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Nº 49

Nº 49 11 €
Special WWI
Armour Modelling Magazine

• CA-1 SCHNEIDER
• SAINT CHAMOND
• A7V
• MARK IV MALE
PANZER ACES

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PortadaPA49.indd 1 20/05/15 16:24

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InteriorContraportada.indd 1 03/10/14 13:39

 PANZER ACES Nº 49 2015

2 A7V STURMPANZERWAGEN
Before the MENG kit hit the shelves, we could only reproduce this AFV with the
TAURO Models release –outdated in every way- so Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo
rebuilt it almost from scratch using the treads and a few other pieces taken from
the original kit. The vehicle has been painted with the Losenge pattern so typical
of this period.

24 SAINT CHAMOND
These AFV’s were nothing but self propelled guns and most of these vehicles
have a suspicious “farm tractor” aftertaste -revealing the vehicle’s compromised
origins- sporting machine guns and armoring. Luckily the French camouflage
patterns are anything but boring as Laurent Stankoviak beautifully demonstrates
with his work.

36 SAINT CHAMOND “WALKAROUND”

In the AFV museum in Saumur we can find a few WWI “survivors” such as this
Chamond which Laurent has photographed in order to improve his kit.
The main pictures employed for the development of his work are showcased here.

42 MK. IV MALE
The paintwork of British tanks contrary to the French ones is pretty sober and
quite insipid from a modeler’s point of view; at least its large treads give us some
room to create some interesting dirt as José Luis López demonstrates with his kit.

56 CA1 SCHNEIDER
The tractor which is the base for this self propelled gun is a relatively small
vehicle and carried a smaller gun than the Chamond, which gave it a rather
curious and better balanced look. Michel Pérez has chosen a simple and effec-
tive, yet hard to reproduce camouflage pattern which is rather apt for an original
humid appearance for a scene set during the fall.

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1indice.indd 1 20/05/15 17:08

A7V STURMPANZERWAGEN Western Front 1918
In spite of the fact that there aren’t as many kits
available –especially when compared to the WW II
offerings- we can find barely enough figures and vehi-
cles to help us build many dioramas. I wanted to create
a simple two leveled ground featuring a venerable A7V
German AFV with a figure. Regardless of the reduced
space available, my idea was to recreate an ominous
environment, hostile, full of damp soil, darkened by
/2
2-23_A7V .indd 2
the rain absorbed in the days prior to the action which
unfolds before our eyes. With the intention of depic-
ting even more desolation I chose to put a few tree
stumps devastated by the artillery, posts with barbed
wire and to cap it all off I put a few more things inclu-
ding the remains of a half buried corpse, all perfectly
well integrated into the dio.
20/05/15 19:23
8

By Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo Pictures by: José Ignacio Pérez Lozano

Scratch built over a Tauro Models

1/32
WW I is a subject that interests me very much, but actually this is the first
time ever that I actually build a diorama from that period. That conflict with its
devastated and devastating battlefields, where the unfortunate soldiers –as usual-
were nothing but Cannon fodder living in soaking trenches surrounded by corpses,
offers to the modeler many possibilities.

3/

2-23_A7V .indd 3 20/05/15 19:23

 We’ll start by sealing the
THE KIT circular mold ejector marks
on the wheels that will be
The first kit released by Tauro Models – visible; this means doing this
an Italian brand- during the first half of the to the first and last wheel
on each bogie. I employed a
1980’s was a 1/35 styrene kit of this A7V.
Punch & Die hole puncher,
The kit included detailed interiors and six to create several styrene
metal suspension springs plus vinyl tracks discs that were glued with
that had to be assembled link by link with cyanoacrylate glue on the
metal bolts. It was kind of a novelty for ejector marks that needed
the period; a fascinating kit for a teenager covering. Then I sanded these
like I was, so I went ahead and bought it. flat.

PRODUCTS EMPLOYED
Kit:
- Sturmpanzerwagen A7V, Tauro
Models, ref. 101.
Gun barrel:
- 7.5 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt, M4
Models, ref. prototype.
Accessories:
- Tractor wheel spokes taken from an
IS-2, Dragon ref. 6012. The wheel assemblies were too thick and had to be trimmed down on both its
- Tow hooks from an Italeri’s Puma ref. upper area and both of its sides using sandpaper and then rebuild all details with
202. Evergreen strips, Grandt Line nuts and styrene rivets. I’ve also used a Scriber for
- Tin cans, Verlinden Prods. Ref. 1643. the visible joints on the upper and lower halves of each bogie.
- Skull, Andrea miniatures ref. SG-F31.
- Cart wheel, Tamiya ref. 35247.
- Barbed wire, Aber ref. 48A08.
- Oak leaves, Hudson & Allen Studio
ref. 9704.
Figures:
- Top brass German officers WWII,
Verlinden Prods. Ref. 1507, Scale Link
ref. EG2 and Andrea Miniatures refs.
S5-A04 and S5-A06. Then I began to work on the details of the long rectangular pieces sustaining the
- German communications center w/ bogies. Instead of these pieces there should be six supports on each side for as
Signal troops, Dragon ref. 3826 with many return roller pins for the tracks and also a muffler for the exhaust. These
Hornet head ref. HGH 08. areas however were going to end up being covered, so I did not rebuild them. I
just did the sides of these supports using 0.25mm Plasticard sheet and the lower
part of the mufflers using aluminum sheet given its shape with the cylinder
shaped handle of a knife blade dispenser.

Set of bogies before applying a generous layer of mud.

/4

2-23_A7V .indd 4 20/05/15 19:23

 Many years later, in the XXIst century I I finished the work in this
decided to assemble this kit once and for area after building the
all. Examining it carefully and comparing it supports for the tensor
with the 1/35 scale plans in the “Deutsche wheels suing Evergreen
strips and adding some
Kampfwagen im 1. Weltkrieg” published
“mud” created with a layer
by Podzun Pallas Verlag, I found out that of acetone diluted putty
the measurements and the angles of the thin sand and sawdust.
armored planks didn’t match at all. The
kit seemed more like a 1/32 scale rendi-
tion than the 1/35 scale the manufacturer
Then I made a silicone
boasted. First I wanted to modify it to turn
mold for the tensor
it into a realistic 1/35 scale vehicle, but I wheels and obtained a
had to get rid of all the wheels. few resin copies and glued
I finally settled for the 1/32 scale, I to these the cogs taken
picked up a calculator and enlarged all the from a Soviet IS-2 AFV
measurements from the plan to match the manufactured by Dragon.
kit. In spite of that, I had to modify the That’s how I was able to
angles of the edges of the lateral planks replace the kit’s hideous
and cut the excessive height of these and tractor wheels.
the frontal and rear planks; this meant I
had to rebuild the roof.

Then I modified the four pieces which

make up the AFV’s hull. I had to sand
them all in order to remove the detail,
but before doing this I removed the
rivets with a knife and kept these
in order to use them later. Once the
armored planks had been sanded I
marked and cut the upper edges with
the help of a Scriber (see plans).
In this picture we can see the
comparison between a modified
lateral and the unmodified one.

In order to make sure that the roof

piece fits correctly we’ve glued
Evergreen strips all along the upper
edge of this structure. The doors have
been sealed.
5/

2-23_A7V .indd 5 20/05/15 19:23

 Before I began doing all this I studied Rear plank. Each
many period photos, because amongst embrasure has
the units built, there were some diffe- been opened by
rences and I had to settle for a specific drilling four holes
model and portray it right. I meditated a with a 1.50mm
drill bit and cutting
lot about this and settled for a second run
the space between
vehicle named “Alter Fritz”, which appears the drilled holes.
in page 19 of the “Deutsche Kampfwagen
im 1. Weltkrieg” book by Wolfgang Sch-
neider and Rainer Strasheim, published as
vehicle nº 112 of the waffen Arsenal in
1988. When this book was printed the
authors stated that the vehicle’s hull had
the serial number 560, but a few years
later and after further research, investiga-
tors found out that the serial number was
actually 526.

