Waffen-SS Tank Crew Kursk 1943 Figure Color Series + Exclusive Mini

Tank crews at Kursk 1943

In July 1943 the Kursk salient swallowed the greatest concentration of armored equipment the Second World War ever saw. The armored formations of the Waffen-SS came in with Tigers, Panthers and still numerous Panzer IVs, and their men wore a motley mixture: the black tank crew tunic, field accessories in gray-green, leather straps and harness, and jackets with a blotched camouflage pattern. In terms of color it is a rewarding but difficult subject, because black and dark green easily merge on a small figure into one illegible area.

What the set is made up of

The Spanish manufacturer builds the Figure Color Series line directly for painters of figures. The shades are chosen so as to cover a figure from flesh and hair through the uniform and equipment to the metal parts. The binder is acrylic, it thins with water, and the bottle with a dropper allows the paint to be dispensed drop by drop onto the palette, so that a mixing ratio can be repeated. The enclosed exclusive figure serves as the model on which you can try the whole palette out.

Recommended procedure

Cover thinly and rather several times. A single heavy coat floods the engraving of the face and the folds of the cloth and the figure goes gray. Build the black uniform up from a dark gray base so that the edges and folds stay legible on it. Before painting, wash the casting free of mold release residue and go over it with a primer coat, as acrylic otherwise holds worse on a smooth surface and is rubbed off during handling.

Before you start

It pays to fix a finished figure with a matte varnish. It will protect the painting while the figure is set into a diorama, it does not change the final tone and it rids the figure of the sheen that spoils a photograph more than anything else. Shake the bottle properly before every use, or the heavier pigments will stay at the bottom.