1/56 scale Borgward Wanze

 I haven't done many vehicles for WW2 gaming in a few months, so I decided to print up a few in order to try out different print settings, as well as painting techniques.

First up is this Borgward Wanze I got off Cults. Even though it said it was scaled for 28mm, it was rather small, so this is the reprint I did at about 105% scale. Realistically, it probably too large but looks just right next to Warlord minis.

This was also the first time I've done dedicated pre-shading with an airbrush and I rather like the effect, though it tends to get a little lost after applying my usual oil and enamel weathering techniques and is going to require some refinement. Base colors are done in Tamiya, with the odd detail picked out in Vallejo. I admit I was a little sloppy with the sponge chipping and that makes it seem a little cartoonish.

It's a really odd AFV and not great in tabletop gaming, so will likely never be included in anything other than my Battle of Berlin force, but it made for a quick project.

You can grab the stl file here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/borgward-iv-panzerjager-wanze

Rubicon Models Kettenkrad

 Nice tiny Rubicon Models 1/56 scale Kettenkrad. It's so small, I forgot I finished it last month! It's been sitting hidden the bust I've been painting off and on, so I completely forgot about it. This is built (mostly) out of box, with the exception of the molded on mudflaps that I removed and the addition of a tailpipe to the muffler.

This is painted in Tamiya, Vallejo and AK Interactive acrylic paints and weathered using AK and Ammo enamels. Decals are from Rubicon, with the exception of the Goliath number, which I took from an old GW Cadian decal sheet.

Repainted Hungarian AFVs

 Recently completed a full repaint of these 1/56 scale resin Zrinyi assault gun and Csaba armoured car from Mad Bob Miniatures. I had a lot of resin seepage on the bottom over the past few years and they really weren't up to my current painting standards. Once stripped, I removed the resin crew and re-did a lot of the detailing - especially rivets - using plasticard.

I opted to paint them in a monochrome Honved green using a 50/50 mix of Tamiya Park Green and Flat Green, with wear done using Vallejo Air Pale Green. These tones were then melded using an overall green oil filter and, once cured, weathering was done using dry-rendered oils and enamel washes. Decals are a mix of Mad Bob and Warlord games. The large balkenkreuz on the Zrinyi's skirts was done with an airbrush stencil.

Stowage is a mix of random bits I had laying around, with ropes made using embroidery floss pulled taut over them and held in place with CA glue. To add rigidity and tone down their glossiness, I applied a several coats of Tamiya Flat Clear with a brush.

 

1/56 Warlord Games Opel Maultier

 I spent March completing a variety of softskin vehicles for 28mm gaming - second up is Warlord Games 1/56 Opel Maultier. With the exception of the extended side view mirror and taillight, this was built out of the box standard. A very basic kit overall, I decided to add several Tamiya 1/48 fuel drums and jerry cans to the truck bed to simulate a logistics vehicle for the SS Wiking Panzer Division.

This was primed using Krylon red primer and hairspray chipped with an overspray of Tamiya Yellow Green, after which I brush-painted the fanciful striped camouflage using Vallejo Air Pale Green (included in many of their airplane sets as a Zinc Chromate substitute). Further detail painting was done using Vallejo and AK acrylics, panel lining and overall filter using oil paints, and weathering done using AK enamels. As WG only supplies an oversized acetate sheet to cut the windshields from, I had to use Testors canopy maker to make some rather rough windshields.

Overall, this is a nice straightforward kit that's hampered by WG's lack of supplying clear sprues for windshields, which can be a pain for novice modelers. 

1/48 Tamiya Schwimmwagen

 I spent March completing a variety of softskin vehicles for 28mm gaming - first up is Tamiya's excellent 1/48 scale Schwimmwagen. With the exception of my addition of the MG34 and bilge holes on the lower chassis, this build is basically standard. If I had one gripe, it's that the fine parts are much much too fragile and, despite my best efforts and light touch, I had to re-glue the paddle, guardrail, and steering wheel after they broke upon removing them from the sprue.

This is painted in Tamiya, Vallejo, and AK acrylics, then panel lined and filtered with oil paints, and finally weathered with AK enamels.

1/48 scale Citroen CV11

(EDIT: I noticed the tide marks on the tires and above the windshield as I was editing these photos. They've since been cleaned up.)

