive amphibious Soviet vehicle that has undergone an intense detailing labor; becoming a collector’s item.
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MODELLING LESSONS: Wooden Box
We will learn how to paint a wooden box on a 1/16 scale.
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Humber scout car Mk. I
Small vehicles can come in handy when doing a vignette. We have here a British Humber armored vehicle and a figure to demonstrate the splendid results. The review has a photographic research review that has been used to build this kit.
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Flakscheinwerfer We have here an unusual diorama that shows us how the anti-aircraft material is unloaded in a train station.
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Unteroffizier
Here we have a magnificent figure that portrays a German Infantry NCO sporting a camouflaged uniform.
3 he Tiger I have chosen to model, represents one of the 5 remaining vehicles in Febru-ary 1943 of schwere Panzerabteilung 502 (heavy tank battalion) primarily fighting in the Leningrad sector, dur-ing the battle of lake Ladoga.
I have always been fascinated by the early Tigers and the divergence in camouf lage in par ticular the winter/snow camo schemes; therefore it was an easy choice to depict this vehicle in this period, the Tigers of 502 having a very distinctive pattern during this time.
The vehicles were very stark white in order to blend in with the snow (the idea behind snow camo) also very little if any dirt or mud as they were running on frozen ground, snow and ice, using primarily the images on pages 16 & 17 from the book “Tiger I sur le Front de l’Est” for reference, also the art work on page 19.
This kit builds into a nice model out of the box, but with the addition of a few minor additions and correc-tions, it can be turned into a real show piece.
Even though the model was only picked at sporadically over a two year period.
I had all construction done and ready for paint in about 16 hours. By: Steve Palffy
Pictures by the author
Color profiles by: Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo
T H E M O D E L
Dragon 1/35
The Tiger I undoubtedly the most
Known and feared Tank of its time
with its thick armour and the
incredible fire power of the German
88 makes it one of those things that
every armour modeler will build at
The Dragon kit contains enough parts to build more than a few varia-tions of these 1st series Tigers, although part use for all but the one on the box art is a little vague.
Also depending on when you are depicting the vehicles, there are a lot of additions and paint changes over time.
Lots of left over bits for the spares bin!
Double check instructions and ref-erence to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
Wanting to show damage and lack of replacement parts.
The turret box (Rommelkiste) pro-vided in the kit from a Panzer III was used although I did not see these in the reference used, the Battalion did have Panzer III Ausf. N and Ausf. Ls as fire support, so it is possible.
I wanted to show damage and lack of replacement parts on the model, so several of the outer road wheels were left off, then using left over hubs from this and other kits to replace them.
I ended up using very little of the photo etch included in the kit,chosing to remove the fenders after looking at the model for a while, just using the
parts for the smoke generators, and then taking the engine deck screens from a late production Tiger kit.
All photo etch parts were glued in with instant glue.
I used the WWII productions No. 35026 tracks, these things are great, saving the modeler a lot of time in that they are articulated and just click together, giving a very realistic track sag, you can either glue them down with super glue as I have done or if you want a clean look to the model paint and attach later.
There was a time when I modeled everything with some kind of damage on it, but this kit really called out for it, in particular after reading the Tiger I on the Eastern Front book, s. Pz.Abt 502s Tigers were up against huge odds of numerically superior forces and was also in short supply off spares, so modeling damaged and missing parts became essential.
Missing road wheels, with scratches and scrapes applied with hobby knife into remainder of rubber road wheels.
Impact marks were added by slight-ly drilling into the armour.
Penetration into sheet metal parts and outer road wheels was applied by slightly drilling into parts, then drilling through with smaller diameter drill bit. And of course removing the front fenders and one of the rear ones then became necessary to add to the look of the beat up Tiger.
Some of the vehicles had the vari-ous upgrades added so check refer-ence!
ASSEMBL Y
B A T T L E
D A M A G E
The tracks have been replaced, four photo etched grilles have been placed on the motor’s cover, and a figure has been placed in the turret.
KITS USED
Kit:-Tiger I Inicial Production, Dragon ref. 6252, 1/35 scale.
Orugas:
-Tiger I Early, WWII Productions ref. 35026.
Accessories:
-Engine deck screens from Tiger I Late Production, Dragon ref. 6253. -Hubs from Tiger I Frühe Produc-tion, Tamiya ref. 35216.
Figure:
-Flak Artillery Crew, Dragon ref. 6275 with heads Verlinden Pro-ductions.
The first airbrushed layer of paint is XF-52. This will also be base color for the tracks.
After airbrushing a layer of XF-63 mixed with XF-52, the areas that are meant to keep this color will be masked using Tamiya masking tape
Inspiration; the only way to ever get anything done!
Both the inspirational photographs and artwork in Tiger I on the eastern front served to really give me a push to finish this model.
The paint scheme chosen for the vehicle is not copied specifically of any particular vehicle in the pho-tographs (these were however used for inspiration), but is rather representa-tive of them at this point in time, numbers and the battalion emblem (mammoth) were also painted over/or not visible.
It should also be remembered when depicting vehicles of a certain time frame and unit to be aware of the con-ditions they fought in helping to form the applicable weathering, in this case at this time the vehicles were running
on frozen ground, snow and ice, therefore covering every thing in Mig pigments would be wrong for this time, the snow camo was also very white and stark in order to blend in with the surrounding area.
The most important step in paint-ing any model is to provide a good base or primer coat especially when multiple Medias are used; in this case Tamiya grey spray primer was used.
P A I N T I N G
Plastic priming on the kit with light grey colour.
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C O L O U R C H A R T
TAMIYA
(synthetic lacquer) AS18 light grey TAMIYA (acrylics) XF-2 flat white XF-52 flat earth XF-63 German grey MODEL COLOR (acrylics) 819 Iraqui sand 820 offwhite 862 black grey 865 oily steel 872 chocolate brown 884 stone grey 897 bronze green 928 light flesh 947 red 951 white REMBRANDT (oils) 54092 burnt humber 54112 burnt Sienna 55132 cobalt blue 57012 ivory black
MODEL AIR (acrylics) 59 matt varnish
REMBRANDT (pastels) Black Orange
After masking the model, a thin layer of XF-2 is airbrushing in all surfaces.
This is how the kit looks after removing masking tape. We can clearly see the grey areas; the white areas show some grey underneath, and there are some areas where white paint is opaque.
By airbrushing “clouds” and white paint streaks we avoid stark contrast created between different camouflage colors, creating a fade between the two.
Paint chips, scratches and so on, are recreated using 872. Oil paint treatments. We’ve done a general wash using oil paints 55132 and 57012 to enhance the features and details of the kit, rust is conveyed with brush strokes on oil paint 54112.
Rust trails on the vertical surfaces are also vertical, if necessary oil paint can be smeared using a clean brush soaked on odorless thinner.
Once we’ve mat varnished the Tiger, those areas that appear polished with wear are recreated using a silver colored pencil.
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Dirt trails from the wheel’s axis to the ground are created using a mixture of oil paints 54092 and 57012.
A figure on winter garb complements the kit. This figure has been painted with the usual painting
techniques.
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Tip
Place spray can in a cup of hot water for a couple of minutes, this will increase temperature and pressure resulting in a finer more even coat especially in cold weather.
