What a Tanker! Tiger II

I've assembled one of the two Pegasus Tiger II's and undercoated it in Halfords Matt Grey Primer, then washed it in my Future based gunge, ready for a snow camouflage wet brush layer with Vallejo White. I have left the commanders cupola open so that I can use one of the Early War Miniatures figures that came with the Panther accessories set. I also stuck the hull and track sections together as you can't really assemble them separately due to the way the kit is designed. The spare track links aren't the right wat round but they were all I had and I don't think it matters, unless you're a panzer rivet counter. It's a nice model and looks the part, so I think it will paint up well.

Big Cat Tracks

I've painted the first layer of snow camouflage on the Panther, Jagdpanther and Tigers today. This will be washed and then weathered before I add some final details and pick out the various things that need to be painted including the machine guns, exhausts, tools and vision blocks. I've also painted a basecoat of Foundry Bay Brown Shade on the tracks then washed them in neat GW Agrax Earthshade, ready to be dry brushed and highlighted tomorrow. I don't think it will take too long to get these four tanks finished now, which means I can move on to paint some more!

Snow Camouflage

This is only the first layer...more washes, layers and details later.

I've decided to skip the green and brown 'ambush' camouflage stage on the 'big cats' and just do an overall white camouflage layer over the top of the Dunkelgelb basecoat. I don't think the ambush camo pattern would really show up underneath this, except at the edges, so would be a bit of a waste of time. The first layer of white camo has been slapped on with a brush, as I don't yet have an airbrush, which is something I'll have to get if I carry on with any more late war Panzerwaffe projects that aren't set in the deep mid-winter. Talking of which, I'm thinking about another What a Tanker! project, using the same quick build plastic kit approach, this time early or mid-war and possibly somewhere hot?

Pegasus EZ-Build King Tigers

I wanted to have at least one Tiger II in the late war German tank arsenal and was resigned to gluing together the Italeri re-release of the old Esci kit, with all it's numerous road wheels and individual track link sections, when I stumbled across the Pegasus EZ-Build version. This wasn't a cheap kit but, as you get two tanks in the box, it wasn't that bad and cheaper than a resin or metal equivalent. 

The kit plastic is that shiny slightly soapy looking stuff but the detail looks fine enough and the kit has the advantage of integral track units with add on outer road wheels. I think I'll only put one of them together for the moment and paint it up in full but basic winter white camouflage, rather than attempt any three tone wavy edge nonsense. A matt grey basecoat should be a good starting point with some judicious wet and dry brushing to follow up.

I may even assemble one tomorrow as I'm off work but also want to get the second Armourfast Panther built so that I can paint it alongside the Jagdpanther and Panther that I've already assembled. I am slowly creating a mini Blitzkrieg of quick build plastic base coated armour on the shelf above my workbench but there is some logic in my madness, as I'm going to do a production line in tank painting over the holidays.

Taking a Day Off

My daughter and son have an INSET day on Friday, so I've arranged to take the day off to look after them, which is something I can do now that I'm an educational gun for hire and not chained to the chalk face. This means I will be able to set up a game of What a Tanker! to run through the rules and can rope in the kids as 'volunteer' panzer commanders.

They are usually up for this sort of thing and don't need any persuasion, although the lad is now more interested in his X-Box than miniature gaming, which is a shame but I'm sure he'll realise the error of his ways when he grows out of it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to finally getting in a game or two using my 1/50th scale Corgi diecast tank collection. Roll on Friday!

What a Tanker! Panther Wash

 

So, rather than do a drybrush and wash over the Halfords Ultra Matt Khaki basecoat on the Panther and Jagdpanther, I thought I'd cut a corner and just wash them both in my Future based brown ink wash, in order to provide a base for the ambush pattern camouflage. I think the Halfords khaki shade is a pretty close match to the pale sand shade used on late war German AFV's, which bears little resemblance to the darker yellow Dunkelgelb shade that I've used on the Tigers, so a direct over wash seemed like a good idea.

I'm planning to do a variety of typical disruptive camouflage patterns on the Panthers using a combination of Vallejo Panzer brown and greens which, if it looks good, may not even get an overcoat of whitewash winter camouflage. I don't have an airbrush so this will all have to be done by hand, which could work well or could be a total disaster? If it doesn't work, I'll just slosh and stipple white paint all over the buggers and pretend that was the plan from the outset!

What a Tanker! Panther Basecoat

I've decided to overspray the Humbrol Sea Grey basecoat on the Armourfast Panther and Jagdpanther with an alternative basecoat of Halfords Ultra Matt Camouflage Khaki. I wasn't really sure about the grey to start with and the Halfords Khaki is much cheaper and easier for me to get hold of, so that I can use the same approach on the rest of the German tanks without running out.

The Halfords Matt Khaki is also a good match for late war toned down 'ambush pattern' camouflage colours, as shown on the Armourfast Panther Ausf G box art, for example. In the process of painting they will get overbrushed, dry brushed and ink washed, then covered in snow camouflage, so it doesn't really matter what colour I use. Either way, I think it looks a lot better than the bog standard grey.

Armour (not so) Fast Panther Ausf G

I was hoping to get both of these assembled today but car washing and GCSE revision scuppered my best laid plans. This one was also a bit longer in the production line than usual, due to the extra detailing bits that I added using the very handy Early War Miniatures accessories set. I left off the turret mounted machine gun and the side skirts but added just about all of the remaining bits of kit.

It certainly makes a difference and, at a distance, you wouldn't really know that this was a basic wargaming model. I will be gluing together the other Panther over the week, if I can find the time. I haven't done any more painting this weekend, even though I intended to get the Tigers finished, but have a week of holiday coming up in which I will be able to paint all of the models that I have assembled and perhaps add a few more, if the postman delivers on time?

Pimp my Jagdpanther

I decided to put together the Armourfast Jagdpanther today, as it's been looking at me from the shelf above the workbench. I added some detailing bits from an old Revell Panther kit that I bought cheap when Modelzone closed down a few years ago, together with some white metal track links from EWM.. This meant that it took a bit longer than usual to assemble but I think it was time well spent. As I have run out of Humbrol Matt Dark Earth spray I used Matt Sea Grey instead, which I'm hoping will be a good basecoat for an overall white winter camouflage scheme. 

Filling the Gaps

So far, I've been raiding my existing stockpile of Italeri and Armourfast quick build kits, adding some new models for the Germans via eBay. I've thought about building some 'proper' 1/72nd scale kits from the stash in the loft but have shied away from this option, as I don't really have the time and don't fancy gluing all the fiddly bits together. I don't think they would look great next to the quick build stuff either.

Anyway, an option I've been looking at for those 'one off' missing AFV's that you just have to have at least one of, is the Early War Miniatures range of 'Blitz Build' plastic resin and white metal models. These look pretty good and aren't too expensive compared to normal injection moulded model kits. They also fill in a lot of the blanks, are quick to build and include some pretty neat early and mid-war AFV's.

For my purposes, however, it's the late war German tank destroyers that caught my eye, specifically the Hetzer, Nashorn and Jagdpanzer IV. I may well send off for one of the latter when I've ploughed through more of the existing back log of  plastic quick build models. The Russians need to be wrapped up first anyway before I can tackle any more of the Panzers!