New Hobbyist :)

[Marty1507]

Hello all,


I have recently decided to get back into modelling. I previously started out with Games Workshop models years ago but don't have the steady hand I once had ¬¬  lol


I have always been interested in tanks and I'm a keen World of Tanks player. Anyway, I purchased the Tamiya Sturmgeschutz IV and the 3 Tamiya paints that it suggests in the user manual (Dark Yellow, Red Brown and Dark Green).


However, after looking through several forums and not coming across many posts about this model I'm a little stuck on what paints I need. I've decided not to go for the 3 colour camo scheme (due to not having an airbrush) but for a colour based around the Dark Yellow. I have seen 1 or 2 lovely painted tanks which I will post the link too below.


http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/62375-135-tamiya-sturmgeschutz-iv/


So my question is, what paints should I look to get to follow on the Dark Yellow base colour I plan to use. I will be priming the model black and applying several thin layers of base paint until it has the completed base finish.


Sorry if this is not the section for my post 9_9  


Martin.

 

[Deleted member 3568]

Hi marty not my field of expertise, so can't really help, just wanted to welcome you to the friendliest forum on the net.

 

[Airfix Modeller Freak]

A sturmgeschutz can have VERY different colours depending on which unit it came from, what area it operated in etc....


But not my area of expertise either, I model 1/32 and 1/48 Luftwaffe mainly and RAF and RAAF


btw, Welcome to the forum, would be great to see you built your sturmgeschutz. Also, dragon's kits are better if you are looking into tanks. Tamiya's can be a little hard to interpret for colours. Dragon provides full color call outs, comprehensively named


John

 

[Snowman]

Welcome to the "madhouse", I'm looking forward to seeing your work. :D


Goodluck on your colour selection!


G~)

 

[Builder]

Welcome Martin, I just joined myself about a month ago, hope your Build goes well mate, there are quite a few people here who would know the answer to your paint scheme question here but sadly I am not one! In any case hope you have fun and looking forward to your build mate!

 

[Ian M]

Hi Martin and Welcome!


There are as many different opinions on paint than there are pubs in Ireland. One being better than the other and Both causing as many sore heads! LOL


So I will open the can of worms and ask what is your preference? Smelly old enamel paint that paints very well with either brush or airbrush, takes a long time to dry but gives a very good finish. Waterbase acrylics that can both be brushed or airbrushed, dry quickly and don't stink the room out and still give a very good finish, or there are those in between things Tamiya that are an acrylic with an alcohol base. Still smell a little, dry quicker and give a good finish. Better with an airbrush but can, with a careful hand give a good finish with a brush. ( I find them impossible to brush but that's just me).


I use waterbase acrylic most of the time with the odd enamel here and there. It is down to finding the correct colour rather than the type of paint. A bit like the way women buy cars. LOL


I assume that you are brush painting but if you can tell us what type of paint you would be after, then we can all come with some more definitiv replies. If I was starting up and was bound by a hairy stick, I would probably go for the good old Humbrol.

 

[John Rixon]

Vallejo make a Dunkelgelb (dark yellow) which will do fine for an Afrika korps paint job. The tank you use to illustrate your question has probably had a few filter washes (really thin paint / dirty turps) to vary and adjust the colour, prior to the many other effects present on that build - rust, grime, streaks etc. However, if you already have a bottle of tamiya dark yellow, I'd use that, thinned about 70/30 paint to water (NOT tamiya thinners - this is the mistake folks make when trying to brush Tamiya paints, you have to use water and many coats or the paint just drags the previous clout up when you apply the next coaT. Then give it a coat of satin or gloss varnish. Now you can adjust the colour by applying a wash made from yellow ochre artist oil paint thinned with white spirit, when I say thinned, we are talking 95% thinners at least! You can adjust the colour of this wash using a tiny scrape of raw or burnt umber and give it another wash. These filters will give your base coat "character" and a more organic appearance. Give it a few days to dry, whack another coat of varnish on it then decals go on, another coat of varnish after that, then make it dirty!

