PzKpfw II Ausf. D

Brief description of the construction process of a wargaming kit released in the “September 1939” series. Almost “out of the box”, almost. Enjoy.

The kit

The tabletop gaming aspect of the miniatures released by the First To Fight company doesn't interest me at all. From my point of view, those are just another “easy kits” which I probably wouldn't bother with, if it wasn't for their “September '39” theme. This is mostly because I don't like the simplifications present in these types of models (which unfortunately are gradually making its way to the standard kits), especially when it comes to tanks’ tracks and wheels.

Why am I even mentioning this? Well, because the miniature of the German PzKpfw II Ausf. D light tank released in the twelfth issue of the “September 1939” series turns out quite well in this respect, especially if we compare it with other small Panzers released by FtF. Don't get me wrong – the chassis is heavily simplified here as well, but due to the design of the original vehicle, this isn’t so immediately noticeable. Large road wheels hide the lack of any suspension details quite well, and the single row of track teeth was possible to replicate somewhat reasonably even in a one-piece module (double teeth reduced to odd-looking ridges is the thing that has so far effectively discouraged me from the other versions of PzKpfw I and II released in the series).

Besides, “D” is in my opinion the best-looking Pz.II version, which combined with the above, convinced me to grab the kit with catalogue number PL1939-012 and build it without much fiddling.

Assembly

The model is so simple (about fifteen parts in total) that before I knew it, it was already assembled. Although, of course, I didn't miss the opportunity to add something extra.

I sanded down the rather lacklustre viewports on the turret and hull, and replaced them with definitely more distinctive replacements made from polystyrene.

The toolbox on the left mudguard, cast as a monolithic block without any details at all, was also subjected to my tinkering. I visually separated the lid by making a line cut around the piece, and marked the fasteners with pieces of polystyrene.

On the other side of the vehicle I omitted the plastic, and therefore rather clunky, cover for the folded antenna. Instead, I made one out of a suitably shaped piece of metal and a bit of plastic.

I also spent some time addressing the far too thick mudguards, the ends of which I sanded down considerably. In doing so, I didn’t grind the material across the entire width, but instead shaped a proper bend at the outer edges of the elements.

At the rear of the vehicle, I also added the missing mudguards sections, just behind the hull side walls.

The biggest alteration made to the kit were the engine compartment side vents, which “out of the box” simply did not exist. Appropriate holes were cut out and sanded, then equipped with shutters made out of thin polystyrene – glued in from the inside. As you can probably guess, this operation was carried out before the hull main parts were put together.

In the following photo, you can also see the changes made to the exhaust, i.e. the end pipe made from a clipped injection needle and the polystyrene muffler ties.

The list of modifications concludes with the drilling of the barrel ends – both of the main armament and the turret machine gun.

Anyway – before I knew it, the model was ready for painting.

Primer

First, I covered the whole thing with Tamiya XF-83 (Medium Sea Grey 2) paint, which I used here as a primer – to even out the colours of the parts made from different materials. Next into the airbrush went white C1 from Gunze, which I used to make some highlights.

My aim here was not to simulate light coming in at any particular angle, but only to emphasise some of the details and edges.

Camouflage

I started colouring the miniature by applying Tamiya XF-63 (German Grey) paint, over which I sprayed brown patches of XF-64 (Red Brown). Painting “by hand” i.e. without masking the edges of the patches.

Additionally I lightened the applied colours here and there. Grey with the previously mentioned XF-83 and even more with C69 (Off White) from Gunze. Whereas the brown parts with XF-57 (Buff) from Tamiya.

At this stage I also sprayed the tracks with a dedicated paint from Vallejo – Panzer Aces 304 (Track Primer), which I don’t recommend as these paints are not very suitable for airbrushing.

Details

Now it was time for the brush, with which I coloured some details. Vallejo Pazner Aces 306 (Dark Rubber) paint was applied to the rubber rims of the road wheels. I also took the opportunity to retouch the tracks with the aforementioned No. 304 paint from the same manufacturer.

The handles of the tools carried on the mudguards were treated with Vallejo 72.043 (Beasty Brown) from the Game Color series, and their metal parts with Game Color 72.054 (Gunmetal Metal) mixed with black Model Color 169 and “rubber” Panzer Aces 306. The mixture was also used on the gun barrels.

I decided to slightly modify the wooden block carried on the left mudguard. I got rid of the barely visible details and sprayed the whole thing with Tamiya XF-57 (Buff) paint. Then applied a bit of brown oil paint, which I smeared with a brush. Finally, I added some metal bits and a new mounting to the mudguard.

I preliminary painted the muffler, which is not visible in the above photos, with Vallejo Panzer Aces 301 (Light Rust) and 302 (Dark Rust) rust paints.

Varnish, decals & wash

The kit doesn't provide much in the form of decals (just four white crosses to put on the turret), but what was there didn't cause any problems during application. Tamiya's clear varnish (gloss) helped me to both prepare the surface for the decals and protect them from the subsequent actions.

