Visual makeover for 'Gunther'

[Marco Peter]

I recently got my newest German Big Cat, and I love it! I named him 'Gunther'.

This Panther was previously owned by Olaf Piekenbrink, and the builder did a really, really nice job. Lots of extra parts, great weldlines, and after Kees van Rijswijk worked on it it no works with a LifePo4 accu, a Beier sound module, a custom smoke generator, working convoy light, etc.


But that camouflage pattern, those dots! Arrrrghhh MY EYES ARE HURTING!

Well, after a couple of weeks it now looks like this:

It's not entirely finished, but I love the new look!

If people are interested in the process, I will in this thread post almost 200 photos of what I did and share some techniques I used. I am very much open for tips and comments (just realise that most of the work is already done and it will be in hindsight). But anything I can learn will be used for future projects! Never stop learning!

[Marco Peter]

My first concern was how to remove the dots... The paint used for the dots was thick, you could actually feel the dots!


This is a quick test: In the red area I sanded the dots away, in the blue area clearly not...


Unacceptable of course. I did not want those dots to hunt me forever every time I look at the tank!


Much better!


Even after just a first layer of dunkelgelb it's very promising!

[Marco Peter]

I never liked the killrings. Not killrings in general but how but the way they were executed. Too wide, too thick.





The cupola was already nicely detailed:


My reference photo:


So I liked to have a slightly more 'cast' look.


I used Mr. Surfacer500.



Better!

[mark lawson]

Very nice work you have completed on the Panther, no doubt you had a lot of sanding to remove the dots from the Hinterhalt camouflage, I for one would be interested in the rest of the work you have done on the Panther

[Marco Peter]

Time to start on the rest of the turret!





I even find some older turret-numbers...




705?









God I LOVE dunkelgelb!

[Marco Peter]

Just curious: who knows more of this particular Armortek Panther G's history? I couldn't find a building-thread?

[William Gardeniers]

Looking Good Marco let those picture,s coming.

[Marco Peter]

First color: Brown! I used the AK Real Color-serie for that.

If you look closely you can see the faint lines of pencil I put there to loosely determine a camo-pattern. Big mistake. Pencil shows through!



Adding the second color: Green! I also used the AK Real Color-serie for that.


It's hard to get the shapes right, especially where the color come together. This side was bugging me, I didn't like it...


Small corrections made to the shape. Better.

[Marco Peter]

I liked how this turned out. The mantlet is divided in three colors but it seems natural.

Time for a quick try on the dotted Panther!




Looks so squeaky clean! But no weathering can start until the turret numbers are there...

[Marco Peter]

Well, turret numbers... I'm used to using decals. But on 1/6th scale you need HUGE decals! And even though I ordered two sets from the best supplier of decals around (peddinghausdecals) I did not quite find what I liked - and frankly I like 'real' painted number even more.

So my friend Patrick Van Den Wyngaert was kind enough to lend me his set of excellent Armorpax stencils! And I entered a world of hurt... This really needs some practice and patience to get any good results - two virtues I hardly posses!

But even I was smart enough to practice first, so I took one of the 'seitenschurtzen' and started to figure out hoe to do this the best way...


First try was and just the outline.


I used Vallejo Elfenbein color (because I was afraid flat white would be too white)


Not bad!


Easy to use as placeholder to see how it looks!

[Vince Cutajar]

Gunther is looking good Marco.

I did not know that Armorpax had 1/6 scale stencils. Thanks for the info.

Did you use RC047 for the green colour and RC068 for the brown?

Vince

[Marco Peter]

Did you use RC047 for the green colour and RC068 for the brown?

Exactly that!

Not the dunkelgelb, that's a rattle can:


I use that for almost everything, very happy with it!

[mark lawson]

It may be best to contact Olaf Piekenbrink to see if he had a build thread on Armortek or one of the other forums, many builders never sow their work on line.

[Marco Peter]

For the turret-numbers, I wanted to try the outlined version: white outline, red inside.
Basically that does not only make it twice as difficult, but even worse.


Red first...


Not so happy with the result.


Carefully placing the inner-parts of the stencils...




What to say... Should I stop trying?

The result in close-up:


...and after some retouching:

Retouched both the reds and the white outline with a small brush.

[mark lawson]

White outline with red centre was no longer used on late model tanks the reason is that red stands out a long distance for late tanks the numbers were white outline with black centre mostly though some units used yellow or blue, often numbers were just the outline in white or black as you did with your first attempt.

When you paint numbers it is best to use light passes with the air rush using lower pressure on the compressor will reduce the over spray you creating this with higher pressure this lifts the stencil a small amount causing the leading effect that you have, lower pressure will reduce this and light passes with the airbrush from 30cm distance will help less paint will give a realistic effect.

Armorpax stencil sets https://www.armorpax.net/stencil-sets