MXpression

Nº 1 - 2016

Director’s Cut

Perfect
Pattern
Panzer:
How to create
the correct
Hetzer Factory
Camo Pattern

Roll out “Lucky Guys”

the Barrel by Robert Doepp
A quick painting guide

MXpression’s Free Online Modelling Magazine

MXpression - Director’s Cut | -1-
 CONTENTS EDITORIAL

T
his magazine you and sculptor, with a keen
are about to read, eye for detail. His ability to
study and hopefully improve or create missing
3 Editorial enjoy, is the first in what details, or scratch build
is scheduled to become with basic materials like
4 “Lucky Guys” a series of Masterclass plastic card, is second to
Robert Doepp kicks off this maiden issue with part 1 in publications. The series, none. However, sculpting,
a series of master classes on scratch building, sculpting which will host a selection constructing and detail-
and painting. First up he explains the scratch building of of well renowned authors, ing are only half the job,
two 1/16 Panther cut out bases. will deal with various painting the other. With
themes and topics and will his eagle eye for detail
27 “Perfect Pattern Panzer” elaborately explain a di- Robert always strives for
Intricate factory painting schemes are no longer a reason versity of methods on how perfection, whether he is
for headache or double vision, as easy to use MXpression to sculpt, construct, paint, weathering a vehicle, a
masks come to the rescue. weather and so on. leather map case, or even

S
4 ome issues may painting the tiny text on
46 “Roll out the Barrel”
‘Layer Cake’ or: How I learned therefore showcase a packet of Lucky Strike
Part 1 in a step by step guide on how to make a small to stop worrying and love a number of models cigarettes. ‘Amazing’ is
figure base. plastic card. and subjects, while others the word you are looking
will just be focusing on one for. Remember that when
53 Impressum single model in particular. you are browsing through
Needless to say that with the next issues of this
a masterclass series we magazine and you read
will do our utmost to show the text on that packet of
you in great detail how the cigarettes, it’s only a few
various artists reach the millimetres’ in size!
final result. This means

E
we will be going over the
creative process step - by njoy...
- step with a large number
of clear in detail photos
explaining the procedure
46 27 to the maximum.

I
‘Barrel of fun’ ‘Dots & Dashes’ n this first publication
we would like to present
you the minute work of
German master modeller
Robert Doepp. Robert is
a very talented modeller

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 “Lucky Guys” by Robert Doepp Part I
Building two 1/16 scale vignettes from scratch - including constructing two “Panther”-sections,
sculpting figures, painting- and weathering-techniques.

W riting an extensive
story on a model-
ling subject most people
documentation is printed
in the end. In addition it is
usually neither the first nor
The Story, pt. I:
Changing plans...
decided that I had spent
enough time and effort on
this particular model. Thus
necessary to even show
parts of the tank’s interior.
had finished construc-
tion of the second section
(without interior parts) this
necessities provided by
the turret’s and copula’s
shape, which had led to an
rather “developed” than
followed a plan. At the
same time it turned from

T
will call more honourable the last article of a particu- here are many rea- I put the figure aside and Even though this fact made vignette’s overall layout empty area on the engine the limited short-term pro-
than writing short articles lar author, who does not sons for choosing the was searching for a new the construction work by appeared more convinc- deck in front of the fig- ject I had been looking for
in magazines because it is want to get boring to the subject of a modelling inspirational idea. Finally I far more complicated and ing to me than the first ure. Thus I decided to fill into another major project,
less transitory. But beside readers by repeating the project: A special vehicle found it with a photo I had time consuming than ex- one’s. In particular the this empty space with an which in the end kept me
this superficial reason I same descriptions all the you are interested in, a already known for quite a pected the result encour- proportion between the additional gunner-figure, busy for about one year
wanted to publish this ex- time. Thus I am afraid that new kit, an inspiring pic- while in particular showing aged me to do another figure and the tank section which was nearby anyway (meaning about 900 hours
tensive work for the addi- some people may have ture or even a story you a “Panther”-commander, circular “Panther”-section seemed more balanced as the picture I had based of modelling).
tional possibilities it offers been as frustrated about want to tell with a scene or who seemed to be very from scratch as a base for leaving very little empty my work on shows several
compared to an article. In my writing for magazines a figure, which may pro- much the counterpart the radio operator figure space. In contrast to that members of the tank crew.
my youth reading articles as I have been before. vide the plan to follow. In of the stereotype Prus- remaining from the former the cutting line of the first I guess you will agree, that
on modelling written by Therefore I will take the contrast to that the story sian-German WWII-sol- “Panther”-project. When I section had followed the my double-vignette project
my most admired idols chance of MXpression of the two vignettes I will dier: Sitting on the turret
Sheperd Paine and Fran- Director’s Cut to offer to deal with developed rather escape hatch of his tank
cois Verlinden every now you something closer to chaotic and my work did in a very relaxed - not to
and then left me rather the complete story of what not always follow a plan or say sloppy - posture while
frustrated, because I did I did with the featured this plan at least changed smoking a cigarette; wear-
not get the complete de- models and why. I can not several times. ing a partly non-standard
tailed manual for reaching leave all the mentioned I had just finished a ma- mixed up uniform with
the results that I was af- limits behind and for sure jor project, which had ab- heavily oversized trousers
ter. Due to my suspicious there will be shortcom- sorbed more of my per- (Pic.1a). Due to his posi-
mind I sometimes insinu- ings, but the “secrets” that sonal resources than I had tion on the tank I needed
ated that it was an intend- may occur are definitely expected: A 1/16 scale at least a small model-sec-
ed effect to keep things not intended. Instead I will Tamiya FO-”Panther”, tion to place the figure. As
secret, but when I started honestly try to near my Ausf. G. I had already add- I had already intensively
writing articles myself I ideal of writing on models: ed three self-made figures dealt with the “Panther”
learned that it was proba- To completely describe to the tank and my original before I was not too much
bly not. I had to face sim- the used techniques and plan was to add a fourth afraid of building this sec-
ilar shortcomings like they the thoughts behind them one: The radio operator tion from scratch.
did before: Usually the to make everybody able to sitting on top of his hatch. I decided to shape it cir-
space for an article is lim- do the same in case that But when I had done the cular. The commander is
ited. It is featured among he wants to. sculpting I changed my wearing a headset with
other articles, which com- mind, because on the one the cabling reaching into
pete for the precious pag- hand the additional figure the open copula. Along
es of the magazine. Thus did not seem to add much with the opened turret es- Pic.1a: The original scene (Bundesarchiv,
only a varying (and often to the project as a whole cape hatch he is sitting Picture 101I-281-1104-32 / Petraschk).
low) percentage of the and on the other I finally on that was what made it

