Catch up with PART TEN here
Finally getting some of it painted. I got primer on last week and got the touch-ups done. Now the base coats are on. My apologies for not getting progress shots done as I only had a small weather window to work in so didn’t have time to stop for photos. But basically it got a single uniform coat, a series of darker highlights under the fenders and under the engine deck sides, a lighter coat on the sides and an even lighter coat on the upper surfaces. It then got the camo freehanded and all tied together with a dark-yellow filter ( 5% dark yellow enamel and 95% thinner ). It will all darken up once the washes go on.
I wanted to go with the soft edged camo seen on a lot of Pz.Kpfw.IVs of the period, particularly those of 12th SS Hitlerjurgen, though this one will be a 3.Pz.Div. vehicle. I also didn’t get too carried away with being perfect as this will be getting a whitewash so the camo is mainly there to be seen in the areas that get worn away with the final weathering. Since we were last here I’ve also added a few bits prior to painting that were missed – strengthening ribs at the rear, the small exhaust-pipe on the small muffler for the auxilliary turret motor, the lifting eye on the gun mantlet, and I replaced the muffler as the Academy one was too small so scratchbuilt a bigger one from plasticard and put that on. Looks more like it should now.
The schurzen and running gear still needs to be painted but with only a few hours of good light and weather to do it in I decided to just get the main part done while I could so that I can move on with it and fit in the schurzen and wheels when the weather suits. With the running gear off you can also see the cheat with the final drive housings. The Academy ones are undersized and the wrong shape but as only the front edge and the back can be seen I rebuilt the backs and just covered the front edge with the Ausf.G armoured covers rather than completely rebuild them.
I need to clean the excess paint off the aerial ( yes it’s meant to be bent, most photos of Gs with schurzen and the front mounted aerial show them bent ), and I also have to fix up the bow MG as I didn’t notice it twisted sideways after being glued so that now the periscope hole is in the wrong place. So I need to fill that hole and drill a new one in the correct place. After that is a coat of Future ( Klear to us Kiwis ), the decals, painting the tools, cupola pad, etc, then another coat of Klear and onto the oil washes. Once all that is done it will darken up and bit and look like it should. Then I’ll go and cover it all up anyway by painting it white.