Using airbrush model was given a coat of Tamiya XF-52 flat earth.
Followed by 60% XF-63 German grey 20% XF-52 flat earth and 20% thinner avoiding the tracks.
Squiggly patterns were then cut
into masking tape and applied to model.
Entire model again avoiding tracks was given a coat of 50% XF-2 flat white and thinner.
Model was then masked again with thicker strips of tape, followed by more white and thinner again avoiding track. After removing all masking a pat-tern of clouding (panel fade) and streaking of white and thinner was then applied.
Brush work
Now the fun really begins….I love this part.
Would you like chips with that? Well obviously YES.
Using Model Color paints
Chocolate brown chips and scratch-es are applied, primarily concentrating
The work on this kit, a perfect example of how you can get wonderful results by assembling a good kit almost right out of the box with a minimum of time and effort.
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Impacts let us see the naked metal surface which in turn has gotten rusty with time. This effect is achieved using acrylic paint 872 and a few local oil washes on 54112.
THE TIGER I IN PANZER ACES/ARMOR MODDELS
- DE DIEGO VAQUERIZO, Carlos. “Tiger I E, sch. Pz.Abt. 509”, Panzer Aces No. 1, Acción Press, Madrid, pp. 2-18. - SIERRA GARCÍA, Alfonso. “Tiger I E, sch. Pz.Abt. 502”,Panzer Aces No. 4, Acción Press, Madrid, pp. 25-33. - GARCÍA GÁZQUEZ, Joaquín. “Tiger I Ausf. E Späte
Produktion”, Panzer Aces No. 6, Acción Press, Madrid, pp.22-39.
- VV.AA. “Tiger I special issue”, en Panzer Aces No. 12, Acción Press, Madrid, pp. 1-64.
- SIERRA GARCÍA, Alfonso. “Tiger I Ausf. E, sch. Pz.Abt. 506”, Panzer Aces No. 20, Acción Press, Madrid, pp. 52-59.
- AGUILAR MUÑOZ, Joaquín. “Tiger I Ausf. E, sch. Pz.Abt. 507”, Panzer Aces No. 22, Acción Press, Madrid, pp. 24-33.
on high wear areas like hatches and corners.
Tools; wooden sections- Iraqi sand, metal–bronze green.
Rubber road wheels-black grey. Vision blocks–black grey. Canvas mg cover-stone grey. Exhausts-liberal mottling of choco-late brown.
Fire extinguisher-vermilion.
Edges of guide teeth and outer sur-face of track, drive sprocket teeth and idler wheel rims were dr y brushed –oily steel.
Oil wash and painting
Using artist tube oil paints thinned with odorless solvent.
An overall wash of blue and black oil mixed with mostly odorless solvent was
applied to entire vehicle minus the track, This was then streaked down the vertical and sloping plates.
Pin point washes and streaks of sienna followed by Sienna/black mix were then applied.
A thicker mix of Sienna was applied to exhaust and jack.
A thicker mix of burnt umber and Sienna was then applied to tracks.
This was followed by black/burnt umber streaks applied to road wheels.
Final touches to the model
Figure and model were given a dust-ing by airbrush of 20% Model Air matt varnish and water.
A little silver ar tist pencil was applied to edges of hatches and other high wear areas.
Glue the figure into vehicle.
A little black pastel chalk to the exhaust outlets (soot).
A little orange pastel chalk to exhausts and jack (rust).
The head and binoculars are from some of the Verlinden bulk bagged sets, the body and arms which required a lot of clean up, are from the Dragon Flak crew set.
Painting the figure was done entire-ly by brush layering acrylics, using Model Color paints in a four hour sit-ting late one night, so I apologize for
F I G U R E
not taking any progress pics, but just got in that zone where you cant put the thing down till its done, my apolo-gies.
Basically using a fine brush painting went something like this:
1 sprayed primer grey, like everything else
2 face painted Iraqi sand
3 highlighted with diluted light flesh 4 vermilion diluted for cheeks and
lips
5 diluted chocolate brown for shadows on face
6 eyes painted in white, blue then black grey
7 off white for uniform, white for highlights
8 a little diluted grey for shadows and creases in uniform
9 diluted black grey for cap 10 pink for piping on cap 11 silver for cap badges
12 bronze green for gloves and collar 13 diluted chocolate brown and black
grey for binoculars
14 a little khaki to the elbow areas (dirt)
Remember once you have a base coat down, diluted layering of darker shades in the recesses and shadows and lighter in the edges and high lights.
There were a few touch ups and go over.
The kit has been placed on a fairly simple ground. On the ground we can also see the turret from a T/34/76 1941 model (Dragon kit No. 6418) painted green, with ample rust
treatments. The rusty look on the tracks has been obtained with a number of oil washes on 54112 and 54092. The tracks have also been treated with 865 applied with the dry brush technique to enhance them.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
- RESTAIN, Jean, “Tiger I sur le front de lÉst”, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 1999. - SCHNEIDER, Wolfgang, “Tigers
in combat I”, J.J. Feodorowicz Publishing Inc., Manitoba, Canada, 1994.
Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. H1 (Sd.Kfz. 181), sch. Pz.Abt. 502, Lake Ladoga, U.S.S.R., February 1943. Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. H1 (Sd.Kfz. 181), sch. Pz.Abt. 503, Ssarmatskaja, U.S.S.R., February 1943.
Pz.Bef.Wg. Tiger Ausf. E (Sd.Kfz. 268), 4. Kp./SS-Pz.Rgt. 1, Kharkov, U.S.S.R., April 1943. Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. E (Sd. Kfz. 181), sch. Pz.Abt. 503, Kursk, U.S.S.R., July 1943.
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efore the war all available material was put into service. The Humber Automobile’s “Beaverette” is a case in point. This vehicle had a
lightweight armoring and was armed with a machine gun. The RAF used it for security purposes in a number of airfields, and the army used it as a
lightweight reconnaissance vehicle. When the war began, the British Army already had a successor for the “Beaverette”, the outstanding “Daimler
In 1939 British authorities were concentrated on the production of armored
chars, and neglecting the development of other armored vehicles. This was the
main cause for the lack of armored reconnaissance vehicles on that period.
By: Juan Carlos Toledo Miranda Pictures by the author and Fernando Cañellas Planchuelo
15 Dingo”. Several companies were
com-missioned to develop and build similar vehicles, able to undertake exploratory missions and identify enemy positions, locate mine fields and other obstacles, clear away roads for the passing con-voys, escort and backup.
One of these companies was the Rootes group that began manufactur-ing in 1942 an armored vehicle similar to the Dingo but somewhat heavier and larger, sitting two crewmen and with a No. 19 radio equipment and a light “Bren” machine gun on a “Parrish Lakeman” mount on the roof that could be handled from the inside of the vehicle.
The “Humber Mk. I” began service in 1943, and was widely used in north-ern Africa and Europe by a number of armored, engineer, artillery and
com-mand units. In 1945 manufacturing ceased (along with the war) but it was still widely used in countries like Malaysia, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and France. France even used it in Indochina against the Viet-Minh.