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 Basically vignettes offer The first will deal with the The whole project includes final “show case” (chapter 2. "Scratch a Cat":
the unique opportunity to construction of the vehicle three figures and two dif- 8) hopefully will show that
Construction of
integrate many aspects sections (chapter 1), while ferent tank sections. In or- the techniques described
of modelling into a limit- the second one will de- der not to get redundant I are not limited neither to the "Panther"-sec-
ed project. While I used scribe the sculpting of the will focus on one of them in any particular subject nor tions
to be most interested in figures (chapter 2). After each chapter and will only to a particular scale. And
weathering AFV-models,
in my modelling life I have
spent more and more time
some explanations about
the final steps to finish the
construction work (chap-
additionally deal with the
others if they show signifi-
cant differences.
so I hope to support and
inspire your modelling no
matter which subject your
I was sure about using a
circular shape for the first
vignette. As far as I am
on construction with an ter 3), I will show how I My idea has been to personal choice may be. concerned a single figure
increasing amount of su- have painted the figures choose a rather special should be approximately
per-detailing. The neces- (chapter 4) and close the and at the same time limit- in the centre of the scene
sary research has begun modelling technique part ed subject, which of course while the cut out should be
to fascinate me as well. with the painting of the ve- can be described in every kept as small as possible.
Figures have turned in my hicle parts (chapter 5) and detail more easily. Because the figure was
mind from a necessary the final assembly of the But even though the sub- to sit on the opened turret
bad to one of my main in- vignettes (chapter 6). ject is rather special the escape hatch the centre
terests - in particular since of the vignette had to be
I have started to sculpt my slightly behind the back
py of this
own ones. Finally to tell a
e d to m a k e an exact co of the turret. As I own an
plan n ere,
“story” instead of just pre- I have never d to a d a p t the atmosph ink-printer which is also
have trie
senting a certain vehicle scene. But I d uniforms capable for copying, I sim-
has also got into the focus , th e s ty le of the mixe ply enlarged some draw-
the postu re s t limiting
of my modelling related in- ty o f o th e r d etails withou ings from Jentz/Doyle,
and a varie ch.
Pic.2: Some of the copies I have made to fix the dimensions of both
terests. ense too mu Panzer Tracts No. 5-3 to
Thus I hope you will agree my artificial lic find out about the neces-
vignettes. A printer with the opportunity to make copies is a very helpful
that the two vignettes are a sary dimensions. thing.
worthy subject to describe One of the typical aspects
several basic techniques of my model soldier was a slightly traversed po- present in cut versions. sive hinges and an angled
in four main chapters. that he was wearing a sition. This decision The cooling air inlet guards arm shaped mount, which
headset with the cabling caused some problems of the “Panther” were keep it in parallel angle to
most likely reaching into as the centre of the tur- massive cast parts. These the sloped turrets back ar-
the commander’s copu- ret’s traverse mecha- were to be cut as well and mour plate. The hinge in-
la. Taking a close look at nism was neither to be so would be visible from side the turret is fixed by
the necessary dimensions included in the vignette aside. At the same time three bolts. The one in the
it became obvious that I nor is it obvious in most an observer can estimate middle at the same time
firstly had to cut the copula of the scale drawings. the depth of these guards holds a minor hinge on the
and secondly avoid to cut Fortunately the “Panzer from above. That is what outside with a small hook,
through the periscopes. Tracts” volume I have made me choose the which secures the hatch
On the other side of the used includes draw- height of the cut out so it in opened position. To re-
turret the “Nahverteidi- ings of the naked hull would include representa- build this rather complex
gungswaffe” (close-de- as well (5-150), which tions of the inlet guards of mechanism I started from
fence-weapon) had to can be used to localize adequate thickness. a comparably rough but
be included, which could the centre of the turret. Once these basic deci- workable version, which
hardly be cut as well. It After fiddling around for sions had been taken I was detailed later on
can be an interesting ef- quite a while I came to started constructing the vi- (Pic.4).
fect to cut details, but I had a final solution showing gnette with the necessary The escape hatch was
no idea how to adequately the asymmetrical cut of section of the engine deck only provisionally fixed to
represent the inside of the the turrets backside and (Pic.3) to base the turret the back armour plate. So
periscopes or the complex a small section of the en- on. once I was sure about its
inner mechanism of the gine deck along with both One of the more chal- fit I added the turret roof,
Pic.1b: Close up of the original scene (Bundesarchiv, “Nahverteidigungswaffe”. air inlet covers and both lenging parts of the turret the side armour plates
Picture 101I-281-1104-32 / Petraschk). To add interest and avoid engine hatch hinges, section was the escape and the inner base plate,
a static appearance I de- which also would both hatch, because it is fixed which was adapted to the
cided to show the turret in have been difficult to re- from the inside with mass engine hull section by the
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 representation of the turret
traverse bearing. To reach
an exact circular outer
shape of the turret sec-
tion I fixed a piece of 2mm
plastic card of the same di-
ameter to the hull section
and carefully sanded the
turret frequently checking
its shape with a triangle
(Pic.5a). When the dimen-
sions of the turret section
had been fixed I made a
first rough version of the
commanders copula by
gluing several layers of
circular cut plastic card of
varying thickness, which
fitted into the provided
cut out in the turret roof
(Pic.5b). A fair amount of
cutting and sanding was
necessary to shape the
copula before the angled Pic.3: Once the dimensions of the cut out are finally fixed, the construction
holes for the periscopes work begins starting with the engine deck part.
were cut.
After the copula had been
adapted to the turret sec- Pic.4: The angle of the turret’s back armour plate is fixed by a simple
tion I had finished rough plastic stencil, because I wanted to build the escape hatch before the
versions of all main com- other turret parts would complicate to do so. The fact that the hinge on
ponents to which I could
the hatch was fixed on top of the locking mechanism made it an even
now separately add the
necessary details. more difficult part to rebuild. The mechanism was added later on.
Again I started with the
hull section. Fortunate-
ly I could use some cast
items, which were made
from heavily reworked
Tamiya parts I had done
for my former “Pan-
ther”-project (Pic.6a/b). All
parts were structured with
drill bits of varying shape. I
prefer to use an adjustable
drill from a craftsmen shop
for this purpose along with
a flexible shaft instead of a
hobby drill, because it pro-
vides a lower rpm-range.

