Normandy Paint scheme for German Panzers

[Guest]

I'm looking to get myself an airbrush for my next small project.

I've been told Tamiya paints are fairly decent in Normandy style camo scheme. My question is, what colours/shades would you recommend?

I plan on giving the Panther I have a base coat in field grey (factory finish paint) before applying the camo scheme. Then hopefully I'll try a bit of weathering for the first time.

I've noticed some people have really good paint effects on tracks, ie shiny metal where the tracks would normally rub the ground. What do you recommend for this?

Thanks for any help.

Rob

[tr1ckey66]

Hi KH

A German 3 tone camouflage has a base coat of Dark yellow over sprayed with random stripes of dark red brown and dark green. A typical Normandy machine wouldn't have a base coat of Panzer grey as this was discontinued. If you're looking for the base coat under the dark yellow it would be red oxide primer.

Just checked the Tamiya references for the 3 tone camo and they are:-

Red Brown - XF-64

Dark Green -XF-61

Dark Yellow - XF60 (these ref codes are courtesy of my Tamiya Schwimmwagen)

Re tracks: spray brown first, then pin wash with a dark brown/black (heavily thinned oil paint wash) then dry brush 'oily steel' over the parts of the track that would be under constant wear - guide horns, cleats etc.

Hope this helps

Paul

[Guest]

Thanks Paul, for the tracks, what do you mean by pin wash? and dry brush 'oily steel'?

Cheers

[tr1ckey66]

A pin wash is a wash applied to bring out detail. A thin black/brown oil paint mix heavily diluted with white spirit is applied to the surface of the model and allowed to flow into the crevices and recesses to 'pick' them out. Before doing this you must dampen the model with clean white spirit, this will help the wash flow more easily into the crevices and prevent 'tide marks' when the wash dries. If you apply too much you can simply wick it away with a bit of kitchen towel or a dry brush.

Oily steel is simply a name of a colour. It's a sort of discoloured steel , a dirty steel colour that looks more natural than some metallics which can look really bright.

Hope this helps

Paul

[Guest]

I am now able to picture this in my head. Any paint/pigments youd recommend for the tank tracks or does any black/brown suffice?

[tr1ckey66]

Hi KH

I use any mid brown to paint the tracks - Vallejo Flat Brown is the sort of colour but it's really not that critical. The black brown wash is a solution of oil paints - I have a mixture of brands from Windsor and Newton, 502 Abteilung etc but any oil paint with a smooth grain will do. Essentially what you're trying to do is paint the tracks brown with some dark low lights in the recesses. This is the basis for any weathering you may want to apply. As for pigments I use Mig productions products but again any will do and some modellers simply use ground chalk pastel.

Cheers

Paul

[Guest]

Got the Tamiya paints today so at least I can get started soon. I visited Bovington Tank Museum a few years ago so at least I have a fab colour scheme to follow. Do you think Tamiya NATO Black XF-69 will be ok for a base colour to the tracks before I add Vallejo Panzer Aces light rust and oily steel?