Well, I'd generally just freehand the camo since the German's used an airgun to apply it.

You can use Silly Putty too for a hard edge as below:

I did this one all freehand

the only reason i didn't mask it off for hard lines is because I went over it with a snow camouflage.

I just spray the base and then the two colors. Nothing to really think about. I've never done a hard-edge Camo before.

Scott:

Hi! 

Welcome to the world of tri-colored panzer-painting!  I am an HP-C user and have a modicum of 3-color experience, so maybe I'll be among those who can either help or mislead you as you rev up for fun!

Resources: see modeling sites for build logs and painted builds, see any number of great threads on various sites that talk about paint schemes and painting techniques, see available pubs (Concord military series books have lots of historic photos and various artist's renditions thereof, for example, Osprey has several build and modeling books, and there are other pubs and many authors to choose from).  And yes, there are CD and videos around, including many posted on YouTube, that show folks doing various techniques.  By me - it's like opening a dam...

OK...  Decisions about what to do...  You have some to make.  There are several possible color-schemes / patterns available for this beast...  Almost all of these vehicles probably were tri-colored with a base-coat in dunkelgelb followed by some form of blotch or pattern camo in rot-braun and oliv-grun.  Most were probably factory-painted (as these were later war vehicles and factories were ordered to paint the camo on before sending them off to the front), though I am pretty sure that some field repainting happened.  The schemes generally divide into "hard-edge" and "soft-edge" types - and there are historic pics available to show examples of both types.  So you have to decide "hard" or "soft".

Next, you want to decide whether you are trying for a historic individual vehicle or trying to depict the "generality" and capture the concept instead of historic accuracy.  IF going for a historic vehicle, you will want to find reference pics of that vehicle - in some cases, there are reasonably-well-documented vehicles which have been rendered as colored diags (aside from box-art schemes, which may have been - or not...).  I find the Concord Military Series books pretty nice sources for ideas and for pics of some specific vehicles. For the historic build, you'll want to study reference pics and perhaps sketch out your design on tank outlines -

IF going for the non-specific but reasonably "like" real scheme, do some homework among the pubs and model sites to get ideas about how things look - how patterns are arranged, shapes and relative sizes of blotches or elements, etc. One way to get to lots of pics of your type is to Google the type and click on the "images" button... gets historical pics and kits and build-links, etc.

Once you know whether you are going "specific historic" or "reasonably close to a type", and you have decided on the general scheme type (hard or soft), you are almost ready to go!

The hard - edge stuff will require you to base-spray the dunkelgelb, and then mask pieces of your desired pattern, and spray those.  HOW to mask? There are various approaches used to mask, and several build examples of "big cats" are posted on modeling sites (see Track-link.net, Armorama.com, FineScale (here), Missing-Lynx.com, etc.).

For soft-edge patterns - there are a couple of things... one is that you can free-hand them - YOU have control of everything about each blob or blotch - both good and bad!  Another is that you can outline with pencil on your kit some guide-lines before you get to spraying...  this way, you get to paint pretty much within some lines!

IF you have never free-handed any camo pattern, or you have only "base-coat experience" with your shooting iron (AB), doing a little practice to get a feel for controlling aim and flow and application is in order.  That can be as simple as doodling around on the bottom of the kit to "lock in" on what your scale and hand-movements are.  I doodle around on the back of my "spray-booth" - a cardboard box with a vent attached.  This way, I hone and size my planned-for pattern before I go to the panzer.

My personal experience based around simply jumping into a few doodles, followed by starting up on a first kit.  I started gently and slowly, but jumped right to free-handing using an opened book (Concord pub!) as a proximate guideline for me to check sizing and general locations against as I went. (Probably should have done the penciled outline route, but )

I found that the first pass was a bit tricky to keep blotch sizing and shape and paint density all consistent - the patterns started to shift as I went across the kit.  So the beauty of things was that I could haul out that base-coat dunkelgelb and go back and "trim" over-sized blotches, etc. 

Practice does pay off! So does getting info before you go!  So visit around the sites some more and look at lots of pics before you decide what it is you want to do!

I hope this helps prime your paint-pump a little!  Above all else, it's only a kit, and painting can be re-done as desired!  So have some FUN!

Bob

I do mine freehand

One caution about freehand snaky camo lines.  Please don't do the "hand of God" technique where you get never ending or 80-ft long lines.  Remember, it was painted by some poor shlepp, clambering over ladders/steps, hauling an air hose around a tank 15 foot off the ground.  Put yourself in that mindset versus you the modeler, spraying it at a 45 degree angle from 50 scale feet above the actual tank.  Wasn't done like that.

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

I was actually leaning toward the "freehand" method before I posted this thread.

So I think that is what I will do, but I am definitely going to take Bob's advice and practice some on something else first. Believe me I have no shortage of stuff in workshop to do the practicing on.

Also, I'll try and avoid those lines that go on forever, Roy. On the Jagdtiger should be easy as it does not have any. Of course later builds will.

Thanks Again

Scott

I've seen plenty of photos of German tanks with snaky camo.  A lot was done by maintenance personal with several men doing the job.  The maintenance and supply  tail of the German army was quite long  Maybe not always the best supplied, but they did pretty good considering..  The tanks all spent considerable time in the shops, some primitive, some shops indoors in large facilities.  Lots of variables to consider.  Check out photos of Jagdpanthers and their big broad stripes of three colors. Probably factory applied, but valid.  I've seen some SP guns with thin snaky stripes all  over as well.  I do think our little models do overdo the neatness of camo most of the time.  It's like figure painters with the hyper realism or aircraft with every panel line highlighted, and don't get me going on the rusted out, chipped up tanks with 2 months of service life and still working.  Just play with it and enjoy yourself and don't sweat it.  Most folks will never see your model and those that do, won't care.  You'll be lucky if they know you painted it and it didn't come painted that way.    Just my opinion based on  observation over 40 years of modeling.

In the end, it's your model.  Paint it as you want.  By the way,  I've aways free handed it with double action badgers, Iwata,  or Aztec, among others.  Works well for me, just practice is all.

Doug