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 Pic.6b: The original fire
Pic.5a: Due to the differing wall between the fighting
thickness of the armour compartment and the engine
plates and their angled was fixed with a bolted angle
position it was a bit tricky iron. Unfortunately I do not
to sand them to a circular have clear evidence on how
outer shape. these bolts were fixed from
the other side.

Pic.5b: Just like with the

real “Panther” the copula
7a: To mimic the rough
was fitted to a thickened
structure of armour plates
seat in the roof armour
I use a 0.3mm ball shaped
plate. On the model the
drill bit. Cast parts are
tight fit of the provided gap
treated with the other drill
in the copula stiffened the
bits of varying size shown.
thin 1mm plastic plate which
was used for the roof.

Pic.6a: The engine deck Pic.7b: All main compo-

is finished except for the nents are structured and
PE-grills on the cooling air weld seams from Magic
guards. Sculp are added.

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 All weld seams were add- the turret gearing. An ar- with a special handle structures visible. For the
ed from Magic Sculp, ticulated shaft connected (Pic.7d). coating itself I made use
which was structured it with a traversing grading As late as the interior de- of a special kind of putty,
with the backside of vary- scale in the copula show- tails had been finished I which is sold to prepare
ing small drills (Pic.7a/b). ing the tank commander applied the anti-magnetic e.g. furniture for painting.
When all of these basic the actual position of the “Zimmerit”-coat. Like with It is named "Lackspachtel"
works were done it was turret. Thus the model part the real thing this coating (lacquer-putty) and sticks
time to concentrate on the also contacted all main can be easily damaged. to the plastic surface with-
details. Beside the com- components, which made That is why I did it at a out any further preparation
plex interior of the copu- an exact fit necessary late state of construction. but at the same time does
la and the turret escape (Pic.7c). To mimic some minor not ruin it. The slow dry-
hatch the driving mecha- Another challenging part chipped areas I prepared ing type I have used can
nism for the "Zwölf-Uhr- to rebuild was the "Nah- the application by adding be structured for about 5
Zeiger" (twelve-o-clock verteidigungswaffe" that pre-cut irregular shaped minutes and can partly be
indicator) proved a rather originally consisted of sev- pieces of Tamiya-tape removed if necessary for
challenging item through- eral cast parts. A massive (Pic.8a). As an additional about one more hour. It is
out the entire project. hinge secured a traversa- benefit this kept at least a completely dry after seven
Originally it was driven by ble breechblock moved minimum of the differing hours.

