HI All

I’m not much of a tank person, I’d like to be but normally make aircraft. Had a go at the old Tamiya 1/35 Panzer II with the infantry. I’ve not built a tank for years and thought I’d post on here to see what people think. I know the road wheels should be painted differently….. Oh amd the base is a little basic with no tread marks but not too sure how to make them without gunking up the tracks too much...

All comments welcome, I hope to improve on the next tank which I hope to put more effort in….
Cheers

Not to bad but the tires need black color Nato black from Tamiya.

Return rollers also.

As you said in color.

Paint the base a little different color and add some washes to make it look like not all the same.

Otherwise not bad.

Hi Tim. You got all the basics right in my opinion. I can see you are not a newbie, there some very neat detail washes on the drive wheels. Paint the rubber parts of the road wheels and the return rollers, and add a wash to the road wheel details (like you´ve done on the drive wheel), and you are good to go. For somebody who doesn´t normally build armor, you´ve done very well. Hopefully we´ll see more.

Thanks for the comments. I’m going to try some different washes and filters on the next build. I read a lot about people using different tracks from that of the supplied one piece parts supplied with the kits. Does anyone think that they are worth it or notice the difference?
Do most people build their tanks and then spray it all at once with all the extras such as tools and spare track links on the tank and then pick out the detail later?
Same for the road wheels?

Tim,

Nice model! The tyres are well covered in other posts, but one option would be to drybrush with "rubber" colour on edges and the flat running surfaces, but leave some tan on the sides. My reasoning is the tanks arrived in Africa in grey and were resprayed at field depots where they wouldn't bother masking or taking much care to control over-spray. But as soon as the tank was in use the paint would start wearing off the rubber parts. (I remember seeing British armour in Germany being resprayed at the start of the Gulf war - I'm not even sure they let the crew out before the paint started to fly!)

As for when to paint in the build cycle, it depends on the kit. Some details can be retouched after the base coat, while others are best attached after painting. I try to get as much attached as is practical before I paint, but every kit is different.

And the AM tracks all depend on what comes with the kit. I will use the kit tracks if they are decent, but will reach for the AM stuff if the kit tracks are terrible - and only if the kit as a whole justifies the extra cost! Many of the old Tamiya kits are fun to build, but don't justify the cost of any replacement details...

Tom

Very nice work. Others, more experienced then me, have already picked up on the main points. I like what you did with the figure. Any chance of a closeup of the face?
Thanks!

One other thing I'd mention is that the smaller cannons that were used on the Pz II weren't painted, and were left gunmetal.

Cheers for all of the helpful comments. I quite like the idea of building another Panzer II now, I think that Dargon do a better kit?

I've not painted any figures for years having made mostly aircraft. I quite like the idea of getting back into them though. He was painted with a humbrol enamels for the clothing but flesh was all done with Games Workshop paints.

Tamiya has also recently released 2 new tooling Pz. II's. One from the French Campaign, and one from the Polish Campaign. I built the Polish Campaign and it's a very nice little kit.

I haven't built the Dragon one, but they don't make a lot of duds. And Tasca has a 1/24 scale Pz. II that's supposed to be really nice.