Except for the frontal and rear planks

–which are already glued to the kit-
the remainder of the newly created
pieces have been taped to the kit to
find out how these fit.

Right side before the rivets and nuts

are glued.

Small hinges built out of 0.88mm

Plasticard rod and 1.50mm and
2.25mm x 0.25mm thick Evergreen
strips.

Pieces for the lower rear and frontal

planks. The hinges are made using a
1.20mm Plasticard rod.
/6

2-23_A7V .indd 6 20/05/15 19:23

 The covers for the collimators on both
sides of the AFV have been cut form a
0.25mm Plasticard sheet.

Finished lateral planks. The two

hatches in the lower central area and
all nuts have been moved 2mm back in
relation to the transversal axis of each
plank.

Pieces form one of the six shields for the machine guns. The The aluminum gun barrel should stick out about
semicircles have a 7.50mm diameter and the aluminum sheet 18.50mm from the mantelet.
covering measures 5mm wide x 6mm high.

The roof structure

consists of three plastic
pieces 2 mm thick.

7/

2-23_A7V .indd 7 20/05/15 19:23

 Here’s one of
the four vertical
collimators with
its cover on one a
side.

The two
horizontal
collimators
have triangular
protection covers.

The roof plank was made with The protection for the
0.40mm thick Plasticard sheet. The tow hooks has been
excessive thickness of the Tauro made out of a 0.20mm
Model’s grille has been trimmed using thick tin sheet.
sandpaper.

Gun installed in the

prow with a protective
0.4mm thick strip placed
in the upper area.

Left side access. The two accesses

have hinges placed towards the
frontal part of the vehicle.

Casemate planks made out of 0.25mm Plasticard reinforced on the inside

with 2mm sheet sections.

The machine guns have been built with 2.50mm diameter aluminum
tubes. The mouthpieces for these are the Tauro Models originals, but
drilled on each end.
/8

2-23_A7V .indd 8 20/05/15 19:24

 Inner side of the roof hatch (0.25mm
thick)
On the roof I’ve used some nuts taken from the tractor wheels of an IS-2.

One of the six collimators from the Collimator in open position.

disassembled casemate in the roof.

After painting the inside black and gluing

the torso of a figure (headless one), External sides with parts of the
the hatch is covered with masking original trimmed piece (trimmed with
tape. a file).

All parts that can be disassembled such as the casemate and the roof
were all bolted with nuts. The original Tauro Models perforated
ventilation planks have been trimmed down with sandpaper to a
thickness of no more than 0.50mm.

9/

2-23_A7V .indd 9 20/05/15 19:24

 Each of the machine gun shields has two vertical
plate pieces measuring 5 x 6mm and separated by
about 3mm and curved to a radio of 3.75mm. These
are glued to a horizontal plate fixed by its internal
side to the lateral planks.
/ 10
2-23_A7V .indd 10
The new lateral planks stick out about 0.50mm
more on their lower area when compared to the kit’s
original pieces. The “L” shaped running boards under
the doors measure 6.50mm wide; the part right by the
armored surface is 2.50mm thick and its projection is
of about 3.50mm.
20/05/15 19:24
 ORIGINAL SIDE PLATES OF THE A7V KIT AND ITS 1/32 SCALE MODIFICATION

MOTHERBOARDS AND NEW PLATES SHIELDING THE EXPLODED VIEW OF THE

OF THE CASEMATE MANTLET AND TOP SHIELD

Plastic 2,00 mm Plastic 0,50 mm Plastic 0,13 mm Remove

Plastic 0,90 mm Plastic 0,40 mm Acetate 0,20 mm Original piece

Plastic 0,65 mm Plastic 0,25 mm Brass 0,20 mm Bend

11 /

2-23_A7V .indd 11 20/05/15 19:24

 C. de Diego

NEW PLATES, FRONT, SIDE AND REAR SHIELD OF THE A7V, 1/32 SCALE
/ 12

2-23_A7V .indd 12 20/05/15 19:24

 C. de Diego

MOTHERBOARDS AND NEW ROOF ARMOR PLATE OF THE A7V, 1/32 SCALE

13 /

2-23_A7V .indd 13 20/05/15 19:24

 PAINTING
Once the scheme was settled I began
the painting work proper by applying
three light coats of XF-22 RLM gray,
similar to a light feldgrau, airbrushed
until I had fully covered the kit. Then I
Base color (airbrushed):
Tamiya XF-22 RLM grey (40%) + Tamiya
thinner X-20A (60%).
Emblems (airbrushed):
Tamiya XF-2 Flat white (25%) + Methyl
alcohol (75%).
Tamiya XF-1 Flat black (20%) + Methyl
alcohol (80%).
Camouflage (airbrushed):
Tamiya XF-68 NATO brown (20%) +
Methyl alcohol (80%).
Tamiya XF-26 Deep green (20%) + Methyl
alcohol (80%).
Tamiya XF-74 Olive Drab (JGSDF) (20%) +
Methyl alcohol (80%).
Tamiya XF-2 Flat white (6%) + XF-57
Buff (6%) + XF-15 J.A. grey (6%) + XF-4
Yellow green (2%) + Methyl alcohol
(80%).
General highlights (airbrushed):
Tamiya XF-25 Light sea grey (5%) + XF-2
Flat white (5%) + Tamiya thinner X-20A
(90%).
Detail profiling (airbrushed):
Tamiya XF-64 Red brown (7%) + XF-1
Flat black (3%) + Tamiya thinner X-20A
(90%).
/ 14
2-23_A7V .indd 14
cut away the cross decals for the laterals
and the rear using a brand new no. 11
knife and applied these with the Micro
Sol product. The large crosses on the
roof and the skull and bones from the
COLOR CHART
Dirt/hues (flat brush no. 4):
Model Color 880 Khaki grey (7%) + 596
Glaze medium (3%) + water (90%).
Model Color 886 Green grey (7%) + 596
Glaze medium (3%) + water (90%).
Model Color 988 Khaki (7%) + 596 Glaze
medium (3%) + water (90%).
Highlights on ridges and rivets
(Cylinder tipped paintbrush no. 2):
Model Color 886 Green grey (15%) + 596
Glaze medium (5%) + water (80%).
Superficial scratches and friction
(Cylinder tipped paintbrush no. 1):
Model Color 886 Green grey (30%) +
869 Basalt grey (15%) + 885 Pastel green
(15%) + water (40%).
Deep scratches/rusted metal
(Cylinder tipped paintbrush no. 1):
Model Color 950 Black (35%) + 818 Red
leather (25%) + water (40%).
Weathering/Dirt
(Cylinder tipped no. 2/flat no.6):
Titan oil paint: 10 Naples yellow reddish,
69 Sap green, 70 Viridian, 74 Raw umber,
78 Burnt umber, 88 Yellow ochre, 96 Burnt
Sienna y 102 English red deep smeared
with a flat tipped paintbrush soaked in
White Spirit.
Abt. 1 were painted using Tamiya’s XF-2
Flat White and XF-1 Flat Black employing
masking tape stencils which were cut on
the surface of the strips of Tamiya’s mas-
king tape.
Profiling (re-do)
(Cylinder tipped paintbrush no. 2):
Titan oil paints: 74 Raw umber (8%) +
82 Ivory black (4%) + 70 Viridian (4%) +
White Spirit (84%).
Rust streaks
(Cylinder tipped paintbrush no. 2):
Titan oil paint 96 Burnt Sienna smeared
with a paintbrush soaked in White Spirit.
Varnishing (airbrushed):
Synthetic mat varnish for wood Titan
(15%) + Nitrocellulose thinner (85%).
Mud (flat tipped paintbrush no. 4):
Humbrol Enamels 29 Matt dark Earth
(60%) + 33 Matt black (40%).
Mig Productions Pigments P028 Europe
dust, P033 Dark mud, White Spirit.
Mud splashes
(flat tipped no. 6 paintbrush):
Mig Prods. Pigment P028 Europe dust
(80%) + White Spirit (20%).
Earth (flat tipped no. 4 paintbrush):
Tamiya XF-59 Desert yellow (5%) + XF-51
Khaki drab (5%) + Model Color 596 Glaze
medium (5%) + agua (85%).
Mig Prods. Pigment P028 Europe dust
(10%) + White Spirit (90%).
20/05/15 19:24
 When doing the camouflage I chose
to paint first the large splintered spots
in Rotbraun and Grün, and then add
smaller spots on the areas where the
feldgrau was still visible, and after that
I painted spots in either of the two hues
inside the splintered surface of the other
color and vice versa, in order to break
and conceal its shapes. I used for this
first XF-68 NATO Brown and XF-26 Deep
green later. Obviously I employed a gene-
rous amount of masking tape and lots of
patience, because I had to do this in six
separate sessions lasting about six hours
each; when doing work like this you
should be calm and never hurry the work.
2-23_A7V .indd 15
Methyl alcohol was used as thinner (bur-
ning alcohol available in most supermar-
kets) because its volatility makes paint
dry faster and infiltration through the
masking tape is considerably less than
when using Tamiya’s own thinner. Paint
was applied in rather thin coats using a
½ bar air pressure in my caompressor.
In the next session I painted the
Feldgrau spots using XF-74 Olive Drab
(JGSDF) and in the session after that
one I took care of the Lehmgleb spots;
for these I had to prepare an equal pro-
portion mixture of XF-2 Flat white, XF-57
Buff and XF-15 gray adding a few drops
of XF-4 Yellow green. Once the camou-
flage was finished, in order to tone down
the colors and reduce the visual impact
created by the contrast between these
I airbrushed a few highlights using a
highly diluted mixture of XF-25 Light sea
gray and XF-2 Flat white.
The truth is that at this point it took
me longer than calculated to do all this,
but the results were well worth the effort.
I only had to weather the kit a bit now
using a paintbrush and the usual techni-
ques; the steps taken to do this and the
mixtures, paint and thinner employed
here are mentioned in the picture cap-
tions and in the painting chart.
15 /
20/05/15 19:24

