Dried dust and mud 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 and light mud effects. What we are aiming to do is to selectively remove, mark, and disrupt an airbrushed dust toned layer of a paint. We are effectively reverse ‘hairspray chipping’ the surface, by leaving larger deposits rather than creating small chips. This works best using acrylic paints over a layer of hairspray or chipping fluid. 

All these images on this page show the effect on late war axis AFV's with a three tone camo, so you have to look close up as the effect can appear very subtle. Using these weathering effects on early war axis vehicles or green allied or Russion AFV's will produce a much more pronounced effect, with a starker contrast against the vehicle's paintwork. 

I prefer to add any textured build up of mud before this dust layer effect is airbrushed on, as I like the dust layer to be the final weathering layer. This is just a method of application I used on these projects, so if the vehicle is to be portrayed as just having driven through fresh mud, that can just as easily be applied over the dust layer. Or you can mix and match if you find that visually more appealing. Likewise, adding pin washes before or after this dust layer, or both, will produce different results.

Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) armoured cargo version Chapter 11: Constructing a base part 1

My intention was always to display the sWS on a small vignette. I had made some rough drawings before vehicle construction began and had articulated the front suspension, and angled the front wheels for this purpose. The plan is to display the vehicle recently abandoned in a muddy field after attempting to rejoin a section of roadway. I plan to include a small section of road, a shell crater, a telegraph pole or tree, and a selection of figures.

Whilst sketching out the scene it became obvious that whilst the fresh shell crater gave narrative as to why the vehicle might have been abandoned, adding a decent sized crater would enlarge the size of the base more than I had first intended. To this end I added only a portion of it in the corner. To give it further interest I then raised the height of the roadway onto an embankment beyond a small ditch.

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 11: Creating a diorama

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I starting to build and paint some accessories to be placed in the truck but then I got side tracked, as I often do. So, the truck and trailer were relegated to a nice dust free storage box. Early in 2024 I got some inspiration from the excellent ‘The Army that got away' publication which restarted the project. The book tells the story of how the German 15th Army largely escaped from their Atlantic coastal defensive positions after D-Day. Pursued without any real urgency they escaped via the Scheldt estuary pretty much intact.  There is some great info and period images that I’ve never seen before, and it gave me some ideas on how I could finish off this project. 

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 7: Drathgelflechtschurzen (mesh space armour)

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Construction of the  Drathgelflechtschurzen (mesh space armour). 

In addition to having the option to fit all the spaced armour, you can build it without any of the fittings added by simply adding the kit provided blanking plates which fit to the upper hull. To replicate this option accurately you would still really need to drill lots of very small holes in the track guard side profiles, where the lower brackets would have attached. That will involve a very fine drill and a very steady hand!

 

 

The tubular top rails provided in this kit only come with cut-outs to allow fitment of the spaced armour panels, so if fitting them you have to attach all the panels. Unlike the most excellent Dragon Ausf J kit #6575 there are no additional tubular rails offered without any cut-outs. This addition allows you to still display the rail without any panels fitted. If you wanted to display the odd panel missing on this kit you would have to fill any appropriate cut-outs. I notice RFM in one of their CAD images simple show the brackets attached to the rail where a central spaced armour panel is missing, which is a little strange. In reality the bracket was welded or bolted to the rear of the spaced armour panel which then clipped and bolted over the rail. 

The upper brackets connect the tubular rail to the rear of the panels. The lower brackets connect the rear of the panel to the track guards. These lower brackets are in two parts to allow for two fitment options. This was to enable the use of wider Winterketten/Ostketten tracks. The upper rail brackets are in one part and have two fixed positions, whereas the track guard brackets had to be adjusted to sit further out to accept the wider track type. The outer portion of this lower bracket needed to be positioned horizontally to clear the wider track type. In step 17 these are only shown fitted in the vertical position to accept the regular tracks included in the kit. The real bracket was hinged but you need to decide which option to you want beforehand (unless you fancy drilling and pinning all eight brackets!)

 Track guard brackets postioned for wider tracks

 

 

And for regular track fitment

 

 

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 6: Tracks

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RFM offer individual links together with a fitting jig. They are an appropriate type for the vehicle. Along with this out of the box solution I had quite a few other options. First up I had the three-return roller link and length tracks leftover from the Border kit. In addition I also had two 3D printed aftermarket sets.  T-Rex and QuickTrack. As I hadn't yet tried them, I finally opted for the QuickTrack snap fit set.

These are type 7 links and come in two bags for both left and right fitting. A small bag with a few open links and wire, to which you can thread through to close a completed track loop is also included. Both runs were built up in an alarmingly quick 20mins. They do indeed simply snap together and are far more robust than they look once assembled. 

