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The model is now almost ready to be painted. The only parts still left to fabricate are the side positioning lights which will be very fragile so I’ve decided to make and paint these separately before mounting nearer the end of the painting and weathering process.
As the model has been handled a fair amount during the construction phase oils from my fingers will have been transferred to the surface of the plastic. These are removed by using a brush dipped in warm soapy water and the lightly brushed all over.
The model was then put on an old cake rack and blown dry with a hair drier set on low so as to avoid the chance of distorting the plastic with excessive heat.
Once all traces of water have evaporated the model was then covered with a plastic sandwich box to keep any dust particles from falling on the surfaces and left to dry for 24hrs.
This is now for me the most interesting part of the project and in some ways it’s a pity to have to cover all the different items with paint. For the Pz35t I am going to mix several painting techniques including the “colour modulation/zenithal lighting” which is really a three dimensional use of what the old masters did on canvas with light and shadows. The one important thing to remember when you get to this stage is be PATIANT and don’t rush as the project is nearing completion.
We start by collecting together the required references, paints for the base coat and for the highlights as the base is very dark we will only use highlights to enhance the basic colour.
For applying the base colour a double action Essential airbrush, which I purchased from The Airbrush Company, was used to apply the Tamiya paint mix. For the first base coat I mixed panzer grey XF63 with a little blue XF23. To this was added Nato Black XF69 and then clear X22 and the thinner X20. This was all mixed using a battery stirrer used to froth coffee in its original incarnation. To test that the consistency of the paint is correct swirl in round the mixing jar and see if it just coats the glass as it falls back. This should not be a thick coat but the opacity should be about the thickness of milk.