The two figures that I got into this
vignette are transformations of available
figures. In order to portray the driver of this
AFV I took a torso of a Dragon German
officer; removed his pockets with a knife,
sculpted new epaulets and replaced his
head for a Hornet one and then glued over
it an officer’s cap taken from my spares
box.
The infantry soldier is a Verlinden
Prods. resin figure. I proceeded to remove
the figure’s lapels, epaulets and coat
buttons and modeled with putty the nec-
kpiece to this garment and the folds in its
chest and made all leather straps out of
FIGURES
0.13mm Plasticard strips. I also modified
and adapted different pieces of equipment
from different brands and also sculpted a
rucksack out of a piece of plastic.
When the time came to paint these, in
order to save time I alternated the use of
the airbrush with the no. 1 and 2 paint-
brushes. The airbrush was used to apply
the base color for the two uniforms and
to create a first statement of highlights
and shadows. The highlights were applied
by airbrushing paint in a 20 or 30 degree
angle at a distance of about 20 to 40mm
spraying paint in short bursts to the
figure. I repeated these steps but placing
the airbrush’s nozzle underneath the
figures in order to recreate the shading.
I employed Tamiya acrylics diluted with
Methyl alcohol to obtain a totally matt
finish.
I finished the highlight and shading
work by applying Model Color and Andrea
Color acrylics with paintbrushes (Andrea
Color acrylics are employed to get a matt
finish for paint) diluting paint with tap
water. The last acrylic brand mentioned
was also used to paint the different pieces
of equipment, but for the faces I used the
Model Color acrylics in order to obtain a
slight satin finish.

1 2 3 4

1. The chest pockets, the epaulets and the neck braids were removed from this torso. The new epaulets and sergeant
distinctive have been sculpted with putty and a no. 1 paintbrush soaked in acetone.
2. The jacket’s base paint contains a mixture of XF-65 Field Gray (30%), XF-1 Flat Black (30%) and alcohol for burning
(40%). The first highlights have been made solely with XF-65 (25%) and alcohol (75%) and the final ones contain XF-2
Flat white (8%), XF-65 (2%) and alcohol (90%). Overall shading has been taken care of with a mixture of XF-1 (15%) and
alcohol (85%). Paint has always been airbrushed here.
3. The highlights and the shading have been fully defined and settled with Andrea Color AC-01 Field Gray mixed with
Model Color 907 Pale Gray Blue for the first and 950 Black for the latter. (All applied with paintbrushes)
4. The appearance of the aluminum string for the embroidered neck braids has been conveyed with a mixture of 869 Basalt
Gray and 883 Silver Gray. Highlights were taken care of by increasing progressively greater amounts of the second color
mentioned until it was applied unmixed in the upper edges of the string.

5 6 7 8 9

5. Once the eyes were painted and the upper eyelid was profiled with 950 Black,
I covered the skin with three coats of 860 Medium Fleshtone mixed with water
(50%).
6. The skin hue has been highlighted with 845 Sunny skintone and 951 White
for the lightest areas. The shading for the skin was made with paint veils
created by adding progressively 817 Scarlet and 921 English Uniform and then
by adding 960 Violet. All mixtures contain a drop of 596 Glaze medium. This
helps with the fluidity of paint and it also avoids the formation of paint circlets
when paint dries up.
7. On the cap we can see the cockade with the national German colors (upper
ones) and the Prussian ones (lower ones).
8. The flat area of the cap has been painted just like the jacket.
9.The torso was glued to the interior of the casemate before I painted the A7V.
The head could only be glued towards the end of the work in this area.

/ 16

2-23_A7V .indd 16 20/05/15 19:24

 10 11 12 13

10. Figure before the transformation work was undertaken.

11. Once I got rid of the lapels, the crumpling of the fabric in this area had to be re-sculpted using putty.
12. After polishing the work with sandpaper (1200 grit) the new lapels were molded with putty and buttons and a buckle
(both styrene pieces) were glued in place.
13. Suitable leather straps were made using 0.13mm thick Plasticard; an Andrea Miniatures cartridge belt and a Scale Link
gas mask case were also glued to the figure.

14 15 16 17

18 14. The Mauser was recreated by modifying a Kar 98k rifle. In this scale (1/32) the
Mauser should measure 38.50mm long. Three rivets and two fastenings were added to the
helmet. The latter were used to fasten an additional armored sheet.
15. The rucksack was made out of styrene and the blanket was made with putty (the two
component type). The hand holding the weapon won’t be glued in place until the figure
has been fully painted.
16. The rucksack with the tent wrapped around it forms a “block” which has been painted
separately and it was glued in place after the figure was fully painted. The colors for this
piece of equipment varied depending on the maker, the different lots, types of material
and so forth.
17. The coat was painted just like the other figure’s jacket. The lapels received a few paint
veils with Model Color acrylics 968 Flat green + 596 Glaze medium and 970 Deep green +
596 Glaze medium to give these a greenish hue. The yellow areas on the epaulets were
painted lemon yellow because the figure belongs to the 7th Regiment of Grenadiers.
18. The elbows, the long coat and the figure’s boots were weathered with colors similar
to those employed on the base. This was done with a no. 1 paintbrush soaked with very
little paint and working on these areas by superimposing several coats of paint.
17 /

2-23_A7V .indd 17 20/05/15 19:25

 SCULPTING THE BASE

The ground on the base was sculpted

in two levels in order to improve the
composition in such a reduced space.
A 2mm thick plastic base measuring
245 + 185mm was employed to sculpt
the ground on top. The features
of the ground were created with
cork which was glued on top of the
plastic. After that I covered this with
putty (the two component type) and
texturized it with a scrub. The spots
where I wanted rain puddles were
covered with thin plastic sheet; I
did this because I didn’t want to use
transparent resin.

