May 2017

Nagmachon
Urban oddity

Horch 108 typ 40

Transporting the
Wehrmacht

Miniart T-54-2
Simply the best!

Two new
gifts inside

Let it snow
1/48 M4A3 Sherman at the ardennes

Railway scene
Old and new kiys together

FV 215
Waht if massive attack

Sponsored by
Is published by Coronel Caramel S.l.
CIF B54483052
Editorial office & administration
Club de ftbol Hercules 6
03008 Alicante
Spain
Te: 965112833
Email: fcmodeltips@gmail.com

Director: Federico Collada

Editor: Federico Collada
Design: Federico Collada
Graphics: Federico Collada
Models and photographs: Federico Collada

Editorial
Do you remember when you begun in this hobby? I do it perfectly, though it
was more than 30 years ago. I remember buying a matchbox T-34/76 1/76 scale
to build it at my grandmas house while my dads went to the movies; it was my
very first experience with modelling. I remember feeling the excitation while
seeing all those tiny little pieces get together to form a complete tank model,
all those small details together.and the sum of all of them once the job was
done.then with the years I learnt how to paint them, lots of tricks and experi-
ments that never ceased, but just in a very few occasions I have felt that chil-
dish emotion again, and is easy to understand, we grown men have seen a lot
and is difficult to surprise ourselves with something new. The recent Miniart
kits, specially the one I built for this issue have surprised me and brought that
feeling again; as soon as I opened the box I set apart all other models and didnt
stop until I got it finished. Yes its true that it has quite a lot of parts but thats
the point, building a Tamiya kit is not a challenge at all, any kid can do, but this
is modelling for adults, this is what modelling lovers want.

Federico Collada

3
Index Page 6

Page 24

Page 32

Page 40

6 - Israel base
8 - Blitzscales previews
24 - T-54-2
32 - Horch 108 typ 4o
45 - Tip, drubrushing with acrylics
48 - Tip, snow
52 - Nagmachon
62 - D-day Omaha beach base
63 - 24s of the Fla. Btl. 614

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Page 48

Page 52

Page 63
Page 62

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 Cut & paste
1- Print the opposite page, resize if you need to fit your wood base

2- Varnsh to protect the printing

3- Glue onto a wood base using white glue

4- Press softly with a sponge to eliminate any air bubbles

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 Scale; 1/35
Producer; Miniart
The most produced tank in history
The history of the ubiquitous T-54 begin
Turing the WWII when the soviet army begun
considering an upgrade for the excellent T-34,
in 1943, the Morozov Design Bureau begun the
design of the T-44 which they expected to include
the latest technology and a more powerful main
gun. The T-44 included a traversed engine,
torsion bar suspension, no frontal machine gun,
better armour and an 85mm gun.
Although when the T-44 was ready for production
it used the same main gun of that in the T-34, it
was clearly superior in every other way. Anyway
the enormous production of the T-34 during the
war was so satisfying that changing for a smaller
production of a better tank was considered not
necessary, instead the T-44 was used to test
24
newer guns, in fact the decision to fit a 100mm
gun showed that some changes in the design
would be necessary. The new T-44 had a slightly
enlarged chassis, the production begun in
1945 and ceased in 1948. The corrections of
the T-44 design lead to the T-54 which passed
through different upgrading stages itself. The
T-54-2 version differed form the previous in
many details, a new turret with flat sides and
raised overhang at the rear, deleted side fender
machine guns, new tracks, etc. The T-54-2
entered production in 1949, at Stalin Ural Tank
Factory No. 183 (Uralvagonzavod), two years
later a third model would be produced before the
T-54A series. More than 1.000 units of the T-54-2
were produced before they switched to the next
version.
The best kit up to now
Along the last 15 years we have seen many
producers release their kits of this iconic
tank, from the mediocre Lee, trumpeter, Esci
and Skif to the more standards Tamiya and
Takom, then along came Miniart, with their
new conception of what a tank kit should be,
they begun last year with some outstanding
models dedicated to the T-34 derivates, the
SU-85 and SU-122 and followed by the T-44
early and late, all of them excellent models
with (nearly) full interiors and awesome detail. 1 The engine is a kit in itself, full of subtle details.
It was clear that, following the chronological
order they would eventually produce the T-44
and then the T-54, and here it is. We didnt
have to wait too much.
Miniart have produced the best T-54 kit by
far, released both with and without interior
so you can decide what fits best you needs.
The new model includes photoetched parts,
workable suspension, separated links tracks,
etc. and the best detail you can ask for, even
the tracks mould codes are reproduced! With
more than 1.000 parts the kit is not thought for
the novel modellers but for those who really
wants to enjoy a long time project.
2 Behind the floor plates, the suspension arms
work like the real ones.

