Painting tanks - wheels/running gear -before or after main construction?

[alanbeeb]

Hi folks, as returnee after several decades I've decide to try some armour, based on my naive thinking that armour is more forgiving than aviation.   In last couple of months I've made a Airfix 1/48 Spitfire mk14 and an Eduard 1/48 Mig-21MFN - fairly pleased with the results (the Spit went in the aircraft ready for inspection forum) but the Mig-21 was a bit messy and I found it a real struggle, both construction wise and paintwork.      But it seems to me that tanks get bashed about, covered in mud and generally abused so should be more forgiving when it comes paintwork quality and getting weathering looking convincing?   I'm probably still being naive....

 

I'm less interested in accuracy than trying things out, so I've decided to have a go at the venerable Tamiya 1/35 Panther Aufs A... its a cheap model and very easy to construct - low parts count, but still seems to be generally regarded as a good kit. (Even though it has huge gaps in the body where the hull is wide open above the tracks!  I'll use thick card to fill that space I reckon).

 

I have been watching some Youtube videos on its construction, and for several other tanks too, and am very surprised to see that almost all of them almost fully construct the model prior to getting their airbrush out.  So they are painting the wheels and running gear in place - surely it must be very difficult to get proper coverage once the wheels are all attached?  Especially with a tank like the Panther where there is a lot of overlap between the road wheels. Also, where wheels have rubber rims, it must be very difficult to paint the rims in once they are in place.  What's the general approach here?  thanks.

[IanC]

Hi Alan,

 

I think approaches vary, and it's fair to say there's no one way to do it. Some are happy to paint everything at the end, and not worry too much about tyres, especially if they're going to plaster everything with dirt and mud. 

 

Personally I like to paint and weather the hull behind the wheels first, and the wheels themselves separately. I'll do the tyres too. Then assemble everything and proceed with the build, doing the final weathering once it's all together.

 

Another way is to just spray everything black or dark grey before assembly, as a rough undercoat. Tamiya kits are often in a light sand colour plastic, which stands out like a sore thumb if you miss a bit. Dark green plastic is less of a problem! 

 

Best wishes,

 

Ian

[Ray_W]

I build AFV in 1/35 and for me it depends. Nothing pleases me more than to blaze away and paint at the end including pioneer tools etc. although not always. I think my last 3 AFV builds illustrate the point.   

 

Dragon Tiger I - just about built everything was built before paint, in this case it was easy as metal wheels no rubber rims. Even the overlapping wheels are not a big issue as I black undercoat as mentioned by @IanC. Sadly no picture as this one got home before lockdown.

 

MiniArt M3 Grant - complicated suspension assembly yet easy to rotate and paint wheels. I did not want to play around with pre-painted parts with such complexity so assembled, checked operation and painted at the end. This gives an indication of what was set aside for separate painting.

 

 

Rubber tyred wheels were easy to post paint. 

 

 

However, my next build Dragon StuG III has wheels that are easy to slip on after painting and multiple rubber rims with inside and outside wheels so in this case it will be a paint first. 

 

Note that I always fit the tracks after painting and before final weathering and come up with strategies to do so. I also will paint stowage and fix after main painting but again no hard and fast rules. 

 

 

 

However, if you want to see brilliant work from the pre-painting school (and with a brush!) check out Stix's builds @PlaStix

 

Ray

[Retired Bob]

As you are building the the old Tamiya Panther with rubber band tracks you are a bit limited in how you procced.  I used to assemble the main hull and turret parts and clean up the wheels, then paint and weather everything, adding the tracks last.  Recently using mainly Dragon tanks, I have changed my approach to the wheels and tracks, assembling them on the hull and when the glue has dried hard, slide them off and paint them separately, here a set of Panther running gear have been primed with black Mr Surfacer paint.

The outside wheels have been left off for detail painting.  Now it's up to you to either neatly paint the tracks and wheels or just cover it all with "mud"

Here are the same set of running gear now detail painted before adding a splattering of "mud"  The silver wheel rims are from the track guides polishing the rims as it moves along, a well know trait of panthers.   The outer wheels, including the all steel last wheel have been added. (a feature of MAN built Panthers during the last months of the war)

With rubber band or workable metal tracks it's a case of painting the wheels and tracks separately .  In the picture below I am making 2 Tigers, one with the magic track links and wheels all glued together and above them just the wheels as the tracks will be a set of metal workable Fruil tracks.

Hope this helps, remember, it's supposed to be fun, try different methods and see what works best for you, look at other peoples builds and if all else fails, cover it with "mud".

Bob

[WYATT]

For me it depends on the vehicle, german vehicles with interlocking wheels bung em on the hull and paint at the same time as the hull.

 

Allied vehicles, can leave them off the hull and paint them on there own, but there is no 1 set way of doing things just try it if it works and you get good results carry on  

[alanbeeb]

So tried painting wheels while on the hull... Nah I'm going to have take them off and paint them individually.

 

But on the hull and bodyshell... Wow pre shading is working well here.... Painted the hull black, then white in the middle of "open" panel areas, away from edges....then base colour coat (dull desert tan) and already it looks like it's been in the field for months.  🙂

[Geo1966]

If you are using an airbrush then one of these is worth the investment (£3.50 ish), makes life a lot easier if you have already done a black/grey undercoat.

 

[PlaStix]

Hi Alan. As @Ray_W kindly mentioned - I tend to paint and weather everything before assembly. As Ray also mentioned, I paint using brushes. If you want, you can see my latest AFV build of these stages here:

Kind regards,

Stix