Colours for an Sd.Kfz.234 armoured car.

[SkaleIt]

I have recently returned to modelling and I have purchased an Airfix Sd.Kfz.234 armoured car which, I am going to include in a diorama with some figures.

The Airfix kit, as it comes, suggests a desert colour and camouflage finsh. I want to use the model in a rural setting, in my diorama, possibly northern Europe? Is there a guide to the colour and camouflage finish that would work for this setting? I'm assuming that this type of armoured car would have been used in a range of different theatres of war so would have been painted to suite its location.

Any thoughts or guidance would be appreciated.

Aidan.

[Andy the Sheep]

Aidan, many, almost all, paint manufacturers offer sets of colour for the WW2 german vehicles, They are also "tuned" to the specific time (early - mid - late) of the war as the German Army changed the camo scheme through the years. I guess you will find the needed paints on Scale Model Shop (see link on the forum's heading).
As a general rule (very very general because you'll discover that there were more exceptions than rules), in mid and late WW2 german armoured vehicles were painted in dunkelgelb when they left the factory, then were painted in the field adding green and red-brown stripes/dots/areas according to the fantasy of field shops, crew and to the availability of paints.
I'm pretty sure someone more specialized modellers than me, and on this forum there are really a lot, will give more accurate answers to your question.
Just a suggestion: do not get entangled in a "which is the correct dunkelgelb shade" discussion: it's one of the great mysteries of a modeller's life. :tongue-out3:

[scottie3158]

Aiden,
I was just about to say the same as Andrea.

[Guest]

This one?



Technically, that’s a version that didn’t exist in the real world It seems to be a bit of a mashup of an Sd.Kfz. 234/4 with mudguards that try to resembles those of an Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad). The box art is also highly fanciful, as it depicts a North African scene when the 234/4 came too late to be used there at all. I guess the artist confused it with the Sd.Kfz. 233.

But ignoring all that, the 234/4 was only produced late in the war (and in small numbers), meaning the vehicles would have left the factory in dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) and were camouflaged with olive green and red-brown in the field, like Andrea says. This could have been sprayed or brushed, depending on availability of equipment. In the winter of 1944–45, the outer surfaces could also have been whitewashed, over the existing camouflage.

Very late examples would probably have been painted at the factory with a camouflage pattern of olive green and dark yellow over red lead primer (using brushes, so no feathered edges to the camouflage).

[The Smythe Meister]

Well the guys have pretty much covered all angles there :smiling3:
However,if it's your first build back to modelling,I'd say not to get too hung up on the technical painting aspects, there's enough with build steps to tackle. :smiling3:
As long as you're happy with the assembly,and master your painting methods, then paint it as you think is most correct
... It's a hobby, .....I.E.  fun ... just enjoy what you do.
BTW Which part of Devon are you in?!

[Airborne01]

If it helps Aidan I recently posted some 234s under the 'Completed Military Vehicles/Completed Armoured Vehicle/Airborne's Completed 'Shelf of Doom' SdKfz 234,' section. They are 1/35 but there are several different schemes there. Good luck with your build!
Steve

[SkaleIt]

Aidan, many, almost all, paint manufacturers offer sets of colour for the WW2 german vehicles, They are also "tuned" to the specific time (early - mid - late) of the war as the German Army changed the camo scheme through the years. I guess you will find the needed paints on Scale Model Shop (see link on the forum's heading).
As a general rule (very very general because you'll discover that there were more exceptions than rules), in mid and late WW2 german armoured vehicles were painted in dunkelgelb when they left the factory, then were painted in the field adding green and red-brown stripes/dots/areas according to the fantasy of field shops, crew and to the availability of paints.
I'm pretty sure someone more specialized modellers than me, and on this forum there are really a lot, will give more accurate answers to your question.
Just a suggestion: do not get entangled in a "which is the correct dunkelgelb shade" discussion: it's one of the great mysteries of a modeller's life. :tongue-out3:

Thanks Andrea,
I had a look in the Scale Model Shop and I'm sure that I can find something there (211 pages!) Lots of the paints seem to be acrylics. Are they to be preferred over enamel?
Aidan.

[SkaleIt]

Aiden,
I was just about to say the same as Andrea.

Thanks for getting back Paul. I'm going to have a poke around in the Forum's shop.

[SkaleIt]

This one?



Technically, that’s a version that didn’t exist in the real world :smiling3: It seems to be a bit of a mashup of an Sd.Kfz. 234/4 with mudguards that try to resembles those of an Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad). The box art is also highly fanciful, as it depicts a North African scene when the 234/4 came too late to be used there at all. I guess the artist confused it with the Sd.Kfz. 233.

But ignoring all that, the 234/4 was only produced late in the war (and in small numbers), meaning the vehicles would have left the factory in dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) and were camouflaged with olive green and red-brown in the field, like Andrea says. This could have been sprayed or brushed, depending on availability of equipment. In the winter of 1944–45, the outer surfaces could also have been whitewashed, over the existing camouflage.