25
 Enjoying modelling
As I mentioned at the editorial, this is modelling
for adults, not a 100 parts model that you can
build in an evening but a truly exciting kit that
you have to take seriously to get the most of it.
Obviously I didnt used any other parts than the
included in the kit as it provides photoetched
details, separated links tracks, one piece gun
(unlike two halves ones provided in other
kits) and transparent parts for the lamps and
periscopes.
Building the T-54-2 is not a hard job but
requires some planning, mostly if you want to
use the interior parts, you will have to paint
as you complete some of the building phases
or else you will not be able to reach some
3 Although hardly visible once the tank is built,
the interior has been replicated to a very high
level.
26
parts once they are glued together. With some
instructions study you will be able to plan where
to stop for some painting and then keep on
building.
Although I dont really like too much to show
my models with open hatches, etc. I decided
to paint the interior as a practise for further
models. I used the Vallejo primers, paints and
pigments as you can see in the pictures; some
washes and a little drybrushing combining
different colour provided the dirty look I like for
my military vehicles models.
The kit provides decals for six different
vehicles, all of them belonging to the Soviet
army during the 50s. I choose the sixth one as
it has some stencilling on the sides fuel tanks
that I found interesting.
 8 Pigments mixed with thinner is a wash that
4 At this stage is better to start painting the can be used to stain and dirt the engine easily
interior, a coat of white primer is the perfect base. and fast, in a few minutes we can keep on the
process.

5 With the white primer applied we can keep

painting other parts like the ammunition, the
Vallejo new metallic paints flow perfectly with the 9 The special effects paints are splattered over
airbrush leaving a smooth finish. the engine to create oil, grease and fuel stains.

6 The engine was painted with a flat aluminium 10 The interior floor is painted with a light grey
colour over the white primer. colour and then dirtied in the same way as the
engine.

7 For the rest of the engine parts I used standard 11 The oil stains are also speckled at the interior
acrylic paints. insisting at the engine camera.
27
 13 Its time to close the hull, first the front glacis
plate with the lamp and hooks, the fitting is
perfect.

12 With all the parts painted the interior looks

really impressive and the model certainly starts to
weight more than usual.

14 Then the engine covers and back plates,

again the match the hull perfectly.
15 The turret interior followed a similar process
and once built I primed the whole tank with 73609
4B0 primer
19 The decal medium product softens it for a
better adaptation to the kit surface; submerge the
decals in it for some minutes before applying.

16 Then a first filter made with 71094 Zinc green

diluted at 80% served to lighten up the centre of
the bigger surfaces and general edges.
20 The decal fix is special glue that is applied
right before placing the decal.

17 A second filter using 71095 Pale green

and airbrushed from above created a zenithal 21 the decal must be placed before the product
illumination. starts drying.

22 When the products have dried we can now

varnish again to protect the decals, a gloss
18 Next step was to apply the decals; first a gloss or satin finish is adequate for the weathering
varnish coat for a better adherence. process.
29
23 Some subtle chipping was reproduced using
27 The mud products are great, you can make
a sponge and a dark brown paint, the key with
the job in a minute and they dry pretty fast, use
this technique is hitting first on a paper to leave
stencilling movements to avoid any brush traces.
behind any paint excess.

24 Then some drybrushing with the same colour

at the most exposed to rubbing zones 28 I speckled pigments over the mud before it
was completely dry to create a dry mud crust.

25 I moistened the kit surface and speckled some

paints diluted at 75% for some tone variety, these
little dots blurred on the wet surface creating
subtle stains 29 For the tracks I used a dark red primer and
then some rust tones pigments.

