Jasper takes on a PzKpfw IV H

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

West Wind is currently running a KS for some Weird WWII mechs, which means I'm currently obsessing a bit about WWII mechs...but I don't currently own any.

But I do have one of their tanks from their Berlin or Bust WWII line, the PzKpfw IV H with side plates. (For those not in the know on WWII German tanks, a group I include myself in, but did some googling, that's really it's name, short for Panzerkampfwagen). Not really sure why I picked up this one, other than I wanted a tank of some sort.......a year or 2 ago....

 

 

Let's see what's in the package.

 

Ok, a lot of pieces.  I recognize a gun....and tracks, and a turret.  And what are apparently side plates....and a commander...well, half a commander....

 

After looking at a few pictures it seems all the straight bits and angled bits are bracing for the side plates.  

Some of those other bits, might take some searching to identify.

 

So, having never done a tank, or anything approaching an accurate historic military anything, I'm hoping for some suggestions on how to proceed, what some of the bits are, colour schemes, etc.

 

And while I do have an air brush, it is currently not set up (as my new painting room isn't set up for it yet) and I'm not really comfortable using it yet anyway......

So, painting it could be interesting.

 

 

[ratsmitglied 388]

by the looks of it the metal pieces on sprue include the commanders hatch and cupola, as well as the drive cogs for the tracks - so the cogs on sprue will need to be added to the tracks.

 

The schurzen (side skirts) obviously go on the sides of the tank, but I would recommend painting everything else before adding them, as they will make it difficult to paint anything behind them.

 

If you do a google image search for Panzer IVH you will see lots of pictures that you could use for inspiration on colours and paint scheme - but as a general rule the colours will be Dunkelgelb ('dark yellow', but depending on who you read the colour ranges from yellow to a light greenish colour), Green and Brown, painted over a red primer, which the tracks were also painted in.

 

If you have a look at West Wind's Website they have a photo of it assembled, so that should help you out a bit in working things out - but if you want more help on specific parts please take a close up of the sprues and I'll see what I can do...I normally work in 15mm for tanks, so they are a little different in some ways (in fact, I built 5 Panzer IVF1s this morning)

[knarthex 59644]

A few thoughts...

(I sent you a pm as well)

 

The schurzen on hanging off the sides of the turret and hull are designed to stop/mitigate the hollow charge warheads in Bazookas and other such weapons..

 

Depending on the color scheme that you plan on, and airbrush is your best friend for painting the normal 3 color camouflage that the Wehrmacht used in 43- 45...

I originally bought my first airbrush to do this style of camo on 15mm tanks...

(I love Tamiya paints for my WWII armor...)

 

Looking at the parts, you likely can assemble everything BUT the schurzen and paint away, but I would recommend doing the tank commander separately...

(I have painted a lot of 15mm tanks....)

 

On a historical note, the MK IV was the only German tank produced before the war, that was produced up until the very end, and many variant vehicles such as tank destroyers and assault guns used the chassis....

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

Thanks guys!

 

I may need to see if the place down the road still carries Tamiya.

And I should add messing about with my air brush to my list of things to do on stay-cation next week.....

 

I expect this will be a slower project for me, but should be interesting.

[Mckenna35 973]

If you Google Panzer IVH and look at the images, you'll see you have a LOT of options available to you!  Depending on how obsessed you are about historical accuracy, you may want to do more research at the library.  Pretty  much anything is going to start with Dunkelgelb/Dark Yellow, and then either or or two camo colors on top of that.  Definitely leave the side plates off until you're done, and it may actually make life easier to add the track units after painting as well.  Leaving them off will make it a lot easier to paint and weather the top of the track runs. Air brushing is going to be the easiest way to achieve the feathered edges common to German camo, but similar results can be achieved with stippling.  Whatever you choose - have fun!

Edited February 9, 2017 by Mckenna35

[Heisler 9669]

That's a very flashy kit, make sure you are actually cleaning off flash rather than detail though. Except for the side skirts I typically assemble completely before priming and painting. Here's a quick look at some of the steps I go through with my armor (these are also 28mm, like yours). I wouldn't worry about weathering the tops of the tracks, they are either going to be hidden by the hull or the skirts.