Next I applied wash from oil paints for artists – a mixture of brown and black plus White Spirit. The observation slits, on the other hand, were filled with black Vallejo Model Color 169 paint.

After all these steps, I covered the whole thing with a thin layer of matt varnish. Just enough to slightly reduce the shine without going into a deep matt.

Lights

As I had no intention of using any more varnish (especially matt), I could get down to work on the vehicle's lights. Front lamps were made in a very simple way – I just painted the plastic parts (which were sanded flat earlier) with a silver colour, and after the paint cured applied Humbrol’s Clearfix.

Tiny rear light was made in a similar way, except that instead of Clearfix I used Gunze H90 (Clear Red) transparent paint.

Of course in both cases I let the “glass” dry properly, before proceeding further.

Exhaust

The preliminary painted exhaust received a bit of attention as well and was sprinkled with pigments, mostly the rust ones.

More precisely – Light, Medium and Track Rust as well as Smoke from AK-Interactive.

Paint chips

For a bit of paint chipping I used a thin brush and Vallejo's dark brown paint No. 150 from the Panzer Aces series (RLM61 German Camo Black Brown).

I applied it quite sparingly, both in terms of the size and amount of the resulting “damages”.

Also, surprise – model is still in parts, I was just putting it together for photos.

Streaks

In order to make some streaks, I resorted to AK-Interactive products, namely Streaking Grime and Engine Grime.

Contrary to the names, the vast majority of the streaks came from the latter.

White Spirit was the support here, with which I smeared and wiped off the above as necessary.

Tracks

In the meantime, I also worked on the chassis. The tracks, previously painted with Track Primer paint from Vallejo, were treated with another liquids from AK. Rust Streaks served as a sort of filter to differentiate the base colour slightly, while Track Wash was used as, you guess it right – a wash.

The protruding parts of the links were painted with steel colour no. 178 (Natural Steel) from the Vallejo Model Color palette.

Then I took two jars from the Dust & Dirt Deposit range, namely Light Dust and Brown Earth, which I backed with Dark Earth pigment – all from AK-Interactive.

Using these I dusted the tracks a bit, focusing mainly on the recesses.

More dust & dirt

Hull sides needed some dirt too. First I treated them with Dark Earth, European Earth and Light Dust pigments (AK).

Then applied Dark Mud, Earth Effects and Dust Effects enamel washes (also AK).

Not much of this will be visible in the finished model, but – it's there.

Fuel and grease

After putting the model back together again (for the last time), I added another small portion of filth.

Mainly on the top of the engine section.

Fuel Stains, Engine Oil and Engine Grime fluids from AK helped me with this.

Dust again

Finally, I dusted the miniature a little bit with the same pigments as the tracks before (i.e. Light Dust and Brown Earth Dust Deposit plus Dark Earth).

That was all – the end, finished. But…

Base

Finished model spent the next two years in a kind of limbo. I didn't intend to do anything more with it, but at the same time it didn't even get a final photo shoot, let alone any publication here or anywhere else. It was just hanging near the workbench and waiting. For what? Maybe… a base.

Balsa, natural earth, couple of pigments and Woodland Scenic grass plus post and a piece of fence made from scratch. Nothing fancy, but for a first time (as I haven't done stands like this before) it's enough.

Model was fitted onto the ground and further dusted to match it in colour as well. The end?

Last details

Nope. Another two years passed and little Panzer was still in the modelling limbo. For one thing kept bugging me – the rather sparse markings proposed by the model manufacturer. The lone white crosses look suspiciously unspecific, if you ask me.

At this stage introducing additional markings directly onto the turret or hull surfaces was hardly an option, so I decided to rely on colour profiles of the 314 tank found on the web, according to which I was only missing the plates for the sides of the vehicle. Admittedly, I was unable to confirm this photographically, but as this particular scheme appeared in a couple of larger scale models – and in some of them actually captioned with something more than famous “unknown unit” – hey, maybe it does even have some grounding in reality.

I drew the plates in my favourite graphic editor, printed them out, stuck on a thin metal sheet and cut out.

Then I fitted couple of the best-looking specimens with a stand and painted.

Now all I had to do was place them on the miniature and dust a bit. Done.

However there was still one element missing, which clearly indicated that the model was not finished. The antenna. I had not fitted it yet, so that I could work with the model without risking breaking it. Now it was time to change that.

I thought I had a metal one from Master somewhere, but I was wrong. Not wanting to wait any more (possibly another two years, who knows?), I made the antenna out of a sanded down piece of wire, which I treated with a solution for blackening metal tracks. The mounting plastic part has to be slightly modified also, but that’s not worth mentioning.

Now it's really over.

Finished at last

Here’s my little Panzer IID. Starting the build today, few things I would have done differently – hopefully better. Well, such is the charm of finishing models from years ago.

More photos of the miniature can be found in a separate article.

MMXXII