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 5: Turret

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With the upper hull fitment conundrum remedied it was time to move onto the turret.

The gun breach and cradle parts are exactly the same as on their interior kit. Although not called out, a few other interior items from this kit can be found on various sprue trees. There appears to be a few different boxings of this kit which will have slightly altered sprue layouts. Unfortunately, although the rotating turret floor moulding is present both are missing the crucial bracket parts that would enable you to add a full basket to the turret surround. However, even with what is available, there is still plenty of detail to eyeball, shoud you model any turret hatches open.

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 4: Track guards and upper hull

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Putting asside the completed lower hull and running gear the next steps involve populating both track guards with all the pioneer tools and fittings. You are also instructed to assemble and fit the two part engine cooling louvres. These attach to the track guards before the Aufbau assemby is constructed and added. Again, everything fits extremely well. Unfortunately the C hooks were a bit of a disappointment. They both had two prominent and visible sink holes on one face and will require filler. I simply replaced one from the spares bin. I also sourced a 3D printed empty fire extinguisher holder.

Sd.Kfz. 7. Building the 8 ton Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen Chapter 14: Dragon kit: Adding a towed 3.7mm Flak gun

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Whilst waiting for scenic supplies for the diorama base, it was time to start work on the towed vehicle. In this case a Flak 36/37. This was taken from the recently released Tamiya/ICM Renault AHN combo kit. As the Sd.Ah 52 trailer wheels had been removed in the image I used a set of 3D resin brake drums from a Sd.Ah56/57 trailer. To replicate the hub and wheel studs I sanded the rear of a pair of outer Sd.Kfz 251 wheels until just the central hub remained. These were then added to the 3D drums and fixed to the trailer axles. Looking at the image the trailer also had a few grab handles that were not present on the kit, so these were made up from copper wire.

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 3: Building the lower hull and running gear

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After inspecting all the contents and making a note of what might be available I started with step one as per the instructions. As this was RFMs first Pz.IV kit, designed along with their interior kit released later that year, the lower hull is built up in sections to allow for additional interior detail. Any opening hatches come as separate items which is to be applauded. All the flatpack lower hull parts erect positively and cleanly and although there is no internal bracing to fit at this stage it all lines up straight and true. It is worth noting that due to the tight friction design of the sidewall to floor plate connection, some pressure does need to be exerted whilst the glue bonds, to ensure that both pieces sit completely flush along their whole length.

 

Panzer IV Ausf J (Rye Field Models RM-5033) Chapter 2: Ausf J History and what variants can the kit build

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A little bit of Ausf J history

The Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausführung J (Sd.Kfz. 161/2) is the ninth and the last variant of the Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tank family. This variant was distinguished by numerous simplifications made to prior variants to accelerate production and conserve valuable materials. This last variant included replacing the single-speed turret traverse electric power drive with a two-gear manual traverse, in favour of extra space used for fuel storage. This was a last-ditch effort to increase Panzer IV production rate and compensate for tank losses. 

Panzer IV Ausf J. (Rye Field Models RM-5033 1/35 2 in 1) Chapter 1: Whats in the box?

Using the well researched Panzer Tracts No.4-3 publication once more, I was time to unbox Ryefield Models (RFM) 2 in 1 kit RM-5033.

This was released at the same time as their interior #5043 kit and uses similar flat pack engineering to create the Wanne (hull tub). This kit allows you to build both a gun and an artillery observation tank. The instructions have you build the gun tank option with a three return roller hull, with extended side towing eyes. This is also how you are instructed to build up the gun tank in kit 5043. However, although not in the instructions, you can backdate the gun tank in both kits to a slightly earlier production variant, without some of the very last features. All the parts are available on the sprues.

This is a kit I have very much been looking forward to building.  It will be my first RFM kit and I have only heard goods things about them as a manufacturer. Although I understand Pz.IV purests have spotted some accuracy issues, the kit engineering is much lauded. So without further ado lets get started.

Sd.Kfz. 7. Building the 8 ton Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen Chapter 13: Dragon kit: adding accessories

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It was time to test fit the painted accessories onto both the load area and cab ready for final fixing.  I suspect a few items will still have to be removed or placement tweaked but I'm nearly there.  Less is more and all that!  The green stuff sculpted tarps were made almost 10 years ago and are very crude in places. As some are fixed in place, they will require a little more work to make them look like convincing tarps, blankets, and clothing. I might have to resort to placing some extra material over certain areas to disguise some overscale edges etc. 

 

 Chapter 14

Sd.Kfz. 7. Building the 8 ton Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen Chapter 12: Dragon kit track fitment

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With the underside of the vehicle now weathered, it was time to attach the running gear. The wheels have been weathered and the task of lining them all up went without incident. It is always a delicate mission getting all these interleaved components to fit as they did before paint. The wheel fit to the axles was a tad loose upon building, so a little paint from airbrushing on both surfaces has now made the fit nice and snug. As a result, I deliberately left the middle row pairs un-glued, so I had some wiggle room, and relied on just fixing the inner and outer pairs to their axles instead. 

