WWII German Panzer IV F Platoon, 15mm Flames of War

[Whiterook]

This is a platoon build of five WWII German Panzer IV F's, from March 2009. It was the second 15mm miniatures build project I'd done. A Flames of War platoon box, it came with solid resin hulls and metal accessories. The decals came separate from the box set, in a decals sheet bought to outfit several boxed sets over time. The turrets are loose, and I had still not learned about using rare earth magnets to secure them in place yet, but may do so in the future (alternatively, a little BluTac works nicely for that purpose).

Assembly


The barrels of the main guns were trickier to mount than the American Shermas were, probably because of the narrower mantlet to narrower hull front armor. Using gel CA glue, which holds the loose parts better while drying, still needed a little assist in the form of gravity! Propping them up in the parts container that came with the box, further held in place with the shipping foam did the deed nicely and the assembly was left to cure for several hours.




The bottom hull came with a large, raised rectangular nub that I didn't like (part of the molding process I am sure. but not realistic to me), si I filed it off (yes, I know...resin...I was careful!).




Here are a couple of shots with the main gnus (minus one tank, so you can see the attachment area of the barrel) and treads glued on. The treads go on surprisingly well, I'd come to find out. Basically, using gel CA glue, you need to pinch with your fingers like a vice, holding the metal treads to the resin tank body with firm pressure for several minutes... that's long enough for the CA glue to grab and hold, after which you can set the tank down to cure for several hours for a secure bond.







Next up were the accessories...






And the Intrepid tank commander...

[Whiterook]

Painting

A basecoat of Folk Art black acrylic paint was handbrushed on the entire surface of the miniatures -- I'd pre-cleaned them with a soapy dishwasher detergent wash, but forwent the priming...



The bottom of the turrets and inner hull they fit in were left unpainted.




Next was finding the right "Panzergrau" panzer grey, mixing Folk Art white and black acrylics...



...it's critical to also mix enough paint volume to last the entire painting process, since trying to remix a batch will be problematic to say the least!



Note that with Folk Art acrylics, the consistency is rather thick, compared to a brand more airbrush-friendly such as Vallejo; meaning that even while handbrushing, it can be more like a drybrushing experience, even with the brush fully loaded with paint! For that reason, this is where my brilliance (yeah, I said it!) comes into play with the now black undercoat; the black undercoat will show through in tiny spots like you'd done some chipping, and as he paint dries, but before fully curing, you can lightly brush a clean brush along the surface to strategically show "field wear" of the paint.



Beyond this point in the build, some appropriate colors needed to be applied to some of the stowage, along with highlighting and letting the nooks and crannies of the black undercoat show through; as well as the single tank commander, which needed a lot more fine detail. And of course, decals!

[Whiterook]

The Finished Product!




The tank commander came out killa! I opted for an SS figure. Figure painting has always been an area I need much improvement in...
















Some Swag Shots

Shown along with their most likely battlefield nemesis of the Americans... Shermans!




And some shots in-play in a game I hosted at a couple forums back, "Oil for Panzers"







I loved the way these came out! I remember considering possible weathering, but I liked the end result simplicity. These see regular use on my miniatures gaming adventures!