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510 Schwere Panzer Abteilung - Painting Log - Updated 8/31


fingolfen

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So I've finally gotten together all of the Ammo of Mig and AK paints I need to start getting serious about modulation at 15mm scale.  I've used the technique a lot on 1/35th scale miniatures, but compared to 15mm - well, honestly there is no comparison.

 

I'm starting with some of the King Tigers from 510 Schwere Panzer-Abteilung - specifically the "green octopus" and the red primer one with some panzer dark yellow overspray.  I'm basing the paint schemes on Trojca's King Tiger book and some extant photos.  

 

The base green modulated nicely using a 3 color modulation:

 

octopus-shaded.jpg

 

The primer red looked great too:

 

helpup-primeronly2.jpg

 

Not content to stop there, I went ahead and did the panzer yellow overspray... the new Iwata Custom Micron made short work of it... unfortunately I'd lost the lovely natural light, so the flash and my indoor lighting washes out a lot of the marvelous detail in the shading - but you get the general idea:

 

helpupside1-contrast.jpg

 

One cool thing about this particular vehicle is it had a couple of track guards in "ambush" scheme (though the connector between the two is depicted as still being in primer red):

 

helpup3.jpg

 

So far I'm extremely happy with the results.  

 


 

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I am getting the hang of things.  

 

Now I'm just trying to find good set of paints for Green and Brown. I have 'Field Green' of the Valejo Air line, I just need to find a lighter tone that will compliment the 'Field Green' and also the brown I use (I think it's camo med brown).  I am trying to stick with the Valejo Air line & learning 1 step at a time.

 

Also, I may be closer to the stage where I need to plan about a higher quality airbrush. The standard one that came with my compressor is good to learn on (it does have double action) but I am trying to work towards finer detail.

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I've moved over to the Ammo of MIG and AK interactive paints for anything I want to modulate.  Still a little bit of a learning curve.  I'll pose the dark yellow modulation later this week - the base for the panzer dark yellow didn't like my primer for some reason, but I was able to clean it up with a 2nd coat.

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So I'm making progress!  I got my panzer putty in, and went ahead and masked up the "octopus" scheme:

 

octopus%2B-%2Bpanzer%2Bputty.jpg

 

I went ahead and started getting the panzer dark yellow down and highlighted:

 

panzer%2Byellow%2Bhighlights.jpg

 

... and then got the octopus spots on one of the two:

 

octopus%2B-%2Bone%2Bdone%2B-%2Bone%2Bbas

 

I also got a better picture of the primer one:

 

helpup%2B-%2Bnew%2Blighting.jpg

 

From a tank standpoint, this is starting to come together.  I've also started scraping the infantry and FlaK gun crews...

 


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Making some major progress at this point on the tanks and guns for the 510. Schwere Panzer Abteilung list.  I’m now working on the ambush camouflage tanks – these will serve as the 1iC and 2iC for the list.  As none of the King Tigers in the unit had any markings at this point, I can’t use turret numbers to differentiate squads – fortunately they used three types of camouflage, so between that and popping open a few hatches I’m in good shape!

 

I’m 2/3rds of the way through the main colors on the hard edge camouflage for the King Tigers.  First I did a base with AK Interactive Panzer Dark Yellow modulation:

 

ambush%2B-%2Bbase.jpg

 

Then I got back out the Panzer Putty, masked, and hit it with the dark green modulation:

 

ambush%2B-%2Bgreen%2Bon.jpg

 

The red brown is next once the green has dried enough to mask over.

 

I’ve also been hitting up the tanks of the training squad.  I went with an AK interactive base coat as I found the Ammo of MIG wargaming set to be a shade brighter (I’m using shadow, light base, and highlight – and the MIG set has base, highlight, and shine).  I may try the Ammo of MIG again, but I’ll have to go lighter on the modulation coats...

 

ersatz%2B-%2Bbase.jpg

 

I then hit these with the red-brown and olive green overspray from the Ammo of MIG set as I wanted a freehand camouflage for these:

 

ersatz%2Bsquad.jpg

 

I’m still working out the techniques with the new high-end Iwata, but the results are pretty good so far.

 

While I was at it I hit the Flak guns as well...

 

flakvierling.jpg

 


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Ok, you see how the brown is splotchy?  Well, that's where I'm at and trying to figure out how to get a smoother spray.  I don't know if I need a higher quality airbrush or if I need to fiddle some more with the settings on my current airbrush, or if I have to fine tune the thinning of the paint.

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I sort of did that on purpose on this one, but if I was going for a smoother spray, it's a matter of a few things - airbush quality - you need a decent one, but a more expensive airbrush isn't necessarily going to give you a better result unless you optimize the rest.  Paint consistency is key - you have to match the thinner / paint mix to the tip size and pressure.  You'll also want to limit the pressure - anything above about 25psi is probably going to be too much...

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So, if you were to thin down that Brown, what steps would you first do.  In this common situation for me, I 'm just trying to figure which direction to go. For example, I know that 'spidering' is paint that is way too watered down.

 

Sometimes you have to go back and forth - with the modulation colors, I've been able to use most of them "out of the pot" with the general purpose Iwata. Thinning helped a bit with the high performance one, but it will vary from brush to brush.  For me the key has been working with the paint until I get it where I want on a test surface, and then moving it immediately over to the "real thing."  The surface itself also unfortunately plays a role, so there is no "one size fits all" - key thing is the paint has to be thin enough to flow well and not clog the airbrush and the airflow (and pressure) needs to be consistent.  An inline water filter doesn't hurt either.

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