Up until recently, most hobby kit manufacturers centered their produc-tion mainly in German, American and Russian vehicles. Most other countries were poorly represented if ever at all. Hobbyists determined to display rare vehicles in their shelves had to get expensive and hard to get resin kits. The Bronco brand has decided (luckily for us all) to release a series of unusual British vehicles, and from other nation-alities as well.
Generally speaking this Bronco refer-ence is a great quality kit. Still it has a number of glitches that are not under-standable in view of the overall quality of the kit. The kit features a fully detailed interior (motor included) a small photo etched sheet and vinyl tires. Oddly enough the kit includes a resin figure of the British actor Michael Caine who appeared on one of these vehicles in Sir Richard Attenborough’s “A bridge too far”.
I must confess that I don’t usually follow instruction sheets. I just look for the pieces in it, and assemble the kit following my own logic and intuition. I usually start with a base and keep adding details from the bigger to the smallest pieces. This is generally not
THE KIT
what the manufacturer intends, but it makes sense to me because you don’t have to constantly look back and forth into the sheet.
Letting this matter aside, I didn’t have a hard time at all assembling this Bronco kit. However I had to correct a number of things that I will deal with below.
Once I assembled both halves of the hull, the rear of the vehicle caught my attention: The ventilation grille on the motor was poorly executed. I had to substitute it with Plasticard sheet 0,5mm thick for the lateral pieces, and 0,4mm thick for the horizontal ones. I did the same on the ventilation open-ing on the hull right underneath the motor grille. Then I glued the front fenders; they didn’t fit too well, so I
had to adjust them a little using putty and sandpaper. I will also mention the rear fenders; I had to glue “L” shaped fastenings (made out of 0,3mm thick Plasticard sheet) on their lower part to hold them fast. Oddly enough these “L” shaped pieces are not included on the Eduard photo etched sheet.
The motor’s hood on the front part of the vehicle has a rugged and irregu-lar surface and it’s excessively long. In order to fix this you can use the photo etched parts, but these don’t fit well on
The rear has been partially rebuilt using Plasticard sheet. The fenders have been trimmed down using 400gr sandpaper and have been detailed with Photo Etched supports. Injection molded Bronco Kit with an Alpine resin figure, Czech Master Resin wheels and Eduard Photo Etched parts.
I’ve placed some Italeri fuel cans on the right side.
17 the hull, so I chose to sand the original
Bronco piece.
The base for the antennas needed a cover that was made using 0,3mm thick Plasticard sheet and screws that were made with a hole puncher (0,5mm diameter). The conical base on the rear antenna was replaced by an Evergreen rod modeled with a small file. I also placed a small steel rod
(0,5mm diameter) on the upper part and a Bronco Butterfly Wing nut on one side.
I placed on the front part of my vehicle the pieces that make up the headlights and the claxon, and I creat-ed cables for these items using 0,2mm copper wire. Here I also substituted the rod for the right rear view mirror for a section of 0,3mm thick copper wire.
The frontal axis has been detailed with brake cables. The small metal pieces are found on the Eduard Photo Etched sheet.
The shaft of the rearview mirror and the cables on the headlights are different sections of copper wire.
KITS USED
Kit:-Humber scout car Mk. I, Bronco ref. 35009, scale 1/35.
Photo Etched Sheet:
-Humber scout car Mk. I, Eduard ref. 36012.
Accessories:
-Single wing nuts, Bronco ref. AB 3501.
-Butterfly wing nuts, Bronco ref. AB 3503.
-Jerricans, Italeri ref. 402. -Wheels, Czech Master Kit ref. 3081.
Figure:
-WW 2 British tank crew No. 2, Alpine ref. 35049.
-Heads, Hornet ref. HH 18.
Most period pictures of the vehicle demonstrate that the left rear view mir-ror was either removed or never placed, so I decided to do likewise. I also worked on the latches of the frontal boxes using the photo etched sheet and Bronco’s single wing
nuts.
The assembly of the lower part of the vehicle wasn’t especially difficult,
I just had to make the brake tubes on the front and be careful with these small delicate pieces. I substituted the silencer on the exhaust by another one made with an Evergreen rod and Plasti-card strips.
The wheels on the kit are acceptable but I chose to replace them with the resin ones found on the Czech Master Kit, which are better dimensioned and sculpted. I had to use the Bronco cover of the central transmission, change the distribution of the screws, and put 0,3mm copper wire for the valve for the inflatable chamber of each tire.
Once I’ve assembled the remaining photo etched pieces from the Eduard sheet I placed a couple of Italeri fuel cans on the right side, and considered the whole thing finished.
I primed the entire kit using synthet-ic grey Tamiya lacquer. It was applied with my airbrush kit, so I had to empty the Tamiya spray on a container first.
After a couple of hours I airbrushed the base color, which is about 70% XF-51, and 30% XF-60. Afterwards, in order to get the highlights right I stud-ied how light hits the vehicle: all hori-zontal areas and those areas which are slightly sloped would get the strongest highlights. I added more XF-60 to the previous mixture and applied this using my airbrush kit. Those parts with a greater exposure to light would get lighter colors, so I kept adding XF-60 to the mixture and even added some white to do the upper surface.
The Humber looked at this stage a little like light sand, but I wasn’t wor-ried because later colors and the ageing processes tend to darken up things. I however corrected the sandy look by adding some enamel filters using Molak’s 1105M highly diluted in the brand’s own thinner. Now the vehicle looked greenish.
I let the vehicle dry up for a couple of days, and applied all decals with the usual Micro Set and Micro Sol products, and applied some dust on the lower, frontal, rear, and wheel areas using Tamiya acrylics XF-59 and XF-52. I was now ready to “melt”
a few oil paints using sand and beige tones applied cloudily on the horizon-tal surfaces, and in vertical trails on the vertical surfaces. I also “melted” small portions of ivory black oil and 56 on the areas exposed to the hands and feet of the crewmen, and the motor’s cover. The lower areas got a number of sand colored oil washes to convey mud and sand. I also used dark colors like 78 to create some depth. The motor’s cover and the rear fenders I put oil 80 to convey oil and grease stains.
At this stage I decided to increase the “dirt” effects on the lower and
The area were the pilot seats, on the fenders, there’s a darker area that has been made using an oil mixture of ivory black and 78 this gives a sense of depth.
Decals have been treated with the Micro Sol and Micro Set products, and their gloss was covered under an airbrushed layer of Gunze Sangyo’s matt acrylic varnish.
P A I N T I N G
The varied nuances on the paintjob have been obtained with small amounts of oil paint smeared through
the kit’s surface using a brush and enamel thinner.
19 wheel areas. I did a few local Model
Color acrylic washes on 983, 921, 875, 977 and Panzer Aces’ 316. I did the paint chips and scratches that convey wear, mixing acrylics 320 and 977 and applying this in small dots and thin lines on certain parts of the kit. I used 302 for the deepest paint chips.
Then I did some profile enhancing of the vehicle’s lines and volume using a brush and a mixture of oil paints 78 and 80 highly diluted on Tamiya’s enamel thinner. I also did some specific
acrylic shading using my airbrush kit, and XF-1 and XF-10 on all corners and ends.
