Panzergrenadier Progress Report

I'm plugging away at my Panzergrenadier Company and have just started the process of sorting and cleaning up the final platoon. In the meantime I have given the kiss of life to my 'old' Panzergrenadier Platoon and brought them up to a standard that I'm happy with. They no longer look out of place next to my newly painted HQ Platoon.

Panzergrenadier Platoon as originally finished

I started by looking at the Halftracks and was reasonably happy that they matched up with my newest ones. The only change that needed to be implemented was an application of 'mud' to the tracks and lower portions of the chassis and bodywork. In the past I have used various products for the mud but this time I decided to try the coloured plaster that I use on the bases. This is actually wood filler so it is slightly grainy and if applied right can be 'clumpy' and dries rock hard, making it an excellent mud simulator for all my vehicles.

Looking at the infantry stands it was immediately clear that the bases needed to be improved. When I originally did these I just covered the whole base with static grass without any detail or 'mud' showing. So when I looked at them again the first thing I knew I needed to do was remove some of the existing static grass. This was actually easy to do with a small modelling spatula and a wet brush (to dissolve the PVA). I then repainted the dirt areas and the bevelled edge of the base to the same colour scheme as my existing stands.

The next job was boosting the highlights on the figures as they were a bit 'flat' in appearance. I decided not to make the highlights as sharp as on the HQ Platoon so I just used Grey Green (886) straight from the pot with no added white. This still gave good highlights without obscuring all the green of the Fieldgrey (830) base colour. With all the touching up completed I gave the models a thin spray of Testors Dullcoat and left overnight to dry fully.

With the painting completed I added some 'Late Summer' Tufts to make the bases a bit more interesting. This really brought the stands together and makes them look 'part of a set' when placed next to the recent HQ Platoon I painted. The last stage was adding the Base Labels and varnishing the bevelled edges with Winsor and Newton Matt varnish.This isn't quite as Matt as Testors but being brush applied it gives a thicker and therefore stronger layer of protection to the base edges.

The 'Restored' Platoon next to the newly painted HQ Platoon

All in all I'm quite happy with how this little restoration project turned out and can now turn my full attention to the final platoon in the company. I have a busy couple of weeks ahead so I'm not sure I'll make as rapid progress as before but I'm still hoping to have the whole project wrapped up by the end of June.