Hi all,

Here's my progress on a Tamiya Panzer II ausf F. Tried my hand at sponge chipping. Not sure if I overdid it. Tried depicting a vehicle that had survived long enough for the whitewash to peel off a lot. Would highly appreciate feedback or suggestions.

I have a couple of questions:
1) I tried doing hairspray chipping initially but the paint just wouldn't peel off. Does that mean that I applied too little hairspray or too much paint?
2) What filter color would go nice over white camo? I was thinking of brown, blue or grey oil colors. Or would that be too much on the white? If not a uniform color - maybe an oil dot filter would work?
3) Did tools (like the shovel and jack) get painted white as well? As such, would it be weird for me to paint them all back their original wood/metal color over the white
4) Is it reasonable for me to paint the exhaust at the rear a rusty color? Would the cold climate have permitted to rust to form on it?
5) Should the red number markings be chipping as well when the winter camo went off? I have already added a bit more white streaks on top of it after i took the photos to make them stand out a bit less.
Thanks all!

Paint job looks excellent to me, the only thing i would do is tone down the red numbers slightly. The exhaust will still rust in cold weather.

Agree on numbers, everything else - very nice!

1) It depends how many coats of hairspray did you use?
2) Brown Filters will work well for whitewash, remember to use very small amounts. (Filters are generally very transparent layers)
3) It's been debated alot that tools were painted and the paint chipped off. (It's up to your own artistic license)
4) IYes, the exhaust would get very rusty in snowy conditions.
5) No Generally these would be re-applied by paint almost as soon as they got chipped. If the enemy is trying to kill you, you don't want your own guys shooting at you aswell.

Thank you all for your kind comments.




1 - I applied a slightly thick coat once. I gave it 10 minutes to try before applying tamiya flat white thinned with water.

5 - Got it. So it wouldn't be weird to see a vehicle with a nearly faded whitewash still have clean markings on top?

1 - Build up coats, generally 2 thin coats is enough, it's best to brush the water on top, leave it to sink under the layer of white and then go back to it after 30-40secs and the paint will chip fairly easily.

5 - Generally no, the markings are usually painted around to avoid having to re-apply them. But I have seen photos of them reapplied over whitewash

So I added a raw umber filter hoping to bring the details out... And I ended up with this dirty white color. Not exatly what i was hoping for. Put too much paint in the filter it seems. Weathered the running gear as well.

The numbers look better but note - they look like they were applied over the white wash. In reality, the crews never would have taken the time to do this. The whitewash was applied around the existing numbers. Sometimes with a close border but most of the time, they just roughly worked around the numbers (and crosses, tactical markings, etc), leaving a good amount of the base grey (or yellow) visible. Of course, as is the case with everything related to German armor, I'm sure there were a few exceptions but not many.

Makes me feel cold just looking at it! Good job!

Ditto on the areas immediately around the numbers and any other tactical markings.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will take note of the discussion on the tactical numbers next time. I have to admit, I was sort of relying on Dragon's boxart of a panzer IV with red markings over whitewash for this decision. Though the numbers I choose are fictional Will be using these feedback when i tackle tge Panzer IV