1:35 JULI 45

A camouflage that never came about

German armored vehicles never saw the summer of 1945, and yet there is an idea of how they might have looked then. The subject of this set is exactly such a supposed camouflage of the heavy tank Tiger II, as the box art of one large kit of this machine shows it. It opens the door for modelers to the popular genre of the so-called 1946 machines, that is to vehicles that stayed on paper.

What the mask can do

• The pattern is designed to the outline of a heavy tank with the Henschel turret, so it fits a model of the Tiger II.
• Its use is not tied down in any way, though; the masks can also be applied to a Panther or to the projected types E-50 and E-75.
• Anyone who only wants an irregular pattern regardless of the real subject can take the mask as a general stencil for a random camouflage.
• A set of tactical numbers and of the so-called Balkenkreuz bar crosses is included, that is the simplified markings of the late period.

Working with a mask has one substantial advantage over decals: the result is sprayed, so no step and no glossy frame around the marking arises on the surface. A thin coat of paint moreover stands up to later weathering with pigments and oil paints with no risk that the edge will peel off.

Application procedure

The base must be smooth, completely dry and degreased, otherwise paint will blow under the edge of the mask. It pays to spray at a right angle, in thin coats, and to take the mask off before the paint has fully cured. Neither the model nor the paints are in the package.