Wednesday, 14 January 2015

From KevinS - 28mm WWII Hetzer and Pak 40 (42 Points)



Here's the result of my painting efforts over the past few weeks. The Waffen-SS PaK 40 with three-man crew was painted up using late-war camouflage colours. The figures from Warlord Games' Bolt Action series were nicely sculpted. I'll probably use these, along with a few others you can see lurking in the background, for a game I'm working towards set during Operation Market Garden. 
I used Vallejo colours for the uniforms, and combined them with Wargames Foundry's basic three-part flesh tone set of paints. In recent years I've struggled to find just the right three-colour combination for painting my figures, and after some experimentation I've settled on Foundry's set as the one that gives a subtle variation in tones that are relatively quick to produce and still stand out on the tabletop.


The little Hetzer caused me more than a few headaches. I tried painting it three times, initially using an airbrush, but I just couldn't seem to get it right. I started with Vallejo Aircolor's Dunkelgelb. The airbrush produced a wonderfully smooth and even colour. But when I tried masking and applying camouflage, that's when things started to go downhill. I stripped off the paint a couple of times using Simple Green. I finally settled on a basic airbrushed coat of Dunkelgelb, followed by hand painted camouflage patches of red-brown and green. Then I added in the contrasting triangular touches of colour to produce the ambush camouflage pattern. 


I finally applied a wash of AK Interactive's filter for Nato tanks (AK-076), followed by shadows in the recesses with AK Interactive wash for Nato tanks (AK-075). I painted the tracks with Vallejo's German Grey, and then textured and weathered them with umber and rust coloured MIG pigments.


From Curt:

 First, welcome to the Challenge Kevin! It's great to have you back with us this year.

 This is a great debut Kevin and a bit of a change of pace from your WWI project.  All troubles aside, the Hetzer's dot pattern ambush camo came out brilliantly and the PAK team is a great piece as well . What rules are you going to be using for this lot? 

 Again, it's great to see you on the roster!
Posted by Digger at 2:09 pm
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15 comments:

  1. Ian14 January 2015 at 14:22

    The Hetzer was worth your troubles as you did an excellent job on it

    Ian

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  2. Greg B14 January 2015 at 14:32

    Very nice, great work. Your explanation of the airbrush problems is yet another reason I would rather poke my own eyes out than pick one up, but I am always impressed by what people are able to do with them - your Hetzer looks fabulous.

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  3. TamsinP14 January 2015 at 14:34

    Excellent work with the Hetzer, and all round good painting for your first entry :)

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  4. Juan Mancheño14 January 2015 at 14:35

    Great painting work; they are very nice!

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  5. Clint14 January 2015 at 14:52

    Nice work. The Hetzer looks the biz.

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  6. Millsy14 January 2015 at 15:13

    Nice camo Kevin, despite the headaches!

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  7. Evan Hughes14 January 2015 at 15:38

    That's some excellent work on the gun and the Hetzer - one of my fave vehicles, BTW!

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  8. DaveD14 January 2015 at 15:39

    Just the job alright, welcome across the start line.

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  9. Unknown14 January 2015 at 16:48

    It's a right paint to have to strip mini's when something isn't right. But these seem to have been worth the extra effort. They look the business!

    Welcome to the fray!

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  10. AdamC177614 January 2015 at 17:01

    Outstanding work on that came pattern!

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  11. Moiterei_198414 January 2015 at 17:05

    The Hetzer looks great. Never tried my hand on that particular camo butt looking at your take on it I might give it a try.

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  12. david bromley14 January 2015 at 19:02

    Both cannon and tank are very nice! I have not yet tried an airbrush for camouflage, I may have to give it a try. The Ambush pattern came out very well for all the trouble it gave you!

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  13. AHunt14 January 2015 at 19:18

    I really like the paint job on your Hetzer. As painful as it was it was worth the effort.

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  14. Digger14 January 2015 at 22:08

    Thanks everyone. Glad to be back at it. For rules I have Disposable Heroes and also Bolt Action. Long before the Challenge started I painted up some US airborne and you might remember the armor from last year's Challenge. All this should be on the tabletop by the end of Winter I hope.

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  15. Ray Rousell15 January 2015 at 15:32

    Very nice!!

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