Dragon Sd.Kfz. 7/1 2cm Flakvieling 38 auf Selbstfahrlafette

[Jamie Tainton]

[Markus Lack]

Hey James, it´s cool to see you painting again.
I always liked your Panzergrau!

[Jamie Tainton]

I decided to do the paint scheme for the 24 Pz. Div., near Stalingrad 1942. I am contemplating making it a white washed vehicle- later in it's life than the one in the paint schedule of the instruction sheet, which is just grey. The first thing is I need to do the white identity strips that are on the front and back. I first tried to do it with the white on grey. I was not happy with the result. I would suggest the better technique often seen in airplane modelling- paint the white first and then tape the area you want to stay white and then spray grey again. Much better results and easier to gauge everything.
Pic of the first way...




The results are less than perfect...




This is the second attempt where I have sprayed the white (Vallejo) which will next get taped off.

[Jamie Tainton]

Next up the instrument panel gets some decals and data plates. I used the Archer set for the majority of them. The main dial seems off centre I may change that up with a dial from the Sdkfz. 10/5 model.




Licence plates and unit markings from the kit.

[Jamie Tainton]

So my theory on using the laquer based paint was to not use Future to resist the hairspray, preventing the removal of the grey when taking off the white wash in the weathering stage. This only worked to a certain degree. Unfortunately. I was okay with the result but it wasn't a clean as I had hoped. Still working out the bugs on this very tricky step. I will have to maybe do some separate testing in the future before trying on a model again....
As it is I can still remedy any faux pas with mapping and the like.
Here you can see the shiny surface after spraying the TRESemme hairspray straight from the can.




The model was then painted with Tamiya flat white- thinned only with water. I think I may have put it on too thick.




Then using water and an old brush I removed the white. You can see that some areas have gone too deep and the light grey plastic colour has resurfaced. Dang!. Still have to figure this out. But I was going to do more layers anyways and these mistakes will help me in a way cause they will be the map for any "mapping". Dry brushing will be implemented as well to retouch some of the high points. I was very happy with the gun shields however- no problems there. This is such a difficult, at this point, technique giving me unpredictable results. Sometimes good sometimes not so good.

[Jamie Tainton]

So I wrote to Phil about my problems with my HS technique-still waiting to here back but he says he may have some idea why I'm having trouble. I'll keep ya posted.
The next update maybe of interest because it includes several images that use the HDR technique of combining three bracketed images to come up with one. I still am playing around with this but I think I like the results. The wheels have been white washed as well.

[Jamie Tainton]

Okay- made some great progress with this. I suffer from the need to get many layers of aging/weathering on these things before sticking any wheels on. Or tracks. So this can mean months and months before it seems like I have any real progress on these builds but eventually there comes a point where even I have to say enough is enough. I mean, one could spend literally several months just adding layers of dirt and grime. And while this might look phenomenal in the end- I need to move things along at some point. And I can say that this Sdkfz.7/1 that I have been working on is at that place- I actually was able to stick the wheels on and the tracks today. yippee!. (Man, sometimes I wonder... I gotta get a life! )
So here are some pics.
Sometimes I get behind posting these pics- and maybe forget to mention some of the things I do to the kit as I go along, which brings me to tell you sometimes the pictures need to be looked at closely...if you are to get the whole message. But I don't think there will be anything left out on this update... I think...
In this one you can see on the wheels the interiors have had their perimeter airbrushed with the Humbrol Earth colour #29 I believe.


test fitting the wheels -to refresh my mind as to how the sequence goes.


Dragon provides the excellent single links in separate bags, the metal and rubber parts.


So I think this pic shows the wheels mounted after I had done a Raw Umber wash to the wheels and the lower aspect of the half track itself. I was going for a light medium tone so as not to totally overwhelm the white wash as it seems in some pics from the time these things could still look white even after a period of use. As you can see I have also glued the Voyager Models replacement resin front wheels on.I was not that impressed with the workmanship on that item and sure hope Hussar gets some made- (I much prefer their wheels to any others)


A thin wash of Naples yellow artists oil colour was added to the floor of the rear and the front cab interior- to start the simulation of dust and dirt layers.








So now more about the tracks. These needed some clean up on the surfaces that come in contact with the wheels- raised circles from the moulding process need to be carefully shaved off with a curved X-Acto blade. Also the inside of the pads has a little blip that needs to be shaved. But this take not much time and is the only hiccup when it comes to assembling these state of the art track links. They're so butch!

[Jamie Tainton]

Here one length has been assembled and test fit loosely to see how it all looks together. ( and for the more observant, yes, there is one wheel that missed the assembly line of aging processes. This will be rectified presently)


I put these together the usual way stating out with pairs, then taking those pairs and making 4 and then a length of 8, 16 and so on.








After I primed the tracks out with some Model Master Flat Black I then sprayed with some Humbrol metal colour which I buffed out with a graphite powder infused tooth brush. Onto this will be added some dirt pigmentation but this is the base.




The back track has been buffed


Finally this mother has shoes!

[Jamie Tainton]

Test fit of the gun with the shields now glued in place. You can see how much whiter the shields are to the actual vehicle. This will be tied in but not totally to the same degree as the gun was further off the ground and so to my mind further from the dirt. ( I freaking dropped the gun assembly last night and knocked few items off but was able to glue all the broken off bits back together with no noticeable flaw so that's good, but I hate going backwards )
Next I have to white wash the fence sides and add them and all the other parts that I have left off so as to not have them break off during this more hands on part of the assembly. I also have to start thinking of some figures. And maybe a base.

[Jamie Tainton]