This project wasn't started with writing an article in mind but I discovered a couple of things I thought were worth sharing as I started work on it. The first bit of information worth sharing concerns the product I used to create the Zimmerit coating on the tank. The second is the material I found to use as pavers for the diorama base. I will explain more about each as I go but there is a little to say as an introduction to the project first. The Reason For The Build Many of our customers buy our kits to compliment their military models and figures. It wouldn't be mere speculation to say that a large majority of model kits that are purchased with "big plans" in mind, can sit for years in their boxes before ever being built, if at all. I am guilty of this habit and I finally decided to see if I could break myself of this paralysis and finally build a kit I had been thinking about for literally years. My favorite tank from purely an aesthetic viewpoint is the German Panther. I've always liked the shape, details, color schemes and stories associated with it. As a result of this fascination, I have purchased books and magazines through the years and spent countless hours contemplating which particular tank I would recreate in miniature. This pastime was enjoyable as it allowed me to virtually build the tank in my head, without ever opening a model box. Panthers were used in Russia, Italy, France and elsewhere up until the end of the war. So many color schemes and interesting variants to ponder. So many possibilities to be realized each time I opened a reference book. However, it did seem to be a never ending circle of procrastination and ultimately, less than satisfying. This past year I realized that I had a stack of Dragon and Tamiya Panther kits in boxes and I finally thought I should either build at least one, or pass the kits along to someone who hopefully would. I made an early New Years resolution and finally decided to finally build a Panther tank...any Panther tank. I gave myself a break and decided not to attempt to build a tank that could be documented but rather a tank that could have existed and furthermore, would be a typical example of a vehicle from a particular campaign. I decided to build a tank that would have fought in France, from Normandy to the retreat to the Seine, in the summer of 1944. I based my build on photos of vehicles belonging to 130 Panzer-Lehr-Regiment because they appear to have had large turret numbers and what has been described as "field applied Zimmerit". And the Zimmerit was the first challenge. I decided to prime this kit using red oxide aerosol because it's the color the Germans used on the real thing. I didn't expect any primer to end up showing through but it wasn't detrimental to the finished product either. I added the Zimmerit using a product called "Americana Stuccos" by DecoArt. I purchased it at a craft store and it appears to be an acrylic, paint/paste. It comes in a few colors and it's meant to add texture to craft projects. It comes in an 8oz. jar and was very inexpensive. The price was the reason I decided to try it and I was very impressed with the results. It's got a nice consistency and doesn't set up right away. I was able to smear a fairly even coat and then draw my crosshatch design with an x-acto blade. I didn't try to get any fancier than that and I leave it to the more experienced German armor modelers to see what can be acheived with this product. The photos should give an indication of the texture I was able to get. I painted a base coat of "German Armor Yellow" using an imprecise mix of ceramic paints. I did mix the color a little lighter than I intended it to end up because I was going to wash some darker colors over it. I gave the tank an overspray of Krylon matte clear to protect the base coat because I use alcohol in my weathering process and I didn't want the paint to be taken back down to the primer. I camouflaged the tank using the brown and green shown in the photo. Again, my mix was approximate and not very neatly applied. Go to page 2.

Page1 | Page2 | Page3 | Page4