Panzerwerfer 17 Mar 2012 update

IMHO german armor always looks better with more than one color. i saw somewhere that a modeler painted the vehicle in the squiggle color, boiled spaghetti noodles, and draped them over themodel in a fashion that esembled the camo and let them dry, then sprayed the dark yellow over that. after he took them off and rinsed away the starchy residue it looked AWESOME. since it technically has raied edges on the "masks" it makes the squiggles have a soft edge if you spray perpendiclar to the panel...

hope this helps!

If you decide to go the snaky lines route, may I make this suggestion? Really look at the model from ground level. If you were a human sized figure next to it, how would you paint it? Would you make 60 foot long, never-ending snaky lines, climbing over every surface of the AFV? Or would you spray lines in a 4' wide panel, then haul your air hose a few feet over, and start again?

Avoid the "hand of god" method of applying camouflage. Imagine a maintenance dude having to drag a spray gun and hose around the vehicle.    If you look around at german models, you'll often see the "hand of god" affect.  I find it unappealing.

I think a two-color camo of red brown and green squigglies would add something to the monotone color. The tri-color camos make the German armor more unique with all the different patterns.

It just looks so naked in one color.

Given the nature and type of the vehicle and when it was in service, I would lean strongly in favor of applying a camo pattern of some kind vs. leaving it in plain DY. Squiggly camo may seem a challenge but it really boils down to just being patient and applying some logic as Roy points out to avoid the "hand of god" effect.

Did I really read "spaghetti noodle masking" up there? Seriously?? Has anyone here tried that?

Camo would make it more interesting but if you want to go with historical accuracy chances are it was overall dark yellow...almost all of the pics I've got in my vast archive shows the monotone scheme and a few in whitewash...cue the dude who's about to plaster the pic of the one exception after my post and proclaim that I don't know what I'm talking about...one...two...three...

kettenkopf - I agree its to plain.

Bill, tigerman and Roy - I am going to apply a Olivgrün and Rotbraun over the Dunkelgelb as suggested. I will practice the squiggly camo tonight on some foam board scrapes before putting it on the Panzerwefer. Thanks for all the tips and encouragement.

TWC - I read that spaghetti method somewhere myself and have thought about trying it out more than once. Unfortunatly since I already have the Dunkelgelb down and I really like out how this has turned out so far I don't want to ruin it with a untried method.

Manstein's revenge

Camo would make it more interesting but if you want to go with historical accuracy chances are it was overall dark yellow...almost all of the pics I've got in my vast archive shows the monotone scheme and a few in whitewash...cue the dude who's about to plaster the pic of the one exception after my post and proclaim that I don't know what I'm talking about...one...two...three...

Personally, my advice would be that whatever you decide to do, at least apply some washes and dirty it up!

T26E4

If you decide to go the snaky lines route, may I make this suggestion? Really look at the model from ground level. If you were a human sized figure next to it, how would you paint it? Would you make 60 foot long, never-ending snaky lines, climbing over every surface of the AFV? Or would you spray lines in a 4' wide panel, then haul your air hose a few feet over, and start again?

Avoid the "hand of god" method of applying camouflage. Imagine a maintenance dude having to drag a spray gun and hose around the vehicle.    If you look around at german models, you'll often see the "hand of god" affect.  I find it unappealing.

Thats the best advice I have ever seen on here about camo paint jobs. Especially field/crew applied.

I fully agree stikpusher. Roy's approach makes perfect sense considering the conditions of war and this will be the mindset going forward when I do armor.

Thanks Roy!

Yes doog, I will wash and dirty it up! Being a fan of your articles and tutorials I would be remiss in doing otherwise.

While it would not be innaccurate to leave it as it is, it would deffinatly look better in more than one colour.

I had never thought about that Hand of God effect when appyling camo to armour. But it does make a lot of sense.

No wonder God never wins at Nationals.

You have a good point about large paint schemes.

Page one of my search that showed actual pics---the only ones in camo were box-art for models and built-up models...would it be wrong to add camo?  No, but IMO most were left in dark yellow with the narrow style crosses...

Manstein's revenge

 

 

 

 

 

Page one of my search that showed actual pics---the only ones in camo were box-art for models and built-up models...would it be wrong to add camo?  No, but IMO most were left in dark yellow with the narrow style crosses...

You guys aren't making this easy.

I did practice on foam board last night. Not to bad and I figure a few more practices and then I will lay the camo down

I also found these:

Do it in camo . Its much more interesting that way . As you can see there are always opposing opinions and  facts to be presented . Looks to me like it could go either way so why not pick the camo ? Painting a camo scheme is more fun and it challenges your skills. Camo it .

IBuild148

You guys aren't making this easy.

 

 

 

Manstein's revenge

IBuild148:

You guys aren't making this easy.

 

 

 

 

You're welcome...

lol

IBuild148

You guys aren't making this easy.

If you want easy, build British or US. If you want to build German, be prepared to have your head explode

Easy? I disagree.  It's harder to make a mono-chromatic scheme really pop. 

T26E4

Easy? I disagree.  It's harder to make a mono-chromatic scheme really pop. 

True .

After a lot of research, thought and procastination I have decided on the following paint scheme I found thanks to the web.

I will use this as my guide:

The paint will be MM's enamal Olivgrun and Schokoladebraun. The tools to accomplish the effect will be a 12/0 brush, toothpick and microbrush applicator for various shapes and sizes.

Here is a "small" start of what I just did:

One thing I do need help with is locating the Balkenkreuz and the black tactical number 5 in 1/35 scale. Can anyone help with this feat???

Good start . Your going to have to make the dots much more denser though . I would of used acrylics for dots in case you make a mistake its easy to remove with some window cleaner .

That's a cool scheme. i do agree with Carl, that you need to add a lot to create that dense look. Good start.

Shellback

Good start . Your going to have to make the dots much more denser though . I would of used acrylics for dots in case you make a mistake its easy to remove with some window cleaner .

Definitely picked a challenging scheme, but patience and determination should pull it off. Looking at the color plate you posted it looks like the dots mostly "chain" together to form squiggles, so that might help you in the replication process as well.

Great scheme to go with!

I agree with everyone who said "smaller"! But that should be easy enough to do.

Hey, I might have those decals in my spares--I"ll let you know if I have a cross like that and a "5". I'll PM ya if I can find them!

Cool scheme! Takes a lot of guts to do something so tedious. Crazy Germans and their over complicated paint jobs....