Schurzen Project...

[ostketten]

Thanks to fellow boardmember gary1930 I have my Panzer IV Schurzen, and my project is well underway. In the pic below the mounting brackets have been attached, and can be seen on the skirt that is laying next to the tank. The other skirt was hung on the tank just to show what it will look like in the finished position. A big thank you to Gary for including the brackets, they work great and are well worth the little bit extra in cost, however a bit of care must be taken to insure they are attached accurately, as there is not much room for error. The Squiggly thing in the foreground is a freehanded custom made stencil of my own design that I will use to apply the camo pattern on the skirts. The next step is to apply the tan basecoat to the Schurzen...stay tuned.

[steelbonnet]

Excellent work so far Looks just like the Euro exclusive one.

Have to say took me a few seconds to realise what the squiggly thing was before I clicked & then read what you posted.
Excellent idea i must admit.

Looking forwatd to seeing more.
Ja

[MIGMADMAVIS]

Well done, that looks excellent

[gary1930]

Looks just like the Euro exclusive one.

I want to stress that these are not copies of the 21st Euro IV skirts. There were at least three different styles used on Pz IVs and derivatives. My version is taken from drawings and photographs and are slightly different from the 21st version.

[immeww2]

Can't wait to see the finished product!

[steelbonnet]

Gary,
Sorry mate I didn`t mean to offend with that statement.
I didn`t accuse you of copying,I made a comment on appearance.

I`m well aware there were several varients for the skirts.

Ja

[scope uk]

Another cool piece of armour! am looking forward to seeing how the finished paint job turns out using that stencil!

[ostketten]

Thanks for the positive comments guys, and I know you are anxious to see the finished skirts, so here ya go. I hope you guys like the way it turned out. The colors are not an exact match, but they were the best I had on hand and I think they are a reasonably good match. The camo pattern on one side is essentially a mirror image of the other side with the color sequence changed a bit, because I was too lazy to cut another stencil. The only other thing I want to do is overspray the Schurzen with Testors Dullcote or similar because the brown camo has a bit more sheen to it than I would like, anyway, all things considered I think it turned out pretty nice. Thanks again to gary1930 for stepping up and offering these to the membership, well worth the investment in my humble opinion.

[steelbonnet]

Very nice mate,very nice work indeed.

I think the skirts being slightly different to the main MKIV works really well.
They were`nt always uniformed & this makes this look like a Battlefield modification

Sweet work indeed.

Looks like Gary`s certainly done a great job witht he skirts & you have with this custom

Ja

[tmanthegreat]

Great work on those schurtzen, Ostketten! They came out looking quite good and I like your idea of using the stencil and airbrush for the authentic look! With that S2 RC Panzer IV, you were certainly dealing with a more complicated cammo scheme. Yours are sort of like mine...



...but better

[ostketten]

Thanks for all the nice comments gents. I enjoyed doing the Schurzen project, and overall I'm quite pleased with the way they look. I may get another set for a Panzer IV that I have in the DAK colors. Thanks again to gary1930 for offering these Schurzen kits to our members.

[tkjaer21]

To ostketten and tmanthegreat, both of them look really great and authentic. So when is the production assemply going to start for the skirts.

[immeww2]

Those schurtzen panels sure do make the tank's profile alot more striking! Great work!

[kevrut]

Nice job on both tanks.

How much for a set painted and shipped?

Kevin.

[gary1930]

How much for a set painted and shipped?

Kevin.

$12 unpainted. I can't match 21st's paint, and I don't know who can.

[kevrut]

PM sent.

[gary1930]

I'm all sold out.
I will get some more made, but it will be a couple of weeks.

[pickelhaube]

How much for a set painted and shipped?

Kevin.

$12 unpainted. I can't match 21st's paint, and I don't know who can.