 

[John Rixon]

All this can be done with enamels too, or even those cheape acrylic pots you get from the Range, if you don't believe me, have a look at Grumpa's builds!

 

[papa 695]

Hi Martin and welcome to the forum.

 

[Peej]

Hello Martin. Welcome aboard!

 

[Marty1507]

Thanks alot everyone for the welcome and advice! 


Well ive been out and bought a handful more colours and have only just read the replies. Ive ended up buying all Tamiya acrylics and a small pot of thinner but if its no good I can just replace it for another colour (Ive always thinned using water in the past).


The colours I have as of now are:


Dark Yellow XF-60


Dark Green XF-61


Buff XF-57


Red Brown XF-64


Hull Red XF-9


Flat Eart XF-52


Gun Metal X-10


I also have some left over acrylics and washes by Games Workshop:


White Scar


Abaddon Black


Ushabti Bone


Cadian Fleshtone


Nuln Oil (Wash)


Seraphim Sephia (Wash)


I plan on buying a Black or Dark Grey Primer. I will be hand painting everything and using some of the weathering/rusting techniques ive seen along with chipping and rust stains.


Any advice on the paints I own and also could add to the collection? Any brands are welcome as I dont have to stick specifically with Tamiya. Think I might need pointing in the right direction for advice on what rusting, general wear and sealers I need as some of you mentioned.


Again any advice/opinions of what might come in handy would be great! 


Im just on building it up now so plenty time to gather supplies and sift through forums and youtube for ideas.


Thanks.

 

[Airfix Modeller Freak]

Thanks alot everyone for the welcome and advice! 


Well ive been out and bought a handful more colours and have only just read the replies. Ive ended up buying all Tamiya acrylics and a small pot of thinner but if its no good I can just replace it for another colour (Ive always thinned using water in the past).


The colours I have as of now are:


Dark Yellow XF-60


Dark Green XF-61


Buff XF-57


Red Brown XF-64


Hull Red XF-9


Flat Eart XF-52


Gun Metal X-10


I also have some left over acrylics and washes by Games Workshop:


White Scar


Abaddon Black


Ushabti Bone


Cadian Fleshtone


Nuln Oil (Wash)


Seraphim Sephia (Wash)


I plan on buying a Black or Dark Grey Primer. I will be hand painting everything and using some of the weathering/rusting techniques ive seen along with chipping and rust stains.


Any advice on the paints I own and also could add to the collection? Any brands are welcome as I dont have to stick specifically with Tamiya. Think I might need pointing in the right direction for advice on what rusting, general wear and sealers I need as some of you mentioned.


Again any advice/opinions of what might come in handy would be great! 


Im just on building it up now so plenty time to gather supplies and sift through forums and youtube for ideas.


Thanks.

The best paint is (in my opinion) Gunze Sangyo Mr Hobby Acrylics all the way if you are airbrushing. Tamiya paints are awful to hand paint, so make sure you have an AB, you can get some for very very cheap prices if going for the cheapos, but the Iwata Eclipse series is a great starting point for an airbrush as well. I mostly use two Iwata Hi Line HP CHs for my work.


Cheers, John

 

[Marty1507]

The best paint is (in my opinion) Gunze Sangyo Mr Hobby Acrylics all the way if you are airbrushing. Tamiya paints are awful to hand paint, so make sure you have an AB.


Cheers, John

Are Tamiya acrylics really that bad? I've bought 8 Tamiya paints now (All unused) and after reading about them I think I've made a mistake as I wont be using or purchasing an airbrush. Hopefully I can get a refund or able to swap but the only other paints the shop has near me are the Humbrol acrylics.

 

[John Rixon]

Are Tamiya acrylics really that bad? I've bought 8 Tamiya paints now (All unused) and after reading about them I think I've made a mistake as I wont be using or purchasing an airbrush. Hopefully I can get a refund or able to swap but the only other paints the shop has near me are the Humbrol acrylics.

