German SS PaK40 Anti Tank Gun Platoon

As part of the SS Grenadier Company Box, I got 3 of the metal PaK40s.  I did this up ahead of the infantry because I was testing out options for the last local tournament and these were a strong contender...so had to get them painted  :-)

I learned a really good tactic in how to use these bad boys when running my Grenadiers.  Typically my Infantry platoons are dug-in and holding a position.  If I place these guns right behind the infantry and where they can see about 3-4 inches in front of the infantry, they can stop an armored assault.  Remember, in Flames of War Gun teams can shoot over dug in stationary infantry...you can do the same with HMG teams to stop infantry assaults.  Placing them behind the infantry can help protect the gun teams...especially if they are in a tree line.  Now this is a totally defensive tactic, but is effective.

 

Over to the painting.  The crew are pretty standard.  The gun itself was not TOO difficult to put together.  Wheels, gun trails, barrel, and gunshield.  Hardest part was getting the gunshield and the barrel on and aligned.  It took a little fiddling and some extra filing, but worked out in the end.

These were some of the first figures I painted on the stand instead of painting each figure separately on a nail.  I did paint the gun separately though.  It was MUCH faster to paint the crew/infantry on the stand. 

 

The first step in painting with figures on the stand is to apply all the basing materiel first.  By this I mean everything short of the grass/flock. This is important in that if you wait till the very end, after you you have painted everything, you stand the chance (and in my case the certainty) of getting some of the basing materiel on the painted models.  If you do all the pumice, sand, grit, etc... up front you can be a little rougher to ensure good coverage.  And if something does gets on the model, it is easy to clean up since the figure hasn't been painted yet...it is A LOT less nerve wracking to put the basing materiel on first.  When I painted my models first and then glued them to the stand and then applied my basing mix...I was ALWAYS worried about getting something on my works of art.  Now its no sweat.

 

 

One thing to keep in mind if you have figures that are laying on the ground.  On these I glued the lying down figure on the base first then built up the dirt and other basing materiel around him.  This makes him look like he is much deeper in the dirt/grass than the other figures on the base.  What I have taken to doing with laying down figures and mortars is to leave them off of the base, but glue down all the other fig res in their proper positions.  I then pumice/sand/grit the entire base.  When that materiel is dry I then go in and glue the laying down figure on top of the dirt, very much like he would do in real life.

This lifts that figure up and prevents that quicksand look I have here...oh well, live and learn.  You have to experiment to grow I guess.

Another thing about applying the models to the bases and applying your texture before you paint is that you can add tire tracks very easily.

 This is something I do to all my guns.  A gun position is a messy sight.  Mud is churned up where ever the crew walks and where the gun is brought into position.  I first layout the position, sort of a dry fit and mark on the base where the guns tires are as well as where the spades on the trails will hit. Now extend the mark of the tire location off of the front of the base and off the back or side if you want to continue it off the base. Makes sure the tire marks go off the edge of the base so you can see where they.  Taking off the base isn't necessary as those tracks would be chewed up by the crews movements on the position.   Next is to glue down the crew, but not the gun.  Apply your texture ground base mix of choice and where you made the where the spades on the gun trail hit the hit make a little mound of mix just behind the mark and on the mark apply the mix a little thinner.  This shows the spade digging into the ground.  To make the tire tracks just trace along the marks you made to where the tire stopped or off the back edge with the back of an old paintbrush.  Right behind the breach shouldn't have any tracks as this is the busiest location on the gun and the tracks would be chewed up quickly.  the paint it up with darker colors t the bottom...and if you want to show wet dirt/mud just add a little gloss varnish to the mix.

Next step is to prime the stand.  I then paint my dirt and then the troops. 

For the troops I used my standard Waffen SS color palette below.

 

 

For the guns I used the same color palette I used for the with the armored AA halftracks. The guns were all airbrushed with Vallejo Middlestone (882) as a base color and then stripes of German Camo Medium Brown (826) and Reflective Green (890) were handpainted. I wasn't comfortable getting into some of the tight spaces and awkward angles with my airbrush yet...YET.

The tires were basecoated 950 black and then lighter colors built up with drybrushing ....first 862 Black Grey 836 London Grey then finally 870 Medium Sea Grey.

Now the pictures! 

Platoon Leader:

 

 

Gun #1:

 

Gun #2:

 

 

Gun #3:

 

Not too happy with the fleshtones. I was running low on my 869 Medium Flesh and was trying to stretch it to make it last and added too much of the 955 Flat Flesh (which I had plenty).  When I have time I will touch these guys up.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any comments questions please leave below!