Step 1: Preparation

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). 

Gather together all the minis you plan to have in your platoon. I find it is better to complete minis by platoon as you will keep the overall colors similar and will save time and paint by not having to mix so many colors over and over. This particular platoon was painted once already with a slightly blue version of Panzer Grey - I didn't like it and gave 'em a bath in Simple Green. 

As an aside, when I opened the boxed set of Pz. F1/F2s, I was a bit disappointed to find that the short-barreled (Kurtz) 75 L/24s were missing entirely! A quick email to Battlefront and they replaced the parts and then some! Kudos to BF! 

Clean up any rough areas, remove any flash, and detail panel lines as needed. Assemble the minis as well scratchbuild any parts you want on your tanks. I have added many small items such as wire tow cables, gas can racks, hull MGs, crew helmets etc. I tend to glue everything together before painting to keep handling to a minimum once painted. I glue a rare earth magnet to the turret and a thin round piece of sheet steel (cut with heavy-duty tin snips) to the chassis hole. This allows easy rotation and holds the turret in place when gaming. Once the mini is fully assembled, wash in warm, soapy water to allow the primer coat to adhere better to the mini. The next step is to mount the minis on something to avoid handling them too much. I use 2 or 3 inch galvanized roofing nails. 

Step 2: Priming

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. 

Step 3: Basecoating

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!

Step 4: The Wash

Step 5: Panel Highlighting

Step 6: Final Highlighting

Step 7: Small Details

More to Follow...