In Part I, I took the Pz.38(t) through its relatively straightforward buildup.

Now, it’s time to paint the bloody thing!

RAL 7021

The Pz.38, like all things German armor in 1941, was finished in a gray so dark it was nearly black – often referred to as Panzer Gray or Panzer schwarzgrau. Whatever. RAL 7021 was the official paint code, and we’ll just call it Panzer Gray.

To prepare the surface, I primed the tank in my new favorite thing, Mr. Finishing Surfacer 1500.

This was going to be followed up by AK Interactive’s Panzer Gray modulation set, but I found myself backing away pretty quickly. The AK stuff sprays nicely, but even the darkest “shadow” tint was too light for my taste.

So I pulled out my Lifecolor. I’m not the biggest fan of the way Lifecolor sprays, BUT I really, really like their RAL  7021. It worked perfectly on my Panzer III a few years back, and worked equally well on the Pz.38.

Markings

After the Panzer Gray came the gloss. My plan for the 38 is to liven things up with some winter whitewash, so no need to do anything fancy with the gray…just get it on. After it set up a bit, I tried out a new gloss, Testors’ Aztek Clear Gloss, and found that I actually liked how it worked. It gave me a nice gloss base to play with my decals.

On top of this went the few decals. They aren’t terrible decals that Panda includes with the kit, but they aren’t great, either. The biggest problem has to be the thickness, which remains apparent even after they set and you use Solvaset AND seal them up nice with additional coats of clear.

While all the glossing and marking work was going on, I also spent a bit of time to knock out the track runs. Not bad!

Stay tuned for Part 3, when it’s WHITEWASH TIME!