An Officer's Story: Airfix British 8th Army Review; Pt.1

With March coming to a close, I'm going to go throught the steps that I went through to finish the officer from Airfix's 1/72 scale British 8th Army kit. I bought this kit last summer and really didn't get around to making it until now. When I first opened the box, the first thing I noticed was the quality of the kit. The figures are some of the best that I've ever seen. The molding was almot perfect with only a few lines and minimal flash. As I was looking throught the sprues one figure caught my eye. That figure was an officer that had no mold lines and looked better than the rest. When I looked at him I knew that he was the best figure in the kit. After a couple of weeks the box was put somewheres and was almost forgotten until a few weeks ago I took it out, having finished my last kit, the Tamiya Pak 40, (look for the pictures, coming soon) and sprayed the figures. Then they were ready for painting. The officer is shown in the picture with the Airfix Panzer IV

Tip of the Week

For the last tip of the week for figures, I decided to use a tip that may seem obvious to some, but to others, this may be a lifesaver. Use any form of magnification to see your work better. With the help of a pair of magnifying glasses, you can see detail that you never have even seen with the naked eye.

Tip of the Week

Use reference sources. Before you go ahead and paint those awesome new figures that you bought, you should try and find a picture or something to base your color scheme after. I suggest Google Images searches or go the old fashioned way and go to your local library where you could find a book on the topic. Note: books with color photos are best for obvious reasons.

Tip of the Week

Paint your figure as you would dress them. Well, if you don't get what I mean by that, I mean to paint flesh first, then the uniform, and last any accessories that come with it, like pouches and guns. This will guarantee an excellent looking model every time.

This Month's Theme Is...

Figures. I sincerely apologize to my avid readers, [If there are any=)] about being so late into March for the new theme to start. The Panther review took a little longer than suspected, but it was my first review so it was a learning curve for me. Anyways, back to the theme. Figures can be the most difficult form of models to finish, but if you do the proper steps and do some other things, the result is extremely satisfying, but one thing to remember is that the smaller that you go, the less detail you get from painting.

Tamiya Panther Ausf. A Build; Part 6

Today I'll talk about painting and finishing the Panther. I have left off the tool racks, tracks, and all other accessories that go on the sides. I painted it in three parts: chassis, body, and turret. After masking off the figures I airbrushed on Decoart Tan on all the parts.c Then I free handed the camouflage using Decoart Burnt Sienna and Hunter Green. After the paint dried I added a Decoart gloss coat. Then I painted all tool and accessories. I also gave the tracks a dry brushing of Decoart Burnt Umber. After this was finished I used a bit more of the same brown form the tracks on the tools, body bottom edges, and wheels. Then I added the decals, Which are beautiful with lots of options(I chose Totenkopf division) Then I used Tamiya's weathering master tool powders to blend in the decals a bit and a a bit of roughness to the model. And there you have it, a great tank that looks straight from the battle.

Tamiya Panther Ausf. A Build; Part 5

Today I'll talk about the chassis of the Panther. This is two pieces(the main bottom and the back) with wheels separate. The wheels are nicely molded with very little clean-up to do. Make sure you put these on in the right order or you'll have a big problem. This is monotonous but be patient it looks great when it's done. The rear of the tank has some exhaust pipes and the jack and these are mediocre, not perfect but they'll do. That's all for the chassis, next post will be painting.

Tamiya Panther Ausf. A Build; Part 4

Today I will talk about The hull of the tank. This was one piece with tools and handles that had to be glued. All the pieces went on fine and there is very little to say about this stage. The handles near the engine grates are tricky but be patient. This was the quickest part to finish. I left the tools off until after painting.