Tamiya 1/48 Citroen 11CV in Luftwaffe service, Berlin

Well, this was my first ever Tamiya kit and I'm legitimately blown away by how easy it was to assemble and how nicely it looks finished - so much so I picked up the 1/48 Kubelwagen last week!

This build is straight out of the box, with the exception of the license decals. As its scaled perfectly with 28mm figures, I wanted this to represent a vehicle for my Battle of Berlin army and needed the 300 series. The car is painted overall in Tamiya Field Blue - with a few drops of Tamiya Neutral Grey to tone the blue down - with detailed painting done with Vallejo acrylics. Unfortunately, you can't see the interior in the photos, but that is well detailed, fully painted to represent brown leather seating, and weathered.

As this is a staff car, weathering was lighter than what I normally do, mostly consisting of oil pin washes, some acrylic dried mud spatter (Secret Weapon Caked Dirt is perfect for this effect), and AK enamels to represent petrol spills and the rusty muffler.

Definitely my most enjoyable build of 2021 so far.

 

1/56 scale Lend-Lease Churchill

Warlord Games 1/56 scale Churchill tank

This build is basically out of box, with the exception of the turret - I added a weld bead around the bottom edge, as well as cast texture using Tamiya putty. Deciding that I wanted to do a Lend-Lease Soviet version, I also removed the front track guards, but was unable to remove the rear guards (the Soviets did this to prevent thick mud from building up inside the upper track runs).

Like most of my Soviet tanks, I wanted to do a whitewash version but decided against using oils, instead opting for a grey primer with Tamiya flat white overspray. Unfortunately, pure white vehicles like this are difficult to photograph, so you don't see the subtle variations in tone. I then did detail painting in Vallejo acrylics and added custom "over/under" turret numbering and insignia.

I then applied an overall filter of white oil paint and did pin wash and dry-blended weathering using oils. As I wanted a heavy emphasis on muddy conditions, I did a second pin wash and heavy streaking on the lower portion of the hull, then added splatter effects with acrylics and heavy mud with Vallejo environmental effects. Oil and gas spills on the engine deck, as well as muffler rust, was done using AK enamel washes.

 

1/56 scale ETO Marder III(r)s

 To finish out my backlog of finished projects, here are two Italeri Official Account / Warlord Games 1/56 scale Marder III(r). As I mentioned in my last post, these are very nice kits and the multi-part crew are a nice addition, since this allows part swaps with Warlord's other 28mm German infantry and tank figures.

I wanted to take a different approach to painting the crewmen, so I primed them in medium grey and then overcoated that with GW's Athonian Camoshade acrylic wash. This provides a quick and easy field grey uniform with shading and allowed more time to focus on skintones and faux glass lens effects.

These were primed using Krylon Red Oxide primer, then basecoated with a 75/25% mix of Tamiya Dark Yellow/Yellow Green, with soft edge camo in Tamiya Red Brown and Medium Green. Detail painting was done with Vallejo acrylics and some craft paint. Decals are all Italeri/Warlord brand. An overall yellow oil filter was applied, then oil pin washes added to accentuate details, and some dryblended oils to simulate caked dirt (mostly in the crew compartment) and rusty exhaust were added. Mud spatter effects were done in acrylics.

1/56 scale Afrika Korps Marder III

 This is an Italeri / Warlord Games 1/56 scale Marder III(r) in Afrika Korps colors. This is a pretty nice kit that has a lot of nicely molded detail, as well as a good selection of three multi-part crew. My one big complaint is the tarp/netting poles are INCREDIBLY fragile, both of these broke simply by my handling during painting (one disappearing into my carpet) - not a great feature on a model meant to be handled for gaming.

As this model goes in my Afrika Korps force for Bolt Action, I switched out the plastic crew for 28mm metal crew from Perry Miniatures.

Basecoat is Testors Panzer Grey, then overcoated with Tamiya acrylics, with detail painted in Vallejo acrylics. Decals are from the kit - though I did make the earlier SP AT tactical symbol from a combination of two different decals. An overall oil filter was applied, then oil pin washes to accentuate detail. 

(Continued apologies for the picture quality. I'm still experimenting with the new camera which takes the lighting setup I had before VERY differently than the last camera. If you notice something odd, please let me know.)