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Maschinengewehrwagen 36 If. 5

After completing my build review I was faced with the daunting (to me) task of painting and mounting this kit. The painting of the wagens themselves was straightforward and caused no issues. A basic dunkelgrau paint scheme was used to depict a unit in Poland in 1939. Vallejo paints with oil washes and drybrushing followed by some light pigments were used. The decals were very thick and stiff, not wanting to settle and conform to contours in spite of a lot of micro-sol, so there is still some silvering in spite of several matte clear coats. The horses came next. Since returning to the hobby a couple of years ago I have not attempted any figures, animal or human, as I have found them just too intimidating, but having this kit to review I had to suck it up and give it a try. It took a few attempts before I achieved anything bordering on realistic. A mix of Tamiya Red Brown and Flat Brown acrylics were used for the base coat, with details picked out with Vallejo, Tamiya and Model Master acrylics, and shadowing done with oils topped off with a matte clear coat. The crew came last (putting it off as much as I could). Again, multiple tries were required to get things to a half decent state, I painted and stripped them down three times. A based coat of Tamiya Field Grey was used with details picked out with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics with shadowing and highlights done in oils. The faces and hands were basecoated with Model Master flesh tone followed with oil washes and blending for shadows and highlights, although they don't show up in the pictures as much as I thought they would so I think I have to exaggerate things a bit more. Again the uniform insignia decals were very stiff and hard to get to set properly. Several coats of matte clear were used. The end results are acceptable, but I have a lot of work ahead of me to get my figure painting skills up to snuff! Mounting the kit to the base and arranging the harness was a royal PITA. The kit provides photoetch harness details but the reains are too short so I made new ones out of 0.020" copper sheet. The harness rings are very fragile PE as well so new ones were made from copper wire. Getting everything to line up properly was very difficult and I was close to pitching the whole thing through the window more than once! But sanity and thinly stretched patience prevailed and I was able to get every thing together. The base is from Miniart, the cobblestones are painted with oils, the brick wall with Vallejo Cavalry Brown with a grey oil wash to highlight the mortar. Some additional loose bricks were made from styrene strip and added to the broken end of the wall. Mig Productions light and dark green slime were used along the base of the wall to represent moss growth. Sifted dirt and pigments were used for the bare ground and railroad grass from Woodland scenics was used for the grass tufts. The light standard was also part of the kit. As this is my first real attempt at figures, advice and constructive criticism are welcomed and encouraged!