Building the 8 ton Sd.Kfz. 7 Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen (Dragon kit painting)

 

Before I committed to priming the model, some more paraphernalia including tarps were added to the cargo and cab areas. The cab bench received some crew gear along with some rope and a canteen lid. The engine bay also received some rags and cloths to give the impression the engine had been worked on before it was abandoned.

Primer coat.

The whole model received a primer coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 black. Any imperfections were dealt with and then it was time to decide on a base coat. Unlike the strangely coloured box art all these late war vehicles would have left the factory in plain Dark yellow (Dunkelgelb). Any camouflage would then have been applied in the field. 

 

 

Having already completed the Trumpeter kit in a monochrome finish I considered adding some camo but as I had such a small canvas to work with and looking at various reference images, including the photo I loosely based the build on, I decided this would also remain in its factory applied paint.

 

Undercoating

With the primer colour acting as a shadow coat, starting off with the natural undercoat colours, all the metal components including the visible areas of the chassis, cargo bed frame, tilt poles, cab floor and bulkhead, bonnet, radiator housing, fenders and wheels received a light airbrushed coat of MRP red oxide primer colour. (Not their red oxide primer) A lightened coat of Tamiya grey/buff acrylic was airbrushed over any visible wooden areas including the cab side panels and horizontal tilt beams. 

 

 

Two coats of fine mist hairspray were then sprayed over the whole model.

Base coats

Using my ready mixes of MRP lacquers and Tamiya acrylics thinned with Mr Hobby Levelling Fluid and keeping the layers light to aid the hairspray chipping, slightly modulated mixes of Dark Yellow (Dunkelgelb) made up the base coat. The first mix was applied to the running gear and lower areas. The second coat feathered into and above the first mix and was followed by a further lightened coat to all the upper areas. A final highlight mix was lightly misted from overhead.