¹⁄35

Paper Panzer Half-Track

Paint and Finish

Since this vehicle never went into production, I decided to go with a straight Dunkelgelb finish since the decal markings provided are very simple and not for a specific vehicle or unit. I laid down a base coat of MM Italian Dark Brown and then sprayed an 80/20 mix of Dunkelgelb and Light Gray over that for the main finish. For the road wheels and drive sprockets, I painted the rubber rims with Flat Black and then used a circle template to paint the wheels themselves with the same process as the hull. The wheels were then installed on the vehicle permanently with only the sprockets left removable to aid with the track installation. The turret details were also added in at this time and then the entire vehicle was given a coat of Future in preparation for the decals and weathering.

The decals provided in the kit come on two sheets. One sheet is a simple sheet of various balkenkreuze and I selected the uniform black cross with white outline. These were applied to the hull sides with a third cut in half with scissors and applied to the rear open doors. The second sheet of decals involves the vehicle license plates and a “number jungle” of individual decal digits to create the specific plates for the front and rear areas. I needed to create a 7 digit number and, not having any specific vehicle to refer to, invented a number using the date of the day I did this, April 15th 2007, as a handy way to get 6 of the 7 digits…then just added in the 7th based on what would fit on the plate. This was an exercise in patience as each individual digit needed to be dry before the next one could be placed. Once all the decals were down, another coat of Future was applied to seal it together and the weathering process began.

In order to keep the weathering effects subtle and still provide some variation to the straight Dunkelgelb finish, I opted for the “dot” method of applying dots of paint and then using a thinner dampened brush to remove/blend the spots into a translucent effect. This was done first with Raw Sienna, followed by a mix of 90/10 Dunkelgelb/Light Gray, and finally with Raw Umber. Once satisfied with this effect, a pin wash of Burnt Umber was applied to the raised detail and adjusted as needed. The entire vehicle was then given a coat of Testor’s Lusterless Flat via spray can and left to sit overnight.

The final weathering step involved the application of Mig “Dark Mud” pigments mixed in ordinary tap water and applied to the lower hull, suspension, tracks, and front wheels. This was allowed to air dry and the excess removed with a stiff bristled brush. I then followed up with several q-tips and used them, sometimes wet and sometimes dry, to adjust the effect depending on the location until I had the look I wanted. The final touch came in the form of some black artist pastel applied lightly to the exhaust pipe and the fender area and this one made its way to the display shelf as a finished build.