HL Panther G customization diary

[doc larsson]

question please ?

why would the scratch be blue ? or is that just the camera ?

[jeff1101]

Happy New Years, Jeff!
Thank you for the tips on the weathering. Beautiful job of replication. Here's hoping that 2014 will see the completion of this solid Panther and you on to the beginning of your next project. Have you given any thought to Russian or American armor types?
warm regards,
Painless

Thanks Painless. Yes I am hell bent on finishing this panther early this year so that I can move on to other things. I plan to take a break from the modelling part and hopefully engage on the RC part of this hobby and get to play with the tank instead of tinkering with it.

I would only probably get interested in modelling again if ever Heng Long produces the IS2. Anyway my panther was assigned to the eastern front so a good russian IS2 would be a perfect foil for it. Heres hoping anyway.

[jeff1101]

question please ?

why would the scratch be blue ? or is that just the camera ?

Ha Ha nice observation doc larsson. Trouble with taking "too" good photographs is you can have all your imperfections visible for all the world to see.

And you would be right, that is blue. It is actually some leftover traces of the liquid mask. The reason why I was reluctant to use liquid masks in the beginning is that they can be a trouble getting them removed. When I soaked the skirts in water I must have not waited long enough for the mask to get completely dissolved. Also when wet, the mask becomes "invisible" so its actually hard to see if they've been completely removed until everything is dry.

Anyway, I am hoping this blue color can be toned down when I start applying the weathering and washes.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning, Jeff,
Per the Tow Cable paint question: I lightly brushed the cable with gunmetal and silver to define the twists then brush painted the hasp and shackle of the cable the color I wanted them to be since they are mainly inflexible. (Acrylic green\black) I hope this helps.
Happy New years,
Painless

[jeff1101]

Thanks Painless. i guess I was being overly ambitious with my approach to the tow ropes. Sometimes the simplest solution is still the best. Since the tow ropes are already black, I guess I just need to dry brush it. My only problem now is removing the primer completely. I'll give it a go.

[Panther Ausf G]

The piccy's explaining your weathering method are very good, as you say the camera will always show any little errors.
When you get to play with it out in the open it you will add more battle damage.
I am biased towards the Panther Ausf G.
But my wife won't let me take them to bed with me, I have to leave mine in the workshop.

[jeff1101]

Updates 1/2/2014 - Adding Paint Chips

My first new post of the new year and I have finished adding the paint chips to the tank. I did not try to go over board and apply too much paint chipping as this was still a "relatively" new tank that has spent about 2 months out in the open.

They say that one should add random paint chips to the tank, but this is not exactly true. Most paint chipping would occur in areas of the tank that experience wear and tear such as hatches, door panels, access points and areas that get heavy foot traffic so I concentrated most of my chipping there.

There are basically 2 kinds of paint chips. The 1st type are paint chips that have a hard well defined edge where the paint has "peeled" to reveal either the red oxide primer or bare metal. Although I cannot say I am an expert now at applying the paint chips to make them appear like paint chips, this kind of paint chip is still relatively easy to do and replicate.

For the first type, I used 2 colors, Tamiya Hull Red and Dark Iron.


I used a fine brush with a pointed tip, dip the brush in the paint and apply the paint to replicate chipping. I start with a fine point first and only enlarge the chip if I feel like it.


The cause of the first type of chip is varied. Sometimes paint will peel from hard contact with other objects or sometimes moisture just accumulates under the paint and push the paint upward until it peels. This kind of chip would often leave a circular paint chip rather than a random shaped jagged edge one. (see circular chips on the Unit numbers)

(See circular paint chips at the bottom of the rear hatch.) Chipping in this area is relatively heavy since this hatch experiences a lot of activity. After all it is this hatch where the ammunition for the gun is loaded into the turret.


For small chips I go straight Dark Iron.


For larger chips, I first start with Hull Red as exposed primer and then add Dark Iron on the inside to simulate bare metal. The Hull red would then form the outline of the paint chip.





I also added paint chipping on straight panel lines and hatch edges to break up the lines and make it more "natural"?? \




The 2nd kind of paint chip is a bit harder to replicate. I call this chip , "feathered chipping". This kind of chipping does not have a well defined edge but is kind of feathered. The cause of this chipping is the gradual wear of paint from constant rubbing on objects that are relatively soft, like shoes or footwear. This kind of chip is very evident on textured surfaces where the "peaks"would have their paint worn off while leaving the "valleys" untouched.

To replicate this kind of chipping, I use the dry brush method. I use only one color, Tamiya Dark Iron for this kind of chip. First dip a wider brush on the paint.


I remove almost all the paint by dabbing the brush repeatedly using tissue paper.


Count to 30 to make sure that the brush is almost "dry" and then vigorously paint using the brush on a raised area of the tank were you like to have the effect. You will not see a change in color at first so you will want to do this repeatedly. (dip brush in paint, remove excess in tissue paper, wait 30 secs before applying) This way you can control how the paint accumulates on the area and doesn't look like it was painted on. Notice how I push the brush flat against the surface. You may have to do this since you have so little paint to work on since the brush is "dry".


Result


Screen grills and mesh look especially good using this technique. It allows the mesh to almost disappear so you can now see the insides of the openings. (Since the mesh is now darker and will not reflect the light)




The textured side surfaces of the raised cooling tower will also look good using this technique.



Here is the pic of the rear deck after chiping using the 2 techniques I mentioned.


Thanks for reading.

[cupoftea]

Thank you for explaining your weathering techniques. It is a great help.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning, Jeff,
Thank you for this information. Your techniques are time saving and produce realism on a high scale, Sir.
warm regards,
Painless

[jeff1101]

Updates - 1/4/2014 - Streak effects finished

I got this technique from this site. http://www.missing-lynx.com/rare_world/rw01.htm but MiG uses acrylic paints and only 1 color (Tamiya buff) with some airbrushing of a second color.

I wanted my effect to not damage my base camo colors (so its reversible) so I decided to use oil paints for this effect instead.
For the streaks, I used the below oil colors:


The rain streaks are replicated by the white but what about the other oil paints? The other oil colors are complimentary colors of the base camo colors and are meant to break up the solid colors of the camo such as solid olive green, dark yellow and red brown. They are also meant to reduce the contrast of the camo colors and make them look bleached or faded. Again I used these oil colors because of the large amounts of olive green in the tank. If I used another base color such as predominantly dark yellow (which is lighter), I would use a different palette. I also purposely chose the brighter hues of these colors to lighten the dark camo colors of the tank.

Again, this effect is entirely a matter of taste as some modelers do not like the look. However I am testing and experimenting different techniques for the fun factor so decided to add them in. And fun I had since this method is easy to do and totally reversible as you can see later.

After choosing my palette, I dip a toothpick on each color


and apply (using the toothpick) a point of the color on the tank. I just randomly dabbed the tank with each color making sure that each color is evenly distributed on the vertical and sloped sides of the tank.


Next a dip a small brush on turpentine or mineral spirit. You don't even have to remove the excess turp as you want the brush to be fairly saturated with the thinner.


And this is where the fun part begins. (at least for me). Using the brush pull down the oil colors on the surface of the tank in downward strokes. MiG calls this "stumping".



If the oil paints begin to run on the side surfaces of the tank because the brush has too much thinner, you can always dab the excess on tissue paper.


Continue washing down the colors. In fact you can continuously brush down the colors until all of the oil paint is removed (That's why its reversible) but you can leave some of the oil paint for a subtle look. In this way you can control whether the effect will appear strong or subtle depending on what look you want to achieve.


Here is another look of the process applied on the turret rear.




Results:








Thanks for reading.