Tamiya Horch 4x4 Type 1a

[earlymb]

After the Panther I started this new build, another Golden Oldie from Tamiya: The Horch S.Gl. Einheits Personenkraftwagen 4x4 Type 1a. That means it's a 4x4 personnel carrier with a standardized body (also used by Steyr) which could be adapted to fulfill a plethora of functions.

 

I started by building what I could before painting, and then sprayed the car and various parts that have to be painted separately before they can be fixed in acrylic grey primer. For this I use a rattle can of the Spectrum-brand, sold by the Action chainstores that are well-known in a number of European countries. This primer is cheap and I found it perfectly usable for models with good coverage and quick drying if applied in light coats:

 

 

 

 

This one will be finished in German grey and since the setting will be Russia, winter 1942-'43 it will get a winter white wash after that so it will have the full top and side screens in place. I started with painting the top and side screens in Vallejo Elfenbein mixed with a few drops of Vallejo Dark Green. I then applied highlights with Elfenbein and shadows with Elfenbein mixed with a few drops of Dark Grey. The pic is not super but effect is subtle and quite nice in real:

 

 

I will see if I can make a better pic.

[Proud Kraut]

Good choice! I remember building 2 or 3 of these as well in the past, a fine kit. My favorite Horch was the one with 2 cm Flak and camo uniform crew. You´re off to a good start.

 

Lars

 

P.S: I´m using the same primer from the local Action store, lol.

[RRA227]

Have fun with the build.  Rich A. in Pa.

[Old Marine]

Looks good.  

[earlymb]

I am very busy at work during the week so I can only do some modelling in the weekends for now. The Horch is now in its base colour of Vallejo 71.054 Dark Grey Blue, and even though it will get a worn winter camouflage with the hairspray-technique I will highlight and weather it a bit first, as it is good practise anyway and some of it will show up when the winter camo is weathered.

No mud though, as I doubt there was much liquid mud in -30...

 

 

 

 

For the seats I used a mixture of Dark Blue Grey, Elfenbein and Dunkel Grün in about equal parts, that was thickly applied with a brush to simulate a canvas texture with slight creasing:

 

 

As I got some dry-tip near the end of the spraying session I got some drops on the floor, but those will be hidden from view. Lesson learned is to add some retarder if I have to spray bigger areas.

[earlymb]

 

Based on this pic I decided to give it a field-applied camouflage of Dunkelgelb over the grey in thinner lines, as was more often seen in 1942. The result was OK-ish at best but again good practice:

 

 

 

 

I played a bit with distance and air pressure, but more practice is required to get a more consistent result. Part of this camo will be visible again when the winter wash is weathered so I thought it would be a nice touch. Next is some medium- to heavy chipping (this vehicle would have been in use for 2 years by now) and a coat of varnish.

[Proud Kraut]

Excellent paintwork so far, this is coming along very nicely. The dark yellow camo indeed looks like it was applied in the fields, very good. May I ask one question: You choosed dark grey blue (V 71.054) instead of dark grey (Dunkelgrau, V. 71.056). Was this color used by WH as well?

[earlymb]

While the original Dunkelgrau was so dark it was almost black, various sources mention a number of shades which would be correct. I chose this shade because I liked it best, but it is a bit lighter than Dunkelgrau. However, this vehicle would have been in use for a few years already so it is likely the paint has worn and might have become a bit lighter over time so I don't feel it is incorrect in this scenario.

[Proud Kraut]

4 hours ago, earlymb said:

While the original Dunkelgrau was so dark it was almost black, various sources mention a number of shades which would be correct. I chose this shade because I liked it best, but it is a bit lighter than Dunkelgrau. However, this vehicle would have been in use for a few years already so it is likely the paint has worn and might have become a bit lighter over time so I don't feel it is incorrect in this scenario.

 

Incorrect? Quite the opposite I think. The original dark grey is in fact nearly black but is fading after a while. The dark grey blue is looking great. I just was curious and will bookmark that for my next project. Well done!

[earlymb]

And with chipping. I opted for 1 LSSAH markings since soon they will be in a permanent -30 :D

 

 

 

[ArtyScout]

Nicely Done.

 

Semper Fi.

 

Manny

[RRA227]

Nice job.  Rich A. in Pa.

[Proud Kraut]

Well done, looking forward to the winter camo!

[Old Marine]

Nice paint, well done.

[earlymb]

Time for the wintercoat.  First I applied 2 thin layers of hairspray (the cheapest I could find) and let those dry; it made the model quite glossy:

 

 

 

I then sprayed a thin coat of white mixed with a drop of Elfenbein over the whole vehicle. This coat was thin enough that you could still see the camouflage paint underneath:

 

 

 

 

After that dried I started scrubbing with a wet toothbrush. I found out that if the brush is too wet with this cheap hairspray, it will immediately take off whole sections of white but if it's just a bit moist it works pretty well. For smaller nooks & crannies I used a moist stiff brush and with a toothpick I created some smaller random scratches.

 

 

 

 

 

The next step was to apply 2 more thin coats of hairspray and let those dry, followed by another very thin, misted coat of pure white this time. This again was then treated again with the moist toothbrush, concentrating on sections that weren't scratched before. This creates some depth to the paintwork and you can repeat this process as often as you want, but I think 2 is enough here.

 

I cut what would be the area the windshield wipers would reach from tpe and put that on the windshield. I scraped some white pastel chalk and mixed that with a few drops of water, and applied the chalky paste with a brush in a dapple motion of all the windows. After letting it dry I removed the tape from the windshield and used a dry, stiff brush to remove most of the paste from the other windows, leaving plenty of it near the edges to create the impression of a snowy, frozen window that is quickly cleaned by hand.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking about a applying a light brown wash to finish it. haven't decided if i should use the figure either, as he wears a smock which would be incorrect for winter.

[Proud Kraut]

First of all thanks very much for posting your step-by-step chipping technique here. I think you are off to a good start with the winter camo. Countless variants of white winter camo colors did exist, washable paint (mostly painted on, not sprayed on), chalk, crayon etc. etc. Most of these colors had in common that they were partially washed off during the winter season. The color faded because of use, rain, etc.

In this case you rubbed off big spots of white color. That works for the hood very welI. For the sides I would recommend to chip the white color the same way and size you did with the rust spots. Maybe you can wash off a little more in a second step. Anyway I would focus on those parts of the Horch that were exposed to dirt and use like door edges etc. I have marked some of these spots on the picture. So maybe a small wooden pin will work better that the big toothbrush. No criticism, just some remarks!

 

[earlymb]

Thanks for your comment! Most of those places were rubbed with the second round, but the bigger patches were the result of experimenting with how wet the brush should be to control the weathering. They were also partly covered again with the second spray.

 

[Proud Kraut]

Yep, looks much better!

[RRA227]

Very nice.  Rich A. in Pa.