Desert Tigers

Before I really get going on this post, I just want to preface by saying that the truly historically accurate desert paint schemes for the Afrika Korps are not nearly as visually pleasing to me as what I had planned with the airbrush.  That said, I am still learning with the airbrush, and things won't be perfect.  So let's see what I've got.

I am getting into Early War and have settled on the German tank forces under Rommel's command.  I like the Panzer IV list, as it will allow me to use those the bulk of those models in Mid-War as well.  Some buddies have tried to make their case for the Panzer III's, but the way I see it: tanks are mobile 90% of the time; that ROF 3 on the Panzer III will hardly ever be as useful as the FP 3+ on the Panzer IV.

So, we open with a Tiger! Yes, I used one of my Tigers to test the paint scheme for my future Panzer IV's. Right now I haven't finished building my Panzer IV's, so this will have to do for now.  If it works out then I can use it in a Mid-War Afrika list.  Here is what the bad boy looked like beforehand:

That old grey, boring, simple scheme.  I airbrushed the model with Vallejo Air Green Brown for the basecoat (sorry, forgot to take a pic of the basecoated model).  Then I used Vallejo Air Sand on the flat surfaces of the tank.  Here is the result:

Overall I am pleased.  You can't see it, but on the opposite side of the tank there was a small accident that had to be wiped and then reapplied.  But the biggest take-away from this is that I like how it looks from three feet away.  Obviously I still have to the tracks, details, insignia, etc., but I like how things have gone so far. I'll definitely post some pics of the completed beast.

Then, just for shits and giggles, I did the same thing with a pair of Pumas that I had lying around:

Guess I'll have to count them as 8-rads now!