The damaged tree trunks The roots are putty rolls The texture of the rock has been conveyed by pressing
were recreated with razor- texturized with a burin and against it a scrub and then doing some features in it with a
peeled small branches. The a knife. burin and a knife.
tree bark was modeled with
two component putty and
texturized with a burin.

The gangplank was built out of square

Evergreen rods and small wood strips.
The nail heads have been etched with
the tail end of a small drill pressing it
against the wood strips.

/ 18

2-23_A7V .indd 18 20/05/15 19:25

 Sand is a mixture of plaster, white glue, very thin sand and Before this mixture dried, I glued a few branches,
small stones. The corrugated metal sheet is a piece of tinfoil wood splinters, Verlinden pots and tin cans made out of
given this shape by using the butt end of a paintbrush. Plasticard.

The skeleton has been sculpted with

two component putty. The skull is an
Andrea Miniatures product.
The bones were pushed into the plaster surface The rat was bolted to the
in order to leave these half buried. base.

THE SCENE AND ITS PAINTJOB

The lichen adhered to the
rock has been recreated with
scrub shreds soaked in paint.
Then the scrub shred is dried
up slightly on a piece of
cloth and then it’s’ pressed
it against the surface of the
rock. Orange, gray and green
acrylics have been used for
this purpose.

19 /

2-23_A7V .indd 19 20/05/15 19:25


The tree bark was hand painted with Model Color acrylics 941 Burnt
Umber, 950 Black and AC-59 Confederate Gray (Andrea Color). The
splintered wood was painted with varying mixtures of AC-59 and
XF-59 Desert Yellow (Tamiya).
/ 20
2-23_A7V .indd 20
The posts and the barbed wire were
airbrushed with a mixture of Tamiya’s
XF-1 and XF-64 before gluing these in
place. Once these were glued in place
I did some brushwork retouching
employing Model Color’s 950 and 818.
The water on the puddles is ceramic varnish. The
leaves (like the one that’s floating) have been
glued in place with white glue and were darkened
slightly with a wash of Model Color’s 942 Burnt
Umber.
20/05/15 19:25
 The texture of the wooden barrow (made from The uniform shreds on the skeleton are small tissue paper strips
scratch with styrene sheet), was carved with the painted and fixed in place with a paintbrush soaked in water and
tip of an old knife. The sand sprawled by the glue.
explosions has been recreated just
like the sand on the rest of
the ground’s surface.

21 /

2-23_A7V .indd 21 20/05/15 19:25

 / 22

2-23_A7V .indd 22 20/05/15 19:25


- SCHNEIDER, Wolfgang y STRASHEIM,
Rainer. “Deutsche Kampfwagen im 1.
Weltkrieg”, Waffen Arsenal nº 112,
Podzun Pallas Verlag, Dorheim, 1988.
- ZARZYCKI, Piotr. “Czolg A7V”, TBU nº
165, Wydawnictwo Bellona, Warsaw,
1994.
- MIROUZE, Laurent. “World War I
Infantry in colour pothographs”, Europa
Militaria nº 3, Windrow & Greene,
London, 1990.
Some mud was splashed on the lower
portion of the AFV. This was done by
mixing European Dust pigment with
White Spirit, then putting this on a no
6 flat tipped paintbrush and proceeding
to splash it by flexing the brush hairs
with your fingers. This operation can
be repeated as much as required.
2-23_A7V .indd 23
RESEARCH MATERIALS
- FOSTEN, D. S. V., MARRION, R. J.
& EMBLETON, G. A. “The German
Army 1914-1918”, Men At Arms nº 80,
Osprey Publishing, London, 1978.
- DRURY, Ian & EMBLETON, Gerry.
“German Stormtrooper 1914-1918”,
Warrior Series nº 12, Osprey Military,
London, 1995.
- CROSS, Robin. World War I in
pothographs, Parragon, Bristol, 1996.
The sand on the roof of the AFV
carried by crewmembers’ shoes
has been recreated in two phases:
Paint veils of XF-59 Desert Yellow
mixed with XF-51 Khaki Drab and
a little Glaze medium and then a
filter using European Dust pigment
thinned out with White Spirit.
- ZALOGA, Steven J. & DELF, Brian.
“German Panzers 1914-18” New
Vanguard nº 127, Osprey Publishing,
Oxford, 2006.
- TURNER, Pierre & MOLLO, Andrew.
Military Uniforms & Weaponry-The
Poster Book of-World War I, Military
Press, New York, 1987.
23 /
20/05/15 19:25
SAINT CHAMOND

/ 24

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 24 20/05/15 17:08

 By Laurent Stankowiak

1/35
In order to commemorate
the centennial of WWI,
many brands shifted their
manufacturing focus to the
first AFV’s which are in fact
the ignored forefathers of the
tanks we usually deal with in
our hobby. Interesting new kits
have come out of all this and
now we can accurately portray
the initial years of the AFV.

25 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 25 20/05/15 17:09

 T
akom’s Saint Chamond’s kit allows us to portray one of
these brave forefathers. Takom has done a good job and
now we can not only build the M1 version but the M2
and the M3 as well.
The St. Chamond was developed in 1916 employing for its base
an artillery tractor that used tracks similar to those found in the
American Holt tractors by two companies:
Schneider and St. Chamond. The two companies never reached
an agreement, so each factory developed its own prototype.
SOMUA a subsidiary company to Schneider ended up making
the Schneider CA 1 tank, while the St. Chamond developed a
tank armed with 75mm guns and four Hotchkiss 8mm machine
guns. This prototype would end up being the largest one of
the two because of the elongation of the combat compartment
designed to be able to place the gun. In 1916 it was introduced
to the army and in 1917 the first units came out of the factory.
The St. Chamond is quite an imposing AFV with its 8 meters
in length, manned by 9 crewmen and weighing 23 tons. When
compared to the Schneider it measures two more meters in
length and weighs about eight more tons. It is equipped by a 4
cylinder 90- hp Panhard Levassor gasoline engine and a “Cro-
chat-Colardeau” electric transmission giving it a fair speed of
about 10km per hour. However its size was its greatest setback
because it had an inadequate form for difficult ground and it had
a tendency to “collide” against all holes and its tracks suffered
immensely because of its weight, which along with its slow
speed in the battlefields (about 3km/hour) made it quite vul-
nerable.
Towards the end of 1917 and the early months of 1918 an M2
and M3 version of the Chamond was created having a greater
adaptation to the battlefields with the addition of a new slanted
roof for avoiding enemy grenades (with the new roof these
could roll away) and the replacement of the two round shaped
/ 26
24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 26
turrets for a square one for the commander’s position. The steel
of the tracks was also improved and it was made about 30%
thicker improving also the cylinder roller pins underneath the
frontal and rear ends of the vehicle, making it easier to tread on
difficult terrain. The classic 75mm Mle 1897 gun is replaced by
the original 75mm St. Chamond original.
The St. Chamond was used until September 1918 and if played
well its role of watcher vehicle with its 75mm gun, becoming
the precursor of the assault guns that were going to be manu-
factured during WWII.
The AFV museum in Saumur keeps the only surviving unit of
this vehicle in the world. After doing some historical research
in the 14/18 internet forum were most St. Chamonds and their
stories have been gathered, we’ve chosen to portray Lieutenant
Marchand’s St. Chamond 731 AS36 in Mery, a few days before
the battle fought there in June 1918 were the tank was des-
troyed. The AS36 and the AS35 were the two groups having a
different camouflage pattern than the other M2 and M3s having
large spots with a black edge.
The five camouflage hues employed on this kit have been
guessed, because the surviving research material does not reveal
the real colors employed. However we’ve chosen highly plau-
sible colors.
Nevertheless we’ve obtained a copy of the historical docu-
ments –report- for this battle where we can read that 37 to 40
tanks were destroyed by the Germans during the battle of Mery.
Vehicle 731 was also destroyed about less than 50 meters away
from the German lines, after having destroyed a dozen machine
guns. The vehicle couldn’t move after its tracks were destroyed
and Lieutenant Marchand along with three of his men armed
with two machine guns exited the AFV in order to protect it. All
we know is that all of them disappeared after that day and their
final fate is still unknown.
20/05/15 17:09
 ASSEMBLY

The vehicle’s hull can be assembled

effortlessly. The rivets on the
commander’s turret are replaced by
Línea Grant’s rivets. The union between the frontal planks should
be filled with putty, I employ for this Tamiya’s
putty. This product should be used lightly in
order to avoid using too much material and
Two thirds of the assembly process are related to spoil details like the rivets when sanding.
the undercarriage; you need to pay close attention
to the pieces and follow carefully the assembly
instructions.