Those areas that are subject to direct contact with the hands of the crewmen; hatches’ edges, trap doors etc. are usual-ly darker and a bit shiny. I mimicked this using a cotton swab and graphite pow-der. I also applied this on the areas that
require a polished metal effect such as scratches and paint chips.
I applied some Mig Productions powdered color pigments on the lower and wheel areas to create larger mud particles that usually adhere on those areas.
The wooden handles on the tools are painted with 875, and the upper part has been lighted up using 315 and the lower one has been darkened with 950.
The metallic part of the tools has been treated with graphite powder simply obtained by sanding the lead on a pencil.
The lower areas of the armored vehicle have been treated with oil and acrylic paints in earth-like colors. Powdered pigments contribute to create the texture of adhered dust.
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COLOUR CHART
(Humber) TAMIYA (surface primer) AS18 light greyTAMIYA (acrylics) XF-1 flat black XF-2 flat white XF-10 flat brown XF-51 khaki drab XF-52 flat earth XF-59 desert yellow XF-60 dark yellow MOLAK (enamels) 1105M Marine green
GUNZE SANGYO (acrylics) H20 flat clear TITAN (oils) 56 ultramarine deep 78 burnt umber 80 bitumen 82 ivory black
92 yellow ochre reddish 94 gold ochre transparent MAIMERI (oils) 131 yellow ochre 161 raw Sienna 493 raw umber
MODEL COLOR (acrylics) 875 beige brown
921 English uniform 977 desert yellow 983 flat earth
PANZER ACES (acrylics) 302 dark rust 315 light mud 316 dark mud 320 French tankcrew MIG PRODUCTIONS (pigments) P028 Europe dust
I used a number of British reference pictures taken in Germany towards the final weeks of WWII. There’s a wide range of reference materials of this nature available in specialty stores and hobby shops.
The ground was fairly simple and was sculpted using Das Pronto model-ing paste. I spread the paste on a piece of isolating material used for building homes. Before this paste was totally dry, I glued some sand on top using regular carpenter’s glue diluted in
water. The wooden fence was built with small wooden pieces used for building model ships. I followed my research materials I fixed it to the ground using metallic pegs on the door jambs.
I used Tamiya’s XF-52 and XF-59 for the ground, and shaded it later on with a number of oil paint washes on 78 and Molak’s 129M. I enhanced the ground’s texture using Model Color’s 977 applied with the dry brush tech-nique.
I painted the fence using a mixture of XF-18 and XF-14, increasing the
All details and the edges of the armored planks have been enhanced using dark oil paints. This effect was further enhanced by airbrushing a highly diluted mixture of Tamiya’s XF-10 and XF-1.
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COLOUR CHART
(Background)TAMIYA (acrylics): XF-2 flat white XF-3 flat yellow XF-5 flat green XF-14 J.A. green XF-18 medium blue XF-52 flat earth XF-55 deck tan XF-59 desert yellow
MODEL COLOR (acrylics) 977 desert yellow
TITAN (oils) 78 burnt umber MOLAK (enamels) 129M dark earth
The synthetic gloss on the artificial grass has been eliminated by sprinkling a mixture of Tamiya’s matt green and matt yellow. The Verlinden Production’s poster (ref. 014) has been weathered with a wash on oil paint 78.
The telegraph post is a wooden rod with two isolating covers made with a plastic rod shaped up with a file. The cables have been made using copper wire painted black. The lines on the wooden surfaces
have been enhanced with oil washes on 78. The lower areas receive greater amounts of this paint, and thus convey dirt.
The paint on the fence features some scratches that let you see the non-weathered look of wood underneath. This has been done by sanding (using 400gr. sandpaper) certain areas.
amount of the last one as I was getting farther from the ground. I used a mix-ture of Tamiya acrylics XF-2 and XF-55 on the door. The ageing of these ele-ments was done with oil paint washes on 78.
Alpine is one of the best manufac-turers on the market for figures meant to be displayed with military vehicles. They are perfectly dynamic and have
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perfect modeling details and 1/35 scale proportions. The figure I used is ref. 35049; it fits perfectly into the Hum-ber’s hatch without having to do
retouches. I only replaced the figure’s head for a Hornet reference with a twisted neck.
I painted the figure with my airbrush
kit using Model Color acrylics. I used 879 as my base color, and then I creat-ed some highlights with 977. I increased the highlights as I got closer
The areas around the hatches and the sills that guide them when they are going to open up have been treated with graphite powder.
The figure’s helmet has been painted using the same techniques used on the vehicle. On a XF-51 base lighted up with XF-4, I have applied a number of Humbrol enamel filters on 26 and 62.
Paint chips and scratches on the helmet have been recreated using 302, 327 and 948 all Panzer Aces and Model Color references.
When using a brush to retouch highlights and doing some shadows in the overall, I have used a few drops of 596. The gloves in 941 colour have been highlighted with 873 and 981.
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COLOUR CHART
(Figure)MODEL COLOR (acrylics): 596 glaze medium 872 chocolate brown 873 Us field drab 879 green brown 941 burnt umber 948 golden yellow 950 black 951 white 977 desert yellow 981 orange brown HUMBROL (enamels) 26 matt khaki 62 matt leather TAMIYA (acrylics) XF-4 yellow green XF-51 khaki drab
PANZER ACES (acrylics) 302 dark rust
327 Italian tankcrew
to the figure’s head, and even added some white on the final ones on his shoulders. I did the shadows pretty much the same way, but using 872. I tried to darken the figure considerably in those areas that would fit inside the
vehicle. I even used 950 on the lower part of the figure’s legs. When I was done, I did some brush touch-ups using the same colors, using tech-niques that have been widely discussed elsewhere.
The emblem is a blue shield with a yellow outer edge with an eye inside it, and it belongs to the British “Armoured Guards Division”.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- WHITE, B.T. British TankMark-ings and Names, Arms & Armour Press, London, 1978.
- FLETCHER, David. “British Tanks of WW II (1) France & Belgium 1944”, in Armor at war series nº 7027, Concord Publications, Hong Kong, 2000.
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R
E
P
O
R
T
A
G
E
Pictures taken by Rodrigo Hernández Cabos in the “War & Peace Show” at Beltring UK.
With a 6 cylinder motor and 87cv that propelled the vehicle at a maximum speed of 72 Km/hour, this all terrain 3,4 t armored vehicle could operate in a radius of 320 km. 1698 units were made of the Mk. I version only.
Here we have a detail showing the front driver’s sight on the open position. We can also see the opening lock and the window cleaners.
25
On top of the front fenders you can see some wooden boxes for carrying equipment. We can also see on this picture the support for the headlight.
The case for the radio antennas is placed on top of the rear left fender. Slightly further down we can see a fire extinguisher. Every rear fender had a structure for holding two flimsy fuel cans. These fragile cans broke more often than not on the bumpy road.
26
The long air intake slits located on the removable cover on the back, were there to cool the motor.
27
Two men manned the vehicle, but the Humber Scout Mk. I had a collapsible third seat. The thickest spot on the armored vehicle was 14mm thick.
30
n World War I (1914-18) they also fought inside of the 92nd Infanteriedivision and in World War II it fought in the 31st Infanteriedi-vision in Poland, Belgium and France and they ultimately fought against the Soviet Union in 1941.