26 A wash with a sand colour paint and water 30 Applying the pigments mixed with thinner
produced the first dust accumulations. beginning with the darkest tone.
30
31 Then I speckled the rest of the tones mixing
the pigments with water.
32 After three dust colours speckling the tracks
were ready to be placed on the model.
33 The rest of the weathering followed the same
order, pigments speckling and some heavy
pigments coverage at the mudguards recessed
zones and tracks, the last touch was to rub some
parts with a graphite pencil to imitate the exposed
metal.
31

In 1936 the Wehrmacht asked the German car
producers to provide a standard Einheits-PKV
(passenger car) to substitute the many militarized
civilian vehicles that equipped the German army
that caused lots of problems due to the enormous
diversity of spare parts to maintain them and the
diverse quality of the whole park.
The new vehicles were divided in 5 categories;
light, medium and heavy cars, and light and
medium trucks.
The manufacturers involved in this program
were; BMW, Hanomag, Stoewer, opel, Ford
Germany, Horch and Wanderer. The program
success was compromised right form the start
as any of these companies could satisfy neither
the specifications of the vehicles nor the required
32
Scale 1/35
producer ICM
production quantities so in the end the desired
homogenisation was not achieved.
The Einheits-PKW was produced form 1936 to
1943 and deployed in every war front.
The Horch 108 was classified as a light truck and
the typ 40 was the version produced between
1940 and 1942 and differed form the previous
version in small details, the most recognizable
difference was the location of the spare wheel
that was now stored inside the car.
The Horch 108 could fulfil different duties;
personnel transport, ambulance, radio,
engineers, light artillery towing, officers transport
and AA vehicle armed with a Flak 38.
 You can build two large parts
groups before starting painting,
a subassembly with the
chassis, suspension, engine
and transmission and another
one with the car body. Parts
fit very well so you wont need
to fill and sand any joint after
painting.

A welcome replacement
Before ICM the only Horch 108 plastic kit 1/35 scale
available was the Tamiya one, a kit with some 40 years
behind that is not up to the nowadays quality standards
so this new kit is highly welcome. The ICM kit is released
with deployed or folded top as two different kits, and
unlike the Tamiya kit it includes the engine, transmission
and a very high detail level.
The instructions suggest you begin building the engine
and then the chassis, suspension and transmission,
although these steps comprise a good amount of pieces
all of them fit perfectly and just a few are delicate enough
to take some care while manipulating them. Once you
finished building the lower part of the vehicle its turn
to work on the body, there all the pedals, levers, seats
frames and the rifles holders provides the model with the
most subtle details that makes it look really fine.

The seats reproduce a very

convincing quilted texture and
the underside frames are thin
and well defined, this can be
easily observed if you leave
the doors opened.

33
The folded top was made with a
vinyl glove, applying some ciano
glue while bending the piece to
the needed position, using the
kit plastic part as a base. Once
finished I painted it like the rest
of the kit.

I didnt use any after-market upgrade for the kit and

replace only the folded top for one made by myself with
a vinyl glove, a very handy material that reproduces very
well the tarpaulin folds and it can be painted as the rest
of the plastic parts.
The building process was easy, amusing and straight
forward and I just stopped to paint some parts before
I made some vertical faded stains at
going on.
the vehicle sides using acrylic colours,
The ICM kits dont include photoetched parts but the
painting little dots and blurring them
detail level is very high so you can build this Horch 108
downwards immediately with a brush
out of the box as its up to the best standards.
moistened in a mix of 75% water and 25%
alcohol.

34
 Painting
I decided to paint my Horch as an anonymous
vehicle with the standard camouflage post
1943 so I used the Vallejo set 78414 that
includes both the three basic colours and
another 3 lighter ones to use them as
lightening filters.
I begun applying a dunkelgelb colour primer
604 as a base, then I used the 230 colour
diluting it with thinner at 80% and airbrushed at
those areas I wanted to highlight as edges and
centre of some bigger surfaces. Then I used
the camouflage colours airbrushing irregular
stripes all over the car body.
To soften the contrast of the three basic
colours I airbrushed a very soft filter using
colour 71141 IDF sand.

Painting an enlightened base in

military vehicles is a standard
protocol for me; I start with the
correct colours and then choose
warm or cold lighter tones to
highlight some zones. The Vallejo
set includes a selection of warm
lights to do this.