Pic.7c: The bent plate in the

centre is part of the massive
mechanism, which originally
caught the spent cartridges
and at the same time held
the turrets basket. With the
model I used it to fix the
height of the turret section.

Pic.7d: The thin turret

roof armour plate of the
“Panther” (16mm) made a
steel ring necessary to fit the
“Nahverteidigungswaffe”,
which was missing e.g. on
the “Kingtiger” (40mm turret
roof plate).

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 All weld seams were add- first the putty was applied Once the “Zimmerit”-coat- the included external
ed. There were obviously with an old hobby blade at ing had been done it was stowage on the side ar-
several different tech- one armour plate at a time time to add all the missing mour plate.
niques of application and and directly structured details to finish construc- Differing from the first vi-
structuring the “Zimmerit” with the rake. Afterwards tion of the first vignette gnette this one was not to
at different manufacturers. I scratched the addition- (Pic.9a-e). show any interior details.
I have discussed the tech- al rhomboid groove pat- The fact that the figure This fact on the one hand
niques used by M.A.N. tern into the still only half had already been done of course significantly
(“Maschinenwerke Augs- dry material, which was before I started to work on simplified the job but on
burg Nürnberg”), which originally meant to lim- the second vignette pretty the other provided the
I wanted to mimic, with it the amount of chipping much simplified fixing the challenge to create an
Manus Gallagher and he in case of hits. In the end necessary dimensions. exactly circular shaped
has finally convinced me the pieces of Tamiya-tape I just had to sit it onto a surface on the backside.
that a rolling stamp was were removed and some prepared scale copy and To do so I glued a piece of
used to create the thin minor corrections could be take care not to cut any plastic card from the back.
regular groove pattern. done. Even though I have detail in a way that would This had to be kept as thin
But this would have been used a different technique cause problems (Pic.10). as possible as it should
hard to do with the materi- than was done on the orig- The latter proved more be easy to bend and cut it
al I have used and so I em- inal tank the result in the difficult when I tried to find and adapt it to the models
ployed a rake from GumKa end seemed in scale and out about the necessary structured surfaces. I de-
instead (unfortunately by rather convincing to me height of the hull section cided to use 0.4mm plas-
now out of production). At (Pic.8b). as I had to keep in mind tic card for this purpose.

Pic.8a: The Tamiya-tape is put on Pic.8b: Some outer details like the handles
a piece of plastic card and cut to and the escape hatches lock are left aside
irregular small pieces with a tipped to keep them from being damaged or disturb
hobby knife. the “Zimmerit”-application.

Pic.9a: The completed inside of the turret section. The great amount of white shows how
much was done from plastic card. The bent sheet metal parts covering the stowing space
include gratings from PE-parts, which were glued from behind.

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 Pic.9b: The detail
underneath the turret. With
the original “Panther” the
visible holes were used to
fix the massive outer ring
of the main bearing to the
hull. The inner lids provide
tight fit for the model even
without gluing the turret-
to the hull-section, which
was important while doing
adaptive work.

Pic.9c: Inner details of the

commander’s copula. The
middle periscope parts were Pic.9e: The “Fliegerbeschussgerät” is one Pic.10: The first step is again to fix the
used as a master to cast the of my favourite details, which I have already necessary dimensions by the help of a
outer ones. The ring to fix built from scratch several times. I am pretty scale copy. The turret section is shown
the “Fliegerbeschussgerät” sure that this is my best one so far. in a slightly more traversed position.
is the very only plastic kit
part I used.

Pic.9d: The inside of the

finished turret escape
hatch. Notice that the main
components of the locking
mechanism were cast -
and therefore show casting
numbers. That was the
case with the massive arm
holding it as well, but its
casting number is on the
backside.

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 MXpression
And just when you thought
you knew everything about
PANZER PUT T Y

No more tipped over Glue

or Paint Bottles!
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 Unfortunately plastic ma- gled by prepared pieces roof plate was removed to exact shape. Therefore
terial as thin as this will of plastic (Pic.11). When not to interfere with the a fair amount of filing and
easily create sinks. Thus a first rough version of fins yet to add (Pic.13). sanding was necessary
a fair amount of fins were the hull section had been After the fins had been to reach a proper result
needed to provide the nec- done I started construct- glued to the inside of the (Pic.15). The thin plastic
essary support. The basic ing the turret part with turret the gun mantle sec- plate I employed to close
construction consisted the base plate on which I tion was added (Pic.14). the backside of the section
of several layers of 1mm fixed the small section of This was kept separately made later corrections of
plastic card. To keep them the turret roof plate by the at first to simplify working the shape hardly possible.
parallel they were glued help of plastic rod and tub- on the turret but I dropped Thus it was important to
along with 2mm plastic ing (Pic.12). By this pro- the plan to keep it sepa- work as exactly as possi-
blocks creating regular cedure the angle of both rated for the painting pro- ble at this state. CA-glue
gaps. the turret’s front and side cess as well. Due to the was used to finally fix the
With the hull section I em- armour plate were fixed. sloped armour plates and 0.4mm plastic card as the
ployed 2mm plastic cards Once the plastic rep- the irregular inner shape glue should not melt the
for the sloped front and resentations of the armour of the gun mantle it was material like plastic glue
the side armour plate, plates were glued the pro- extremely difficult to cut does (Pic.16).
which were exactly an- visional first fixation of the the plastic card for the fins