Very late examples would probably have been painted at the factory with a camouflage pattern of olive green and dark yellow over red lead primer (using brushes, so no feathered edges to the camouflage).

Thanks for your reply Jakko. Yes, that one! I'm going to look for a few paints in the Forum shop and have a go following all the advice I've been given. Aidan.

[SkaleIt]

Well the guys have pretty much covered all angles there :smiling3:
However,if it's your first build back to modelling,I'd say not to get too hung up on the technical painting aspects, there's enough with build steps to tackle. :smiling3:
As long as you're happy with the assembly,and master your painting methods, then paint it as you think is most correct
... It's a hobby, .....I.E.  fun ... just enjoy what you do.
BTW Which part of Devon are you in?!

Thanks for your reply Andy. Yes, just as Ben Stokes advised the England cricket team ...have fun. I'm in East Devon. Aidan.

[SkaleIt]

If it helps Aidan I recently posted some 234s under the 'Completed Military Vehicles/Completed Armoured Vehicle/Airborne's Completed 'Shelf of Doom' SdKfz 234,' section. They are 1/35 but there are several different schemes there. Good luck with your build!
Steve

Thanks for your reply Steve. Can you tell me what your thread title was, please? Aidan.

[Airborne01]

Thanks for your reply Steve. Can you tell me what your thread title was, please? Aidan.

Aidan,
If you go to the home page you'll see a section for 'Military Vehicles' on the left hand side; the drop-down menu displays three or four sub-sections of which one is entitled Completed Military Vehicles', this will lead you to further sub-sections one of which is 'Completed Armoured Vehicles'. Against my avatar (Green Upper Case A in a light green square) you'll find the title 'Airborne's Completed 'Shelf of Doom' SdKfz 234s'! Hope this helps!
Steve

[Andy T]

Thanks for your reply Steve. Can you tell me what your thread title was, please? Aidan.

https://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/airborness-completed-shelf-of-doom-8-wheel-sdkfz-234s.41062/

That should take you straight there.

[Andy the Sheep]

Thanks Andrea,
I had a look in the Scale Model Shop and I'm sure that I can find something there (211 pages!) Lots of the paints seem to be acrylics. Are they to be preferred over enamel?
Aidan.

Aidan you've just hit another sensible issue: acrylics or enamels. I'll try to give you a very general outlook on the issue but consider that the opinions are as numerous as the heads involved. In the end, personal taste and experience is the paramount factor in choosing between acrylics or enamels.
As an introduction, the two terms, acrylic and enamel, doesn't fully classify all the modelling paints available now. The nature of thinners and pigments creates many sub-categories; moreover, every paint producer has its own way of classifying their paint in the two main categories and yes, if not a proper jungle, it's a wilderness.
Acrylics are easy to use but be careful to get the kind of acrylics fitting to your painting tool: brush or airbrush. As a rule of thumb, acrylics dedicated to airbrushing can create some coverage problems when hand brushed while hand brush acrylics could be airbrushed after being duly thinned. Acrylics can be thinned with its related thinner but in many cases can be thinned with water or IPA too (Tamiya acrylics are a well known example). Usually, acrylics do not stink and this is an advantage if you paint inside your home. Cleaning painting tools from acrylic paint residues is rather simple as in many cases water will do the main job; with Tamiya acrylics I find useful to add to some mild bleach based home detergent to the water and then finish with clear water. Finally, acrylics need, as a minimum, a thoroughly cleaned and degreased surface to adhere properly to plastic but a good measure is to pre-paint the model with a primer (on those specific issues there are different approaches and you'll find something about washing or not, priming or not a model in this forum too).
Enamels are the historic modeller's paint. Many of us, in our youth, began to paint models with the famous Humbrol tinlets. Enamels adhere properly to the plastic surfaces, they can be easily brushed and airbrush finely after thinning but there are more recent products that are engineered to be airbrushed without further thinning (MRP is a typical example). They can be thinned with their own thinner but many enamels can be thinned with white spirit too. Painting tools can be cleaned with thinner; water will not work.

As a general suggestion: start with acrylics: they are simple to use, cure rapidly, mix easily, usually can be thinned with tap water and do not fill the room with fumes SWMBO would not appreciate (and your lungs as well).
About the choice of the thinner, first test the thinner you are going to use with a small amount of paint; sometimes thinners and paints are not compatible and the result could lead to problems ranging from an unsatisfactory coverage of the painted surface to more serious problems like a swift separation of pigments from thinner or the creations of pigment lumps.

Probably (and this adverb is a blatant understatement) you'll find other modellers here on the forum that will give you more precise and focused advice than mine. As a "back to the hobby after more than 35 years" modeller, I'm still learning as the technical evolution in this field is so huge that I'm almost certainly missing something.

Enjoy your build.

Andrea

[Guest]

Lots of the paints seem to be acrylics. Are they to be preferred over enamel?

They are if you like less smell and the ability to clean your brushes with water