Project of the Week -12/31/2009: Panzer IV Ausf. H and StuG G

So the German armored vehicles are finally done.  I have been through Christmas and New Year's and am still fighting a serious sinus infection.   If I don't start getting better faster (as I am getting better very slowly), I'll have to go to the doctor soon.  I just have this terrible feeling I'll get prescribed Cipro, which has a nasty history in my family.  I also fixed the inability to post comments, as Reece has so politely shown.  So anyway here goes the round up of the tanks (remember these tanks are 3/4" tall).

As you can see, the schurzen supports had to be rebuilt in many cases.  The plastic Battlefront uses is VERY brittle.  Here you can also see the tracks have been painted in a dark red/brown, then a lighter red brown, then touched with a dark metal.

This is a close up of the really rough platicard support I put in. Remember these things are at 15mm scale, and you can't notice them once the are finished unless you get under 2 ft from the model head on.

Here you can see the StuG G's after one coat of GW Badab Black wash. IN later pictures we'll see why I was not particularly happy with wash. Part of it was user error, part of it was using a product out side of its normal usage.  The StuG G's were done a slightly ahead of the Panzers as they were 2 piece intro models and lack a fair amount of detail seen on the multi-piece Panzers.

Here is a nice top down of the base coated and detailing of the Panzers prior to varnishing and washing.  You'll notice a slight gloss and some white goop around the plasticard support struts for the schurzen.  That is a PVA white glue (Aleene's Original Tacky Glue) that I used to reinforce the schurzen supports.  That glue dries very clear is left to set for 24 hours.  It was needed as the schurzen is only attached to the chassis via those little supports.  This particular white glue is very strong, and filled some of the joint gaps in the homemade struts, and also formed a clear bond around and over the super glue bond between the plate and the strut.  It dries clear, so you really don't see it later.

Here you get a feel for the difference between Badab Black and Delvan Mud.  Personally, I think they both went on a  little heavy.  I wanted to avoid doing a proper oil weather with these little guys, particularly after how well the Sherman tanks I did turned out.  However I think because of the light color scheme, and the camouflage pattern, the GW washes are jut to dark.  With oils, I would have had much more control.

So there are the two StuG G's.  By this time I have hit them up with satin and the matte varnish, and then a 20:1 mix of thinner: Tamiya Buff.   The buff coats lets the weathering powders you see have something to bite into.  I was torn about painting the flag that way, but the Germans used that Nazi flag as aerial recognition.  so I really belongs.  The antennae are guitar wire painted black.

 

 

 

You can see where the washes didn't settle proper on the nice smooth schurzen.  I found eventually that painting one side and letting it dry while on its side held some with the pooling.  Smme of them got that strange zig-zag dirt pattern.  In real life it isn't that distracting, but from the perspective of the one who took the shortcut of not using oil, it is a bit frustrating.