Armour build No. 3 Sturmgeschutz IV

I like your weathering. I don't think it's overdone. Just one thing though, thr extra track on the front of the hull looks unpainted. I think it's more grey than metallic.

For a vehicle that relatively popular with the troops, it seems hard to find decent pictures of the Stug IV other than destroyed tracks.

Looks good ........lots of good critique .

Not bad for a third model.

The first thing that strikes me is your color choice; Desert Yellow was for Afrika Corp vehicles, and this model was a late StuG that wouldn't normally have been seen in that theatre, so you should have gone with Dark Yellow. Maybe a minor thing for you at this stage, but one that counts as you get into it more.

And when you apply Dark Yellow, lighten it by at least 50% with White.

I'm not sure if that salt technique was necessary for a base coat of yellow; usually, it would be used to replicate something like a degraded whitewash or a genuinely rusting vehicle. As it is, your finish looks more "spotted" or splattered with--mud? dirt?--it's hard to get a read on what you were hoping to achieve?

Your skin tones should be warmer and lighter. Try a mix of simple raw sienna and white in any artists' acrylics, then do a very light oil wash of raw umber when the acrylic dries. It gets a great skin tone.

If I can add one more suggestion: you should know that German antennae were hollow rods -- not "whip" type antennae you might find on US vehicles.  They would have been rigid and 2 meters in length or about 57 mm in scale.  Hope this helps

Hi everyone,

Thank-you for  the kind words and great feedback.

Ben - I will most definitely go with aftermarket tools in future builds. also how do I get a realistic streaking effect?

Anthony - I use the German Grey an my aircraft and it didn't occur to me to use it with armor. I've got a Trumpeter MA1A and a Tamiya Leopard in my stash, might even buy another. Do you recommend anything. I would like to try individual link tracks next time.

Cheers - Leo

Nice work on the Stug.

Overall nice presentation of an oldie by Tamiya. In addition to the earlier comments, the handles on the wirecutters were not metal, but a plastic known as bakelite. They were a dark grey or black color. Also the color of the cap doesn't look right. Could be the flash.

Hey Leo,

Nice job on No.3.

Just a couple of minor suggestions:

• Paint in the glass in the periscope blocks around the cupola.
• Use a fine-tipped brush and paint the tool retaining clips/bands in the hull colour.

Very nice work,my suggestion would be for the future,don't use black on the rubber part of the wheels.I use Tamiya German Grey mixed with black so the don't look so new.What's the next armor project ?

i like it nice job nice pics.

Ron

Hey buddy,

I love my StuG's so am always pleased to see one gracing these pages.

Overall the build looks really good - well made, tidy and generally very, very presentable!

The first thing that came to my mind as it obviously did the other guys was the glossy figure. He needs a layer of dullcoat imo - he's very well painted though and his cammo is great, my figures are that bad I don't even use them so top work!

I think I can see what Hun Hunter is saying re the tool scale? I must admit they don't look quite right but I'm sure they're fine Photo angles perhaps?

Overall, I'd say this build isn't finished. It's a bit too tidy and some streaking effects and some extra pigment work will really help. With the pigments look at the build and think where would dust and muck build up on this StuG in real life? Try some additional drybrushing maybe and get a hint of rust on certain areas like the spare track run up front.

I've found a very good and simple method of weathering - it's no secret method at all but now I've tried it I'm hooked. It's basically a take on an Acrylic wash. I put a very small amount of my chosen paint into my airbrush cup and fill the rest of the cup with water - probably 2 parts paint to 8 parts water - and spray a fine coat into recesses and onto raised areas and corners. Buff works well as it gives a nice dusty appearance or replicated an area where wet mud had once sat. Play around with it but trust me, it works really well! It wil look odd at first but as soon as the water has evaporated it looks superb.

Also, look at the wheels - very uniform and neat. Put the vehicle on it's side and add a darker wash into each hub and let dry then do the other side. Mix some lighter shade pigment with a bit of water and apply to the tyre walls - when dry rub off ensuring a residue is left behind. The effect works well.

I'm no veteran modeller, I've only been building for just over two years but these are just a few things that I've found make a good build really go 'pop'!

Bill Plunk (wbill on here) has a great website called 'bpmodels' and there is a link to it at the bottom of his posts. He blogs every one of his builds very thoroughly on there and uses some great weathering techniques so check his site out asap!

ATVB

Ben

I was going to mention the figure as well, but I assumed it was the flash too.

The vehicle looks great though, and you're right about the tools. You did a nice job on them but something in the scale seems off.

Nice work on a nifty subject.

        Cool. I think the flash might make the figure a bit shiny-like? Seems it needs to be a bit muted. Otherwise cool. Still... better than I can do!!!