What's on my desk? Part 106.

January 13, 2026

Hello and welcome!

Next airbrush basics workshop: February 8. Again a Sunday in the afternoon. Price 40€.

Last time we left the Bergepanther with fresh grass on the sides and tracks. I brushed off the majority and was left with a nice random amount of the stuff.

Over this I painted an irregular layer of Ammo Light Dust nature effect, followed by an application of Light Dust pigments. A coat of thinned matt varnish was then misted over the pigments to (mostly) fix them in place.

The exhaust pipes were given my customary treatment of Matt Black - Streaking Rust Effects - Rubble Pigments - Light Rust Wash and the cable rollers were painted in Silver.

Once all this was dry, it was time for the main event: fixing the tracks on the tank. I started with the back wheels, then slid on the full track run with the help of the idler and drive sprocket, followed by the middle wheel pairs, and finishing with the outer wheels. At every stage I applied a little Light Dust pigment to blend in the colours with the rest of the tank. Only the outer wheels haven't received this dusting yet. I've mentioned the interleaved wheels before, and here you can start to see the maintenance nightmare these represented:

In the picture above you can see the side plate clearly, but it's almost completely hidden in any other angle. If you'd install the schürzen (the thin stand-off plates you see on a lot of German tanks) it would be nearly invisible. Still, I think it's worth it to weather the entire thing.

The tracks went on relatively easily, the templates really helped with construction here. Still, there's a fit issue. The mud flaps on the front are just slightly too narrow and the tip touches the track:

I had drybrushed the tracks with a light metal colour to pick out the contact surface between track and road. The pigment application following this tones down the effect somewhat, and makes it a bit more realistic. I like the look of the dried grass in between the links. I'm happy with how that turned out:

Last but not least: the big spade on the back. There's four brackets (two per arm) that fit into the back plate. A bit fiddly to install, but it worked out:

This is still movable (for now), and the exhausts fit between the gap up top. The spade still needs the dust/grass treatment.

Still to do: more weathering, crane, and tools. Nearing the end for this one.

Meanwhile, the chassis of the Focus has been painted. It was a process of mask-airbrush-mask-airbrush-mask-airbrush, but I've got the engine and bottom painted: