Thanks for the comment Conor. I myself am a feature editor for Armorama, so I think I can pull a few strings to get a feature written on this one

Thanks for looking.

Don't know how I missed this so far but now that I found it I won't let it go! Wonderful work and attention to detail,
J

Woow ! Awesome !

Now that is what I call some real scalemodelling!
Not just slapping a kit together and add some am-resin and pe, but adding extra's and looking for details and solutions.
You are going the distance here!

Mark,

Outstanding job in the build and recording the progress. It's great to see all the hand built items; keep up the great work.

Kevin

Really awesome work! Thank you for posting so much about 'how' you do the work you do. Really cool and I plan to keep watching this one.

my eyes are bulging just looking quickly at this build. Am really going to have to look more carefully. Dont have this kit to build but do have an SD.KFZ 10/5 to build so will look at tips on half tracks, mounting guns on them, and, when you get to it, painting ;-)

Hey all,

Thanks for your kind comments. I have not been taking as many photos so I can finish this one! The following has cut into my modelling time a little











So tonight, I had a really hard time choosing between eating and posting photo's of the model....



And without adieu... The assembled model.











































Thanks for all your support over this last year! I am going to use Vallejo paints for the first time on this. I normally am a ModelMaster Enamel user, but I think I will manage just fine.

I am looking forward to an easier build next, but I gotta finish this one first. I am happy with how this is turning out. I did have to cut and adjust the idler wheel to take up some of the track slack. Once this was done, I really started liking this model again.

I don't have a historical photo to post today, it has been enough in just getting this out. I promise next time to have something.


Thanks again, I hope you enjoyed the build so far! Now off to post some Armorama feature submissions. I am impressed with the work you guys are putting out!!! Keep it up.

Right now I'm all about Model Master enamels... but I've seen so many people on here recommend Vallejo that I feel like if I don't buy it soon a hit squad will show up at my door

So that's on my list.

Awesome work all together. Can't wait to see the finished project

-Conor

Hey all,

So I have begun the painting process.

Quick spray of MR.SURFACER 1000.



So for these next steps, I used Vallejo Acrylics for the first time. WOW! I am amazed at the quality. They dried extremely fast. The withstood sanding and handling very well! The paints were also extremely forgiving to wet spray.

I can't say enough how much I like these paints. The oderless, water thinning and clean up, etc... Again, I spent a few hundred to get the entire colour range, but I really enjoy these. My old ModelMaster enamels were really good too, but these are just better.

Anyways..... I paint everything a dark colour. There is a mix of black, dirty black, and some brown.






















The pre-shade is a little stressful as I have to cover everything. It seems simple to paint everything black, but every component has to be hit from every angle. However, once this step is carefully completed, the rest are pretty easy.

When I lay down the primary color, I will only spray from the primary directions. I will invariably miss areas, but the dark undercoat will serve as a nice pre-shade. Because the German Gray colour is so dark, I won't pre-shade the panels with a light colour (yellow, red, or white). If I were painting in Dunkelgelb, I might.


Thanks for watching as always.



From the NEW PANZERWRECKS 14, a photo of a stug with 'X's on the side skirts. I normally would have associated this camo type with the Berlin theater of operations, interesting to see it in Russia. BTW, this is a really good book. Some reprints of photos, but as always there are plenty new ones and the captions are extremely helpful!

HOLY S(*&%!!! Where did this build come from? How did I miss this?

Mark, this is awesome. I can even imagine doing some of this stuff. My hat's off to you Sir!
And thanks for all how to's in this thread. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this.

Bill,
You are a modeling genious!
J

Great job with the wire framework!

Hey guys,

Thanks for the comments. Once the base colors were laid down, I sprayed a coat of Future to help protect against handling.





I have done some preshading with yellow and browns. I then toned all of the shading with a light over spray of German gray.























The image for today comes from "Onslaught 2" of the Firefly Collection.

I gotta tell you I'm really impressed with the photo-etch work, and the tubing work you've done. It's been really awesome watching this build coming together!

Simply stunning. Am about to start on a sd.kfz 10/5 with pak 38 so on the hunt for how-to's...also looking for reference images... any recommendations?

Hello all. Happy New Year.

I finished the detail painting with a brush. There really isn't much to speak of on this model as the pioneer tools are not shown in the photograph, so I didn't include them here. Also, I am lazy.















I don't sweat the small mistakes when I detail paint. Because I paint with everything assembled, it is already difficult enough. I tend to paint with thinner paint to help the paint naturally conform to areas. If some spilled over (as on some of the roadwheels), the washes will cover any sights I missed when I went through and touched up.

Again, the steps for my finishing are:

1) Primer
2) Base coat (dark color)
3) Main vehicle color
4) Basic shading (pre and post)
5) Future for protection
6) Detail paint with brush
7) Future
8) Decals
9) Future
10) Oil dot method streaking/modulation
11) Future
12) Pin washes
13) Dry brushing
14) Chipping
15) Flat coat
16) Graphite sharp corners/wear spots
17) Any gloss colors/metallic colors that need to be shiny
18) Pigments or ground chalks

Right now, I am on 6 of ~18. It is already taking shape pretty good.


I received a Trojca Assult Gun book for Christmas. I thought I would post a neat image from there. I really like the camo on these!



'Till next time. Thanks for stopping by.

Mark

Hey guys,

I added the first round of decals. The decals were placed on between coats of future. The first ensures a gloss surface and reduces the opportunity for "silvering". The second protects the decals from future washes.

I think the model is looking a little more lively.
















The future seems to attract dust and hairs pretty well. I vacuumed and cleaned around my area, so that should help a little. A spray booth probably would help as well, funds permitting.

While I will pick off the big hairs with a tweezers, the "oil dot" weathering step really helps give a nice smooth surface, so I am predicting a lot of the inconsistencies will clear themselves up.

Finally, I am leaving the license plates blank. I do not have (or know of any) additional views of this vehicle. I'd rather not guess / make up a WL license plate number. I have seen prototype / new vehicles from the halftrack manufacturers with blank plates on the prototypes. Let me know your thoughts?




Thanks again for looking. I really appreciate all of your kind comments. I hope this turns out well, I kind of like the model before it was painted; we'll see how she comes around.

Hey guys,

A double feature today!

Ok so this post will go into the oil dot method. There are much better examples on Armorama than mine:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/2432&page=2

I look for some color variation and slight streaking with my oil dot method. I think for most they handle streaking with the oil dot and use filters to achieve color variation. I have never really been the best with filters nor do I like overdone panel shading effects; so for me this is enough.





Make sure your brush is only lightly wetted with the solvent.







When your brush builds up with paint, wipe it on a dry towel. Again, we like to keep the brush pretty dry.



And the majority of color gets removed. What you see are the streaks that are left and the differences in sheen on the oil color paints.





The above images were just a sample to show the method. Below is the entire go at it. Don't feel that you need to use all of the colors. I personally stay away from using a lot of green as it is overpowering.





The next image is midway through the clean up. You can see how the colors are starting to blend in with the model.





Be careful to inspect the underside of details, as the brush tends to push a lot of color into hidden areas. These must be cleaned up.



Once I have the majority of paint dragged down and removed, I go through a final cleanup.

With this cleanup, I use a saturated brush. Depending on how wet the brush is, how much pressure I apply, and how many times I go over an area, I can really control the effect. I can determine how much color is left on the model and if the oil dot acts more like a filter or more like streaking.



The following images are sections that I left a lot of color on. I had to overexpose the shots to get the color to show up as the base coat is really dark. Additionally, you are also seeing differences in sheen. So the streaking is a lot more toned down than the camera shows.







Again for me, this isn't really a "grime" stage. The next set of washes will achieve that. I just want to break up larger panels with lines and colors.

I saw the following photo of a Marder iii on the internet. It is kind of creepy with the downed plane. I don't know, there is just something eerie and yet catching about the image.




As always, thanks for stopping by.

Mark

Hey guys,

Thanks for the funnies. Here's another.



Ok, so on to washes now. Remember all of those future coats we laid down? Well they will come into handy with the next steps. I cannot stress enough how important a good gloss surface plays in washes. You don't want to have your base coat lift on you, it is a real pain to fix.

Putting my old MM enamels to use.



I tilt my wash cup ever so slightly. I also like to have a few colors at once. I still end up performing a few washes, but I like the flexibility in colors as I go.





One of the benefits of tilting the cup is it allows me to determine how thick / aggressive / sluggish my wash is. If I pick from the top of the jar, the wash is likely to be thicker.






And if I pick lower in the jar, I get a thinner application. I also decided to take the lighter of the color in the mixture.





Note the differences in thickness and left-over marks.



OK ok, so now I apply the wash to the model. I tend to play a little thicker / wetter. I wouldn't consider this a "sludge wash" as others would say, but it is pretty close.

Note, the color of the wash was too light. I had to redo the model in a darker color, but you get the idea. I think this shade would have been perfect for a desert vehicle.











Ok, so now that the wash is applied and dried, you have to shape it how you want. You can streak it, smear it, or have it only show in the recesses as a "pin wash". Again, be random in the patterns. If any patterns catch your eye, break it up.









The circle around this post is too uniform.





There, that's better.



Ok, so now I want a little streaking effect with the wash.







Again, you shape the wash to do what you want. Just because you intended the wash to act like a "pin wash" doesn't mean you can't change it here and there if it looks really cool doing so!

Ok so away from the camera, I finished cleaning up the lighter wash. I then applied a thinner, darker wash. The original wash was WAY too light.

When looking at these images (and when you are applying your washes), don't get too hung up on things looking really streaky. The wash drys to a dull finish, whereas the undercoat is glossy. If you are seeing all sorts of weird lines that won't clean up, it is probably because of this. The final flat coat will bring everything to an even sheen and remove the streaking.

These next few photos are the only correctly exposed photo's to give you a sense of how dark I think panzer grey should be. The rest are overexposed to show the weathering.







And now the over-exposure shots.

































Well, it is turning out a little dirtier than I had intended. I wanted to depict this vehicle during some troop trials / factory testing. It is still a little too dirty for that.

I'll keep the dry-brushing and chipping to a minimum. Again, the actual color of the vehicle is very dark, so much of the efforts shown will be very subdued.

Thanks again for tuning in and all of the nice comments. People really seem to like the in-action shots. Hopefully it is helpful on your own models. My techniques are just one of the many ways to complete a model.

For the photo today, I had a small rez Normandy dio of a Marder I. For some reason I like the setting.

first off THANK YOU for showing step-by-step on the washing & weathering... looking forward to seeing more. One question tho, how will you paint the tracks if they are already attached - especially the pads of the upper surface? I have the Sd.Kfz 10 underway and the tracks are the one thing puzzling me.

I was considering painting the wheel halves then building the running gear, making the tracks in 2 halves then painting before adding to the wheels before then adding to the chassis (the wheels attach to panels that then attach top the body so can build both sides as individual modules, paint and attach (then do all the weathering in one go

thanks

Hey guys,

Another segment. Today we will look at dry brushing. It is a pretty simple technique, but it is pretty easy to overdo.

Be careful, do not OVERDO this technique. It is hard to correct if done wrong.

Take your base color, and add a spot of white or beige.











Make sure the brush is very dry before you place it on the model.

On some of the photo's below, I will show with red where the dry brushing is. It should be done very subtly, so the red will help you distinguish the effects.













Be careful to not be even / uniform in following lines. It is tempting, but is too obvious when complete. For the side, I will hit two sections only (not the entire length).









Also, for the darker colors, make a new mix. Keep the drybrush colors matched with their appropriate undercoats. This mix is for the leather, tires, and tracks.































Notice the wheel on the left has more drybrushing than the other two. Again, be irregular.















Hope you enjoy.

Ok, we are getting closer.

For chipping, I like to use the real fine foam. If you purchase any electronics, you can usually find the correct type.

I think using a sponge is much more controllable than a brush, and looks more natural IMHO.

















I used a mixture of the following colors to emulate steel.



Ok, so after applying chipping to the model, I flat coated the whole thing. I had a little overspray fuzz on the gun cradle. I might hit it with a mist coat of lacquer thinner to hopefully incorporate the dried fuzz on the surface.

That said, it looks a lot worse in the photos, so I might just leave it. To be honest, I didn't even see / feel it until I saw the photos.



The following tool is very useful for many applications. It is also good at smoothing a surface between paint coats (bubbles, hair, overspray, and general chaos!)







I will selectively leave some areas slightly glossy to add contrast. Have you been on a steel diamond plate floor when your feet / boots are wet or oily? The floor probably looks like the following then.





Notice in the below photo how the sponge will gravitate towards corners. To me it gives a very realistic and fast finish to accomplish.















I wanted the gun to look different from the rest of the model. I weathered it a little heavier. I was planning as if the gun was an older construction that was being used to in this new prototype vehicle.





Ok, so now to the slightly fuzzy gun cradle. I think I can take care of this. I might take the lazy route and never put my face too close to the model.

Sometimes you get fuzz, sometimes you don't. I still don't have it mastered. I try not to let it bug me too much.





Thanks for looking. Just a few more steps left and we are done!!!