Flakpanzer IV Ausf G "Wirbelwind" Dragon #6342

Here we have Dragon's 2011 Wirbelwind kit #6342. This features an Ausf G early hull without zimmerit.

This was built out of the box but damage was inflicted to depict an abandoned vehicle. A few items from the Pz.IV spares box were added to improve on kit parts.

Primed in Tamiya rattle can red oxide 

 

It was pre-shaded with Mr Surfacer mahogany primer and then it received a base coat of Tamiya dark yellow 2 (dunkelgelb) lacquer. A very mild modulated highlighted coat was airbrushed on by adding a drop of Tamya deck tan. 

 

Chipping begins on the rear plate where most of the base coat on the exhaust muffler is removed 

 

The added benefit of adding a misted hairspray layer before base coating. This meant lightly chipping the surface in selected areas left a nice random selection of both brown and red oxide to depict both old and new damage.

 

Free hand airbrushed soft edged camo with Tamiya lacquer dark green 2 and red brown 2 over another light misting of hairspray. The tyres were brush painted in Vallejo dark rubber. AK Diorama acrylic light earth texture paste was then added around the running gear. 

 

The exhaust muffler was first base coated in Vallejo track primer and then the two darkest shades of the Lifecolor rust set was stippled on with a sponge. With the hairspray added before both the base coat and the camo colours, it was chipped back quite heavily revealing a random selection of the rust tones. The surface effects were then enhanced with a further round of sponge applied acrylic rust tones. 

 

The rest of the vehicle was then treated to a light round of further chipping, exposing both the base coat layer and occasionally down to the rust toned layer.

 

Using hairspay between coats means fine chipping effects can easily expose the various underlying colours

 

Different highlighed toned coats of dark yellow were brush painted over the base coat on the Flak gun before any weathering commences

 

An initial layer of AK light mud toned acrylic texture paste added over the running gear and lower hull

 

Light and dark acrylic dust toned acrylics airbrushed over a hairspray layer. The surface was then lightly aggitated with H2O and a soft brush to create more dust layered effects

Spare tracks first base coated in Vallejo track primer, then base coated in dark yellow, followed by the camo colours, all with hairspray added inbetween coats. Subtle chips were then added to the overpainted tracks before and after the dust layers were added.

 

Multiple dust layers on the front plates 

 

The airbrushed acrylics added over the acrylic mud paste layer harmonises the overall tone of both mud and dust 

 

 

The hairspray layer inbetween then allowed the acrylic dust layers over all the running gear's moving parts to be heavily scrubbed back, exposing the rubber tyres

 

 

Hull and running gear ready for some enamel effects

 At this point I realised it lacked something important that I really should have added WITH the AK acrylic mud effects. I had just aquired a few packs of AK's chopped seagrass and meant to add it in, but totaly forgot! I figured I could still make it work but I would have to add further dust coats to blend it in. I added it to the lower areas with the aid of VMS ballast freeze. This can unfortunately leave a few glossy tidemarks, but another round of airbrushed dust effects will fix that.

A selective application of a lighter mud toned enamel (AK splatter effects) was then added around the chopped seagrass. 

 

As you can see, the seagrass still requires blending into the surface so I will adopt the same technique and add one final airbrushed coat of dust over hairspray to unify these new effects together. 

In prep before the final dust layer the turret received much the same array of weathering effects as the hull. This consisted of first adding some finely chopped seagrass onto the lower horizontal surfaces of the interior, then a much reduced application of the lighter AK splatter effects, and finally a much lighter coat of airbrushed dust around both interior and exterior.

 

 

 With the turret added, a final more grey toned layer of acrylic dust was selectively airbrushed over the whole model. With a hairspray layer added beforehand, this dust layer was once again aggitated with the aid of H2O and removed in strategic places to highlight deposits around raised detail. 

 

The track runs are incomplete as the vehicle will be displayed sunk into the terrain.

 

 

The next steps once the Wibelwind is back on the bench will be to complete the paint and weathering of the flak gun, then add it into the turret so we can round things off with some OPR work over the whole vehicle.