As we’ve mentioned
before, the undercarriage
is quite complex because
we’re dealing with many
pieces and sometimes the instruction
sheet can be confusing even making
some mistakes such as the ones
The rear rolling pins featured in step 16; because
and cogwheels are not pieces D5 and D6 are
glued in place in order in point of fact
to facilitate the painting inverted.
process.

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 27 20/05/15 17:09

 Each track link is divided in three pieces that can be assembled easily
and without glue. Now we apply black Games Workshop priming, then
we airbrush Tamiya’s XF-22 and after that we apply the Track Wash
product that will be almost fully removed leaving only a light coat of
paint. Mig pigments –of the same color hues we’ll employ on our base-
are now applied on the outer side of the tracks and are fixed in place
with gas for lighters. Then we soften this with a foam paintbrush
(makeup brush) and we rub a graphite bar along the edges of each
track link.

In order to make the painting process easier, we’ve cut

the machine guns away and drilled a hole in them in
order to introduce a bolt inside which will facilitate
inserting them in place later, once the
vehicle is painted.

The exhaust was painted with different rust

hues applied irregularly as stains; the surface is
then covered with the Heavy Chipping product
and we airbrush a coat of gray. Then we remove
The machine guns have also been painted most of this coat leaving only a few gray areas
separately; once these are polished with and the rest covered with the rust effects.
graphite we apply a GW Badab Black paint
wash.

For painting the exterior we’ll use the JS

Work stencil which will help us recreate this
five color camouflage pattern (with marked
edges) based on the A.MIG-7110 kit.

/ 28

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 28 20/05/15 17:09

 FRENCH COLORS FOR WWI AND WWII

We’ll start by applying black priming which will later be covered with a coat of brown paint. Once dry, we’ll apply the masking to
protect the areas which need to remain brown.

Then we mask the gray areas while

trying to follow the previously made
brown areas.

Now we apply the

coat of gray paint.

Now we’ll apply Yellow paint. Now we’ll apply the masking that
will protect the yellow surfaces. You
need to be careful and keep applying
the new masking right by the edge
of the old one.

29 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 29 20/05/15 17:09

 The peculiarity of the dark gray is
having highly distorted shapes and
in small areas, as we can see in our
research materials.

Dark gray is now applied.

Finally we apply the last color

–green- finishing the airbrush
work.

A paintbrush is now used to

retouch mistakes between
the different camouflage color
divisions.

/ 30

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 30 20/05/15 17:10

 Once the colors are thoroughly dry, we can remove the masking and find how
the five color scheme has turned out.

Decals are chosen to portray the vehicle we’re
recreating.
It was necessary to create 3 numerals for each side
of the vehicle because we couldn’t find transfers
with the necessary font. Micro Set and Micro Sol was
employed to apply these.
The separation between the A, the numerals and the S in the kit
is identical to the one on the real vehicle. The heart was painted
by hand on each side of the hull. After consulting the opinion of
historians it was decided to paint it green, because it seems the
most likely color, but there is no document to confirm this.

The color fade is recreated with eight colors from brands such as MIG and Winsor &
Newton, trying to match the hues adding a little white and rust color. Light Mud color
will be employed to recreate dirt applying it in the union with the lower casing.

31 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 31 20/05/15 17:10

 Vallejo’s matt varnish is
now applied to protect
and unify the decals
with the camouflage
colors.
Then we apply a Dark
Brown Wash in order
to do a little profile
detailing. This is a time
consuming process
because the vehicle has
a considerable amount
of rivets.

We’ve finished with the dark

brown wash and the hull of
the vehicle is now closer to its
definitive appearance.

The undercarriage will

be painted after we’ve
finished painting the hull.

The rear, including the

access door is much more
visible after the paint
wash.

/ 32

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 32 22/05/15 17:14

 The same can be said with the Vertical streaking on the vehicle
details on the upper area of the is now recreated with the Rust
vehicle. Streak and Dark Brown Wash
products.
The vehicles that remain outdoors
suffer early corrosion; this will
give us a lot of slack for recreating
rust effects.
The Rain Marks product has been
employed to recreate dirt clusters
on the lower areas.

The muffler and the exhaust

are painted with different
rust colored hues.

A mixture of different color

pigments is now used on the
upper surface of the vehicle; the
pigments are fixed in place with
lighter fluid and then we smear
the surface a little to recreate
the looks of dirt.
Oil spills are now made around
the engine’s access hatches. The
product employed is MIG’s Oil
and Grease and Abt 501’s Motor
Grease is employed afterwards
to put some depth into this
effect.
Black pigment has been
rubbed on the nozzle
of the exhaust
and some oil
spills too.

In order to tackle the painting

of the lower areas we need to
mask carefully the sides of the
vehicle. Once we’ve protected
our work we airbrush some
XF-52.
Then we’ll recreate dry mud
with a mixture of sand, plaster
and color pigments applied with
an old toothbrush. This mixture
should be carefully diluted in
order to successfully reproduce
dry mud.

33 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 33 20/05/15 17:11

 The front and the
rear areas of the
vehicle should
receive a generous
amount of mud.

Part of the mud found

on the sides of the
undercarriage has been
removed and we also
added some grease to the
axles.

We’ve also removed some

mud from the front and the
back of the vehicle in order
to recreate the larger lumps
of mud fallen during the
vehicle’s movement.

The model is now

finished and we can see
how the machine guns
have been replaced.
The vehicle will be
part of a diorama, so
the tracks will receive
a sand colored pigment
mixture in order to
integrate the kit with
the base.

/ 34

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 34 20/05/15 17:11

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 35 20/05/15 17:11
 / 36

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 36 20/05/15 17:12

 37 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 37 20/05/15 17:13

 / 38

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 38 20/05/15 17:15

 39 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 39 20/05/15 17:16

 / 40

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 40 20/05/15 17:16

 41 /

24-41_Chamond_Frances.indd 41 20/05/15 17:17

 WWI BRITISH TANK

/ 42

42-55_Mark IV.indd 42 20/05/15 19:11

K MK.IV MALE By José Luis López Ruiz

1/35

43 /

42-55_Mark IV.indd 43 22/05/15 16:38

 TAMIYA KIT

Tamiya´s 30057 kit is just an engi- the kit and a little bit must be said about Step 13 is a nightmare! The road
neering delicatessen but many modelers this. wheels consist of 156 pieces! But do not
have complained about the necessity Although the poly caps used to fix get crazy with them and do not waste
of making a “motorized” kit with this some parts of the kit really work, they your time sanding and cleaning the parts
release. Maybe without the single motor allow a small movement for the lateral to perfection. They´re just not visible
and all the mechanical devices the price parts and the upper hull. It is advisable to once the kit is finished.
would have been less, but, is this really use glue to ensure the unions.
important when you buy a kit that is just
a delight to assemble and with such an
impressive level of detail?
The first words coming to my mind
when talking about the assembly of this
kit is ease and precision fit. I was
afraid about the big parts and how
the working mechanism would
affect the final assembly of

