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Tamiya 1/35 Sd.kfz.171 Panther G


Bigmick

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Now the last 1/35 tank I built was, well it was a few decades ago, a motorised Tamiya Tiger with wires out the back to a basic on/off controller, I saw this for what I thought was a pittance in Hobbycraft, £15, a bargain.

After having it sat in the stash for a while I decided it was time to join "The Dark Side" and try armour again, it would be a quick build and paint as I wanted to try some weathering techniques.

I have the luxury of doing my model making at work, I have an excellent boss who doesn't really care what I do as long as I don't leave a mess, so a night shift saw the whole tank assembled and primered.

I had to make new tow cables from brass picture hanging wire, a little bit long but ok for a first try. IMG_0818_zpsuiuybabd.jpg

So, the paint.

I had intended to mix a brown red paint as the base colour from what Tamiya colours I have, or use straight XF-10 flat brown or XF-68 NATO brown but looking in the Mig wheels and tracks weathering set there was a very nice rust colour.

IMG_0819_zpsshbkbyf0.jpg

I also used the dark rust to do the rubber tracks.IMG_0824_zpsrfni43qc.jpg

These will receive an enamel wash later and a rub with graphite.

Wheels wheels everywhere.IMG_0821_zpsh1qjpgik.jpg

Now for the weathering bit.

Thank you Morrisons for the supplies, firstly their own salt grinder which has a coarse and fine adjustment and a small pump spray bottle from their travel accessories.

So, spray on water, just enough to get the salt to stick, then sprinkle on the salt, coarse and fine randomly done, this took about 10 minutes but you can move them about as is your want to weather certain areas more.IMG_0822_zpsmbe5z2ej.jpgIMG_0823_zpsihuvto7u.jpg

The top coat was Tamiya German grey, XF-63, sprayed in a couple of coats after the water had dried, I let this all dry for half an hour then washed the salt off under a running tap with a stiff nylon bristled brush, old school poster paint type brush.IMG_0825_zpsmru5bdls.jpgIMG_0826_zpssdmk7t8r.jpg

And here are the parts once dry.IMG_0827_zps7mjt5j4k.jpgIMG_0828_zps9wmmpd6e.jpgIMG_0830_zpsjyvtavzz.jpgIMG_0831_zpsjvflnew7.jpgIMG_0832_zpshhzuiyas.jpg

So a bit more swearing ensued painting the rubber wheel rims with the dark grey from the Mig paint set and final wheel assembly, again much swearing when I didn't get the wheel sequence right, then had to disassemble as paint build up prevented the wheels going together.

Rubber tracks were easier than I thought thanks to medical clamps holding the tracks in tension as the pins were melted with a hot screwdriver and left to cool.IMG_0833_zpsrv0dvgln.jpg

A couple of layers of Humbrol enamel rust wash were applied and streaked with a flat brush dampened with white spirit, sorry if this is old news to the experienced.

There's a few more layers to go, maybe some dots of oil paint as I've not tried that before.IMG_0840_zpstcrqfpcb.jpgIMG_0841_zpsxfnqmg4c.jpg.

Hope you like, it's taken 2 days to get this far but obviously taken more time you can get much better effects.

Regards.

Mick.

Arty, the base is Mig products diorama base, this one being "Stony Steppe"IMG_0837_zpsm0t9yonh.jpg

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That salt technique looks absolutely fantastic for simulating the rust effect, and I love the Panzergrau. You're making me rethink how I want to do my Tiger. It looks like you patched up some of the rust effects and added some in other areas (such as the C-hooks, weld seams and tow cables), this seems to have worked very well for what I can assume is brush work.

Looking forward to seeing this finished and hopefully pick your brains for more techniques!

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Thank you, to be honest this was all done in a couple of days, I had no intention of making it perfect, more a test bed for paint effects. I haven't posted any more pictures as I've been working on other kits. I used dots of oil paint and a thinners dampened brush to streak them all over the tank and blend into turret top, engine deck etc, but I used too strong a green and it dominated everything, basically turning the whole tank green, so I removed all the oil paint and started again with just yellow, white and blue, but the matt varnish I used melded everything into the panzer grey and the whole effect was a total loss, even some of the rust and pigment effects melted away, if I get time before the weekend I'll give it another go but use more pigments this time as well, I was even thinking of doing a faded white wash effect using the hairspray chipping technique but I'll save that for another project.

Mick

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very nice - have used salt on aircraft but never on my tanks.. wondering if i could incorporate it in to my PZ IV (but think the 3-tone scheme might not like it (unless i used it to show chipping down to the base yellow).....

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