Kugelblitz Reborn

After a year or more in a spares box after a screwed up paint job, I stripped back my second attempt at a Kugelblitz ('ball lightning') and started again.

The kit

The kit is by Maco and uses sprues from Revell's Panzer IV Ausf H kit plus some one of their own. 

As a kit it goes together pretty well and I was pretty happy with the build ... until I started painting it the first time around. 

The only problem I have with this kit is that Maco should have supplied some Ausf J style exhausts as this conversion would have been applied to a late war Panzer IV Ausf J chassis.  But who cares? It's a paper panzer. There were reportedly only a few were built but no pictures survive except for an example of a turret in museum in Germany. 

Rebuild

To be honest, there wasn't much to rebuild. I just added back on the parts that fell off during the strip with oven cleaner. 

After consulting a few of my Panzer IV reference books, I decided to add on a heap of spare track from the first Kugelblitz build that went totally wrong in the spray shed. I did use some white plastic card to fashion strip brackets. 

What I think I aiming to show is a Kugelblitz prototype turret fitted to a reconditioned Ausf H chassis that the previous crew have welded on some track for extra protection. 

Prime Time

As usual, I have primed it with Vallejo polyurethane primer in black. Also gave the turret a touch up of RAL 8012 Rotbraun AK717 from AK's German Late War Colours Set (AK 554). I'll be using the rest of the set on the chassis. 

To be continued ......

Cromwell White Wash Part 4 - Try again

Step #1. Prime again. 

First stop was Vallejo 70.602 Surface Primer. Went on okay but you can tell the surface isn't completely smooth due to the remains of the old paint job.

Step 2. SCC15 again

I applied a mix for SCC15 - UK OD of 5 parts XF61 (Dk Green),to 2 parts XF62 (Olive Drab) and 2 parts XF3 (Flat Yellow). 

Then lightened with 2 parts XF-2 white for the upper part and a bit all over. Then the same again for the top surfaces only. Seems a bit lighter than last time with less gradations. Smaller air brush tip would have been better.

Step #3. Adding some more interest

I wasn't really happy with the initial paint job. It looked a bit plain. So I did it again. Same base colour mix made progressively lighter with XF-2 white. Paint job is based on highlighting the top bits and putting lighter colours in the centre of various panels. Also painted some of the features such as vents, handles, etc a bit lighter again. Much more interesting. 

Step #4. Washed to make the detail stand out

Next step before adding decals was to wash the tank with AK 's Dark Brown Enamel Wash for Green Vehicles (AK 045). Worked well after lots of playing around. Pity most of it will be covered in white wash. 

Step #5. Apply decals

Applied decals using Micro Set and Micro Sol for the first time. While I am not sure about Micro Set, Micro Sol definitely does the business and I was much happy with the result than from using Humbrol's Decalfix product. Decalfix is a little too hot chemically and seems to upset the paint. Next step is flat varnish in preparation for the great white wash. 

To be continued .....

Hairspray Technique Experiment

Rather than screw it up again, I've decided to experiment on one of my test tanks.

And I'm going to have a crack at it based on what this guy says here. http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?116134-Heavy-Paint-Chipping-Tutorial

Plus I'll thin the Vallejo chipping medium with Vallejo thinner instead of water. That was recommended by Vallejo. I suspect water was the problem last time. 

Step #1. Apply flat or satin clear coat

The tank has been sprayed with Tamiya XF-86 Flat Clear. Not XF-22 Gloss. Apparently semi gloss is fine too. The paint was sprayed using the Medium tip of my Badger 150 airbrush. Not the Fine tip as usual. 

Step #2. Apply chipping medium

Applied two generous coats of Vallejo  73.214 chipping medium thinned 60:40  with Vallejo's own 71.161 airbrush thinner using the medium tip of the airbrush. Applied fine. Very smooth. Looked like a semi-gloss. 

Step #3. Apply white paint

Applied several coats of white paint until the Panther was white. And until I ran out of white paint in the airbrush cup. The wheels and the back

So good, so far. 

