Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (Armoured sWS)

[Panzerwrecker]

The front wheels were base coated and the tyres airbrushed with Tamiya Rubber black. The track wheel rubber was brush painted with Vallejo dark rubber.

Stowage and tyre painting



Before the cab assemblies can be fixed together the instrument binnacle, radio and wiring, seats and roof tarp were brush painted with Vallejo acrylics and the instrument decals added. My kit included two sets which was fortunate as decal number one did not represent the dial in anyway shape or form. Decal number two was used twice to represent the largest dials and some extra placards were also added from my decal spares box.

To seal in the paintwork and prepare for the external decals and all the upcoming weathering stages I turned to my favourite product, VMS satin varnish. This can be airbrushed direct from the bottle with a little thinner giving the model a good wet coat to level. It can be left a couple of hours in-between coats if required.

Decals for this kit include just Wehrmacht number plates which you can add your own individual numbers, a weight stencil, and divisional insignia. I added just the weight and number plates. These were sealed with another coat of VMS satin varnish.

This is the only internal reference pic I have. The instrument binnacle appears to sit a little higher than it does in the open top cargo variant. Im not 100% sure that a radio was fitted to these vehicles. As I added the one provided in the kit I will have to find a suitable spot on the exterior to add the aerial mount.



Cab interior



There are only four tiny locating holes to connect top and bottom cab assemblies and with my lower half having a slight downward bow, a few clamps will be required to hold it while the glue cures when the time comes.

[Panzerwrecker]

Before I start slinging around any mud products I thought I would give the upper areas some initial weathering effects. To simulate a light overall dirt/dust layer hairspray was again employed. A light coat of buff-grey coloured lifecolor acrylics were airbrushed and then scrubbed back leaving remnants of the acrylic layer to simulate the first layers of muck. A further coat of VMS satin varnish sealed all the work in preparation for upcoming effects.

[Panzerwrecker]

As I would like to represent this vehicle on a small vignette in a late 1944 ETO setting, the wet and damp conditions will require a grey toned coloured pin wash than I would normally add. This should add an overall colder tone and lift the contrast to the monochrome base coat. The mud around the running gear will still be damp whereas i will attempt to display it as more dried out on higher areas. More vibrant colours will be added by way of the stowage in the load area.

I’ve never attempted a muddy finish on an AFV so this is going to be a first for me. Watching a few videos and taking inspiration from the guys that like to build vehicles set in eastern European theatres, it was clear that to pull this off I would have to slowly layer the effects.

My first dilemma was what materials to use! AK acrylic textured weathering paste is a product I like the look of and their dark mud in particular has a nice authentic tone. It should fit perfectly into my late Autumn 44 northern Belgium setting. It is also easy to clean up if I take things a little too far! The first steps are to add some texture and looking at real muddy AFV images the wheels at the rear seem to pick up most of the track dirt that is kicked up and propelled over the upper track run. With this in mind mud would have kicked up onto areas under the load platform bed. I would also leave some wheels cleaner than others.

To get my eye in I started with the underside of the load bed. I could experiment with both quantities and the positioning of the products without worrying too much as only a fraction of these areas will be visible.



Once the acrylics had dried, I used AK dark mud enamels and blended them with white spirit. This product was a fair bit lighter that the acrylic mud colour, so I went back over selected areas with the Acrylic mud thinned with tap water. Much like with weathering tracks I then used the speckling technique, using AK enamels with a small amount of MIG dark mud pigments to add some texture. This all looks very messy when wet, so I let it dry up and started work on the tracks and wheels.




The tracks were first given a rattle can coat of Tamiya Fine Surface primer and then base coated in MRP-034 tank grey. I then randomly washed on and then speckled my pre-mixed acrylic rain wash. Once dry an application of both AK acrylic textured dark and wet mudmixed with chopped sea grass was randomly added, smoothing over the cleats trapping the mud in between, so I didn’t get too much build up. The kits spare sprocket and idler were used to make sure the mud won't impeed any wheel fitment.