No they are not, I think they're one of the few paints with a decent proportion of pigments in them, I use them a lot. 





these were both brush painted with Tamiya paints on unprimed styrene (I was interested in myth-busting!), as I said before, you just have to use water and not their thinners to thin the paint. X20 thinners are great for cleaning up, or if you want to airbrush with them, but for hairy stick application, water is the best thinner. Just use a number of thinned coats - it will look awfull at first, but don't be deterred.





This is first coat, second looks better and so on. The main thing to remember is to be vigilant about not filling up surface detail, if you get yourself a bottle of Tamiya retarder, you will have more time to work on this, one bottle will last years! For what it's worth, I experimented on a plastic milk bottle first, and soon realised that a good surface is actually easy to attain. If, somewhere down the line you get an airbrush, they spray well too!

 

[Marty1507]

No they are not, I think they're one of the few paints with a decent proportion of pigments in them, I use them a lot. View attachment 261399


View attachment 261397


these were both brush painted with Tamiya paints on unprimed styrene (I was interested in myth-busting!), as I said before, you just have to use water and not their thinners to thin the paint. X20 thinners are great for cleaning up, or if you want to airbrush with them, but for hairy stick application, water is the best thinner. Just use a number of thinned coats - it will look awfull at first, but don't be deterred.


View attachment 261400


This is first coat, second looks better and so on. The main thing to remember is to be vigilant about not filling up surface detail, if you get yourself a bottle of Tamiya retarder, you will have more time to work on this, one bottle will last years! For what it's worth, I experimented on a plastic milk bottle first, and soon realised that a good surface is actually easy to attain. If, somewhere down the line you get an airbrush, they spray well too!

That's a bit more reassuring John, I might give that a go so I can see how the paint goes on. I'm careful and always add thin layers in the past painting model (figurines) so I think I will be okay. If they really are bad or I have a hard time using them ill just switch to another brand.


Anyway, I've decided I will go for the Dark Yellow base coat. After I've applied the layers and happy with the result,  what is the next step to take? Would it be a lighter tone of the Dark Yellow onto the whole model but leaving the base colour showing through near the recesses and edges of panels etc. then applying a filter after all of that?


Also which brand/colour would be a nice filter to fit the Dark Yellow scheme?


Thanks again.

 

[Airfix Modeller Freak]

That's a bit more reassuring John, I might give that a go so I can see how the paint goes on. I'm careful and always add thin layers in the past painting model (figurines) so I think I will be okay. If they really are bad or I have a hard time using them ill just switch to another brand.


Anyway, I've decided I will go for the Dark Yellow base coat. After I've applied the layers and happy with the result,  what is the next step to take? Would it be a lighter tone of the Dark Yellow onto the whole model but leaving the base colour showing through near the recesses and edges of panels etc. then applying a filter after all of that?


Also which brand/colour would be a nice filter to fit the Dark Yellow scheme?


Thanks again.

I highly recommend this as a guide

John

 

[Marty1507]

42 minutes ago, Airfix Modeller Freak said:



I highly recommend this as a guide

Cheers for the links! It was helpful. Vallejo would probably be the brand I would go to if Tamiya fails me as I can pick these paints up at 2 other model shops near me. I'm going to experiment with the paints I have and see how it goes before painting the tank.

 

[John Rixon]

1 hour ago, Airfix Modeller Freak said:



I highly recommend this as a guide

Well, clearly I'm talking nonsense then...

 

[noble]

Might I suggest, rather than using XF 61 dark green try using XF 58 olive this is more of a correct colour tone for your vehicle, and I would agree that multiple thin coats of Tamiya work better than one or two thick coats. I would also look at the possibility of using Vallejo model air, this is excellent for brush painting as well as air brushing.

 

[Polux]

Hi Martin!


Welcome to the forum