Be very careful when attaching

the drive sprockets. If you´re not
making a moveable kit (and if you´re rea-
ding this article I´m sure you do not want
that), control the position of the drive
sprockets to fit the length of the tracks in
the best way.
It is not easy to understand why the
6-pdr gun is so nicely detailed inside the
/ 44

42-55_Mark IV.indd 44 20/05/15 19:11


lateral sponson and the Lewis gun isn´t!
So, if you´re going to leave the lateral
doors open, be sure to add the complete
machine gun details inside!
Steps 28 and 29 are important and
must be done with care. As we were buil-
ding a motorized vehicle, with movable
42-55_Mark IV.indd 45
parts for battery fitting, the fit tolerance
of the sponson is not strict and a noti-
ceable gap appears in the union between
the lateral plates and the sponson must be
filled with putty.
The unditching beam must be reworked
in its ends to differentiate the wood with
the metal clamps. This should be done
not only with paint.
Why not include a metal tow-cable in
the kit?
Tracks are a complete success, easy
and quick to assemble. Not 100% rea-
listic? Maybe … but much better than the
920 pieces in other kits!
My conclusion? Just an excellent kit
to enjoy as usual! It is an excellent base
if you want to do extra detail for this
awesome vehicle…. The usual fare from
my favorite brand!
45 /
20/05/15 19:12
 PAINTING THE GREAT GRANDFATHER!

Wanna know how I painted this kit,
the decisions I took and “why did I do
that”?.
Let´s get on with it, but just a few
insane comments before that:
- A uniform and “nice coat” of base
color. This is anything but inspiring!
“What shall I do now”? This is the most
common thought we have when looking
at a uniform base color on a kit. Lights and
shadows? With which colors? How? Shall
I highlight just the center of each panel? A
nightmare of indecision!
- To paint a kit out of the factory, clean,
beautiful and perfect (spending a lot of
time and materials to do it) and then,
start weathering the tank until it looks like
a 100 year old veteran!
- Why work two or three times on the
same surface for different objectives?.
Why do we spend so much effort pain-
ting the base color, lights and shadows,
making washes and oils if you’re going to
fill it full of dust, dirt and grease?
- Why add mud and dirt at the end?
Please, think about it! Change your
mind!
Now, just follow the table and you´ll
find out my insane replies to the crazy
comments above…

STEP 1: TAMIYA´S GRAY PRIMER The grease and dirt from your
finger sticks to the surface of
your models and that prevents
paint to adhere properly to the
surface of the model. Using
primer, the paint will adhere
perfectly to all the surfaces in the
same way.

Apply your primer if possible

with your airbrush, never
directly from the can. Clean
the surfaces of the primed
kit with sandpaper to ensure
a perfectly smooth surface
without flaws.

STEP 2: DARK GRAY

A preshading is
always the perfect
way to study the
volumes of your kit.
All the parts with
no direct exposition
to light will remain
dark or black. So,
start doing if from
the beginning!

Always use
highly diluted
paint with your
airbrush. Your
airbrush is not a
paintbrush; color
should appear
after you´ve
passed with your
airbrush several
times!

/ 46

42-55_Mark IV.indd 46 20/05/15 19:12

 Never use pure black!
Always use a pallet
of grays from a dark
gray (darker gray can
be similar to Panzer
Gray) to pure white.
Paint always should
be highly diluted! As
light as the base color,
the B&W Base must
be also made with
colors which are not
too dark! Take note of
this!

STEP 3: DIFFERENT SHADES OF GRAY AND PURE WHITE

Maybe you do not like modulation. But when you´re painting a figure, you ALWAYS use zenithal lighting. Use it in
your AFV kits too! If you do not know anything about how to darken and highlight colors, just use and follow this B&W
Technique to achieve similar results in an easy way!

STEP 4: TEXTURE PAINT, SAND, LITTLE ROCKS AND DEBRIS When you´re making a kit,
from the very beginning you
know approximately the look
of the finished kit. So, why
don’t you weather it from
the beginning? Save time and
materials.

Texture paint adheres

perfectly to your kit´s
surfaces, but be careful
with natural materials, not
only about fixing them
with care, but also never to
use organic materials that
can rot if used without an
adequate treatment.

STEP 5: MEDIUM GREY

Cover all the pre-weathering

materials with gray.

By now, color is not

important, just the texture is!
Don’t turn crazy looking for the
perfect color in your commercial
mud pot, just look for the
correct texture!

47 /

42-55_Mark IV.indd 47 20/05/15 19:12

STEP 6: DIFFERENT SHADES OF TRANSPARENT GRAY PAINTS

In the B&W wartime pictures, you

see several effects on your favorite
tanks. You see dirt, fuel stains, rain
marks, and splashes. But most of the
times you fear overdoing weathering
or are too shy and afraid about not
controlling the results. Why do you
not do it all without fear in this
step? Weather your kit to your taste,
enjoy, lose control and experiment!
If you like the result, the base color is
correctly applied (highly diluted), all
these effects will be visible through
the base color. If you´re not happy
with the result in some areas, just
hide them adding a thicker coat of
base color.

No precautions here! Just explore to the end and be aggressive.

I apply the base color

highly diluted, close to
STEP 7: BASE COLOR
a 85% thinner and 15%
paint. Always apply
paint in a random way.
The more heterogeneous
the surface, the more
attractive will be the end
result!

Do not despair if you see

that the color is slow to
appear although you have
passed several times with
the airbrush. This is a crucial
step and you must work little
by little. Looking for a fast
finishing will end in a “nice
base color coat” that will
hide all your previous work
and any zenithal effect!

STEP 8: HIGHLIGHTED BASE COLOR

Be very careful in this step to

choose the right color mix for
highlighting the details. The new
color must be very similar in
intensity, warmth and tone, but
just a little bit lighter.

From this step to the end, just do the

typical weathering. Now, take time
to highlight all the details over the
different surfaces, edges, rivets, and
hatches, so on.

/ 48

42-55_Mark IV.indd 48 20/05/15 19:12

 Never forget that
all tools, canvas,
rusted parts and
so on must be
weathered too!

Your kit is not only

made of steel or
only painted in
the same color!
Use your favorite
acrylic colors to
paint polished steel,
wood, rusted areas,
tactical symbols and
so on.

STEP 9: SEVERAL ACRYLIC PAINTS

STEP 10: BUFF COLOR

Beware not to apply the buff

color in a homogeneous way all
over the tank. A dusted tank
is not a tank full of dust. The
dusty appearance is achieved by
the contrast between clean and
dusty surfaces!

Now it’s time to apply dust

and mud all over the vehicle.
Use your airbrush with highly
diluted paint.

Apply (a nice
STEP 11: CLEAR VARNISH coat…) of Tamiya´s
Clear all over the
vehicle. This will
protect the coats of
paint underneath
from aggressive
products like oils or
enamel paints!

Several thin coats

are much better
than a thick one!

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 Never use just one shade
of color in this step or the
STEP 12: ENAMEL/OIL EARTH COLOR PAINTS
result will be unrealistic.
Not all the dirt over a tank
is of the same color. Not all
mud dries in the same way!

General washes with several

shades of brown and earth
colors. You can apply them in
a coarse way, just be careful
when removing them in
order to achieve a realistic
results. Dirt is dirt … but
it must be also aesthetic!
In this step I also applied
mud and dirt over the tracks
and upper hull plates to get
a richer appearance using
different colors.

STEP 13: ACRYLIC EARTH COLOR PAINTS

With this paint
we´re looking for a
transparency effect! If
you do not dilute the
paint, the result will
be too opaque!