 

This is a wash made from milliput to help reduce the roughness of the resin on these particular vehicles.

 

Three vehicles ready for priming

 

Priming finished (modulated, darker on the bottom, lighter on top).

 

Coat of Dunkelgelb (don't worry about this color to much, there are many variations, this comes from AMMO by Mig)

[knarthex 59644]

That's a very flashy kit, make sure you are actually cleaning off flash rather than detail though. Except for the side skirts I typically assemble completely before priming and painting. Here's a quick look at some of the steps I go through with my armor (these are also 28mm, like yours). I wouldn't worry about weathering the tops of the tracks, they are either going to be hidden by the hull or the skirts.

 

This is a wash made from milliput to help reduce the roughness of the resin on these particular vehicles.

 

Three vehicles ready for priming

 

Priming finished (modulated, darker on the bottom, lighter on top).

 

Coat of Dunkelgelb (don't worry about this color to much, there are many variations, this comes from AMMO by Mig)

Working 21st Panzer are you?

 

Going to paint up Von Luck?

[buglips*the*goblin 87970]

Thanks guys!

 

I may need to see if the place down the road still carries Tamiya.

And I should add messing about with my air brush to my list of things to do on stay-cation next week.....

 

I expect this will be a slower project for me, but should be interesting.

 

An airbrush will definitely make your life a lot easier.  I only recently got one, so I've done most of my german armor the hard way.  If you must do it the hard way, choose a hard-edge camo pattern and it'll simpify the task.  The good news is that outside of the dark yellow basecoat camouflage was usually field-applied, so you have quite a lot of play and it will still "look right".  Some field shops had lavish equipment like spray guns, others just sent a crewman out to swab it on with a scavenged mop.  But since you probably want it to look half-pretty, airbrush or a hard-edge scheme would be my choice. 

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

Depending on how obsessed you are about historical accuracy

 

As I plan to (theoretically) field it with things like these:

 

I'm not TOO concerned about historical accuracy... 

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

Thanks for all the great info everyone!

[knarthex 59644]

 

Depending on how obsessed you are about historical accuracy

 

As I plan to (theoretically) field it with things like these:

jotan.jpg

 

I'm not TOO concerned about historical accuracy... 

 

But do you plan to paint those in 'real' color schemes?????

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

 

 

Depending on how obsessed you are about historical accuracy

 

As I plan to (theoretically) field it with things like these:

jotan.jpg

 

I'm not TOO concerned about historical accuracy... 

 

But do you plan to paint those in 'real' color schemes?????

 

That's the plan, I'm just not going to worry about making sure it has historically accurate markings or anything.  After all, it is 1949, the war is still going, and there are mechs, werewolves and zombies on the battlefield.

[Heisler 9669]

 

 

 

Depending on how obsessed you are about historical accuracy

 

As I plan to (theoretically) field it with things like these:

jotan.jpg

 

I'm not TOO concerned about historical accuracy... 

 

But do you plan to paint those in 'real' color schemes?????

 

That's the plan, I'm just not going to worry about making sure it has historically accurate markings or anything.  After all, it is 1949, the war is still going, and there are mechs, werewolves and zombies on the battlefield.

 

By late 1944 and 1945 most German vehicles had very limited tactical markings anyway. Vehicles would have the iron cross in some form and might have the two or three digit vehicle identification number. HQ units are likely to have the whole plethora of divisional and tactical symbols. So no worries, there is not right or wrong on camo patterns or even colors. The paints came in a paste form and the color would vary by how it was thinned and applied (it was suppose to be thinned with gasoline which was typically in short supply by that date).

 

 

 

 

Working 21st Panzer are you?

 

Going to paint up Von Luck?

 

 

Yes, I like the Chain of Command rules from Two Fat Lardies and these vehicles are for the campaign Kampfgruppe Von Luck (a pint sized campaign as TFL likes to call it). Since Chain of Command is a squad/platoon level game I won't be painting up Von Luck. He's not even in the potential OBs for this campaign.

[Jasper_the_2nd 12734]

So all I've accomplished with this so far is to determine that the model place that had Tamiya in stock is now out of business.....

[knarthex 59644]

So all I've accomplished with this so far is to determine that the model place that had Tamiya in stock is now out of business.....

agreed