Panzer III Ausf. N - Refurbishment

Stripped the old kit down with VMS Clean Slate 2.0... 

This is the only kit where I posed things open...  

Going to be a little tricky repainting when the wheels and tracks are permanently bonded to the tank... 

Some minor repairs will need to take place but I still have all the peices and schurzen thankfully... 

I don't know how this little tank survived closed to 20 years without it breaking... 

VMS Clean Slate was pretty good removing the old paint job... Considering the paint is almost 20 years old and was a mix of enamels and acrylics... Some areas had a little left over paint but this was only in the tight regions... Should be easily hidden with stowage, earth or a strategically placed Tarp.. 

Primed with Mr Surface Primer 1000 Grey... There were a few imperfections in the surface but this surfacer took care of it... Really is the best primer you can get... 

 

 

 

Thought I'd study a bit of colour theory to help colour match the RAL7028... Really is remarkably simple colour matching using colour theory... Let's see how it goes... 

Sitting here contemplating how the tracks will look and how ill go about painting a fully assembled and bonded kit... Will probably have to hit the tracks first with a dark colour to diffuse those areas i cant reach with the RAL7028...  

Tracks sprayed with a mix of XF63 German Grey and XF10 Flat Brown in about a 3:2 ratio... 

Well I managed to cut all the paint in around things by airbrush... Thin paint, low air pressure and a steady hand... 

Looking the part already... 

Didnt want any dark colours polluting the RAL7028 as I'll be doing extremely thin coats allowing some of the grey to show through... 

 

A quick mottling of XF19 Sky Grey to add variation here and there... 

Laying up some colour... 

Hmm maybe.... Maybe a little too yellow... 

Little on the yellow side...Will need to bring in a litlle red brown to move it towards a light tan yellow... 

Pretty close... Bit hard to photo this... And probably not the best way to check... Lol Added a little more buff to the mix... 

I think I hit the sweet spot for RAL7028... Was too yellow initially...  

Little more to go on the lower hull... 

The benefits of a grey under coat... Instant fading... I sprayed a mottled coat of XF19 over the Surfacer which was lighter again... Ultra thin paint, 17 psi, 2.5mm Spray pattern and this is the result... 

This was a test to see the effects of ultra thin paint... Honestly, have go at spraying Tamiya paint thinned 75% thinner to 25% paint and work with low air pressure in a small concentrated spray pattern... Dial your paint flow back to prevent spiders and just waft thr colour over... Transparency working in my favour... 

 

 

 

Base colour done..! Might do some gradient highlight volumes and modulation 

 

 

Mix was lightened with White and a little Deck Tan 

 

Little bit of modulation and highlighting... Base colour complete... Onto cutting in with a brush... 

 

I'm amazed I still have all the schurzen, however the turret schurzen has its mounts broken... Not too sure how to go about correcting it... May leave it off... 

 

 

Detail painting started... Cutting in and around the roadwheels was a little tricky when everything is bonded together... 

VMS Satin Varnish... Plaster it on and boom it does the rest... So easy... 

 

Playing with oils... 

Bit of OPR this weekend... 

 

 

ABT502 Buff, White, Raw Umber, Basic skin Tone and a little yellow here and there... 

 

Calling the oil rendering done... 

 

 

 

Chipping and rust tones tonight... 

Predusting commenced... This time using enamels and different methods of blending..