It fought with great determination in the eastern front and suffered numer-ous casualties. In 1943, it fought in 28 of the roughest battles, becoming the Grenadierregiment 17. During this peri-od 35 out of 70 officers fell on duty; towards the end of the year out of the grand total of 1400 men, only 70 were still alive. When the Soviets attacked during the summer of 1944, the 31st Infanteriedivision (a part now of the XXXIX Panzerkorps of the 4 Armee) was almost annihilated.
This regiment could be identified by the “Skull of the Brunswick Hussards”, visible on almost every piece of head-gear. This distinctive was indeed a nar-row skull on top of two crossed tibias. The origin of this design goes back to the beginning of the nineteenth centu-ry when Frederick Wilhelm, earl of Brunswick, adopted it for his troops. During W.W.II this emblem was used by the 17th Infanterieregiment and the 13th
This well known resin reference has all the qualities that Alpine usually caters. The only modifications that I saw fit were to substitute the gun hol-ster by a Luger P08 model and place in
its left hand a resin helmet made by the Aires brand. Before doing this I made a hole through the figure’s fingers and placed a thin masking tape strip to dub as the helmet strap. I didn’t put the Brunswick skull, even if you can see it in a number of period pictures because I don’t know if the use of this insignia
F I G U R E
The 17th Infanterieregiment was a
German Army formation which had
an excellent reputation and came
from a very old military tradition
which goes back to 1809. This
formation was created in
Braunschweig Prussia, to fight
against Napoleon in the Austrian
campaign. Later on this unit also
played a role in the Spanish
Independence war, and then fought
in the Waterloo battle.
By: José Manuel Flores Pérez Picture credits: Jordi Escarré González
Alpine 1/35
KITS USED
Figure:- Winter Panzer Crew, Alpine ref. 35037, scale 1/35.
Complements:
- German W.W.II Helmets, Aires ref. F3001.
- German Infantry Equipment Set B, Tamiya ref. 35205.
31 was permitted on campaign
caps.
After painting the fig-ure’s face using the same skin tones used in my pre-vious figure I painted the cap with 830 and highlight-ed it using 860 first and then 884. I created the shadows by adding pro-gressively 950. I used 951, 950 and 926 for the cock-ade and 883 on the 975 patch containing the eagle national emblem and high-lighted using some 951.
I decided to use the Sumpfmuster (literally swamp water) camouflage scheme on the uniform, which is actu-ally a variation on the Splittermuster (Wood splinter). I created the base col-or by mixing 879 and 988, and did the highlights by adding more of the
sec-ond color. The final highlights also contain some white paint. I painted the camouflage spots using 984 and then I did some on 823. I recreated the “falling rain lines” using 975. Then I made some highlights using a mixture of 988 and 821 and diluting both heav-ily on water. I used for the shadows
some highly diluted 872 and also added some 950. The inside of the reversible coat was paint-ed with 951 dirtipaint-ed with 988; I did some high-lights with 951 but never used it pure. I used a small drop of 950 to do the shadows on the inside of the coat. The buttons were done using 995 and created some highlights in them using 869.
Once the figure was finished I airbrushed it with mat var-nish and put some dirt on the figure’s pants and boots using different shades of brown. In order to blend the figure with the ground I put some dirt also on the lower part of the coat, the elbows and knees.
The figure’s face on 876 has been highlighted and then shadowed with 815 and 814 respectively.
The felt on the upper part of the figure’s boots has been painted 987, and has been shadowed with a wash on 941. The leather parts have been painted just like the belt except for the reinforcement on the heel which has been painted adding 981.
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C O L O U R C H A R T
MODEL COLOR (acrylics)510 glossy varnish 814 brunt cad. red 815 basic skintone
821 Germ. cam beige WWII 823 Luffwaffwe cam. green 830 German fieldgrey WWII 833 Germ. cam. bright green 841 Andrea blue 850 medium olive 856 grey green 860 medium fleshtone 869 basalt grey 872 chocolate brown 876 brown sand 879 green brown 883 silver grey 884 stone grey 926 red 941 burnt umber 950 black 951 white 975 military green 981 orange brown 984 flat brown 987 medium grey 988 khaki 995 German grey MODEL AIR (acrylics) 059 mat varnish
The belt contains a mixture of 984 and 950 highlighted with small amounts of 856. The sown area close to the buckle has been painted with 951 stained with 856.
The black NCO patch on the figure’s left arm has some 850 bars that have been lighted up using 833.
I used small branches to create a small rural fence as seen on a number of period pictures of German soldiers on the Eastern Front. I used a thin cop-per wire to tie the branches into a fence simulating rope. Then I glued the fence on the base and modeled the ground using Das Pronto paste. I creat-ed a few footprints, glucreat-ed (using car-penter’s glue) a few small stones and a few natural shrubs.
I used several dark brown shades to paint it all, and mixed them with gloss varnish to convey mud.
I dedicate this review to the mem-bers of the “Grupo de Reconstrucción Histórica” “17 InfanterieRegiment” and in special to Oblt. “Von der Platz”, to Unteroffizier “Fritz”, to Gefreiter “Gün-ter” to Obergrenadier “Anton” and to Grenadier “Michael”.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
- DE LAGARDE, Jean. GermanSol-diers of the WWII, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 1995.
- RECIO CARDONA, Ricardo, and GONZÁLEZ SÁNCHEZ, Antonio. German Army Uniforms (HEER), Acción Press, Madrid, 2002. - PETERSON, Daniel. “Wehrmacht
Camouflage Uniforms & Post-War Derivatives”, in Europa Militaria No. 17, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 1995.
New monographic dedicated to the Afrika Korps. 88 pages in which you can find the latest
techniques employed by the authors showed step by step. A perfect reference to learn how to paint
those effects produced in desert conditions. Techniques that will inspire you to build your desert
models.
New Monographic, Now On Sale!
19€
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35 hen working on a 1/72 scale
we will find a number of available kits, and we can always use model train collector kits in the H0 scale, but when working on the 1/35 range we can find very few things on the market. This is basically the rea-son why whenever I find a kit like this CMK resin reference I buy it without hesitation…
Hobbyists that create dioramas usual-ly plan their work right to the smallest detail. They usually follow strict compo-sition rules, and calculate each accesso-ry that will end up in the finished work. In other words; they closely follow a script that they have created.
I work in a much more anarchic fashion. I’m sure that it is for worse, but that’s the only way for me to have fun, and enjoy the hobby.
The only thing that was on my mind when I began the diorama was to make the crane the central piece on my vignette. That’s why I assembled it first so I could figure out its dimensions and more specifically its height. Obvi-ously there should be something hang-ing from the crane, but I was not yet sure of what. I tried to imagine a huge Sturmtiger with full a crew loading ammo, but I dismissed it as something much too obvious and large.
I was looking for something real and yet unusual, and I was also determined
to use those Dragon train platforms that I treasure at home. Finally, my friend Juan Avilés gave me the clue: The anti-airplane Flak.Sw. 36 reflector made by AFV kits! I used two of those plus three or four figures to manipulate the crane and hold the reflector.