Step #4. Selectively remove paint

After leaving the paint to dry for over 24 hours due to other things rather than any deliberate intent, I brushed on some water a section at a time and started chipping with the help of a flat brush and a tooth pick. 

Worked well. Very impressed. Now to try it anger. And try out a multilayered approach. Ready for the Cromwell!

I do need however to get some smaller flat brushes and cut off the tips to get do this properly. 

Cromwell White Wash Part 3 - Reassembled and ready for painting

The Cromwell has been reassembled with a turret machine gun from from a Panzer IV, new mud flaps and a headlight made of bluetac. Will give quick thin spray of black primer again and try again.

I haven't got high hopes for this baby as not all the paint came off but will have a crack at it anyway. 

Cromwell White Wash Part 2b - The Art of Stripping

One thing I have learnt after leaving the model soaked in oven cleaner overnight is the Vallejo Primer and the bits painted with Vallejo paints such as the tracks and wheel rubber are pretty tough stuff. The Tamiya paint is gone. 

Now to start again. 

Cromwell White Wash Part 2a - Back To The Drawing Board

Back to the drawing board.

I tried putting Vallejo's chipping medium on the Cromwell thinned about 4:3 medium to water. Result was little bubbles rather than a smooth coat. Didn't change much after it dried. 

Then added a few coats of XF-2 white. Still didn't look great. Tried chipping away at the turret but the effect was more of a bubble effect not a washed away white wash. 

Tried a bit of thinner treatment but that didn't work too well either. 

In the end I decided to try out using oven cleaner to strip the thing and start again. Works well for the top coat of Tamiya after a few hours but not so good on the Vallejo primer except for the metal bits. 

Have soaked the whole thing in oven cleaner overnight and put it outside. Let's see what it looks like tomorrow. Mmmm. 

Will need to hit the online forums and see how else I can do this. Maybe thinned chipping medium and lots of coats of it. I'll try it out on my test tanks first. 

So disappointing as I was completely loving the look of the Cromwell up till now. 

Panther G with Anti Aircraft Armour Finished ... Sort Of

For a long long time, I've been fascinated by the anti aircraft armour fitted to the panther tanks of Panzer Regiment 26 in Italy 1944 and wanted one of my own for my tank collection. 

Here is they looked like in Panzerwrecks (destroyed German tank porn)

To build an example, I purchased the early Panther kit by Dragon ...

and the the ET Model upgrade kit plus some plastic rod. 

And that was as far as it got for a while. Eventually I pulled out the kit and assembled it. Was a bit disappointed by the quality of the Dragon kit compared to Revell as some of the parts needed a lot of cleanup and the plastic didn't feel like a real quality product. Then came the fiddly bit - assembling the ET Model upgrade kit and putting it on the Panther. Really f@&king awkward but got there in the end although I didn't bother with the butterfly wing nuts the size of a full stop. I have no idea how any one fits that stuff. Also added some ammo boxes to the engine deck to give the impression that it was being reloaded. Also made the tow cables extra long and hanging downs with one attached to the front shackle as had seen that one someone else's panther and thought it was more interesting. Should have paid more attention to measurement as the cables are really too long and one is longer than the other. I did however scratch billy old brackets for them at the back using spare photo etch. Anyway. That's the build. 

I primed the tank with Vallejo Grey and Black primer with the idea that I would spray so lightly that the shadows would come through. Fail. But here's some pictures of the attempt!

Innovation wise however, I have taken to super gluing the turret and body into the ends of sringes formerly used to administer medication to the cat. Or the top of a bottle opener. Much easier. 

Painting wise, I painted the bottom half of the chassis in XF-60 Dark Yellow and then sprayed the rest with a Dark Yellow mix lightened with XF-2 White probably in a ratio of 50:50. I probably should have done the wheels with the same mix as that looked a bit weird later on. Glad I did lighten the mix however as applying washes darkens the model considerably - especially with the zimmerit. 

Next thing was adding some green camouflage as per the picture on the box. I ended up doing this free hand for the first time with the airbrush using XF-61 Dark Green. Had a few issues but nothing major. Might think about dropping the pressure some next time to around 12-15. The XF-61 Dark Green ended up being a bit too dark so over sprayed it lightly with my Dark Yellow / White mix to tone it down some. 