Pic.13: The turret’s armour plates are Pic.14: Notice that the turret’s outer armour
Pic.11: The construction made from several layers of plastic card plates are still touching the hull’s roof. This
before the final layer was to stiffen them and reach an exact outer was helpful to fix the turret section while filing
glued. The rectangular cut shape. With the finished model their and sanding the fins. Later on a plastic shim
out is necessary to reach the thickness will only be visible at the lower was used to provide adequate clearance.
radio operator’s periscope. end.

Pic.12: Notice that I have

marked the position of the
turret’s armour plates on
the hull roof. This is the
only measurement I was
absolutely sure of going by
the scale drawings, which
do not include the hidden
base plate of the turret.

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 Pic.15: The complex shaped
edge of the prepared
parts gives evidence for
the necessity of using thin
plastic card to close the
backside. The number of
fins is the price to pay.

Pic.16: The PA glue that

was used to fix the plastic
card does not allow later
corrections. That is why
rather large pieces of plastic
card were used.

Pic.17: Notice the by now

adequate gap between the
turret front armour plate
and the hull roof. It would
not have been absolutely
necessary to represent the
room between the hull and
the turret’s base plate, but
I wanted to make sure of a
convincing look of the gap
between hull and turret.

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 The main intended benefit
from using thin plastic card
was to simplify the final
adaptation to the details at
the model’s edges, which
was still a job that needed Pic.20: The subunits that
some caution (Pic.17).
After the basic shape of were kept apart for paint
the entire section had application. Notice that the
been finished, again all periscopes have been cut
the surfaces were struc- to even more simplify the
tured by the help of drill
bits and weld seams job.
were added. Before the
“Zimmerit”-coating could
be applied, I had to add
the framing for the exter-
nal stowage to the side
armour plate along with
making the jack-block
(Pic.18). Again the “Zim-
merit” was applied before
the final detailing, be-
cause the necessary hur- Pic.18: With the original tank the turret’s front armour plate was a Pic.21: “Panther” units
ry while application and complex shaped cast part showing different textures. I have spent quite often used spare track links
the use of gross tooling some time on mimicking these structures, which unfortunately mostly as extra protection for the
may have caused dam-
were hidden underneath the “Zimmerit”-coating afterwards. weak turret’s side armour
age otherwise (Pic.19).
plates. Adding this detail
It can be helpful or even increased the otherwise
necessary to create sub- Pic.19: To keep at least a minimum of all these efforts visible several extremely limited number
units of a model to simplify areas of chipped “Zimmerit” are employed.
the painting process and
of parts.
assemble them after the
painting has been done.
The different character
of both vignettes is most
evident in the number
of subunits that proved
necessary. Because the
first section includes in-

n e x t t i m e w hen
See you
terior parts and even

e s
shows many parts from

o e p p c o m
Robert D
underneath, more effort
had to be spent on keep-
ing everything reachable
k t o s c u l p t t he
while paint application
bac
figures ...
(Pic.20). Compared to
this the second vignette
shows at the same dia-
meter by far less detail
and so did not need as
many subunits (Pic.21).

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 Perfect Pattern Panzer
Hetzer Factory Ambush Camouflage
WRITTEN BY MARIO EENS

T he reason why Ger-

man WW II AFVs are
so popular amongst mod-
and how to apply them,
can be shown at the same
time. The left half will

Items used
ellers has a lot to do with get the Skoda Ambush 
MXpression - MX 35001 1/35
the attractiveness and di- scheme and the right Hetzer Skoda Ambush
versity of the camouflag- half the BMM Ambush
es. That attractiveness scheme.  MXpression - MX 35002 1/35
alas also has its disad- Hetzer BMM Ambush
vantages as not every
camouflage scheme is
that easy to copy. More-
E ach set consists of two
sheets of masking film
and an instruction sheet.
 Tamiya XF2 Flat White
 Tamiya XF3 Yellow
over certain schemes On the front of the instruc-  Tamiya XF8 Flat Blue
have a fixed pattern. tions you’ll find a num-  Tamiya XF10 Flat Brown
bered drawing showing all  Tamiya XF15 Flat Flesh
One of the vehicles with the different parts of the
a number of fixed camou- set and on the reverse the
 Tamiya XF57 Buff
flage patterns is the Het- right order in which to per-  Tamiya XF58 Olive Green
zer. These vehicles often form all the different steps.  Vallejo 806 German Yellow
received a camouflage During the painting of this  Vallejo 892 Yellow Olive
pattern in the factory with step by step both hull
or without the use of sten- halves were sometimes  Vallejo 919 Foundation White
cils. Patterns also differed painted in the same col-  Vallejo 984 Flat Brown
from factory to factory. our simultaneously, but to  Blu-Tack
keep it simple I’ll discuss
To make the modeller’s life
 Masking Tape
each half separately.
a bit easier MXpression
has released a number
of sets, both in 1/48 and
1/35 scale, that simplify
airbrushing such patterns
a great deal.
In the next article I will
show you step by step
how to use them.

