Polish 7TP painting (continued III) ... Clanky Tank Finale

Partly for the sanity of NZ Paul (recoiling in horror at the multitude of recent Renaissance postings bringing flash backs of history lessons from his school days, learning lists of kings and queens etc.) and partly for my own pictorial confirmation of "painting progress" in 2012, I conclude my early war WWII Polish Tank painting spree (later war I guess it  would be Allied Cromwell's or T34/85's depending on whether it was Western or Eastern front). My "independent" 7TP tank company (see below):

The three tome highlighted camouflage is completed and the tank tracks are now painted with Anita's Acrylic Metallic Black and then highlighted by mixing in a tad of my diminishing stock of Games Workshop Mithril Silver. A close-up of the said painted tracks is shown below:

They now go into the "early war" draw, next to a I will return to these at a later date to do a matte varnish coat to protect the paint from shedding/scratching/wearing after handling as the SHQ metal casting has sharp edges on its boxy superstructure

The other thing I intend to do is put a plasti-card floor on the bottom of these models as it is very disconcerting when your fingers disappear inside its hollowed out carcass and tends to make me drop the blooming things!

The twin turret 7TP, the one I nominated as a "command tank" (see above), is a funny looking beast and must have been a nightmare to try and use in combat. SHQ Polish 'heavy armour' complete.

More Polish 7TP painting (continued II) ...

The 'base colours' are put onto the second "gun tank":

The shading starts, mid-tone and final highlight. The shades of brown was harder to do Anita Acrylic's Earth Brown, Anita Acrylic's Dark Red, Games Workshop Sunburst Yellow and Anita's Acrylic Cream. The challenge was not to turn the brown pink: 

The final yellow colour gets a white shade highlight:

Camouflage pattern complete, tracks and exhausts to do next:  

Still think I will plastic-card the bottom to make the model feel more solid. The kits do need to be varnished however as the SHQ castings have sharp lines which mean that the Anita Arylic's paints have a tendancy to 'rub' off the metal. Handle with care until the varnish goes on ;)

7TP's another thirty minutes painting on ...

Prototype camouflage pattern done on the "command tank", time for the other two "gun tanks" to catch up (see below):

Meanwhile while technically not a deviation (see "Just a Minute" Radio 4 game show rules) it is a distraction (but in my defence it is at least on the list):

The Airfix 1/1200 KM Prince Eugen from the "Sink the Bismarck" set. Will my concentration hold or will I be a kitten chasing a butterfly? Tune in next time to find out ... 

Polish "Clanky Tanks" 7TP's (cont)

Still working on the Polish 7TP's and trying to nail their camouflage scheme. These SHQ kits started life on a trades-stand at the SELWIG London Games Wargame Show in 1997, purchased when I was "young and single" in London and could afford buckets of metal. This lavish investment has finally matured (see below):

The three tone scheme was lightened up in two shade highlights: Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow added with Anita's Acrylic's Cream, Tamiya  XF-62 Olive Drab added with Games Workshop Sunburst Yellow and Anita's Acrylics Earth Brown added with Anita's Acrylics Dark Red and then Games Workshop Sunburst Yellow (see below).

The "magic formula" seems to be working (see below):

Not too sure how to tackle the exhausts: Anita's Acrylics Metallic Black and Games Workshop Mithril Silver for starters? (See below):

A close up of the "Command" 7TP Twin MG's. Full Frontal (see below), this camouflague scheme was jigsawed from various sources and taken from other "modellers" examples so probably it is not as blockish as per historical (see below):

Side-on and taken from "Blitzkrieg: Armour Camouflague and Markings, 1939-1940. Steven J. Zaloga", see pages 33, 36 and 37.

Rear (more educated guesswork):

"Prototype" done time to do the other two 7TP gun tanks. Photo-shoot over, the real "clanky tank" painting continues in the background.

Note: Hidden in a tray somewhere are some mounted and dismounted SHQ Polish Lancers and standard FAA Polish Infantry.

The "Clanky Tank Party" starts (Polish, French and German early war tanks)

Every party needs some "Party Animals" and I have a bunch of five from SHQ:

The three Polish 7TP's (one with twin MG's and two with two with 37mm Bofers cannon), the French D2 and the German Propaganda Tank

Work starts on the elaborate early war Polish camouflage (see above en mass), the base coat is applied, Anita's Acrylic Earth Brown (11014), Tamiya Acrylic XF-60 Dark yellow and Tamiya Acrylic XF-62 Olive Drab (see below for the close-up of the twin-MG 7TP):  

Both the yellow and green will have to be modified to match my guide and early war tank bible (see below):

Handily all three tanks are covered with nice plates and descriptions. Still on holiday and loving it ;)