I’m a noob and not sure what order to do everything in…
I painted it Grey and decided to use Testors Enamel “Panzer Grey.” I still have to paint all the tools, wheels, etc. I think I have all the colors needed for that.
My question is: Should I apply the decals now, then do the rest or wait to do the decals dead last? Speaking of decals, I’ve heard of using decal setting stuff, applying gloss coats before, etc. Any advice on that?
Another thing: when it’s all done, should I spray it with some type of sealer or something?
If you’re asking to do decals before painting, the answer is no. Although I would suggest a coat of primer before painting. Primer helps paint get a grip on the kit better
Decals stick better on gloss coat. So spray a coat of gloss clear coat. I use Micro Sol and Micro Set for decal setting.
After all the decals are applied, seal it with a coat of flat clear coat.
The order of doing stuff on any kit depends very much on the design of that kit. Since I have never built any tank, I can’t help much.
All I can say is that before doing anything else on a new kit, sit down, examine the kit, and do detailed planning. Decaling is like the age-old question that novices ask, “do I paint every part and then assemble the kit, or do I assemble the whole kit first and then paint it.” The answer of course, is a little of both. You need to do the planning yourself. I really believe the kit mfgs believe only a small fraction of modelers actually paint and decal their kits.
Poor kit design abounds, even as old as the modeling kit industry is. The latest kits have things like landing gear that must be installed prior to fuselage closure, but the landing gear is too fragile to mask or paint after the rest of the model is assembled and painted. So the modeler is left to himself to learn how to do such planning. And each kit is unique. Even after seventy years of modeling I am still faced with challenges of “how do I do this or that, the way this kit is designed.”
Now that the base colors are on, paint the road wheel tires, tools, gun barrels, spare tracks, etc. then apply a gloss coat. Allow the gloss to dry and cure and then apply decals. If you are going to do any washes, apply them after decals. After wash clean up is done, apply the flat coat. Once that has dried, apply any dry brushing and weathering.
The interior of a PZ II turret would be an off-white ivory, however the hatch interior would be painted the same color as the exterior so as not to present a target.
The only exception to that would be some vehicles in Africa. The hatch inner face would be dark gray of the original factory paint job, and the outer surface would be in the sand color later applied.