Here I’ll be using the top

of a Hetzer hull. In this
case a Tamiya kit, but the
masks can be used on
which ever kit from which-
ever manufacturer. The
model will also be divided
in two halves with a differ-
ent pattern on each side.
This way two patterns,

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 Colours above. Then also some
XF2 Flat White to make it
simple rule, mask the part around corners. With larg-
that is easiest to mask, or er details, like handles,

F or airbrushing I used a little lighter, a few drops which is least time con- the Notek light, the covers
Tamiya colours, but of XF58 Olive Green and suming. In the case of the over the periscopes etc,

01 Good reference
material
essential. The BMM
is
of course it doesn’t real-
ly matter which paint you
use. The yellow is a half -
finally a few drops of XF10
Flat Brown to ‘dirty up’ the
colour.
Skoda scheme it is best to
first airbrush and mask the
brown and green blotches
which can not be covered
with the masking film,
you simply cut a hole in
half mixture of XF3 Yellow The brown colour was and then airbrush the yel- the film where the detail
Ambush scheme is made by mixing XF10 Flat low lines in between. is situated. The masking
and XF15 Flat Flesh, af-
amply illustrated in ter which a bit of XF2 Flat Brown with some of the Here the first colour to go film can then be stuck to
this Ground Power White was added to make yellow mixture. on is the brown. Then all the hull avoiding the de-
it a little lighter and some the areas that need to re- tail, which will then be
publication
XF57 Buff to neutralise Skoda Scheme main brown are masked masked with small piec-
the colour a bit. according to the drawing. es of tape or Blu-Tack.
For the green a few drops The masking film is very Also in areas where two
of XF8 Flat Blue were
added to the mixture
W hen doing some
masking there is one
flexible and can easily
cover small details or go
pieces of masking film
meet it is advisable to

02 For this article

both the Skoda
as BMM scheme were
added to the same hull. 04 After removing
the edge of the
masks everything be-
Skoda left, BMM right.
comes much clearer.

03 Every set con-

tains two sheets
05 Larger parts of
the masks can
be cut in two with scis-
of masks and a sheet of sors, which makes it
instructions. easier to place them on
the model. A good place
to cut them is where the
side and top meet.

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 09 Now all areas that

06
need to remain
The schemes
green are masked off.
start with a red
(The right half for the
brown base colour.
BMM scheme is also
masked off).

07 Then all areas

that need to stay
brown are masked. Pro-
truding details can be
masked off with some
10
low.
Finally everything
is airbrushed yel-
Blu-Tack. Also tape can
be used to mask seams
between masks.

08 Then everything
is airbrushed 11 This is the result
after
the masks.
removing
green.

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 13 With a brush
and some paint,
in this case Vallejo
984 Flat Brown, small
imperfections are easily
rectified.

12 Imperfections occur usually around details when masks have been insufficiently pressed down
and paint has subsequently bled under the masks. These small inaccuracies are easily corrected
14 Vallejo 892 Yel-
low Olive is used
to correct small mis-
with a brush and some paint.
takes in the green are-
as.
mask the seam with tape brown colour, the space masked the final coat of When all airbrushing is fin-
or Blu-Tack to avoid paint between two brown spots paint can be added. In this ished paint and brush are
bleeding into the seam. had become a bit too nar- case the yellow mixture. needed to complete the
row to use the full mask Then it is time to remove scheme by adding all the
When everything has for the green colour which the masks and check the typical small spots in the
been properly masked the was to go in between. A result. If it should occur larger colour blotches and
green colour can be add- simple solution was to that paint did find its way stripes. Originally these
ed. make the mask for the under the masks, usual- small spots were done by
Then all areas that need green smaller by cutting ly where the masks were brush as well. Yellow spots
to remain green are also it in half and having both not snug around details in - here a mixture of Vallejo
masked. Although adding halves overlap each oth- relief, this is easily correct- 806 German Yellow and
the masks is quite easy er. In case the two halves ed with a brush and some 919 Foundation White -

15
it is important that you are still too wide to over- paint. Here I used Vallejo were painted on the brown
do take your time to posi- and green blotches, while The hull after cor-
lap each other you can colours - 984 Flat Brown
tion all masks correctly. If simply remove part of and 892 Yellow Olive - be- green spots - Vallejo 892 recting the mis-
you work too fast and do the middle section. Small cause they are easier to Yellow Olive - were paint- takes.
not position the masks in corrections to retain the paint by brush. It’s not a ed on the yellow stripes.
the right place this will of round outer shapes of the big problem if the colour It’s best to practise mak-
course have consequenc- masks can be made with does not exactly match ing these small spots first
es for the masking later on. the round disks that are the airbrushed colour, as before tackling the model
As I was a bit hasty when also included in the set. after weathering these itself. Although it looks like
adding the masks for the small imperfections will no a lot of work, painting the
brown colour, the space When everything is longer be visible. spots actually does not
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 16 The small spots
in the larger
coloured areas where
originally made by brush
and that’s also how to
do them in scale.

