Excerpt: Throughout the history of modern armoured warfare, the name Michael Wittmann comes as no stranger to all WW2 AFV modellers and enthusiasts. With an impressive career record of 138 tanks and assault guns, he has no doubt achieved a lengendary status in the pages of modern warfare.

                Released some years back by Kirin Models, hails a superb rendition of the hero of Villers-Bocage. The quality of the molding is immaculate and assembly was a breeze accompanied by less than minimal filling.

Painting the Figure

                Before I begin, it has to be understood that in tackling with larger scale figures, the contrast of colours has to be more controlled as compared to those of a smaller scale. Meaning that the shadows have to be lighter and the highlights have to be much darker for a more subtle effect.

The Head

                The face first came alive with an undercoat of Tamiya Flat Flesh, XF-15. Shadows consisited of a 4:2:1 mix of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre and  Cadmium Red. Mniute drops of linseed oil was added to the paint to enhance the flow of the paint. A word of caution: go easy on the oil as too much will result in the paint drying unevenly and glossy. The mid-tone for the face consist of a 3:1:1 mix of Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red and Titanium White. Highlighting was done by gradually adding tints of white to the mid-tone mix. The eyes were painted with a gray mix of White and Raw Umber with the pupil doted in with a speck of Raw Umber. The hazel hair received a dark brown undercoat, washed with Burnt Umber oils and highlighted with a mix of Humbrol 62 and Burnt Sienna oil paint. The peak cap was given an undercoat of Humbrol 102 with shadows gradually shaded in with Humbrol 116 and 108 mixed into the undercoat.

The Panzer Tunic

                From what I believed, many modellers had dealt with toning the elusive black. Synthesizing from Swede modeller Mike Blank's articles, the tunic received an undercoat of Humbrol 108 mixed with a little Flat Black. No drybrushing here as it would only result in a gray tunic. The next step is to work my way darker. First thin washes of Humbrol Flat Black were glazed into the shadow regions with deeper shadows washed in later with Ivory Black oil paint. This is an excruciating and painstaking process and I thought the Yanks had it bad at Omaha. Nonetheless, the results speak for themselves and detailing soon proceeded. The epaulet received an undercoat of Humbrol 121 highlighted with White. Metal parts were primed with Gloss Black and subsequently drybrushed with silver. The piping was painted with Red muted with Naples Yellow.

                With all the details in place, the bust was mounted on a pewter post and placed on a wooded pedestal purchased from a trophy shop.This concludes my rendition and tribute to the late Panzer ace Captain Michael Wittmann.

Compiled by Calvin Tan

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