For vertical effects

like rain marks and
drained effects, acrylic
paints are my best
choice. Always apply
them highly diluted
(just check the stained
paper under the tank
and see how the paint
looks “close to dirty
water”)

Not too much to say

STEP 14: OILS, SEVERAL COLORS Once again … remember, the accessories on
about this step. The
well-known “oil-dots” your kit must be weathered too!
technique is applied
all over the tank. To
recover the original Kits are never
green base color, finished, we
some dots of green oil just get bored
are applied in a more of them! But
intensive way in some before that
parts of the plates of happens, we
the tank to create an must look at
interesting contrast our kit with
with the dusted surface. critical eyes.

STEP 15: ALL STEPS TOGETHER

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 COLOR CHART THE BASE
STEP: PRIMER
Tamiya Surface Primer ref.:TA87042 A small base with some figures creates I used two figures from the WWI Bri-
STEP: B & W BASE the necessary context for any AFV kit. A tish Soldiers included in the Special Edition
Tamiya XF-1 and XF-2 base explains the weathering, the dust and kit. Although Tamiya´s figures have never
STEP: BASE COLOR mud colors but most all, the presence of featured as highly detailed examples, I feel
Ammo Mig 074 Green Moss figures gives us the real dimension of our that something is changing at the two star
STEP: HIGHLIGTHS subject: the human factor. This time I chose company, because a step back can be clearly
Base Color + Ammo Mig 038 Light to make an uncommon environment for the seen in the new figures. I selected two firing
Wood Mark IV; a trench, barbed wires, mud and a infantrymen as a dynamic complement for
STEP: MUD TEXTURE gloomy atmosphere. I just try to portray this the scene. As of now, I´m not a good figure
Tamiya Pavement Texture Paint tank in the way that it was supposed to be, painter, so I will not show you how to paint
STEP: STEEL PARTS in an open field, on a road, after a successful figures in my rough style! Maybe next time!
Scale 75 Metal N´Alchemy Set breakthrough of the German lines.
STEP: WASHES
Winsor&Newton Raw Umber +
Naples Yellow
STEP: OILS
Several brands: red, yellow, green,
sepia, black, white and dark blue
STEP: VERTICAL WEATHERING
(ACRYLIC)
Vallejo: Buff, earth, black, chocolate
and white
STEP: RUST
Ammo Mig Rust effect Colors
STEP: PIGMENTS
Several brands; Russian Earth,
European Earth, Light Dust

I recycled an old wooden base from an old piece of work of mine and glued it
over a thick foam core which I cut in the desired shape with a cutter. I covered
the laterals with balsa wood and the upper part with the venerable Verlinden´s
cobblestone road product and some Das Pronto for the ground surface which I
texturized with a steel brush. With a drill, I added some extra damage to the
road to customize its appearance.

Just as if painting an AFV, I used

my beloved primer to cover all the
surface of the base.

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 Basic general colors
for the base. I
applied different
shades of brown
(matt earth,
buff, adding some
panzer gray
to darken the
colors and white
to lighten) for
the ground and
for the cobblestone road
and different shades of panzer
grey and buff for the dirt.

Sand
and stones
of different sizes are
added to the base in a random
way. Notice that the shape and size of
the sand, debris and stones in the ground are
the same ones used for pre-weathering the tank! This is
important! Take good note of this! And notice
that the colors of these elements are a
really light buff/dust color because
I mixed them all with a little
bit of light dust pigment
beforehand.

Again, I painted the base in several

shades of brown like we did in the previous
step. You may say … why didn´t you add the stones
and sand over the base before priming or painting? And for me,
there´s an important reason to do it this way: paint thickness! With fine
sand and dust, if I prime or paint it with several coats of paint, the result will be pasty,
as the primer and the heavy coats of paint will paste the fine grains like a pudding, and the result
won´t be the desired one; a loose soil. So, in this step, due to the basic color of the sand and stones, with
just a pair of light layers of airbrushed paint, you´ll get the desired loose soil color and the color you want without
achieving a “pudding-pasty-unrealistic” surface.
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 Plants and
vegetation are the
main characters in this step,
and come from different sources and
brands like Silflor, Woodland Scenics, Mininature,
natural products collected from gardens and woods and so
on. I glue the different elements using white glue mixed with water.
The greater the kinds of vegetation you use, the more realistic the result will
be! Just something really important: The colors from the plant sets are not very realistic
in my opinion. Do not forget to airbrush the plants once glued with several shades of green or use your brush to add
some highlights here and there. Oils are important for this and the Ammo colors dark and light slimy grime, which can be
applied in some areas on the ground to achieve a wet and natural looking surface.

And another important step,

the “weathering” of the base”.
Remember that your tank is moving across
a road, the countryside … so, the basic weathering
for the tank must be the same basic colors that you´re using in
your base! So, again, buff, matt earth… are the colors you must use to
integrate it all in a convincing and realistic way!
The fence and the electric post are RB Models products and both were painted using oils over
a buff airbrushed base.

FINAL COMMENTS
As I get older I realize how important is to add a nice scenic background to my AFV kits. So, I encourage you to do the same!
You´ll learn new techniques and your kits will look more attractive and realistic on the “countryside” than over a plain black or
brown base!
Wanna know more? Just visit jllopezstyle.com!

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 / 54

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 55 /

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 CA1 SCH
By Michel Pérez Blasco Pictures by the author

1/48
In September 1916, the first ever French army tank was
manufactured. The CA1 Schneider was the pioneer for this
type of vehicles along with the St. Chamod, the Renault
FT-17 and the FCM 2C. The last AFV mentioned wasn’t
however built in time to fight in WWI.

56-64_CA-1 Schneider.indd 56 20/05/15 19:16

HNEIDER
It was built on a Holt tractor frame
with an armored structure covering it. It
had a 600cm3 Schneider gas tank, and
four cylinders which gave it a 70 HP to
1200 rpm.
It measured 6.32 meters long, 2.05
meters wide and 2.3 meters tall. It
weighed 12.5 tons and its armoring was
thicker on its sides at 11.4 mm. Later
on this was increased to 5.5 additional
millimeters. Its main weapon was a Bloc-
khaus Schneider 75mm howitzer, placed
in the frontal right side of the vehicle.
The secondary weapons were two 8mm
Hotchkiss machine guns placed on either
side of the vehicle. It was manned by 6
people, including the AFV’s commander,
who was also the driver.

DEDICATED TO MICHELL MAGNIEN

56-64_CA-1 Schneider.indd 57 20/05/15 19:16

 KIT

I wouldn’t be able to been tempted to build it from scratch many norm with this brand-, and the pieces are
explain exactly why, times, due to the fact that there never was a laid out in a very simple way, making up for a
but the Ca 1 has commercial release of it for years. Although rather simple assembly. The details are good,
always been a recently Hobby Boss has released one to 1/35 except for the machine guns, which had to be
very appealing scale, the kit that we show here is of “Gaso- replaced for hypodermic needles.
AFV to me. I’ve line” to 1/48 scale. This is a resin kit –the

THE PAINTING

The camouflage pattern reproduces the scheme

used by an AFV which operated in Maizy during
1917 in the Aisne river area. It has been painted
with masking made with “Blu-tack” reusable
adhesive paste. The sand colored base paint was
made with RAL 7028, the lighter gray paint is
Tamiya’s XF-25 and the greenish gray was made
with XF-65, also a Tamiya color.

The first thing I do when I begin the painting

process of my model kits is to work on enhancing
the shapes, volumes and silhouette of the
elements which conform the vehicle. I use for
this two supplementary techniques: paint washes
and drybrushing. The first technique is used
to apply shading to all hidden corners and the
second one is used to enhance all protuberances.
Paint washes here were made with Dark Brown,
which is quite an effective and easy to use
product.
Drybrushing requires a number of Vallejo Acrylic
paints. For the sand colored areas I’ve used 917
Beige, for the light gray areas I’ve used a mixture
of 989, 961 and 917. And lastly I’ve used for the
greenish gray areas a mixture of Vallejo acrylics
70830 and 917.

