Upgrade the painting on older minis – Pimp my Panther!

While I was getting some vehicles out of my cabinet to take some photos, I accidently broke down the barrel of one of my Panzer V Panthers, which I made years ago. When I glued it back, I was thinking, that maybe I can quickly upgrade their painting. During the years I have learnt some new techniques, plus bought new products and tools, like washes. This has a result of having older minis with less sophisticated paint work.

This is the point where I would like to state that it is perfectly okay if someone uses less complex and complicated ways to paint their figures. This post’s intention is not to mock my older works, but to show a quick way to upgrade them if you have the time and mood to do it.

So before starting the process I have made some cornerstone decisions: I am not going to re-do the whole paint job, will only focus on some key parts and quick methods. So here are some pictures about the first Panther in the state of before:

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The before

The process

1. The first thing I did was to dry-bush the upper part of the hull and the turret with Vallejo 70819 Iraqui sand.
2. Next, I corrected the paint on the bare metal objects, like the MG, spare tracks, axe, shovel etc.
3. I washed the whole model with brown.
4. Use black wash on the end of the barrel, the bare metal objects, the tracks and wheels and the panels. If there was a commander figure, then I highlighted his uniform.
5. I painted the edges of bare metal objects and the tracks with Vallejo 70865 Oily steel.
6. If the model had side skirts, then I dry-bushed it with Vallejo 70872 Chocolat brown to indicate scratches.
7. I painted scratches and wear, with Vallejo 70819 Iraqui sand, on parts where the crew moved or where it might appear, like mudguards.
8. In some cases, using a small piece of sponge, I painted black and rust dots around the AFV, for example to hide the damaged turret number sticker.
9. The final step was to dry-bush the tracks, wheels and the top parts with Vallejo 70914 Green ochre.

The model after the upgrade:

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The after state

All in all this is a really quick way (around half week per vehicle if you upgrade them one by one) to improve the painting work on your older models so you can use them with full pride as your old guard 🙂

I hope you like the method, let me know if it worked for you or has better ideas!

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  Boys are back in town!

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  Together with my latest German tank, the Jagdtiger