HobbyBoss's Super Pershing Pilot (Part 3)

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1/35 Academy Jagdpanzer 38(t) 'Hetzer' (part 5 - completed!)

Last night I was up until the early hours finishing this one off. 

It depicts Germany, Summer, 1945. A British tank crew discovered an abandoned Hetzer with strange camo; they were well acquainted with the beast, having being knocked out by it two days before the war in Europe ended. However, it seemed the American 463rd Ordnance Evacuation Battalion had already laid claim to the machine, their scrawl adorning the sun-bleached hull, ear-marking this vehicle to be picked up by one of their Dragon Wagon transporters.

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1/35 Academy Jagdpanzer 38(t) 'Hetzer' (Part 4 - added chips, mud, and dust effects).

Here we are one more time with some more progress.  It might seem a long, drawn out build, and in fact it is - however, the stages of weathering take time and patience, and I need to rest and regroup in between modelling sessions.

In the photo above it's clear to see the chips I have begun to add.  It's a tedious, sweat inducing task, and that's no joke. To damage one's model at this stage, after so much effort had been injected would be upsetting, to say the least.  The darker areas represent the older, rusted steel (applied by sponge and brush), while the surrounding areas are carefully brush painted on, in this case using a my 'red-oxide' paint to represent fresh chips.

I still have to work on the tracks, but until I've decided about my base, they can wait.  

For the chipping I used both a sponge and a good quality brush.  

I like my Hetzer both with and without the armoured skirts, so I spent a while taking them on and off. There're very delicately attached so I can I always change them around and I have some spares all painted up and ready to go (I made extra just in case...........). As you can see, I chipped the tool box with my darker, old rust mix.  Any part of the vehicle that is being constantly opened and closed or handled will chip - just look at an old metal tool box in your garage!

For the mud spatter I mixed a small amount of white wood glue with water and added some Mig pigments (Dry Earth and European Dust).

The mixture was first tested on paper and then I used an old brush with cut down, stiff bristles, dipped in my muddy/dusty mixture and the bristles were carefully manipulated with my finger to flick dirt on the hull. I had to be careful to get the scale of the splashes looking natural.  I hold a post-it note in front of any areas I want kept relatively clean.

And finally here's a top view of the weathered machine.  As you can see, the vivid colours have been nicely muted, much to the crew's relief!

See the final reveal HERE

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1/35 Academy Jagdpanzer 38(t) 'Hetzer' (Part 3)

Unfortunately I didn't take photos when I added the dunkelgelb camo, but I can tell you I did it using yellow tac (I hear white tac it less tacky so less likely to pull up your base coat when removing) rolled into sausage shapes and placed gently on the hull and manipulated into shape. It's best to have a rough sketch of your camo pattern before beginning the procedure. 

Once the 'octo-legs' were in place I removed the yellow tac and went in with a paint brush to add the little red-oxide circles. When this stage was complete, I added a coat of satin varnish; it's very important to give your model a protective coat in between each weathering process, so as to protect the paint and all your hard work beneath.

In the photo above my Hetzer has been treated to a filter and a pin-wash using oil paints to bring out panel lines and other details.  I couldn't add the side skirts as yet because I needed to work behind the tracks and also on the road wheels. However, what I did was to temporarily fix the skirts so they could be weathered to match the hull.

In the photo above I'm adding oil weathering to the hull. I added dots of my chosen colour to the areas where they were needed, took a flat brush dampened with spirits, and then gently dragged the paint vertically. Sometimes it's possible to unintentionally remove all the paint, so just add more paint and repeat the process. I was aiming for a faded appearance.

   The wheels were weathered at a later stage as the tracks still needed working on.

As well as fading, I also added some individual streaks of dirt and rust, working small dots of oil with a small round brush dampened with odourless spirits. 

In the photo above you can see there's still more weathering needed, especially in the track department.   

See part 4 HERE

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