Deutsche Afrika Korps Panzer III Ausf. J Platoon

Well folks, after a long hiatus involving replaying Metal Gear Solid 5 (I know!), I'm back with an update - this time a full THREE Panzer III Js for my DAK army at Adepticon 2019 Bolt Action Doubles tournament. These are all Warlord Games' 1/56 scale Panzer III, with Perry DAK tank commander figures, and various stowage (mostly 1/48 Tamiya). The WG Panzer III isn't the best model (I very much prefer their resin Panzer III), but I got these for 50% off in their holiday sale, so I'm not complaining over much. I did have to do a lot of work on the turret by making it slightly taller, shortening the insanely long gun barrels (as well as cutting and flipping the vent cover 180 degrees on the Early model) and fixing the MG barrels, as well as adding the stowage racks. These were, however, relatively easy to assemble and it looks like Warlord is finally adding some track sag to their hard plastic tracks.

All of these are primed in Krylon Red Primer, with the exception of the short-barreled Early model, which I primed in Panzer Grey. I then applied hairspray and did a basecoat in Tamiya 75/25 Desert Yellow and Yellow-Green and went on to chipping and then detail painting. With these I tried a new technique for painting the tracks. First, I primed in Krylon Grey Primer and used AK Interactive's enamel-based Track Wash. Once that was thoroughly dry, I drybrushed some Vallejo Oily Steel over everything, sealed it, and applied a pin wash of Yellow Ochre oil. I finished by adding some dry pigment. Fast and easy and relatively effective.

After decals and clearcoating, I began weathering in oils. As I've never done desert vehicles before, I tried taking a slightly different approach to oil rendering, neglecting most of the "rain streaking" I usually like. I started by applying an overall pin wash of Raw Umber. After that, any flat surface I thought would be exposed to sunlight for extended periods, I toned down with some Soft White and Yellow Ochre, blending this into the panels. On the Late J model with the two-tone camouflage, as the chipping process toned the Vallejo Olive Green patches, I went back and actually brought the color back UP by applying Green oil to the center of each patch and blending outward. This helps to give the camouflage a little more "oomph" while also toning the edges down into the surrounding yellow.

Final weathering was done with dry pigments and splashes of various colors on the engine deck to represent oil and fluid staining. I then added all the stowage and the commander figures I've found that it's much, much easier to leave stowage items off during painting, as this helps achieve a more realistically weathered appearance. The "fascine" is just some dried branches from my yard and was taken from a picture. I'm honestly not positive it was a fascine (as it seems to small to cross an anti-tank ditch) or if it was just dry wood the crew carried around the arid desert for campfires.