I like to do the paint chips early in the

painting process, because I think that these
end up looking better when “exposed” to the
subsequent weathering and dirt applications.
Obviously I make them different -for instance-
I made some on the bluish gray areas using a
mixture of 70816 and white; in this area I made
additional ones with 917 Beige and also with
Chipping color. This way I’ve got three different
depth levels for the paint chips. We repeat this
process on the yellow areas with 917 Beige and
Chipping color. I also did some chips on the
greenish gray areas with a mixture of 70830
and white, then with 917 Beige and finally with
Chipping color.

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 Now I apply
a few paint
filters: Winter
streaking
Grime and
DAK Streaking
Grime. My
intention here
is to tone down
the brightness of
the colors, do some dirt
stains and unify the different
camouflage colors.

In order to infuse
some life into my
CA1 I go back to
Vallejo acrylics
316 and 872.
What I’m
looking for here
is to create a
few layers of
dirt of a varying
intensity to
enhance some areas
in the shade in order to
get back some volume. The
colors used have been watered
down considerably and the
paintbrush employed to apply
these, is used with very little
paint in it. What I do here are
a few “micro-stains” which
sometimes are superimposed.

I’m going to keep

adding dirt but I
will switch to oil
paint now. This
medium can
give us more
transparency
and colors can
be smeared
far better
than acrylics. I
specifically use two
Titan colors: Sepia
and Burnt Umber. These
are applied in a very intuitive
fashion, which ranges from
paint melting to visible lines.

59 /

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 Now we have to
reproduce rust and the
diverse fluid streaks.
The rule with this
is: Less is more. Rust
is reproduced with
Titán’sTransparent Oxide
Brown. I only use this color
on a chipped ridge here and
there, on a scratched area, the
exhaust or the lower areas of
the trench skids. The different
streaks were done around the
fuel deposit’s lid (using Titan’s
Bitumen oil) and the needle right
by the radiator’s lid with Wet
Effects.

I was planning right from the

start to portray this vehicle
as if it was crossing through
a rainstorm and the water
was falling from its armored
planks in countless streaks.
In order to recreate this
appealing effect I used again
Wet Effects, but slightly
thinned down and tinted
with Titan’s Sepia oil paint.
It is advisable to have
some photographic
reference of this
rain effect in
order to be
able to copy
the random
shapes that
rain streaks
sometimes
make.

The final step for the

tank was to use MIG
Productions’ range
of brown colored
pigments and
pigment fixer and
recreate the mud
accumulated on and
around the tracks.

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 THE BASE

The base was made by

following the well known
technique of gluing sand
on a Styrofoam base cut to
measure. The ground on
the base is then painted
with dark brown and
glossy hues to convey
dampness.

The tree is made different shrub

branches glued to a central “tree”
trunk with cyanoacrylate glue and
painted with a dirty white hue with
some horizontal dark brown brush
strokes.

The tree is made different shrub

branches glued to a central “tree” trunk
with cyanoacrylate glue and painted
The grass is made with sea tangle glued to the base (with white glue) and with a dirty white hue with some
airbrushed with the right colors. horizontal dark brown brush strokes.
61 /

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 THE FIGURE

The figure chosen is one of three

found in Gasoline product ref. 3359.
My good friend Joaquín García has
been kind enough to give it to me
for free and has even gone through
the lengths of preparing and painting
it to resemble a French soldier from
WWI. As you can see he did a mighty
fine job, which is by the way typical
Joaquín.

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 63 /

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 / 64

56-64_CA-1 Schneider.indd 64 20/05/15 19:18

 Publishing Manager
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
Editor in Chief
J. David Hernández Chacón
Have collaborated in this issue
Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo,
Armour Modelling Magazine Laurent Stankowiak,
José Luis López Ruiz y
Michel Pérez Blasco

EDITORIAL
Photographers
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
Fernando Cañellas Planchuelo
Illustrations
The overwhelming tapping of bullets ricocheting in the hull is quite constant, these
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos
hardly ever penetrate, but when they do, they break up in diminutive splinters which stab
us throughout especially in our faces inflicting us tiny wounds that usually get infected, Lay Out
so most of us look like deformed creatures afflicted with smallpox. We’ve been given KOMMAD S.L.
protective masks, but using these is a torment; because of the weight and the continu- Printed by
ally moving metallic mesh. More suffering added to the breathing of the annoying engine Imprimia Artes gráficas
fumes, cordite smells in conjunction with the continuous noise and the suffocating heat. Scanning & filmsetting
Sometimes we simply look ridiculous in our underpants wearing these masks surrounded ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
by the darkness and the fog. In spite of everything, whenever the conditions of the terrain J. David Hernández Chacón
are halfway favorable, the effect produced over the enemy troops is devastating as much
Computer Graphics
because of our firepower as for the overwhelming presence of the monstrous contraption
J. David Hernández Chacón
which moves slowly but inexorably over the obstacles, the barbed wire and the trenches
which were simply impassable not so long ago. Editorial and Technical Staff,
The difficulties inherent to these novel weapons that were imagined centuries ago were Administration and Advertising
finally overcome when the technology of the early XXth century made them possible for ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
the first worldwide conflagration: WWI. c/Ezequiel Solana, 16
Almost two years have gone by since we first proposed a special on WWI to commem- 28017 Madrid
orate the centennial of 2014, and thanks to the newly released kits which have popped up Tel.: +34 913 675 708
on the market. The Chinese company Meng released its Renault FT-17, TAKOM released +34 914 086 135
its St. Chamond series, Tamiya the Mark IV’s and Gaso.line and Hobby Boss already had Fax: +34 914 085 841
a Schneider. accionpress@euromodelismo.com
We already had some outstanding work made by the former coordinator of this maga- Suscripciones
zine Carlos de Diego Vaquerizo; a German A7V built on an old TAURO kit which needed a Tel.: +34 913 675 708
lot of work. As usual, just when we were about to print this issue, MENG announced their Published by
reissue of this model. Our readers and WWI fans should definitely be ecstatic about this, ACCIÓN PRESS, S.A.
because they will save a lot of work if they choose the new kit. We have however decided
ISSN: 1886-4457
to publish de Diego’s work because of its trademark didactic approach and its usefulness
when it comes to scratchbuilding using blueprints. MENG’s kit has been manufactured in
a different way and Carlos De Diego’s exquisite work merits showcasing. The reproduction of the images
Additionally we have an impressive roster of well seasoned modelers working on this and texts is prohibited, using any
Panzer Aces issue. It is a pleasure to welcome to our staff of collaborators to French current or future technical medium
authors like Laurent Stankoviak and his rigorous study on the final run Chamond with without written consent of the
its intricate camouflage typical of French AFV’s. The author not only provides us with a author. ACCION PRESS, S.A.
didactically built model kit but he also shares with us a most notable photographic feature. does not necessarily support its
José Luis López takes care of the Mark IV Male manufactured by Tamiya, and he has collaborators’ opinions.
chosen a visually enticing mud caked option matching a number of period pictures.
The CA1 SCHNEIDER is the vehicle chosen by Michel Pérez and he has placed his
vehicle in a rainy context, doing some remarkable work with the water trails along the
AFV’s hull.
With so much information and such a remarkable array of articles we ran out of pages
for the Renault FT-17 and another version of the Chamond which will be featured in our
sister magazine, Euromodelismo. In this magazine you may also find featured other WWI
planes and figures hoping that our readers will not get too saturated with models from this
period. However we’re not waiting for the anniversary that will take place in 3014 because
none of us will be around; possibly nobody will remember us and who knows; maybe
WWI may be forgotten as well.
www.euromodelismo.com
Rodrigo Hernández Cabos. www.facebook.com/PanzerAces.
Magazine?fref=ts

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