35
The kits doesnt include any kind of
extras, just the crew rifles, any other
stowage you will have to add it form
your spares parts. You can always
find some useful maps, magazines,
etc. for free downloading at www.
fcmodeltips.com

Using a dark brown colour and a little sponge

piece I replicated the chipped paint at the
edges, corners and the zones exposed to
rubbing. After the chipping I applied a gloss
varnish coat to place the decals, not too many
really, just the license plates at the front and
back. Using the decals blender and fixer I later
protected them with another varnish layer. I
waited a couple of days for the varnish to be
completely cured and then used a dark brown
and black mix to remark the details, applying
the paint diluted with water around them.
Later I used some acrylic washes to add some
chromatic variation on the model speckling
them onto the previously wetted with thinner
surface, the speckled dots blurred creating
subtle stains everywhere.
I used dry pigments to dirty the vehicle inside
floor, chassis, etc. three different tones were
enough for a subtle dusty look I was looking
for, one of the best things about pigments is
the easiness to clean up any excess, just pass
a dry brush and you can eliminate mostly all
the pigment applied, once youre satisfied you
can easily fix it with turpentine, thinner or any
of the special products provided by the paints
producers.
Chipped paint is a most
recurred effect in military
vehicles modelling, it can
be done in many ways but
one of the easiest is the
sponge technique. The key
is not charging the sponge
with too much paint; to
be sure you get the right
amount stamp first on a
paper to see the result.

Acrylic washes are also a very useful

resource; they can be used to shadow details,
to alter the tone as a filter and to make many
kinds of stains either with a brush or airbrush.

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38
www.fcmodeltrend.com

39
When the WWII finished the British army
was developing a new tanks family of which
the FV214 Conqueror placed the heavy role,
conceived to follow and support the mid class
Centurions, the FV214 would use its powerful
120mm gun to provide long distance covering.
The Soviet army was creating their own new
tanks range and the new JSIII was really
something to be worried of, its powerful 122mm
main gun and excellent ballistic profile made it a
serious adversary so the western armies begun
improvising new designs to confront this new
threat. In 1950 the British took the FV200 chassis
as a base for their new design making some
modifications to place on top a large turret armed
with a 183mm gun positioned at the rear of the
vehicle to avoid the large gun overhang too much
from the vehicle.
Although the 183mm gun was tested
satisfactorily, the FV215 was never produced and
only a wood mock up turret was made to test the
fitting on the FV200 chassis. The FV215 project
was exceeded by 1957 by other options, cheaper
and more effective, like the new guided anti-tank
missiles.
40
 5 Some speckled acrylic washes provided a
1 I used the 73607 UK bronze green as a base
subtle tonal variation creating tiny blurred stains.
for the whole model.

6 The sponge technique is the easiest way to

reproduce the paint chipping, use different rust
2 A filter with 71096 panzer green diluted at 80% tones and dont charge the sponge too much.
served to make the first highlights.

3 Another filter, this time with 71094 Zinc green, a

warmer tone.

4 The last filter with 71107 Interior yellow to stand

out the details and a zenithal illumination.
41

7 The new acrylic muds reproduce very well this
texture at 1/35 scale, apply it with a stencilling
movement to avoid any brush trace.
8 I used a black mud tone as a
base for the lower part of the vehicle,
wheel, suspension, etc everything
was covered.
9 Once the first mud application
was dry I used a lighter tone to add
some contrast.
what-if amusing projects
The Japanese company Amusing Hobby has
specialized in paper panzers and short run
production military vehicles, most of them
German, their kits quality is usually very good
with crispy details and good fitting.
This time Amusing Hobby has decided to give
a chance to the little known FV215 which is a
massive vehicle more or less the size of the
German Maus.
The kit shares most of the chassis parts with the
FV214 Conqueror except the upper part that is
completely different. Building is fairly easy as
the kit doesnt comprise too many subtle parts
and all of them fit very well so this part of the
job went straight forward rather quickly. The
FV214 kit included separate links tracks made
of two pieces each that didnt align correctly but
this has been solved in this new kit with new
moulded links that are clicked into each other so
you can adapt the vehicle to any surface as both
suspension and tracks are now fully workable.
As this is a representation of a vehicle that never
passed the design table I took some liberties
like changing the machine guns for some of an
Academy kit and adding a gun mantlet cover
made out of a vinyl glove, changed some of the
handles for copper wire and that was all.
10 Again the stencilling movement is important,
hit the surface softly to leave small traces; I also
used this colour to speckle little dots at both hull
front and rear.
Painting
I decided to paint the kit as all the British vehicles of that era, a dark green tone same as the FV214
Conqueror, Centurions, etc. I used Vallejo primer and air model range paints, then some washes,
pigments and acrylic mud in a very standard painting process. I used the own kit decals for a very
anonymous vehicle that could have been deployed alongside the Conquerors at Germany during the
sixties. Once finished the kit looked really impressive, a very original model halfway reality and science
fiction.

12 I didnt want my vehicle to look spoiled or

11 After making a pigment wash I accumulated
some more at the mudguard corners and some
recessed zones, then I speckled again some
acrylic washes to add more stains over the dust.
damaged, just a bit dirty and muddy after running
through the fields during some manoeuvres,
certainly its 70 tons would have crushed the
ground a little bit!
43
44
 Tip; Drybrushing
Drybrushing is a classic painting
technique that is used for highlighting
and has always been closely related
with enamel paints, this is because in
the times that this painting trick become
popular these were the most widely
paints available everywhere. The truth is
that this trick can be applied to all kind
of paints, the key is the thickness and
humidity, you can use acrylics, oils, etc.
If the paint is too liquid you can leave
a small quantity on air to wait for it to
thicken enough or you can even mix it
with pigments to make the paint thicker;
and remember;
1-Dont charger the brush too much.
2- Dry the brush with a clean cloth until it
seems it doesnt have any more paint.
3- Brush the model gently, dont press
too much, is better to make more subtle
passes than less stronger ones.

1 Acrylic paints are perfectly suitable for 3 Dry the brush with a cloth or tissue until it
drybrushing, if they are too liquid just let the paint seems that there is no more paint.
thick for some minutes or add a little pigment.

4 Now paint the model gently, dont press too

2 Dont charge the brush too much, is safer to much, the paint will just adhere to the most
use small quantities each time. enhanced details.
45
 5 In order to
highlight the Olive
drab base of this
1/48 scale model
I have used three
different paints, first
71094 Zinc green.

6 Another
drybrushing, softer
than the previous
one, with 857
Golden green will
stand out the details
even more.

7 And last, a
subtly drybrushed
sand colour will
add a dusty look.
You can insist with
this last effect at
the lower part of
the vehicle.

8 The cargo parts were covered with vinyl and

painted the same way. This technique is old but
still reliable and easy to control so its advisable
for beginners.

46
47
 Tip; Snow products

There are many industrial products

that we can use to create convincing
snow on our vehicles and scenes, we
can choose between a wide range that
varies in price and aspect, texture and
colour.
Here is a combination of two
powders released by Aurea Domus,
very inexpensive that you can get
through their own website https://
aureadomusminiatures.com/
The set consist in two very similar
mineral dust that you can use
separately or together; while the first
one has a thicker grain and darker
tone, the second one is much finer
and has a pure white look. They
can be mixed with some white glue
and water to be applied or simply

48
 with varnish. While the first one is
supposed to be used to cover larger
surfaces, the second one can be
used sprinkled over the previous
one while is still wet or used alone to
cover small surfaces.
I have tried them in this 1/48
Sherman kit to represent some
accumulated snow on a tank during
the Normandy campaign in the
WWII.

This artificial snow is very easy to apply, mix

it with some white glue and water and pour
it over the model with a brush, or deposit
a little amount on the model and then pour
some white glue/water mix over it gently.

Before the glue dries sprinkle the second

product to achieve a finer and whiter look; the
first one has the packed snow look and the
second one resembles the powdery snow.

These grains are so fine that can be

used even with 1/48 scale models. Next
magazine we will take a look at other new
snow products that can be used in even
smaller scales.

49
Gift
1/35 scale Manot krav
IDF combat ration

4 men ration for Merkava tanks

5 men ration for Sherman tanks

50
51
 Scale 1/35
Producer; Tiger Model
Nagmachon early
The success of IDF taking the most of outdated
vehicles is something almost legendary, during
all their existence they had to fight not only
against multiple enemies constantly but also
with their own country economic limitations and
their allies military aid policy that many times
were insufficient for their necessities. From the
very beginning they took the most of Shermans,
which they made confront the Soviet T-62, then
the Centurions, with which they practiced the
curved shots to reach the enemies tank from a
safer distance, they upgraded the M48 and M60s
with their last version still in service alongside the
Merkava.
The Nagmachon is another development based
52
on the Centurion to create an urban fighting
vehicle, heavily armoured and equipped with
diverse infantry machine guns, the first models
had some shields over the personnel camera to
protect the infantry while they fired their guns, the
later Nagmachon had the characteristic raised
superstructure commonly named doghouse
The Nagmachon can be equipped with some
engineer devices like mine plows, mine rollers
and dozer blades. Its heavy armoured shields
and reinforced belly makes it almost invulnerable
to AT missiles and mines.
Developed in the early 80s, the Nagmachon
was first seen during the Lebanon conflict where
it immediately proved its value protecting the
carried infantry not only against small weapons
but AT too.
Made in China
Two different companies, Trumpeter and
Tiger models, both based in Hong Kong, have
released their own rendition of the Early and
late Nagmachon kits 1/35 scale with just a few
months difference. I received the Tiger mode kit
as soon as it was available and must admit that it
caught my interest immediately.
As previous kits this one comprises plastic
parts, photoetched, decals, etc. the tracks links
are separated but not workable and the wheels
rubber band are made in black vinyl.
Most of the parts have good detail but others, like
The Nagmachon is a very odd vehicle, absolutely
charmless but very effective. Modern warfare
modellers will surely welcome the parallel
trumpeter and Tiger model offering of the many
variants. I havent seen the Trumpeter kit yet
but this one is a nice rendition, easy building for
novel modellers.
the machine guns, look rather simplified and the
FN mag are represented in a single part together
with their mast support so any positioning is
limited. Some parts, like the upper shields have
evident mould marks that you will have to fill and
sand carefully if you dont want them to be seen
as theyre very evident once theyre assembled.
Although the tracks are provided in separate
links, the suspension is not workable so
adaptation to uneven terrain is not possible.
The transparent parts for the window shields
are also provided in translucent green and pink
colour.
Although the vehicle seems to have
many elements, the kit doesnt,
many details have been reproduced
all together with larger parts to
endure an amusing building and the
instructions are very easy to follow,
the only objection is the lack of
details painting information that has
to be solved with a little research.
53
 RAL
7006
The interior was primed with
white colour and later stained
using pigments and special
effects paints.

Once the model is built there

is not much visual access to
the driver station, maybe thats
why it looks a little simplified in
the kit. Anyway I painted it the
same just for fun, in my opinion
although these interiors are
always a bit hidden, is always
a good opportunity to test your
painting skills.

54
The hull top closes the
infantry camera and it
has to be painted white
too as it will become
part of the casemate
interior so we have
to follow the same
painting process than
the one we used up to
now.

The casemate interior

has many details; again
some research will be
necessary if we want to
know what these details
are and how to paint
them. This part of the
vehicle will be clearly
seen if we leave the
top hatches and back
panels opened.

55

The wheel rubber band is
provided as a vinyl ring, a
material I always prefer not
to use as its more difficult to
work with than plastic.
With the superstructure
top placed I added all
the reactive armour
blocks and the smoke
dischargers, the vehicle
started now to look like
the artbox. The reactive
armour conceals a
bit the vehicles under
shape but it wouldnt
look like the real one
without them.
The inner side of the shields present
some rather evident mould marks, putty
and sanding is unavoidable here.
 Some parts like the smoke
dischargers are provided in
two halves that dont align
perfectly; some putty will be
required here too. The acrylic
putty is a very good choice
as it can be smoothed with
water before drying so you
save some later sanding.
Sometimes I prefer to dilute
the putty and filter it in the
hollows to fill them smoothly in
successive applications.

Now the vehicle is ready

to be painted, I left the
wheels, tracks, side
skirts and some other
elements aside to paint
them separately for a
more comfortable access,
all these parts will later
cover part of the vehicle
that must be painted too.
In these cases I prefer
to prime them separately
and then fix them to the
model for the highlighting
process.

Building the kit is rather easy thanks

to some well engineered parts that fit
together smoothly, unfortunately the
instructions doesnt include any colour
reference for the interior so some
research will be necessary if you want to
let you model show its guts.
I built all the interior parts groups to
paint them before closing the camera
and driver station, starting with a white
primer and then making some dirt washes
using pigments and thinner. After painting
some details like the ammunition cases,
fire extinguishers, etc. I closed the kit
and continued straight forward until the
end leaving just some details aside like
machine guns, front upper shield, tracks,
windows and periscopes.
 Some years ago it
was very difficult to
get the correct IDF
RAL 7006 colour
and modellers had
to make their own
recipes mixing
different existing
paints trying to
match some pictures
that were always
different one from
another. Nowadays
we can rely on the
paints producers
professional skills
that use the adequate
tools to replicate the
colour correctly.

