Panzer IV Ausf.D Build

Steve Jones

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I would be happy with that George:thumb2: The newer the Panzer the greyer the exhaust would have been but as you are going for a used rather than a factory look then I would say its spot on sir.
 
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Xarathustra

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Thanks Steve. One thing I'm a bit unsure about is what colour to do the jerry cans. I'm guessing they'd have been a copper/brass base colour sprayed over with grey?
 

Steve Jones

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That would have been the standard issue. However during the course of the war desperation for fuel cans would have meant the Germans using all types of jerry cans from different areas of the war ie North Africa and also using allied ones acquired during battle. So if you want to break up the monotony of grey you can do with other colours. Also you may want to consider using some of the jerry cans as water cans. The Germans would mark these with a white cross to make sure they were used for water only.
 
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Xarathustra

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Jerry cans done (thanks for the advice Steve) & the bucket...I'm very pleased with both! I'm going to use the strand of electrical cable wire to hang it from the little fuel cap underneath the exhaust...if I can get to it!

DSC_9552-2.jpg

I'm hoping that I've pretty much done with the spraying....at least the grey colour. This brings an overwhelming sense of relief! :tears-of-joy:
I'm not happy with the finish as it's too rough, however this will have to do. The plan is for the tank to appear wet, so a coat or two of something a little shinier may help this become less evident.
On doing a bit of final spraying in a few areas I've come to the realisation that I may have had the spray mix too concentrated, as this time I did roughly a 60/40 mix (paint/thinner). I had a jar of German Grey with a small amount left in it & pretty much guessed the mix this time round. The finish seemed smoother....ish.

Figures next. Tricky finding a reasonably life-like pasty complexion flesh colour...I might have to mix something up instead!
 

Jakko

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jerry cans. I'm guessing they'd have been a copper/brass base colour sprayed over with grey?
German jerrycans were made from steel, not brass, with a coat of paint on the inside as well as on the outside.
 
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Xarathustra

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I've begun on two of the figures. Are these colours correct?
I'm using Vallejo Panzer Aces #333 'German Tank Crew' for the commander (right) & #334 'German Tank Crew I' for the turret chap (I'm not sure if he's a gunner).
Looking at some photos I'm a bit confused, but have assumed that the commander would have worn a darker uniform to his underlings. The Tamiya instructions state dark green for all the figures, which I reckon is perhaps a little vague...
I may not use these if they don't turn out looking half decent, so my question is forward looking as well :smirk:

DSC_9553.jpg
 

Jakko

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All the crewmen should be wearing black uniforms: tank crew field uniforms in the German army were this colour because it wouldn’t show stains from oil etc. as well.

These same uniforms in field grey (like your sitting figure) were worn by assault gun crews, who were from the Artillery branch — they would not be worn by Armour crews (certainly not at this point in the war — by late 1944, anything goes, pretty much :smiling3:).
 

langy71

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George,
these are the crew i did for my 'Tiger Dio' a few years back, if memory serves they were done with German Grey, washes and a bit of drybrushing with a lighter grey to make the fabric edges pop.
The Commander was also given a 'Pea Dot cam' Jacket... HTH :thumb2:
IMGP2945.JPG

IMGP2952.JPG

IMGP2954.JPG
 
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Jakko

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Just don’t paint a camouflage uniform for the crew of this Panzer IV — far too early for that :smiling3: Here’s a good photo of the real thing:

tank-commander-and-tank-gunner-1940-CPHRCR.jpg
 

Mr Bowcat

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Just catching up with this thread George, good work so far.

Just going back to your priming issues, one option would be to prime everything in black, then just hit the center of panels with white before your top colour. This would give a similar result to the one you were trying to achieve without having to spray thin panel lines. :smiling3:
 
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Xarathustra

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Just catching up with this thread George, good work so far.

Just going back to your priming issues, one option would be to prime everything in black, then just hit the center of panels with white before your top colour. This would give a similar result to the one you were trying to achieve without having to spray thin panel lines. :smiling3:

Thanks Bob, to be honest I think I'd even struggle with that method, so woeful is my 'fine' spraying ability at the moment...however I'll bear it in mind for future reference. I'm going to stick to just grey for a while longer...:smiling4:
 

Jim R

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Hi George
Late in for this - sorry. You are making a fine job of this and learning like mad. Also sounds as if you are having fun which is the only valid reason for any hobby. The guys have give you loads of sound tips. When I started I was given loads of really helpful advice and learned a lot from my own successes and failures. I kept a folder of all the ideas. I now have a fat A4 ring binder full to bursting. I still add to it and find it a great help.
Jim
 
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Xarathustra

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Figures (sort of) done...I'm not really happy with 'em but frankly I think I've done enough going over & over the same bits with little noticeable improvement :smiling: I've not really enjoyed doing them...although I've leaned lots in the two days it's taken me.
Hopefully a bit of dirtying-up will make them less...errr...shiney!
I'm not having a driver as I glued the hatch shut & it won't budge now.
If these two don't make themselves more 'presentable' I may close all the hatches and they can jolly well walk themselves into the parts bin :smiling5:

DSC_9554.jpg
 

scottie3158

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George,
Looking good on the figures, may I suggest a dull coat to take off the shine. or it may just be the light
 

Jakko

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They don’t look overly shiny, but a coat of matt varnish will probably (if you stir it enough :smiling3:) kill any remaining gloss.
 
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I was thinking of getting them a bit dusty...somehow. Point taken about stirring matt varnish!
 

Mr Bowcat

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I'd highly recommend a darkish grey dry brushing for the crew. :smiling3:
 
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I've dirtied them up a bit. The flash does make them appear shinier & accentuates the brown colour here, which isn't so evident under normal lighting...which was the plan at least.

DSC_9555.jpg
 

Jakko

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Point taken about stirring matt varnish!
I wish it worked for me … I thought I’d thoroughly stirred a bottle of Humbrol Matt Cote for killing the semi-gloss effect on some figures this afternoon, and tonight they were still just as shiny as before I applied it :sad:
 
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