Once the crane was assembled, I posted some pictures on Panzernet, in order to get some constructive feedback from fellow hobbyists. This kind of feed-back is crucial for correcting eventual mistakes, which would be impossible to correct when having everything already
I’m not a model train collector, and yet trains have always held some sway over
me. A diorama or a military vignette becomes especially attractive when it has
a simple slope with a couple of rails and a signal.
By: Javier Franco Manzano Pictures by the author and Raúl Fernández Ruiz
CMK/Dragon/AFV Club 1/35
This resin CMK reference includes a small wagon, the pieces fit well together and the instruction sheet is crystal clear. In order to create a solid kit I recommend using fast two component glue.
M O N T A J E
KITS USED
36
The stairs and the railing have been created with Evergreen plastic strips. The textured (anti-slip) steps have been taken from a generic Aber Photo etched sheet.
This Dragon kit is outstanding, and the only thing I had to fix were the circular mold ejector marks on some spots. This was easily done using putty and sandpaper.
I adjusted the size (for fitting it on the base) by cutting it at an angle with a small saw.
The small AFV reflector had a fair share of molding residue, and the instruction sheet was not too clear. I painted the inside of the reflector On Tamiya’s X-11 before gluing the transparent plastic piece.
Kits:
60cm Flakscheinwerfer (Flak.Sw. 36) mit Sd.Ah. 51, AFV Club ref. 35125, 1/35 scale.
German Railway Gondola, Dragon ref. 6086, 1/35 scale.
Built up Structures:
Kohlenkran DR, Railway coaling crane, CMK ref. RA033.
River embankment, Verlinden Productions ref. 1546.
Railway section, Dragon ref. 3825. Photoetch:
Engrave plates, Aber ref. PP03. Accessories:
Tile, Evergreen ref. 4507. Field tool shop, Italeri ref. 419. Figures:
German engineers, Verlinden Productions ref. 676.
German tankman working, Wolf ref. WAW24.
German tank crew at work, Mini Art. 35010.
assembled. Tomek Rogala, a Polish hob-byist specialized in buildings and model trains, suggested to place a coal shack close to the crane (usually made out of wood planks) because this was usually kept right by the machinery.
The inclusion of this shack or deposit would have ruined my original intentions of creating a small vignette, so I began to do my homework, and laid out a plan on paper with the crane on top to figure out the dimensions
and layout. I finally decided to partially cut both the deposit and the platform, thus reducing the dimensions of the base to 27x21cm.
The wall on the platform comes from a Verlinden embankment kit. The pavement on the upper area is an Evergreen reference with floor tiles in it. The sides of the scene were framed with balsa wood that was treated with a steel brush
38
The small wagon on Model Color 302 has been treated with oil paints 78, 74, 82, and 10. Rust trails have been recreated using washes on powdered pigment P025, dragging the brush up and down.
All objects have been painted using my airbrush kit with Tamiya colors. Dirt has been created using oil paint. Oil paint can be easily smeared by using odorless thinner, and we can get some startling effects.
The welding bottles are an Italeri reference. They are perfect for filling empty spaces. They were painted in different colors to break the color monotony.
39
Background:
I began painting the platform; base color Tamiya’s XF-20 was airbrushed throughout. I then created some color variety by mixing this color with similar Tamiya tones, and used some masking to paint a few distinct floor tiles. I also airbrushed the area around the coal deposit in mat black overtones highly diluted using Gaianotes thinner. Then I did a few general paint washes using dark colored oil paints to enhance lines and features. I also created a few stains by melting several oil references directly on the floor tiles and tapped my thinner (Odorless Windsor & Newton) soaked brush on the stained tiles.
I then took to the rails; I primed them using flat black paint, and air-brushed highly diluted XF-60. By doing this, the dark base paint will show through the lighter color. Afterwards I took my brush and painted the wood planks on the rails using oil paint 77. I went again over some random tiles to obtain different tone effects, and then used a mixture of oil paints 74 and 88. I also lighted up the prominent edges of the tiles using the dry brush technique (see Panzer Aces/Armor Models No. 13). The rails were given then a wash of Mig Productions’ P025 pigment, highly diluted on Windsor & Newton thinner. Polished worn metal on the rails (due to constant contact with the passing train wheels) was created by
rubbing graphite powder obtained by sanding pencil lead.
The crane assembly was painted in two blocks; the casemate on one hand,
and the metal platform and the crane on the other. I began with the case-mate, airbrush priming the areas made of concrete using Tamiya’s XF-2 and XF-57. I added some vertical dirt trails by varying the proportions of the mix-ture. Then I recreated the damp and dirt spots on the lower areas using oil paints 78 and 97 applied with a half-dry brush technique. I also did a num-ber of dirt trails by melting a numnum-ber of oil paint references directly on the walls using a brush loaded with thinner. Once it was all dry, and in order to enhance the dirtiness of coal, I air-brushed dark colored powdered pig-ments on the tiled surface around the wall and coal deposit. I had to dilute powder using my trustworthy Windsor
The techniques used for painting the reflectors are basically the same ones used for painting vehicles. Base color on this one is XF-63.
Grease stains are made using oil paint 80 mixed with color pigment P028 europe dust (MIG).
Between the rails I placed a few leaves and a few food cans made out of soft drink straws (see Modelling Lessons in Panzer Aces/Armor Models No. 28)
I’ve placed on the sides of the platform the excellent transfers created by Archer. The dust filled look has been obtained by doing a few washes on oil paint 10. Small sized objects like this Italeri
tool box bring some credibility to the scene.
& Newton thinner and perform a thor-ough cleansing of the airbrush appara-tus after use.
The metal platform, the railings and the staircase were painted XF-5. After severe oil wash and pigment treatments of these, I took Panzer Aces’ 302 and created a number of paint chips and scratches using my brush. I used a small sponge for creating larger paint chips. I used Tamiya’s XF-63 on the machinery and arm of the crane. I lighted up this color using XF-19, and shaded it with XF-1. This work is almost concealed under the ageing processes, but they are nevertheless there to break the color monotony of such a monochromatic machine. Then I created the well known polished metal effect on the ridges that
needed it, on the machinery and also on the steps using graphite powder applied with a brush. I also did a number of grease stains using oil paint 80 mixed with Mig Productions’ P028.
Platform:
The hull of the railway platform was airbrushed using Tamiya’s XF-63, and I enhanced certain ridges by adding XF-20 to the mixture to create a couple of highlights. Now I had to apply a num-ber of decals from the Archer decal set on German train stations (ref. AR35087). Then I did a few dark oil washes (78, 82 and 88), when those were dry I used a thin brush to apply Panzer Aces’ 302 in a wide array of paint chips and scratches. This wear is to be expected on a loading platform
that sees much use and little mainte-nance. I also used a small sponge to apply paint chips on the top of the wagons. I don’t usually like this tech-nique, because the results are usually rather gross and can hardly be con-trolled. This technique is however rec-ommended on large surfaces. Then I did a few rust trails emanating from some paint chips. I used oil paint 78 for doing this, and spread this carefully using a very thin brush.