After priming the whole model with the

71142 82 Sinai grey colour I placed the
wheels, side skirts, etc and airbrushed
a filter with 71141 IDF sand grey diluted
at 80% at the areas that I wanted to
highlight. As the base colour is rather
light itself I opted to make just one
highlighting filter instead of the usual 2 or
3 I like to do. These light tones vehicles
models are better suit for a darkening
wash to enhance the details rather than
highlighting them as you can get too close
to the pure white if you exceed.

The Nagmachon dont have too many

colourful details but the red painted
elements are certainly eye-catching so I put
some attention on them.
Modern IDF colours, not too
many options
The right colour to paint IDF military vehicles
since 1982 is RAL 7006, and the equivalent
in the Vallejo catalogue is the 71142 which is
provided both as a standard Air model paint and
as a primer.
With the kit almost completely built I applied a
primer coat with this paint and then highlighted
it a bit airbrushing a filter made with 71141 IDF
sand grey diluted at 75% at the centre of the
bigger surfaces and upper edges.
Having applied a gloss varnish coat I used the
decals blender and fixer to place them ensuring a
perfect adherence and adaptation to the surface
irregularities. After waiting for the decals to be
completely dry I varnished again and proceeded
to paint the details.
I used gloss red to paint the handles, rings and
other elements like in the real vehicle and 73821
rust texture for the tracks and exhaust. I used a
mid brown tone for the smoke dischargers cover
and a black primer for front rubber mudguards.
The machine guns were painted with a black
primer, then a dark steel layer and once dry a
black wash with standard paint diluted with water.

A good pigments assortment

is essential in military
modelling, mostly on the
earth tones range, they can
be used for many effects and
they are very inexpensive.
Lately Ive been using them
mixed with paint thinner to
make a kind of wash deposits
that once dry remain fixed
to the model without the
necessity of further fixers
use.

59
The exposed metal can
be easily represented
using graphite pigment
rubbed with a cotton
bud or simply with a
graphite pencil. The
graphite has a steel
look very convincing
in this scale so just
draw lines with the
pencil there where is a
constant rubbing.

This effect is most evident

on the tracks, both in the
exterior part that is in
constant friction with the
ground and the interior side
which rubs constantly the
wheels, this zone of the
links is always polished
showing a bright metal look
that can be too replicated
with the graphite pencil.

Instead of using paints to imitate the accumulated

dust on the vehicle I used the pigments set Mud
& sand that provides 4 different earth tones
very adequate for this effect. I mixed one of the
tones with paint thinner as it evaporates faster
than water. The most important thing with this
technique is dropping the mix on the model softly
and not brushing it as the thinner can melt and blur
the underneath paint layer. Once the thinner dries
the pigment has deposited on the corners and
recessed zones and any excess can be simply
brushed away.
After three different earth tones application the
Nagmachon looked as dusty as I wanted so I
proceeded to replicate the exposed metal with a
graphite pencil at the zones f constant rubbing,
insisting at the tracks, sprocket and idler wheel.
61
 Do you have an M4A3 Sherman
too?
Here is a base you can use for your model.
1-Print on a paper
2-Glue on a cardboard, a wood or MD board
3-Bend the sides and glue the flaps inside

62
 Scale 1/35
Models;
- Flakpanzer I, tristar
- Railway typ Omm, Dragon.
- Rails Europe gauge, Miniart
- Semaphore, Miniart

In 1941 the German flak battalion 614 was created with the 24 Flakpanzer I made by Stoewer
and sent to Romania, form there they were sent to the southern part of the eastern front and in 1943
the battalion was wiped out during the battle for Stalingrad.

The idea for this scene

came more or less by chance
when I was trying to imagine
a way to combine some new
railway accessories with some
old models I had stored for
a long time, the first obvious
element for the imagined
scene was the Dragon flatbed
car typ ommr, then I looked for
a not too big vehicle to put on
it and remembered the Tristar
flakpanzer I I wanted to have
a chance t build (Blitzscales 4,
January 2017) so I started the
project building the vehicle to
later make the scene.

