15mm Panzer IV Ausf F1: Step By Step.
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Step 1: Preparation |
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As promised, here is my ‘Painting
Tutorial' on a early-war Panzer IV F1 platoon from the 24th panzer Division as seen in Summer/fall 1942 in the battles in toward and in Stalingrad. All paints used are Vallejo and all glue is cyanoacrylate glue (crazy glue or similar). |
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Step 2: Priming |
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I always prime in white using the paint pictured above. Its available at Canadian Tire but any white enamel spray paint that is not an imperfection-covering or filling type is fine. Normally, I do not use an actual 'Primer' as most of these are too thick of pigment and are designed to be sanded. I find darker colors are just too dark and make your minis look bland. You can use any color of primer for vehicles but the lighter colors will keep the minis from looking too dark when done. Keep the coat even and thin. One coat is enough but make sure to get all areas. I always prime outside to avoid the fumes! I use a VERY light, misting coat, being very careful not to put it on too thick. Better two thin coats than one thick. Let this air dry for about 20 minutes outside. I then move the minis to a wooden cutting board or a spare piece of plywood. I put them into the oven for 20 minutes 150-170 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes so that I can move onto the next step without having to wait for the primer to cure.
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Step 3: Basecoating |
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I prefer to basecoat with an airbrush but you can use a brush if preferred. I mix up my chosen color of Vallejo Panzer Grey 70995 with White 70951. The ratio and amount for these 5 minis is: 20 x drops of Panzer Grey 10 x Drops of White 1 x Drop of Windsor's 'Blending Medium' for acrylic paints. 10 x Drops of water. This will give you enough paint to airbrush all 5 minis and turrets. I cover the entire mini with a thin coating, even the extra parts. The idea is to have a very thin base coat when dry. Into the oven or wait 2 days to cure!
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Step 4: The Wash |
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The next step is to add shadows to the mini via a Wash. This is done with very thinned paint. I use a modified 'Magic Wash' formula. The mixture is as follows: 2 x Drops of Vallejo 70950 Flat Black 1 x Drop white glue (to reduce shine) 1 x Drop of Windsor's 'Blending Medium' for acrylic paints. Add this to a small testors bottle of standard 'Magic Wash' formula and mix well. Cover the entire mini with the wash but do not rub or overdo the brushwork or you may remove your earlier basecoat. Once done, blot dry any large accumulations on the mini with a clean dry rag. Allow to dry for a few hours.
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Step 5: Panel Highlighting |
You should now have a very dark crappy looking mini with a bit of highlights showing through. DO not worry, as this is the effect we are looking for. Now using an airbrush, we will begin to highlight the mini. I mix up a 50/50 ratio mixture of Vallejo 70951 White and 70995 German Grey. I then spray any large areas of the mini to highlight them. Be careful to not overdo the effect, you only want to lighten the areas - not repaint the mini. I then over-spray the entire mini from a distance to blend a bit.
Step 6: Final Highlighting
You will notice that the mini is taking on a lighter look overall. We now want to continue this effect by adding more white to the airbrush mixture and going over the largest of the panels/open areas. Once done, take a small brush and using the airbrush mixture, highlight any small areas that you cannot do with the airbrush. As well, highlight the edges of the mini and any spots that look like they may be subject to sun-bleaching and heavy wear. As a side note, the air identification flag was printed out on a color laser, soaked in white glue/water mix, and added to the back of the tank. Once it begins to dry, press it down with a q-tip or soft brush until it stays in place. Once completely dry, touch-up the flag with the appropriate colored paint.
Step 7: Small Details
With the majority of the mini done, now is the time to pick out all the extra details: Paint the tracks a rusty dark brown, the metal tools, MGs, and tow cables should be painted black (to be highlighted later), the muffler a rusty brown, etc. Paint all tool handles a reddish or wooden tan color of your choice. Paint all helmets and kit bags and any extra stowage at this time.
Step 8: Protection & Decals
I now coat the entire mini with 2 very light coats of Acrylic Clear Matt Sealer. I use a brand called Cactus Art. This will actually make your mini kind of shiny (certainly not MATT in my books!) but will protect the paint from wearing off with handling and give your decals a smooth surface to stick to. The shine can be corrected using Testors Dulcote as a final finish. I have read that there is no difference between the acrylic sealer and Dullcote but I beg to differ. I have found that with only Dullcote the paint wears off. With the only acrylic sealer, this just doesn't happen.
Once the sealer has dried complexly, its time to add any decals you may want. Here is my method, easy and wargame tested. This will produce a decal that is super resistant to rubbing or flaking off. Also the edges will blend in so that there is no raised edge or noticeable seam-line.
- Mix up a glue solution from either white glue and water or Modge-podge. This should be the consistency of watery milk.
- Cut decal from sheet as close as possible to colored portions. A new x-acto and mag-glasses helps. Moisten decal in warm water on a plate.
- Put water/glue mixture on model where you want decal.
- Position decal with small paintbrush. Let dry.
- Add a drop of decal-set solution such as decal-set or Micro-sol. Don't move decal! Let dry .
- Add a final drop of water/glue to top of decal. Let dry - COMPLETELY!!
Step 9: Weathering and Flatcote
You can now decide how 'beat up' you want your mini to be. For the factory fresh look, leave it as is but for the more realistic battle worn appearance, do the following: Using the foam that your minis came packaged with, tear off a small chunk. Dip this into an un-thinned dark rusty black paint. Lightly touch on any areas subject to heavy wear. Also add some scratches in areas prone to contact with trees and buildings. Do this by dragging the foam lightly in a sweeping motion. Using a VERY thinned mixture of Vallejo 70985 Hull Red, 70950 Flat Black and water in an approximate 3 to 1 to 15 ratio, paint all areas where water might accumulate. Using this same mixture, add some rust streaks in other obvious areas where water would run. If you do it right, the base color will still show through. If not, add more water.
Finally, give the mini 2 thin coats of Testors Dullcote to reduce the shine and protect your weathering.
