SdKfz 171 Panzer V: Panther - 2nd Panzer Division, June 1944

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Super detailing tank paint jobs is a slow process, even if the enthusiasm is up, you are sitting around waiting for various oils and finishes to take often days to dry.  That is partly my excuse as to why it has taken me three months to finish this one model.  Going next level on the modelling side of the hobby is no key to speed painting.

Still this vehicle is finished, and ready to supply some serious muscle to my otherwise second line German units.

  

  

  

  

This model has really leaned on the wet effects, draining off fresh rain, splattered with wet mud, covered in oil, rust marks, silt marks and general grime.  Clearly the crew spent more time in Normandy cafés than they did cleaning their charge.

The foliage is sections of torn up coloured sponge, hand painted with drybrushed highlights, to get the full look; I sourced tiny twigs from a shrub in the yard and attached these to the model first, this gives the sponges - which are soaked in PVA glue - something to adhere to, as well as making the whole look more like tree branches loaded onto the tank.  Its a much better look than lichen, or simple flock.

You may notice some shiny impact marks on the tank too...

 

I experimented with these based on a technique from 1/35 scale modelling:

They are not great, but for a first attempt they look okay.

The Armourfast Panther kit is, to be perfectly fair, pretty basic, bought a long time before this project went to a super-detailed aesthetic, but the details that are there are crisp and well enough done. 

The tracks are the inevitable weak point, as being single piece castings any attempt at realistic treads is impossible, using a rust base, water stains, weathering powders and some selective metallic's, I've tried to improve them.  I also tried a different effect on the exhaust system, picked up from some other tutorial; which although hidden in the images was simple and looks pretty nice.  One for another model perhaps.

Next up may even be an actual game with them, Covid-19 permitting...

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