Desert weathering - A first attempt

[Guest]

Following some really helpful input from Steve Jones, I am going to document my attempts at weathering, filtering and finishing.

The subject will be a Tamiya PzKpfw IV Ausf D in 1/35. It is built OOB, and was intended as a practice model for my airbrushing. It is painted in the early German desert scheme of RAL 8000 & RAL7008. After base coating and an attempt at modulation it looked like this;
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I was a touch heavy handed with the camouflage, leaving me with this as the basis for the weathering;
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Work permitting, I aim to get some decals on this week and paint the tools and tyres etc. so I can press on.

Cheers!
Jim

[Steve Jones]

Jim

I wish you all the best. Hope you manage to get the look you are after. Good luck

Steve

[Si Benson]

Hi Jim,

look forward to seeing how you get on with the great advice Steve has given. Im sure youll be happy :hugging-face:
Si

[Guest]

Thanks Steve and Si.

Work dragged on a bit today, so no progress, but I have done a bit of research instead.

The kit decals for the African version provide divisional markings for the 15th Panzer Division which arrived in Africa in March 1941. The PzKpfw IV D only arrived with the initial strength, as far as I can tell, later reinforcements being the Ausf E to Ausf G. I intend to represent mine around the time of Operation Skorpion, Rommel’s successful recapture of Halfaya Pass after the Allied Operation Brevity had put his supply line at risk.

At the time of Skorpion 8th Panzer Regiment was made up of 2 battalions, each with a staff platoon, 2 light platoons and 1 medium platoon. The kit provides decals for tank 813, however there were only 6 numbered platoons all of which had PzKpfw IV. I have a Stug IV in the stash which has separate numbering decals so I shall choose an appropriate number.

Jim

[monica]

looking good,Jim,will look forward to seeing what you do,wish you luck,:smiling:

[JR]

Jim .
Some great photos of an equally well painted tank .:thumb2:
With Steve's input you should do well
I shall grab a seat near Steve .
John .

[Steve Jones]

Jim

Terrific work on the research. I wish you all the best with putting the decals on the side of the turret. They can be a nightmare. If things dont work out you could always consider painting on the numbers.

If you cant find the decals for the tank number you want, you can go for plan B which is the 21st Panzer Division. This started out as the 5th Light Division and in April 1941 and they had 20 Pz IV which 10 were Ausf D’s and numbered 800 801 811 812 813 814 821 822 823 824. However the divisional marking is different from the 15th Division so you may need to find these.

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(For discussion purposes only)

Hope this helps rather than confuses

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks Monica and John, all are welcome to join me fumbling my way through the process :smiling:

Steve, I have solved my problem regarding numbering. A bit more hunting around suggests Panzer Regiment 8 marked their vehicles with a single number denoting the platoon. So I have opted for 3rd platoon, 1st battalion and have 3x3s (a prial!) in red ready to go.

One step forward and... The kit strangely has a green background to the DAK palm which will not look right, so a quick bit of online shopping, and some decals are on the way. Plenty to do in the meantime.

Jim

[Jim R]

Hi Jim
I'll follow with interest. Nice paint job to work on.
Jim

[Allen Dewire]

Looking good Jim,

It appears you have all the bases covered now and are on your way. Watching with great interest!!!

Prost
Allen

[Mini Me]

Hi Jim,
I think the camouflage is right there, I like what I see!:thumb2:
Regards, Rick H.

[Guest]

Welcome aboard Jim and Allen, all are welcome.
Thanks Rick, I am pleased with how the camo came out. The challenge now is not to lose it all with the weathering, which is what this blog is about.

A brief update. To avoid getting too wound up watching England, I painted with the football on in the background. It seemed to work! Tools and tyres are done, highlights picked out prior to varnish and weathering. The decals I have are on, so now just waiting for the DAK palm trees.

Jim
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[Si Benson]

Looking good Jim:thumb2:

[rtfoe]

Hi Jim, the Panzer IV is always a nice tank to work on for weathering with all its corners and edges. Looking good.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Thanks Si and Richard.

Just a little done while waiting for the decals.

A touch of grain effect on the handles and jack block.
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And a bit of rust on the exhaust.
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Since my subject vehicle had only been in North Africa for a couple of months, I don’t want to over do the wear and tear, so I have tried to represent a recently painted exhaust starting to show the effects of the engine running along with hot days/cold nights in the desert. Rust tends to start at contact points where moisture can collect and on weld seams etc. so that was where I concentrated. I used a variety of soft pastels powdered, reds, browns, yellows and black, touched onto small spots of Humbrol Decalfix to give some texture and variation.

Jim