Airbrush Camouflage Basics Part 1: Priming

One of the most common questions we have in the shop is about airbrushing. Namely, how does one go about camouflaging?

To this end we always say there are so many ways to skin a cat. And in this case, a Panther. Or rather, a Jagdpanther.

The subject for this entry is Tamiya's re-release of their giant 1/25 scale German Jagdpanther, or Hunting Panther, tank destroyer. Admittedly this is a cool vehicle, with the menacing 88mm gun way forward of that streamlined fighting compartment.

Let's start this primer with a bit of primer. And in this case, we are using Vallejo's superb Primer straight from the bottle, without thinning. Vallejo paint primers come handily in an assortment of base colours, which eliminates the use of a base coat color. So in this instance, we do what the Germans did in World War 2: they prime their armoured vehicles with a Rotbrun, or red brown, base coat.

The red brown serves as great base for painting as it actually helps the final tint of the overall camouflage paint. Longtime airbrush users know of the semi-transparent effect airbrushing leaves, and can use it to their advantage when finishing their paintwork.

It also helps when you have the subassemblies of the kit not permanently attached on the vehicle, as in this case the gun barrel assembly and the tracks (which are fully workable and the wheels turn). This helps in the painting access process.

As you can see, we primed the entire model in the single colour. This will avoid any bare plastic, and if there will be any spots missed in the painting later on, it will have the German Rotbrun peeking through, just like the real thing!

Needless to say, the primer is the important thing in camouflage paint jobs because it allows you to thin your comouflage paint colours to a certain degree which will allow the ease of airbrushing a pattern. And Vallejo paint colours do, for some reason, come out quite well when it goes on a primed surface.

NEXT UP: The airbrushed patterns.