02 Painting & Weathering

Sprayed some vertical lines as a base for further streaks/dust marks. 

Usually, I like to keep the stowage seperately, but this time I was unable to remove it prior to painting as the PVA glue had a tight grip. 

Note less highlight paint on the lower hull. Most of this will be covered by mud anyway. 

The turret shape really pops by emphasizing the contours with highlight paint. 

The other side. I sprayed the brightest color on the most prominent featur 

Started painting the details and applied all decals as well. 

Stowage will follow after the oil filters and pin washes. 

I'm really about to give up on Tamiya decals. This time, I used hot water, applied generous amounts of Micro Set, pressed the decals on and they still silver like crazy. Tamiya is the only brand I'm having that much trouble applying decals. As a last resort, i punctured the decals with a needle and soaked them with Mr. Leveling thinner. This really is not for the faint of heart! Still, some silvering appeared later on, so this will have to be covered up by weathering. 

Placed the front stowage just temporarily to see how everything fits together. 

After the first filter. The effect is very subtle, but it seems to pull everything together. 

The good thing about being sick and stuck at home means plenty of time for modelling 🙂 

I assembled the running gear (poly caps are a blessing, don't understand why this is not a standard for all manufacturers!) The tracks went together easily with superglue 

The model is ready for chipping and weathering. 

Further work done. Painted most of the stowage and the tarp on the engine deck. 

Chipping is completed as well. I read that OD was a quite durable, quality paint, so I kept scuffs to a minimum. Most of the tanks did not get that old, either... 

I'm satisfied with the tarp, what do you think? 

The direct vision block were painted in a medium gray, followed by a black wash. I then added Clear green for the armor block effect. No clear parts provided by the kit, unfortunately. 

Next up: Mud! 

First stage of Weathering includes a basic dust layer and some dryed mud. This was done using gouache paint, which became kind of my standard procedure. 

There will be much more "real" mud following, so this is just the base layer. 

I gradually reduced to amount towards the top of the tank. On reference images, you can often see that the running gear is completely caked, but the turret stays some kind of clean. This is especially true for slower WW2 vehicles. 

Stowage has also been painted. The wooden k ration boxes were primed with a dust yellow color, followed by raw umber oil paint. 

The dust effects on the turret.