Oh ... I should add that I thought I'd try out the hairspray technique on the anti aircraft armour so painted that with Vallejo's Rust & Chipping Effects paint set and chipping fluid before painting the tank overall. Then had a play at chipping and probably over did it. Still, it does make the model look more interesting. 

While I had the rust effects set out, I decide to paint the spare tracks using various shades. And while I was at it, painted all the other details with various Vallejo paints. Wheels and tracks were painted using the AK Tracks & Wheels set. Great set. Will get a lot of use. 

Next step was a X-22 Gloss varnish finish in preparation for the decals. Tried Decal Fix again as I was struggling to get the numbers to fit over the zimmerit. While it is a bit 'hot' chemically, I let it dry overnight and it worked great! Painted over the decals with more X-22 Gloss Varnish then moved onto washes. 

Washes have never worked well up to now so I thought I'd try something a bit new and made my own wash from burnt umber oil paint and leave more wash around the details. Also tried another go at pin washes for some of the panel lines. Once it dried, I was really happy with the results - especially around the wheel nuts and the panel lines. Then XF-86 Flat Clear varnish for the next stages of weathering. 

Next stage weathering was some light mud using various AK potions and plaster powder including first Kursk Earth and then Dust Effects. Sprayed Dust Effects over the whole model and also put some dots here and there around details. Ended up over doing it but the great think about using these enamel/oil based paints is you can remove and rework things. Other products used were MIG Dark Wash on the tracks and amp boxes, AK's Fuel and Engine oil stains potions on the engine deck and around the wheels plus a graphite pencil along the edges of things for definition plus to add a few scratches. For contact part of tracks, I dry rushed on Vallejo Oily Steel which came in one of the Panzer Aces paint sets I bought yonks ago. 

Decided not to play with pigments this time around as no idea really what to do with them. 

So here is the result, photographed using freshly painted blue paper as a background (makes the colours come out better).

Is it finished?  Not quite. I am experimenting with some mesh to use as chicken wire that the tank crew used to attach foliage to use as camouflage. It might be a little to hard with this scale so I might just use foliage by itself. Stay tuned. 

Cromwell White Wash Part 1

Needing a change from German tanks, I decided to have a crack at a British tank. I originally was going to have build the Cromwell I had in my stash along with the Blackdog hessian kit but chickened out and decided to do a white washed version that I had seen in British Steel.

So here is the kit. 

Here is the target look. 

Assembly went together fairly easy and I only lost one bit to the carpet monster - one of the holders for the aerial. Main changes from spec were chopping the front fenders off, replacing the mud guards with mud flaps made from wine bottle foil. Also made a jerry can holder from wine foil as well. Barrel was an Aber item as were the 2m aerials. Decided to make one aerial shorter than the other as they apparently came in 4 foot screw together sections and it adds visual interest. Stowage is from Value Plus. 

Next step was priming. Used Vallejo Black Primer as usual and then started researching how to mix British SCC15 green using Tamiya paints. Settled on a recipe of 5 parts XF-61 Dark Green, 2 parts XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-3 Flat Yellow. 

Then lightened it with 2-3 parts XF-2 White for the top of the turret and the top of the hill. Was pretty happy with result. Then sprayed with X-22 Gloss in preparation for decals. 

Instead of putting the decals, I decided to try out a blue green oil filter using my set of oil paints as suggested in the British Steel book as I was figuring the green looked a bit light. Tried brushing it on which left brush marks so next day, had a go at spraying it in. Didn't work out well at all - especially on the back hull desk. I think it was due to the oil pigments not being fine enough and some mild orange peel. Starting to think Tamiya doesn't spray as well as I'd like. Have heard some people add some Satin Gloss to get rid of the powdery feel.  

Then decided to use MIG Dark Wash all over. This worked out much better and it allowed me to clean off all the blue green filter as well as make the details 'pop' out. Lots of detail wiping and polishing with cotton buds and my OO brush delivered a result I was pretty happy with.

Next step is another coat of gloss and having a go at the hairspray technique for the white wash.