63
 The typ Ommr is an old
kit with nearly 20 years on its
back, its made of few parts if
compared to nowadays kits
and the quality is not the one
you can expect in modern
models, on the other hand
is rather easy to build and
includes a group of figures of a
German machine gun crew. As
I wanted my railcar to carry the
little tank I didnt use the side
walls and the only upgrade
was to substitute the plastic
floor planks for some real wood
made ones.

The kit was built

in a few minutes so
I started painting it
rather immediately,
I used the Vallejo
73603 Panzer
grey primer and
later a filter with
71114 US blue grey
diluted at 80% for
highlighting.
 After waiting for a couple
of days for the pant to settle
and cure I used a mix of black
and 71133 dirt as a wash to
shadow the recessed zones
and lower part of the car. I
used an acrylic black wash at
the centre of the wheels and
other details to reinforce the
contrast as I expected the next
phase to soften this effect.
I used the iron dust mixed with
varnish diluted with water to
deposit and adhere at some
zones and later rusted it with a
homemade recipe as depicted
on the book FCModeltips 2.

65
 A last subtle wash
using a light rust colour
pigment and thinner
created the subtle
accumulations around
some details.

66
The war caused a rapid
increase of rail transport for
the German Reichsbahn that
caused a simplification of the
wagons classes produced to
attend the war necessities.
The two axles wagon
could charge 24,5ton and
more than 6000 units were
produced between 1939 and
1941.
The upper part of the
railcar was covered with
real wood planks, trying to
choose one that hadnt a
too exaggerated vein to fit
the scale. The planks were
fixed with white glue and
stained with acrylic washes.
The last touch was to
imitate the polished metal
at the wheels using steel
colour paint.

67
 The rails are one
of the new Miniart
references and reproduce
the European gauge;
the Dragon railcar fits
perfectly this kit so I didnt
have to alter anything.
Building the rails is a
question of minutes and
once I primed them with a
dark red colour they were
ready for the weathering.

The first thing to do

was to add some rust
at the recessed parts of
the rails and around the
fasteners and bolts, for
this I used again the iron
dust. .

I selected a DM
board base 2cm longer
than the railcar to place
the scene. I used a foam
board to raise the rails
over the ground 0,8cm
so they would be clear
in the middle of the
surrounding grass.

68
 Next I painted the
sleepers with different
brown paints and later
some acrylic washes. I
rubbed the upper side of
the rails with a graphite
pencil and fixed them to
a foam board platform
to elevate them over the
terrain.

The flakpanzer
I was not too
successful, its
space limitations
made it inadequate
for AA firing and
they were mostly
used against
ground targets.
Their lack of proper
protection for the
crew was another
important drawback
and it was the
reason for many
losses. By 1943
very few of them
were still in service.

Most railways in Europe use the standard gauge

of 1,435 mm but there are some countires
with different gauge; Russia 1,520mm, Finland
1,524mm, Ireland 1,600mm and Spain and
Portugal 1,668mm.

69
 The semaphore is
another new Miniart kit
that arrived once the
project was ongoing, just
in time to add it to the
scene. Its a complicated
kit full of delicate parts
that requires some
attention to build it.
Once finished is a very
impressive element in
the scene so its worth
the work. I painted it
with a dark grey primer
and then highlighted
it with a medium grey
filter, after staining it
with a multicolour filters
speckling I painted the
red and white signs and
added the translucent
glasses.

The first railway semaphores were used in the 40s

decade of the 19th century. The first semaphores had
mechanical pivoting arms that were later substituted
by colour lights.
The both folding arms signalled clear, precaution or
danger ahead depending on the position.

70
 The last element to add to the scene was
the covered stowage over the railcar, for this
I used the new DG modelling foil, a very thin
metal foil primed with a black paint that is
highly malleable and can be used to reproduce
a canvas as its easy to adapt it to any surface.
I pressed a rectangular piece over a resin
stowage piece, using my fingers first and a
cotton bud then for the most raised details.
Once the foil got the shape I wanted I cut the
excess and painted as any other plastic part.

To finish the scene I place all the elements

on a DM board and covered with a mix of
different sizes stones, sand, pigment and
plaster. Once dry I poured a mix of white glue
and water and sprinkled artificial grass and se
balls hairs over the ground. I covered the base
sides with Vallejo acrylic black mud to give it a
rough texture and that was the end. This was a
short time project, very satisfying as it involved
some kits I wanted to build for a long time. 71
72