The wooden surface was first given airbrush priming in Tamiya’s XF-1, immediately afterwards I painted each piece of timber using Panzer Aces’ 310 and 311 and randomly adding small amounts of blue, green, red, grey… in order to get different tones. The differ-ence may be subtle, but there are not two identical pieces of timber. The wood planks on the rails are just the same plus I went over all these using oil
40
COLOUR CHART
TAMIYA (acrylics): X-11 chrome silver (enamel) XF-1 J.N.green XF-2 flat white XF-5 flat green XF-8 flat blue XF-19 sky grey XF-20 medium grey XF-57 buff XF-60 dark yellow XF-63 German greyPANZER ACES (acrylics) 302 dark rust
307 red tail light 308 green tail light 310 old wood 311 new wood
334 German Tkcr. I (Feldgrau) 338 highlight Ger. I (Feldgrau) 342 highlight flesh
MODEL COLOR (acrylics) 815 basic skinstone
TITAN (oils) 6 zinc white
10 Naples yellow reddish 74 raw umber 77 sepias 78 burnt umber 80 bitumen 84 lamp black 88 yellow ochre 97 earth green
MIG PRODUCTIONS (pigments) P023 black smoke
P025 standar rust P028 Europe dust
The reflector painted on Tamiya’s XF-60 has been hanged on the crane using thread used for model kit boats.
All figures have been painted with acrylics following the usual techniques. All pants have been painted in Panzer Aces’ “feldgrau” color.
41
Coal can be found on pet shops. I scaled it down by smashing it, and then glued it to the ground using carpenters’ white glue thinned out in water.
paint 77 varying the amount of paint in my brush for each one.
I waited for a couple of days until paint had fully cured, and then I did a number of dirt trails on the hull using
oil paint 10. This reference was also used to create a layer of dirt on the entire platform but applied with an overall wash. While this paint wash was still fresh, I painted grease stains using oil paint 80.
Reflectors:
I painted one reflector on Tamiya’s XF-63, and the other one on XF-60. The treatment for these was pretty much the same treatment applied on basically any other military vehicle: A couple of
airbrushed highlights using a lighter shade of the base color; an initial highly diluted dark oil wash to make details stand out; melting small portions of oil refs. (6, 88, 74, 78, and 97) to create some nuances, color ranges and dirt;
scratches on the lighted up base color, and scratches using PA 302.
Figures:
Strange as it may seem, it was painful-ly difficult to find figures in the adequate clothes, and the adequate poses for this
scene in particular. I used two Verlinden engineers and a Wolf tank crewman without his jacket, all of them made of resin. I had to use a plastic figure for the mechanic that handles the reflector man-ufactured by Mini Art. These plastic fig-ures are made in very realistic poses, but the sculpting is truly awful. I changed a few arms here and there in order to adjust the figures to the necessary poses, and also replaced all heads for Hornet ref-erences, which are outstandingly well modeled.
There’s not much I can contribute to the world in terms of figure painting, considering that I’m a rather mediocre figure painter myself. I only started paint-ing figures a couple of years ago, and did it because my friend Fernando Sanz ceased to do so for me. He has no time now and had to start doing it myself. I was forced to do it, and I don’t really enjoy it. Maybe if I improve and begin to see positive results, I will enjoy it then.
At any rate, and from my humble per-spective, here are a few pieces of advice for beginners:
Always choose a well sculpted figure, even if it costs more money. Verlinden and Wolf figures are easy to paint because they are well sculpted. The plas-tic ones that are lacking in detail were a pain to paint.
Hornet heads are simply spectacular, they almost paint themselves; well worth buying.
When using acrylics, the “magical” color that works for highlighting almost any color from all color ranges is Model Color’s 815. (thanks to Jaume Ortiz)
A nice detail enhancement done with a wash, can improve any dull figure.
Encyclopedias, books and reviews tru-ly are invaluable help, but if you don’t actually use them they are worthless. Theory here is quite straightforward, but if you don’t use it it’s only good to talk about it.
I want to thank Jorge Porto for his teachings; he’s an outstanding figure artist.
43
The coal deposit is made of wood planks obtained from a model boat kit. These planks have glued cardboard on the back for added strength. This is vegetal coal (the one used for putting inside fishbowls or aquariums).
ts greatest setbacks were the small space allotted to the crewmen and the gun assembly with limited lat-eral movement.
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) came after the Marder III (they both had the same frame) and hit the assembly line on April 1944. A little over 2500 units were made
until the end of the war for the Panzer-jägerabteilungen (tank hunter battalions). Right after the war, Czechoslovakia kept making these and naming them
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) (Sd.Kfz. 138/2) known as the Hetzer was a tank hunter
based on the modified frame of a Check 38(t) Panzer. It was developed as a faster
and more economic manufacturing option, compared to other ambitious projects
such as the Jagdpanther or the Jagdpanzer IV. This vehicle was well armored and
armed with a Pak 39 L/48 75mm gun. The vehicle was trustworthy and was
perfect for ambushes.
By: Joaquín García Gázquez Pictures by the author. Color profiles by: Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo
Tamiya 1/48
G13’s. 158 units were expor ted to Switzerland. As a matter of fact, the Swiss army kept them in service until the 60’s.
Assembly and detailing of this kit was rather simple, I literally assembled it in one afternoon. I detailed the kit using a Fine Molds tin gun and a Voyager Models photo etched sheet, which defi-nitely improves on some of the existing pieces. I’m thinking for instance on the lateral armoring panels and the motor grilles.
There are several ways of creating winter camouflage schemes: portraying a vehicle with a brand new perfect
white paintjob would be one end of the scale, and one worn with almost no white paint left would be the other end. From the point of view of the hobbyist something in between would be the interesting thing to achieve. This would be the ideal compromise between reality and the looks that a model kit requires. It is always crucial however; to always have around real pictures of the vehicle you wish to portray.
Base Color:
Original factory paint Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 was conveyed using Life Color’s UA204. I wanted to create a lot of con-trast between this color and the white camouflage paint on top, so I didn’t do any of the usual highlights or shadows.
Once paint dried out well I placed the decals (the three black crosses included in the kit) using both the Micro Set and the Micro Sol decal fixing products. Next I covered the entire kit with a layer of acrylic satin varnish.
Camouflage:
I chose Humbrol’s 34 enamel in order to be able to partially remove it (as in real life) with enamel thinner which does not affect the acrylic factory color underneath.
First I used a little Maskol to protect the decals and proceeded to cover the kit with several thin layers of enamel paint. I allowed paint to dr y up for about 15-20 minutes and then proceed-ed to partially remove it using Humbrol enamel thinner and a brush. I obtained the results and textures pictured by using both cylinder tipped brushes and flat tipped brushes. I soaked my brushes on the thinner can and did a number of vertical brush strokes through the kit, dragging paint down insisting on the areas that required more wear.
In order to accentuate contrast on some areas I used my base color and went over those areas that were left without white camouflage paint.
Mud adhered on the wheels and the lower areas have been created with a thin layer of putty thinned with acetone applied with an old stiff brush.
The inside of the hatches has been given detail with thin plasticard sheet. The metallic photo etched armored protection planks have been slightly dented to convey use.
A S S E M B L Y
KITS USED
Kit:- German Tank Destroyer Hetzer Mid production, Tamiya ref. 32511. 1/48 scale.
Photo etched sheet:
- WWII Hetzer, Voyager Models ref. VPE 48008.