The main running wheels received far less overall mud texture and I favoured just adding it to select areas. Learning from my mistake on the underside of the loadbed, the effects were added in stages, slowly building up the layers. First a random application of light mud textured paste and after it was allowed to dry dark mud texture was added. This was followed by blending AK enamel dark mud thinned with white spirit. I then went back and forth with the previous mediums until I was happy with the effect.

The next steps involved adding speckling of mud to the wheels. A mixture of AK dark mud splatters and MIG dark mud pigments were mixed together and applied with a cocktail stick and brush. Keeping the speckling random and just to selected areas was my aim but it is tricky without masking so a fair amount of clean up is required to keep the effects in scale.

This is the first round with two slight variations on the dark mud tone and one lighter one.




The sprockets and idler received a heavier build up of AK textured acrylic mud between the spokes.




The next round of both speckling and mapping will need to be more precise. I will also mix some oils to highlight raised detail and claw back some definition and add some grease and oil stains to the hubs.

[Panzerwrecker]

Beginning where we left off, I first tidied up any rough areas on the chassis legs so the running gear could be fitted. Before any more weathering could begin the wheels and tracks had to be fitted. I had used the kit individual links, and they were quite a mission to build around the wheels with a decent looking tension effect, and still be kept separate for painting! In hindsight I think a set of Friuls would have been the far better option.

The front wheels were treated to the same effects as the running gear, with the addition of pigments. The tread surface will be completed just before it is placed on its based to unify the effects.


Before the tracks were fitted, I added graphite with a fine pencil to the inner portions of the tracks where the tyres and wheels made contact. A silicone sculpting tool helps safely and smoothly spread the graphite along the runs and onto both sides of the track teeth. It was also added to the contact areas of both sprocket teethand idlers. As my swing arms and wheels had still to be fixed, I had to both line these up straight on the chassis and ensure the tracks lined up as they had pre-paint. This is never guaranteed, and they both put up quite a fight I ended up using CA glue on the tracks and the fit to one of the sprockets and over one of the idlers wasn’t ideal. I will likely look at improving these. On the plus side having so much mud around the running gear means it was much easier to blend over all the new attachment points.

[Panzerwrecker]

Now the running gear was all attached I could now begin adding further weathering. Each wheel was dealt with separately, tidying up any overscale effects and adding both rust, oil and grease effects with enamels. The AK texture mud was used again, but in minute quantities just to blend in areas that required a little improvement. As I was conscious of how fragile the track runs I avoided enamels and just employed the AK textured paste over them. I also added pigments and kept any washes to acrylics only.



Looking close up over some progress pics I also found some unsightly seam marks right through the track pins on the outer edges of the kits tracks. These will have to be carefully removed with a hobby knife and repainted and weathered. The track link fit round the sprockets is also not the best now paint has been added (another reason a set of Friuls is often a better option) so again, some carefull application of mud will be required . Graphite will be utilised again on the track cleats in a few selected areas before access is restricted when the loadbed and cab assemblies are fixed on the chassis.

[Panzerwrecker]

I have completed the visible portion of the exhaust muffler with the brilliant Lifecolor acrylic rust set. I started with a pinky hot manifold base coat. Next came various applications of the three darkest rust tones, generally adding them lightest first, but also going back and forth building up the layers until I felt I was getting somewhere. An extremely diluted lightest rust tone was added over the clamps. To complete, MIG smoke pigment was added in and around the end of the pipe.

[Panzerwrecker]

Don't you just love it when new reference info materialises after you have completed a build?

I have just been advised that the track road wheel hubs are made so that paired wheels are not mirrored as they are engineered to fit on the kit, and so you can't "see through" the lightning holes! There is only one type of hub, mounting the wheels is just a question of side to show for pairing them either as inner or outer wheels. With the perticular cut of the wheel, they can then be removed easily.







This hub issue is not too noticible on my build due to the amount of mud, however I have just downloaded some very clear period images which highlights another visible feature which will be difficult to ignore! The images below cleary show how the outer rim of both inner and central wheels were burnished by the track teeth. Much in the same way as they do on a Panther tank for example. This is obviously not represented on my build so I will have to look into how it might be possible to remedy without making a mess

[Bryan Krueger]

Fantastic mud effects! Great job.

[Vincent Power]

Very nice indeed

Vincent