Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) The final chapter: Mission accomplished.

 

 

And so, at last, after more than thirteen years of neglect may I present the finished article. I hope you like it.

 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 15: Final stage weathering & tilt cover frame

 

 

Oil paints were used again to accentuate areas at the rear of the vehicle over existing acrylic dust layers. This was done by adding both oil paints and pigments and speckling it onto the surface. Once dry, areas around the handles and steps had the dust layers smudged and dirty deposits were also added onto high wear surfaces. 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 14: Second stage weathering (dust layer)

 

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The next stage of weathering effects is one I have used on a couple of projects to date, and the results can look convincing. Looking at progress so far, I decided to add a subtle toned-down application to just the lower front, rear, and sides, and see where it would take me.

Hairspray and acrylic dust weathering effects SBS

If you like a dusty operational look to your AFV models and are quite handy with the hairspray technique this process can create realistic looking disrupted dust effects. What we are aiming for is to selectively remove, mark and disrupt an airbrushed dust toned layer of paint. We are effectively reverse ‘hairspray chipping’ the surface to leave deposits rather than creating small chips. This works best using acrylic paints over a layer of hairspray or chipping fluid. 

It is worth noting that any heavy built-up textured dirt layers are best applied before this dust layer so as to keep the overall dust and mud tones consistent and realistic.

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 13: Oil paint rendering

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These oil paint stages are not for everyone but as soon as I saw Mike Rinaldi’s work in his Tank Art books this was something that very much appealed to me. The richness, depth and versatility that working with oils brings is unparalleled in my opinion, and has now become an important step in many of my projects. In my pursuit of in-scale realism I will happily spend days going back and forth adding tiny effects to try and compliment the overall look, often spending hours on one particular feature. I love the results that can be achieved and find the whole process enormously therapeutic.

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 12: First stage weathering begins

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With the vehicle fully built up it was time to put a personal stamp on the project. For this first stage of weathering here are the steps I followed:

 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 11: Connecting the body to the chassis

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After being kept apart for so long it was finally time to permanently fix both sub-assemblies together!  They are mated by way of small, keyed connections. Fixing them together early on in the build is instructed if you do not intend to keep the two main assemblies separate. You simply turn the body upside down and align all the keyed connections and fix the chassis down onto the body. I left my test fit a little late, but as already noted in Chapter 3 the connection is not at all precise. It requires a little work to achieve a clean flush fit between the two assemblies which I thankfully accomplished before the main painting steps began.

 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 10: Weathering stage prep work

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Before commencing the first weathering stages of the build, there were a few areas of the model that I wasn’t 100% happy with. Firstly, the paint colour on the re-worked sprockets still wasn’t a great match to the rest of the running gear. I realise now this was likely due to mixing the dark yellow with buff and not with deck tan. They exhibited a creamier tone as opposed to having a greyish hue. Adding dust pigments hadn't helped either! Rather than masking and re-spraying paint I found a solution. Abteilung buff oil paint was carefully stippled on and blended out from the centre. Left for 48hrs to cure I then sealed them with VMS matt varnish. This was essential as I would need to use both enamels and pigments again to maintain the tonal consistency in weathering them.

 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 9: Decals and front wheel options

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Regarding decals, what’s provided in the kit is not surprisingly extremely limited. In addition to the instrument dials only a pair of licence plates along with a 'prototype' plate are included. Interestingly they don't copy the ones that are found on the restored vehicle!  Both licence plates were added and sealed with varnish.

 

 

Sd.Kfz.8 DB10 Gepanzerte 12T (Trumpeter 1/35 kit #01584) Chapter 8: Painting the exterior

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It’s difficult to ascertain from the rescue images under all that rust a clear paint finish, but it’s almost certain it would have originally received a dark yellow base coat. As to whether it had any traces of camo, I have not read of any evidence that it had. The Polish resto team never added any, which leads me to believe that it didn’t, but with just the one surviving vehicle it's always possible that others did.