17 In the brown and

green areas the

19
spots were made with
Although it looks like a lot of work, adding the small spots goes quickly and the camouflage is
a mixture of Vallejo 806
soon ready.
German Yellow and 919
Foundation White.

take a lot of time and with number 1 needs to be is a very demanding task. peat the procedure.
the model is soon cut in two. One part for the Moreover they are made
ready for weathering. bottom of the hull, and one in a certain pattern which First up is the side skirt.
for the gun housing. The makes it impossible to try Reference material clearly
empty space in between and do it by hand. In real- shows how the stencil was
moved from one end to the
BMM Scheme and the gun mantle will re- ity these small spots were
other. For variation it was
ceive a piece of masking made with a stencil. The
film from number 8. MXpression set contains sometimes held at a 90°

T he same rule about

masking applies to
When all masks have
been added, everything
no less than 32 copies of
that stencil which makes
angle. Eleven stencils are
enough to cover the entire

18 All brown and the BMM scheme; mask is airbrushed brown. Af- it a lot easier to paint this side skirt before airbrush-
those areas that involve ter masking the areas that complicated scheme. ing a good solid coat of the
green areas are
the least amount of work. need to stay brown a final To get the stencils ready yellow colour. Next is the
finished. Now all that’s That’s why this scheme layer of green is added. for painting they are first side of the hull. Although
left are the yellow lines starts out with a yel- removed from the carri- there are no less than 32
in between. For the low basecoat. Masking So far for adding the basic er. Then, to open up the stencils in the set, this is of
the yellow areas is very colours. The attractive as- small holes, the stencil is course not enough to cov-
green spots I used 892
straightforward. Only the pect of the BMM camou- best taped to a piece of er the entire model in one
Yellow Olive. gun mantle demands a bit flage are the many small paper or the reverse of the go. Therefore it is best to
of extra attention. Due to spots that cover the entire carrier. When the stencil tackle one area at a time
the round shape it needs vehicle. Till now it seemed is then removed the small while recycling the sten-
a little additional masking almost impossible to cre- pieces of film will stick to cils. Using them time and
film. The pattern as shown ate these spots because it the paper. If necessary re- time again poses no prob-
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 lem as they stay flexible Now all small openings in
and sticky. For this step by between the stencils need
step I used some stencils to be covered with tape. Reference Material
01 The BMM up to 5 times without any Also the small spots that
problem. Of course the are placed over a yellow
scheme is started  Ground Power No. 89 - October 2001
paint will build up in small area are taped off. Before
off with a yellow base layers on top of the sten- doing any actual airbrush- Delta Publishing Co. Ltd.
colour. The masking of cil, but as said, this does ing the edges are masked
the gun area needs a bit not influence the flexibility off as well with tape and
or the adhesive strength. paper to avoid any over-  Hetzer Jagdpanzer 38 by Vladimír
of extra attention. The
One way to get the dry spray on the other areas. Francev, Charles K. Kliment & Milan
mask (1) is best cut in paint off the stencil is to As before, small imper- Kopecký - MBI
two and divided over the cover it with tape. When fections can be easily cor-
hull and gun housing. carefully removing the rected with a brush and
tape it is possible to peal some paint.  Leichte Jagdpanzer: Entwicklung –
off the paint in one go. This procedure is repeat- Fertigung – Einsatz
With the side skirt the sten- ed over and over again till by Walter J. Spielberger, Hilary L.
cils were simply put next to the whole model is cov-
each other, while the hull ered in yellow spots. Then
Doyle and Thomas L. Jentz
on the other hand needs all that needs to be done Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart
some more variation. Af- is add some green spots
ter a bit of puzzle work on the yellow areas.
the whole side is covered.

02 An extra piece
of mask (8) is

04
supplied in the set to fill When everything has been masked off the brown colour can be airbrushed. And after also
up the empty space be- masking that colour the green can be added. Finally we get this result.
tween the two parts, in-
cluding the gun mantle.

03 The extra piece

(8) is also cut in
two and divided over
the gun housing and
gun mantle. Piece 1 and
8 overlap on the gun
housing.

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 05 The stencils for
the small spots 08 Masking the
side skirt is very
straight forward. For the
are removed from the
carrier with a pair of total length 11 of the 32
tweezers. masks in the set are
used.

06 To open up the
small holes the
stencils are put on a
09 Then an even
coat of yellow
is airbrushed over the
piece of paper or the
masks.
back of the carrier.

