Prompted by tediam in the Stug Group Build thread:
Panzer Gray often presents a challenge because 1) it’s a monotone scheme and 2) it’s dark gray…
Which begs the question, what methods have you used to weather Panzer Gray? Combinations of base coat/preshading, washes, lightened paint, etc.? Panzer gray suffers horribly, judging by pictures and accounts, from exposure to the sun, so how do you get the right faded/worn/chipped look in this medium?
I’ll post my method along with pics used in the StuG GB a little bit later on, have to reconstruct the exact steps I used (especially since I’m not quite finished with it!) first and then post it up. [;)]
I take MM Pazergrau, lightened a little with white as the base. I then lighten it some more and spray irregular patches on the tank (usually on the side, they are vertical lines on the vertical surfaces. This I got from Missinglynx.com’s Know how series Rain Marks World). I will do this again a litle a lighter again and also the Panzer Grau straight from the bottle. This gives the gray a worn and patch look. I chip the edges of surfaces with a Design Ebony Jet Black Extra smooth drawing pencil, washes with black and brown washes (acrylic paint with MM acrylic thinner),Add some a dust coat heavier on the wheels and lower surface drybrush and the dullcoat it all. I have a Tiger I I did this way I can try to get some pics out tomorrow
I spray black as a base coat, then mist spray Tamiya German Tank gray. Over this I spray Tamiya Neutral gray. Gives a nice 3D effect. Washes are done with shades of Burnt Umber artist oils, darkened with black for the crevasses, and lightened with a little cadmium yellow for the main areas.
Dust in the crevasses of the road wheels, etc is done by moistening the area with acrylic thinners, and then applying pastel chalks mixed with acrylic thinners. in these areas. When dry it looks just like ingrained dirt.
Over these I do a very light drybrushing with several shades of lightened Humbrol Tank Gray (#67?)
Finally a go over with pastel chalk dust completes the model.
Only thing I am finding is that the new Humbrol paints are not as good as the old formula for drybrushing. The pigment does not settle in the tinlet as well as previous paints. This can leave an unwanted shine on the drybrush run.
Panzer gray was effected more by dust than light. The layer of dust is more often than not mistaken as faded paint. Look at any dark coloured car that has not been washed for a while, you will see what I mean.
Use MM Rust as a basecoat/primer, spray on MM Panzer Schwarzgrau at a lower pressure and randomize passes to produce uneven light/dark contrasts. Use thinned MM Rust to apply scratch marks with a toothpick. Drybrush raised areas with MM Steel. Apply black artist pastels to crevices and panel lines and over drybrushed areas. Seal with glosscoat and apply markings. Apply MMP Worn Panzer Gray dry with a stiff bristled brush in a circular grinding motion, blow/brush away excess with round #6 brush and smooth/blend again with the stiff bristled brush. Reapply black pastel over crevices where needed. Seal with dull coat. Reapply MMP Worn Panzer Gray to give a layered look vs. the previous coat (previous coat darkens under the dull coat).
The Stug C/D was my first attempt at depicting weathered grey using this or any method:
Thanks Dwight! With the increase in offerings by Dragon and others on early-war subjects, there’s a lot more room for working with the panzer gray scheme. This one was a lot of fun working out the best way with the tools and resources available to me to get the desired effect. I’ve got two more candidates for this scheme in the stash, the Pz I B and a 250/10 that will eventually receive similar treatment in the somewhat near future. [:D]
wbill go check out the Pz IV group build Edog did a nice job on his Panzers with post shading. I’m trying it on the Panzer IV that I working on and so far it’s coming out nice.
Basically you spray a light gray then spray a darker gray on the edges and shadows. http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?page=14&TOPIC_ID=21888
Edog’s Pz IV gave me some inspiration to attempt the weathered look as far as how I wanted the final result to turn out since his finished up so nice.
I’d seen his results in the GB and decided to take a stab at it myself. He used some different colors and methods but basically we followed the same concepts of shading and building up the colors to produce the desired effect. His is all paint based and I used a combination of paint, pastels, and weathering powders simply because I’m more used to using them for weathering. I use his same basic technique of pre and post shading on all my efforts, including this one.