Gun:
- Hetzer 7.5cm Gun barrel, Fine Molds ref. Mk-04.
Figures:
- Make Models with Warrior’s head. Hecker and Goros.
P A I N T I N G
Paint Chips:
Using Model Color’s 951 I did the areas that were not worn and still kept most of their camouflage on. I created with this some beautiful nuances and contrast between the different shapes and colors of the kit. On the areas were Dunkelgelb paint was uncovered I fur-ther enhanced contrast by going over them again. This time however I used Model Color’s 978 and 819. Then I used Model Color’s 950 and 982 to cre-ate the paint chips that were deep enough to reveal the rusty steel surface underneath.
Once we’ve airbrushed our base color (Life Color UA204) we cover the kit with several thin layers of Humbrol enamel 34.
A few minutes later we can partially remove enamel paint with differ-ent brushes soaked on the brand’s own enamel thinner. The areas with a higher tendency to wear should be left with little or no paint.
After we’ve painted the gun on XF-7 (this con-veys the real life rust priming) we proceed to create a number of paint chips with Model Color acrylics and a fairly new brush.
Oil Paint Treatments:
I did an overall oil wash on oil paint 74 to mark the parting lines of the armored planks and shade the kit a little. Once it dried out I melted a number of different oil paints throughout, to give the kit a lit-tle chromatic variation. You could actually use any yellow or tan reference. I used oil paints 6, 92, 78, 88, and 94.
Once I finished doing the usual paint chips on the exhaust I did a number of dark oil paint washes. Then I created the exhaust’s texture using Mig Produc-tions’ powdered color pigments P025 and P030 which in turn were fixed with the last oil reference listed above –well diluted in enamel thinner- of course.
Oil and grease stains on the motor’s
cover and on the axis of some of the wheels were made using oil paints 84 and 80. The shine of these paints was left untouched on some areas. This can be done by var ying the amount of enamel thinner you put on your oil paint: little or no thinner will keep the shine on the paint.
The lower areas:
All those areas that were previously (in the assembly stage) textured using putty were now going to get some pow-dered color pigments that will adhere with oil paint washes. I mixed pigments P028 and P039 with oil paints 74, 104 etc. and allowed some dr ying time between washes to avoid smudging the area. I repeated the process a number of times until I got a ver y convincing result.
I painted the tracks before gluing them to the kit. I covered them with a layer of Tamiya’s XF-52 and then created the areas that show polished-worn met-al underneath using the dry brush tech-nique and Citadel’s Boltgun Metal paint. I finished the tracks by applying the same oil paint washes and powdered
color pigments used earlier on the rest of the vehicle.
Now I just needed to put some ice and snow on the tracks. I used Alda Models’ artificial snow; this is a pow-dered product that can be used with white carpenter’s glue and some water. I used a thin brush to place small amounts of this mixture on the kit. The final step was to partially cover the track area using Micro’s gloss varnish thinned out with distilled water to give it a cold damp look.
An oil wash on Titan’s 74 will help you enhance the kit’s features and other details. We also apply along with the oil wash a few rust colored powdered pig-ments on the exhaust area. Powdered color pigments are applied on the lower areas and fixed with oil paint washes –diluted with Humbrol enamel thinner- in different sand tones.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- FRANCEV. Vladimir, K. Climent, Charles and KOPECKY, Milan. Hetzer Jagdpanzer 38, MBI, Prague, 2001.
- ARCHER, Lee and AUERBACH, William. Panzerwrecks 3, Lee Archer, New York. 2006. - ARCHER, Lee and AUERBACH,
William. Panzerwrecks 6, Lee Archer, New York, 2008. - Several Authors “Jagdpanzer
38(t) “Hetzer”, in Panzer Aces/Armor Models No. 7 (December 2004-January 2005), Acción Press, Madrid, Pgs. 2-26.
The ground has been modeled with Das Pronto paste on a flat cork base. Before the product settles we can give it some texture with a metal brush and adhere to it a few pebbles and thin sand with white carpenter’s glue. The tree is a little thyme branch.
Once we’ve airbrushed it with a layer of XF-52 darkened with XF-10, we can create some shadows by airbrushing XF-8. The last color used gives a “cold look” to the ground which is very appropriate for the scene.
After we’ve painted the stones with a range of gray colors, we can add there a few nuances by “melting” some oil paints.
We fix the artificial snow compound by first applying on the ground a layer of white glue and then we powder the surface. Excess powder can be blown away. Glossy surfaces are
created by spreading white glue dissolved in water.
COLOUR CHART
LIFE COLOR (acrylics) UA204 dunkelgelb MICROSCALE (varnish) 6404 micro glos 6405 micro satin HUMBROL (enamels) 34 matt whiteMODEL COLOR (acrylics) 819 Iraqui sand
950 black 951 white 978 dark yellow 982 cavalry brown
PANZER ACES (acrylics) 325 Russian tankcrew I 334 German tkcr. I (Feldgrau) 338 Highlight Ger. I (Feldgrau) 344 white (German tanker) TITAN (oils) 6 zine white 74 raw umber 78 burnt umber 80 bitumen 84 lamp black 88 yellow ochre 92 yellow ochre reddish 94 gold ochre transparent 104 English red violet 502 ABTEILUNG (oils) 70 dark rust MIG PRODUCTIONS (pigments) P025 standard rust P028 Europe dust P039 indutrial city dirt P230 old rust TAMIYA (acrylics) XF-7 flat XF-8 flat blue XF-10 flat brown XF-52 flat earth CITADEL (acrylics) Boltgun metal 49
Base color for the Feldgendarme’s Kradmantel is a mixture of Panzer Aces 334 and 325. Highlights are created by increasing the amount of the first color, and shadows are created with Model Color’s 950.
The rubbery water proof texture of the coat has been created with a layer of satin varnish. Mud is easily made with powdered color pigments. The position of the arms on this figure has been modified to have them rest adequately on the roof of the vehicle. The winter jacket on Panzer Aces 344 is highlighted with 951; shadows are created with 325.
As a hobbyist I can’t think of a miniature vehicle without a matching scale figure by its side. Other than establishing the scale, a figure takes some of the “coldness” of a given vehi-cle away, and gives everyone something to relate to.
I completed the vehicle’s scene with two figures: A resin driver manufactured by Make Models (conveniently modified to have its right arm resting on the hatch, and its left arm resting on the roof of the casemate) with a Warrior’s head. The other figure was an outstand-ing white metal reference –an MP– by Hecker and Goros. I painted both fig-ures with Panzer Aces acrylics using the well established zenithal lighting tech-nique with the corresponding highlights and shadows.
We can also put on the tracks some more artificial snow. A layer of gloss varnish will help us convey dampness.
F I G U R E S
The area where the Feldgendarme is standing has been given a few oil paint washes to convey trampled muddy snow.
The cork sheet where the ground was modeled was chosen because of its rounded corners this avoids the cutting lines of any given scene.
A few views of the reversible winter jacket, which had recycled wool filling on the inside. This item of clothing had a cloth belt, two pockets with flaps, hood (no recycled wool filling inside) and buttons on the sleeves to fasten ID tags. The tissue for this jacket was a mixture of cotton and rayon.