07 When the stencil

is removed again
the small dots stay on 10 This is the result
after removing
the paper. If necessary the masks. Nice and
repeat this operation a neat camouflage that
few times. The stencil is looks like the real thing.
now ready to be used.

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 11 Next up is the side of the hull. To cover the entire side of the hull the stencils applied on the side
skirt need to be reused. The yellow areas are avoided and after some puzzle work the whole side
is covered.
13 Then again a good coat of yellow is airbrushed on and the result is a jumble of small dots as on
the original.

12 All open areas between the stencils are carefully masked with tape. Also the rest of the model is
masked with tape and paper to prevent any overspray.
14 This way area by area is worked on. Here the top of the hull is being masked and again the
stencils are recycled. The paint on the stencils from the previous stages does not influence their
flexibility or their adhesive strength.

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 15 Empty spaces
in between the
stencils are again filled
18 The round
shape of the
gun housing poses no
up with tape. problem for masking.

16 The yellow layer

of paint needs to
be quite solid. If not it 19 With the stencils
and tape removed
will be difficult to make this is the result.
corrections later.

17 The hull is start-

ing to look quite
busy. If necessary small
20 Time to add the
green dots. A
quick overspray with
imperfections can al- green and it’s finished.
ways be corrected with Again make sure the
a brush and some paint. green is airbrushed on
in a solid coat.

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 Conclusion nearly impossible to copy collection with that special
are now easily and swift- pattern.

C omplicated camou- ly replicated in scale and

flage patterns that offer you the opportunity
before were very difficult to finally complete your

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 M aking a simple base to properly showcase your figure
needn’t be difficult. For the tanker, subject of the MXpres-

Roll out the Barrel

sion figure painting video, a grassy base with a fuel barrel suf-
ficed. Over the next two issues we’ll be taking you step by step
through the construction and painting of both the base and the
barrel. In this issue we’ll have fun painting the latter.
01 A barrel from Tamiya’s German Fuel
Drum set (35186) was selected
and assembled. Make sure all seams are
completely smooth and flush.

02 Various Vallejo Model Air colours and

an airbrush were used to basecoat the
barrel. The darkest colour was airbrushed on
first, after which lighter tints were misted on.
Colours used were: Medium Green (092),
Field Green (093), Interior Green (010) and
Camouflage Light Green (006).

03 With different size brushes more defined

variation in the green base colour was
then created by painting and filtering. Here
again Interior Green (010), Camouflage Light
Green (006) and Field Green (093) were used,
as well as Model Color Green Grey (886).

04 Vandyke Brown oil paint with a hint of

Lamp Black was then pin washed in
and around all details to add depth by creating
artificial shadows.

Model, photographs & text by Mario Eens

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 05 Yet more variation and depth was
desired and added through dry brushing.

09
A selection of Vallejo Model Color was used: For simulating oil spills I used Lifecolor’s
Russian Uniform WW II (924), U.S.A. Uniform Tensocrom Oil (207).
(922), Luftwaffe Cam. Green (823), German
Cam. Bright Green (833) and German Cam.
Dark Green (979).

06 To simulate a worn look the paint was

then scuffed and chipped with green and
brown tints. Vallejo Model Air Interior Green 10 To add further interest and break up the
overall green colour I added some white
(010) and Field Green (093) were used for stencilling. The dry transfer, which came from
highlights, local filters and scuffmarks, while Verlinden Productions German Equipment
Model Color Chocolate Brown (872) was used Stenciling (917), got slightly damaged during
for rusty filters and German Cam. Black Brown the process.
(822) for chipping.

07 A mixture of AK Interactive Dust Effects

(015) and Earth Effects (017) was pin
11 Being rather bright the stencils need
some toning down which is carried out by
carefully adding localised Raw Umber oil paint
washed on to simulate dust and dirt. It also aids filters. Although stencils can be subject to wear
to further bring out details such as the casting I later restored the missing parts with paint and
numbers on top. brush.

08 More rust tints were added with enamel

12
filters and pin washes. Mig Productions Finally a propelling pencil was used to
Light Rust Effects (412) and Standard Rust buff up edges to simulate worn off areas
Effects (411), as well as AK Interactive Rust showing bare metal. Note the stencil has been
Streaks (013) were used. Rather than shaking restored but still needs toning down with Raw
the bottle as instructed I prefer to use the thick Umber oil paint.
mass from the bottom of the bottle and then
thin it as required.

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 13 The finished barrel.

14 Note the variety of colour which keeps it

from being a boring object.

15 The finished base with barrel ready to

take the figure.

16 Next time we’ll take a step by step look at

creating the groundwork.

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 IMPRESSUM

Next Issue
Editor: Mario Eens
Publisher: Harald Steinmüller
Design: MXpression Studio

1st. Feb. 2017

Contributing Authors: Robert Doepp & Mario
Eens

MXpression Director’s Cut is published

bi-monthly
Robert Doepp comes back
by MXpression and distributed by you :) with “Lucky Guys” Part II
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