Panzer Kampfwagen II Ausf. F/G
 

Hello planeteers,
I started posting photos of this little rascal in my "Bad Kitty" Panther build thread. I decided it needed a home of it's own, so I'm starting this thread to chronicle it, because I think it's going to be really nice little model.

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...9133704972.jpg

I had no plans to build a Pz.II anytime soon, but I found this little turd of a kit at Hobby Lobby for 15 bones, so I thought what the heck. It really started as an idea to experiment with some weathering techniques on an inexpensive kit.

I think this is an older kit, but there is nothing noteworthy or spectacular about it. I don't know how accurate it is, but it is well engineered and goes together simply. I had the majority of the construction complete in an evening. The biggest drawback is the rubber band tracks, which from the onset I had planned on using, but I'm having second thoughts at this point.

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...9184513113.jpg

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...9184575061.jpg

It's TINY!!

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...9133668403.jpg

I often plan to keep a model like this simple, build it OOTB, but my nature always overtakes me and I have to add extra detail in some way. On this little critter I did detail some weld seams using Testor's Liquid Cement. I found it worked best to just lay a bead of cement, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then texture the melted seams with broken-off #11 blade. I chamferred the sharp edges where I planned to lay a bead first, to give the cement a place to flow onto. Even with that I still had some spill-over onto the adjacent panels, but these sanded off OK once dry.
I'm planning on doing an Afrika Korps theme with this model, but I also want to try the salt/hairspray/chipped paint technique, and expand my airbrushing skills by experimenting with some color modulation.
I started by brush-painting/priming most of the model with Poly Scale Acrylic Empire Green, which when applied over the tan Tamiya plastic left a nice grayish-green hue. While brush-painting can destroy some detail, I like the texture it gives the finished model. It was not uncommon for field equipment back then to be painted with brushes or other random materials, so I think it lends to the realizm of the finished piece. Once I finally decided on a color scheme I knew I needed to darken the general color as well as provide some variation and prepare the base for the salt/chipped paint process. Instead of do an overall base I used the primer as a basecoat and then applied a reasonably heavy wash using artists oil paints and mineral spirits to reduce. I used 4 colors in varying amounts: Lamp Black, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, and French Ultramarine Blue. The blue was included to indicate greasy areas, and was mixed with the black to hopefully achieve this look. The crimson and sienna are for rust obviously, but all colors were mixed with the black. The model was completely covered in washes, and then dabbed with a cloth to lighten some areas and elimiate pooling. I think it came out nicely and should make a good base.

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...psd535203d.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1518f79d.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...psc3bb65d9.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0971d958.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps338175cf.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...pse2d3f146.jpg

I try to keep this updated. If anyone knows of a good set of individual link tracks for this model, please let me know (Tamiya 35009). Thanks for looking!

Dan

PS: I *%#!ING hate photobucket!!!!!

lookin good =) is that final color or? would sure be nice color for real chipping

Thanks KuK. No, this is not the final color....this is the base. It'll get desert yellow (or the Vallejo equivalent) over the top for an Afrika Korps machine. I am going to do the salt/hairspray technique, so this will be the surface showing through the chipped paint. Now I just have to wait for this to fully dry!

afrika you say... don't over do it with salt cause it's quite easy to do it...
you can try using so metal tools or something like that to make real damage on camo...
result is like on my models lil tiger, t55 and flak, it's a lot easier to control it

Yeah I've read that KuK, that it's easy to over-do it with salt. I'm thinking of grinding the salt very fine and just sprinking a light dusting, going a little heavier in high-wear areas, but still really light. I'm sure I'll use some harder tools here and there to bring out some chipping in areas too...it does seem that method is favored by serious modelers over the salt method, but I've seen that done really well too.

Dan

The Bronco Models, has two sets of tracks for this model.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/v...gens/77155.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/v...gens/79194.jpg

Regards

ajcmac

These are two very different track sets, ajcmac. Bronco AB3520 track set for Ausf.D is not suitable for this model, but AB3513 should work just fine.


Kristjan

Great!! Thanks for the info guys!

Topcoat and some weathering experiments
 

Well I got a bug up my behind today to do the main topcoat and weathering on this little sucker today. Progress on my Panther is progressing while I've been waiting for the oils on this thing to dry.

I wanted to try the hairspray and salt weathering technique. I've seen results that can look too speckley since all the salt grains are the same size. To combat this I decided to through some salt in our coffee grinder to try to pulverize some of it, to give my salt a variety of sizes.
The first time I tried this on a test M41 I used my airbrush to apply the hairspray. This time I chose not to, to spray it directly out of the can. The results were the same, so in the future I'll skip the airbrush step with the hairspray. One might have slightly more control, but I believe it is marginal.
I then sprinkled the salt dust over the model, but this was hard to control. I certainly got more on the model in some places than I wanted, but this little guy is a test mule anyway....thats what it's for is to make my mistakes here.
A couple hours later, after the hairspray had thoroughly dried I came back to spray the topcoat. For this I used Vallejoy Model color, in this case about a 60-40 mix of desert yellow and white. I could have used more white I think.
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1ac654f2.jpg

After allowing this to dry a couple hours (I should have waited longer, I know) I went about removing the salt. KuKlinski had warned me it was easy to go too far here, and boy was he right! It took almost nothing to remove the salt under a slow trickly of tap water with a stiff-bristled brush. In fact I did go too far, in my opinion, but not extermely-so. Had I let the Vallejo dried better I think it would have been more controlable. No matter...I dabbed on some of the topcoat color here and there to lessen the chipped effect. After that I started the first in a series of washed the model will get.
In all I'm quite pleased with the effect, especially for my first go-round.

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6e1b3396.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...pse6e0fee7.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b6104b4.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0b3869b4.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...psa9907d82.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps02573490.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0536cb30.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...psc733e69b.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...ps866a6166.jpg
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/...psc525ca77.jpg

Not bad in my opinion. African vehicles were oftenly more scratched and chipped due to low paint quality (desert yellow was painted oftenly on the field) and desert environment. And pigments will also soften the impression later.