It is easy Go down to Home Depot and they will match the paint to the bottom of the tank. You can get either enamel or latex . They can make a quart can for about $8 and the paint is real close. There are 2 different hues of paint. One on the metal parts and another on the plastic. But the photo eye matcher will do a good job. I still have the quart that I had them make for me when I thought of doing this. Again it is almost a perfect match.

[tmanthegreat]

I got an almost perfect match with the base color on my schurtzen. It is a little off, but pretty close. The lighting in my photo is a little off and the reflection of the flash off the schurtzen makes them look a little brighter. I mixed Testors Acrylic Gulf Army Tan with a little Testors Acryl Flat White. If I was to do it again for the same tank, I would also mix in a little of Testors Dunkelgelb color. I didn't really use a specific formula, but kept mixing until I got a satisfactory color

Nonetheless, I really like the idea of the Home Depot computer paint matching

[gary1930]

Go down to Home Depot and they will match the paint to the bottom of the tank. You can get either enamel or latex .

Thanks! I'll try that. Can they add flatener?

[pickelhaube]

Go down to Home Depot and they will match the paint to the bottom of the tank. You can get either enamel or latex .

Thanks! I'll try that. Can they add flatener?

Not sure what you mean. You can get flat paint (dull with no shine) or do you mean a additive that makes the paint lay down? The additive I don't know. But when you ask for the paint they will ask you ; flat , semi gloss or gloss. Of course go for the flat.

[ostketten]

Go down to Home Depot and they will match the paint to the bottom of the tank. You can get either enamel or latex

Don't get me wrong, this is a good idea and an excellent way to get an accurate color match, but household latex paints are generally meant to be applied with a brush and they will likely gum up a modeling type airbrush in about 30 seconds flat. I would not recommend using household latex wall paint in a modeling airbrush, it's just too thick and is best applied with a brush. I don't know, I suppose if you thin the stuff enough it might work, but it would probably be prone to dripping and running then. If you are going to use an airbrush you are probably better off sticking with enamels intended for plastic models. One thing that has not been mentioned is the spray cans of the Krylon "Ultra Flat" type enamel paints that are intended for painting hunting stands and outdoor equipment etc, you might not get a perfect match on the color, but the stuff is easy to use, dries very quickly and evenly, and produces a super dull "military" type finish, and it probably won't cost you much more than a few cans of custom mixed household paint. Just a thought

[gary1930]

I stopped by a Sherwin Williams, and they will mix quarts of oil base enamel with flattener to get a dull finish. Their SW 6130 "Mannered Gold" looks very close to the Pz IV tan. I will get a can next week and post the results.

The correct German dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) is European formula RAL 7028. But I haven't found a paint store that can convert RAL numbers to what they use.

ostketten, I have used the Krylon camouflage paints and they are good. Their Olive is very close to the U.S. WWII 34087 olive drab.

[pickelhaube]

Go down to Home Depot and they will match the paint to the bottom of the tank. You can get either enamel or latex

Don't get me wrong, this is a good idea and an excellent way to get an accurate color match, but household latex paints are generally meant to be applied with a brush and they will likely gum up a modeling type airbrush in about 30 seconds flat. I would not recommend using household latex wall paint in a modeling airbrush, it's just too thick and is best applied with a brush. I don't know, I suppose if you thin the stuff enough it might work, but it would probably be prone to dripping and running then. If you are going to use an airbrush you are probably better off sticking with enamels intended for plastic models. One thing that has not been mentioned is the spray cans of the Krylon "Ultra Flat" type enamel paints that are intended for painting hunting stands and outdoor equipment etc, you might not get a perfect match on the color, but the stuff is easy to use, dries very quickly and evenly, and produces a super dull "military" type finish, and it probably won't cost you much more than a few cans of custom mixed household paint. Just a thought

The paint can be thined with bottle or distilled water. I have used it with no problem. But you are right the paint has to be mixed VERY well or clumping will occur. But as long as you mix it NO PROBLEM !!!
You can also do enamels or oil base and get the same result. But the latex was more user friendly.