Best one shot primer colour for German Dark Yellow?

[Whitewolf]

I'm going to use Migammo paints on my King Tiger. I was originally going to do the late war 3 colour scheme without zimm. Migamo's own guide on late war German tanks suggests using black one shot primer.

I've now opted to do an earlier dark yellow/brown two colour scheme with zimm. Is black still the ideal colour?

[Seahawk]

Are you spray- or brush-painting?  I leave it to Mr MIG to explain why he recommends a black base and, if you're spraying, you might get away with it.  As a brush painter I use the Flesh one-shot primer, which is not too away from Dunkelgelb.  And jolly good stuff it is too.

[Whitewolf]

Sorry, forgot to say - Airbrushing 

[Whitewolf]

Like you say, they have a reason and I'll go with it. But I had come across differing builds online using varying colours so thought I would enquire on here

[Stef N.]

Black or Brown Oxide.👍

[Space Ranger]

I use a neutral gray primer for everything, except yellow and red, in which case I use white. Tamiya’s are my favorites.

[Kingsman]

I've taken to using a rattle-can primer in dark brown.  Army Painter's Leather Brown to be exact.  Rattle-can primers tend in my experience to be more durable than those you can spray by airbrush, but you do need to be careful about over-coverage.  Citadel's Chaos Black is a good one which sprays finely and which many modellers like.  Others swear by Halfords' grey plastic primer.

 

IMO black is too severe as a base colour for most top colours but it plays into the pre-shading concept.  Grey is probably still best for showing blemishes. I like the brown as it is less severe than black but it is also much closer to the native colour of armour plate so that if you get wear-through of the top coat from handling it looks more like real wear.

 

Don't forget that primers tend to have denser pigment than top coats, and over-thinning can be self-defeating.  So you may find that you need a larger nozzle and higher pressure than for a top coat.

[Nenad Ilijic]

I use Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500 and I am very happy with it. It's very smooth and quite durable. I use grey almost exclusively, especially for the lighter top colour, although sometimes I use black for darker finishes (Olive Drab, RAL 7021, etc.). I was never a fan of modulation, so my decision is usually based only on the fact how many layers I'll need to reach a good coverage.

[Bozothenutter]

Dark yellow/brown, the abt 505 scheme?

If yes, be aware that most seem to think it was the regular three colour scheme, as per David Parker's build.

[Whitewolf]

I tried the Migammo.one shot and wasn't impressed. Its too thick. The Tamiya fine surface primer is excellent and I used red oxide on wheels and lower hull. The upper hull will have zimm, so thinking of using grey on the zimm areas, and the red oxide on the rest, as I have no idea what colour unpainted zimm was.

[Kingsman]

According to the photos in the Haynes StuG III book where a restorer attempted to re-create Zimmerit from the original "recipe" it was a pale brown.  But became scorched during the blowlamp-hardening process.

[Whitewolf]

On 27/05/2022 at 09:16, Das Abteilung said:

According to the photos in the Haynes StuG III book where a restorer attempted to re-create Zimmerit from the original "recipe" it was a pale brown.  But became scorched during the blowlamp-hardening process.

Thanks, as it transpires Migammo do it, an ochre colour. Might do all the steel surfaces in red oxide and zimm in the ochre, be interesting to see the difference in the top coat....

[Whitewolf]

On 01/04/2022 at 04:40, Bozothenutter said:

Dark yellow/brown, the abt 505 scheme?

If yes, be aware that most seem to think it was the regular three colour scheme, as per David Parker's build.

According to the book by the Trojca brothers ( Tiger Ausf B Konigstiger Technical and Operational History - one of, if not the best reference book on the KT) the vehicle I'm looking at in Poland in 1944 wore a Dark Yellow/Red Brown scheme and the photos they published back that up.

[Bozothenutter]

Trojca is not 'one of the best' ask Hilary Doyle.

As I said before, David Parker makes a very good case for the 505 Tigers being three colour.

I myself will do the kit 505 winter camo with the green whitewashed. (a 'whif' to be sure)

Dale Ritters 'charging knights on the eastern front' the most comprehensive unit history of 505 sadly makes no mention of any camo at all.

[Whitewolf]

Shame the most comprehensive unit history makes no mention of camo colours. The pics I've seen, only appear to show two colours.

[Bozothenutter]

4 hours ago, Whitewolf said:

Shame the most comprehensive unit history makes no mention of camo colours. The pics I've seen, only appear to show two colours.

Even asked Dale through FB, he checked his notes, but nothing came up.

I think the David Parker build thread was on the AFV modelling forum which is now defunct, with all the info conveniently transferred to the 'Superking ' book

[Whitewolf]

Ahh yes, I have that book..

[Kelscale]

Mr surfacer mahogany is a cool primer colour for Dunkelgelb base coats.  Pretty much replaces any need for a shadow coat.

 

 

[Whitewolf]

On 31/05/2022 at 22:23, Kelscale said:

Mr surfacer mahogany is a cool primer colour for Dunkelgelb base coats.  Pretty much replaces any need for a shadow coat.

 

 

Would the Tamiya Red oxide primer have the same effect I wonder?

Edited June 2, 2022 by Whitewolf

[Stef N.]

2 hours ago, Whitewolf said:

Would the Tamiya Red oxide primer have the same effect I wonder?

Yes, I think it would be a good one. Their cans spray well too. It would work out cheaper using the Mr Mahogany but the Tamiya is more convenient.

[Whitewolf]

Yes they do spray extremely well!! In fact due to the scale in this case, I decided to try their TS2 - Dark Yellow as a base coat over the Red Oxide primer and that also sprayed extremely well with a very accurate shade.

Will do the camo etc by airbrush.