Dragon Panzer II F

[rm6239]

Hi Guys



Well I said I wasn't going to blog this but both Nige and Markus said they would like to see more so the best way for that to happen is to make a post here. It won't be a full on blog as most of it's built now, so it's only the weathering that will appear here.

So the overall theme I'm aiming for is a very tired Panzer II from Tunisia 1943, from the 10th Panzer Division, needing lots of TLC, so chipping and fading will be a big part of the weathering.

After taking heavy losses in Russia, the 10th was moved to France to refit and brought back up to strength. With the Allied launching of Operation Torch, the 10th was rushed to Tunisia as reinforcements. The 10th were involved in the Battle for Kasserine Pass, then they stayed until the end of the North African campaign. Unlike a lot of other Division's that were reformed after being wiped out, the 10th was never reformed and it was removed from the German Order of Battle. A bit harsh you may think but the 10th had some interesting members, the most well known was Claus von Stauffenberg, so if you have seen the movie Valkeryie, this was the division Tom Cruise was in.

In honour of notable members of the 10th Panzer Division being part of the German Resistance and the failed July 20 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944, a new armoured division was named 10. Panzerdivision in 1959 upon the reinstallation of the West German Army as a part of the Bundeswehr.

So on to the pictures.

Finished the lower hull interior, chipping was done with a sponge, a wash of MiG Oil Basic Earth and a final dusting with MiG pigments Africa earth. The fuel stains were done with AK Interactive Fuel stains.



The upper hull interior. Needs a wash to tone down the brightness.



Upper hull exterior.





Beginning of the turret, used the salt method here for the chipping, need to do a bit of cleaning up here now .





The commanders cuppola, with the salt on waiting for the next coat. I think I've gone a bit heavy on the salt here but I will wait until I see how it turns out, an easy fix if I think it's too chipped.



I received some AK Interactive chipping fluid for Christmas, so I will be using it for the first time. The wheels are going to be my guinea pigs, if things work to my satisfaction I will then use it on the rest of the tank.

If I remember correctly this was around the time that the German Army was moving from the Panzer Grey to Dunklegelb colour scheme so I'm thinking that Dunklegelb would of been applied in the workshops during the refit, so it wouldn't have been a rushed job. With that in mind I guessing it would of been applied directly over the Panzer grey, so I'm using Vallejo Panzer Grey primer as both primer and base colour.

Anyway comments, advice all greatfully received.

cheers

Rossco

[chief5437]

Looks great so far mate. Nice interior. Keep it up!

[Schoof]

Wow that`s looking Great !!!!

[Tiger131]

looking superb

[JayCub]

i haven't used the salt method or AK chipping so this is all new to me and i can't wait to see how it turns out, as i have a lot to learn and do, i haven't used a wash before, i used to chip with a blade and silver paint yrs back, and i like a good build up like this one.

Tom

[HWGuderian23]

Superb work so far Rossco !
Well done mate...

[rm6239]

Chief, Schoof and Tiger, thanks guys.

Tom, I only use the salt method rarely myself, mostly if I am chipping I use the sponge or hair spray methods. Pictures below on how I make a wash. I try to use something new on each kit I build, that way I don't overload the brain cells .

Markus, thanks for looking in mate, appreciate it.

Cleaned up the turret and it's been given a coat of Future. I've taken some artistic licence and painted the chair's supports black.



Here's the result of the commanders cupola chipping, I chipped the inside of the hatch with the sponge method.



For Tom.

Here's what I used to make my wash.



The result.



Now I will just brush it over the Ivory, it will tone down the whiteness and gather in the lower areas to give an appearance of dirt.

cheers

Rossco

[T3hGuppy]

Really nice start on this one dude.

Going to have a really battered looking Panzer

[alextheblue]

Great work Rossco, looking great!

Never tried salt or hair-spray for chipping, so you've inspired me to give it a go on my next build.

[rm6239]

Guppy, cheers mate, hardest part as always is not to overdo it .

Alex, great mate, you will like the effect, whichever you try. There's lots of walkthrough's on both all over the net and if you have any questions give me a bell. First time I tried the hairspray method I used german helmets out of the spares box to practice on. Each one was slightly different, eg more HS, more drying time or more water added.

Only a small update today.

Going to have all the visors open, so changed the build instructions a little. Hope I've gotten it correct.



Panzer Grey on the road wheels, I've also added some damage. I read somewhere that the seam down the middle of the road wheels was supposed to there, so I've attacked them with a sander also to give a worn look.



Then I built a ..................... box .



Also attacked the box with a sander to hopefully give it some wood grain effect.

cheers

Rossco

[AchtungPanzer]

Wow ! Super panzer zwei - will be a great model > by that date from me to Your work . Well Done Rossco!

[rm6239]

Cheers mate, just been doing some weathering on the box and jerry can's at the moment. Steel Rain SIG is slowing me down.

cheers
Rossco

[localjedi]

Wheeew, looks like this is going to be a highly interesting model. Let us see more!!!

[rm6239]

Jedi, it's kinda on hold at the moment while I build my entry for the Steel Rain SIG mate.

cheers

Rossco