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 10: Connecting all the painted sub-assemblies

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The engine and cab are now firmly attached to the chassis. It was a nerve racking moment making sure it all aligned correctly as there are no actual locating tabs! There are raised runners under the cab floor but nothing to channel the alignment. It basically just locates over the fenders using the arch profiles as a guide. 

 

 

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 9: Weathering the chassis

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Moving onto the running gear, with the intention of displaying both the L4500 and trailer abandoned in a ditch at the side of the road, the height of the truck will mean the underside of one side will remain highly visible. With this in mind, I needed to create a well worn and mucky chassis. 

The fact that only the one side would be visible meant the next process could first be experimented on the dark side.

To start proceedings, a selection of dark coloured Abteilung oils were chosen,  squeezed out onto a piece of card and left for an hour to ensure they would leave a nice matt finish. These included grease, raw umber, brown wash and light mud. So as not to end up with a splodgy mess selected areas were applied dry and left for a few hours.  These included all the moving parts like the propshaft universal joints, steering linkages and differentials with grease. Raw umber and brown wash colours were, much like a pin wash, but added dry, to recessed areas that would capture dirt and debris. Finaly light mud was added to areas where the tyres would rotate.

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 8: Adding a trailer

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The trailer I choose was an old Azimut resin kit that I purchased from Scale Model Challenge Telford, and constructed many moons ago. It is an extremely basic kit but somehow one of the side panels was still 20mm shorter than the other! The axles were also made of lead so they simply collapsed under the weight of the built up vehicle, splaying out the wheels!  It is a terrible kit TBH, and although I fixed the panel length and strengthened the axles, I had no desire to progress further with it, so up it went, straight onto the shelf of shame.

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 7: Painting

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With the kit fully built in sub assemblies I plan to show this as a late war supply vehicle towing a trailer which has been pushed off the road on a Northern France or Belgium road during the retreat to the Rhine in 1944.

Preparing softskins for paint is often a tricky business. For one there is rarely anywhere suitable on the vehicle to hold or suspend it safely. Then there is the issue of completing the interior before masking glass areas to complete the exterior. I often prepare at the building stage and this almost always make the whole project a far more enjoyable experience.

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 6: Wheels & tyres and kit build report

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Wheels and tyres

Although the kit's narrow shoulder treaded tyres do look a little odd they do appear to be authentic and there are pictures of them on L4500's. Whether these are post war I cannot determine.

 

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 5: Cab assembly and engine bay

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Cab construction

Once the main chassis compenents have been fitted we move onto the cab construction. As is often the case with truck and car builds we are faced with the dilemma of how to approach painting the interior.  Unfortunately, Zvezda have not helped us with this task!  They have designed the cab roof to join just behind the screen where no joint on the real vehicle (so far as I could determine) was present. Filling the joint after painting the interior would not be my preferred plan of attack so I figured that issue would need to be addressed first.

I have already built the Zvezda L4500S kit with the wooden cab and found a fair amount of parts on this kit are identical.  You got both the metal and wooden cab with that kit and as I had already built up this cab previously, I employed the same method of construction with this one.

To be able to get decent access to paint the cab interior and add the instrument decals the cab ideally needs to be built in two halves. I preferred to leave the screen and all the cab windows off rather than mask them, until after the cab is painted. 

I started the cab construction by building up the rear section, cementing the floor and rear panel together. I left off both the seat and seat back until both parts had cured to avoid any potential interference. There are a couple of tabs on the inside of the rear panel to line up to the floor and it is important to make sure the lower points of the rear panel sit at the same height as the bottom of the floor moulding.  I found out in my earlier build this positioning is crucial for getting the best overall alignment of the cab, and  critical if building the cab with the doors closed.

 

Mercedes L4500A (Zvezda) Chapter 4: Aftermarket resin wheels and suspension

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Aftermarket wheels

If you are to employ an aftermarket set of wheels beware to check before adding parts C42 and C43 to the rear axle. The kit's outer hub moulding was included as part of the outer wheel in my Hussar aftermarket set, so the inner rear wheels mounted directly to the backplate parts C39 and C40

Axles

The front and rear axles are nicely rendered, and all the small assemblies go together without issue. The front wheels are designed to turn but unless you go to the effort of drilling out the steering arm, drag link, and knuckle arms, you don't get to articulate the wheels. I did this successfully with a previous L4500S build but this time I decided to fix the wheels once I had confirmed the angle I wished them to sit. The track rod keeps both hubs in alignment.