Afrika Korps Vehicles - Painting for Bolt Action Western Desert Games [How I Paint Things]

Shortages meant that Afrika Korps vehicles were commonly painted with whatever paint stocks were available, as long as it wasn't dark grey! Vehicle wear, sun bleaching and desert conditions would rapidly change the look, so no two vehicles in your army need necessarily look the same.
If you're painting tracks, start with a basecoat of Flat Brown all over, then drybrush Oily Steel over the raised edges of the tracks. Weather them with a little of the same sand mix as the rest of the tank and you'll be golden!
Check out the upcoming 'A Gentleman's War' starter box for Bolt Action, featuring British 8th Army and Deutsches Afrika Korps pitted against one another in the desert. It's also the first way to get your hands on the new plastic Humber and SdKfz 222 armoured cars! store.warlordgames.com/products/a-gentlemans-war-bolt-action-starter-set?aff=10
00:00 - Intro
00:41 - Painting Time!
06:11 - A Quick Note on Decals
06:31 - Back to Painting
06:48 - Chipping & Weathering
10:10 - The Finished Vehicle
Thanks to Producer Patrons Alan Nuttall, Kyrie Crawford, Andrew, Jimmy, and Rod - as well as all the other Patrons that made this video possible, and Exit23 Games for recording equipment that helps keep the channel ticking over! Find out more at the following links:
www.patreon.com/sonicsledgehammer
sonicsledge
sonicsledgehammer
ko-fi.com/docwholigan
exit23.games
PAINTS USED:
PRIMER:
Skeleton Bone (Army Painter)
ARMY PAINTER:
Soft Tone
VALLEJO:
Iraqi Sand
Pale Sand
German Grey
Black Grey
Beige Brown
Dark Sand
VARNISH:
Vallejo Matt Spray

[@thenerdyknight1559]

I don't like like sand. It's rough and coarse and it gets everywhere.

[@thepiratepenguin4465]

LOL, I was painting a Pz2 for my DAK when the notification of your vid came thru & our processes are very similar. I just went with banshee brown instead of the Iraqi sand as it looks similar to RAL 8000. Your assessment of the colors is correct. The first of wave of AFV which arrived in 1941 where RAL 7021 Dunkelgrau & one of the ways they painted there vehicles was by mixing White wash ( intended for the Eastern front) with petrol & sand which gave it yellow-grey color, an Italian paint called Sahara khaki was all so used. The second wave of AFV came painted from Germany in RAL 8000 Gelbbraun which was a color developed for the desert & RAL 7008 Graugrün was all so issued to create a camo patter. In 1942 due to logistical problems a new color RAL 8020 Wüstengelb was introduced which some say it was a paint used by Italian colonial forces while others say it was captured British paint. Either way it is the color we know as Desert yellow & was the most used color until the end of the campaign in North Africa. It is all so speculated that RAL 8020 Wüstengelb was bases of what became RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb in 1943. The 222 looks excellent, Great work.

[@trainboy1739]

Captured Tiger Tank from the US Army in the desert? Sounds like Tiger 712. Another great video and perfect timing with a panzer II F completed for fun

[@longhunter5935]

This looks great. I want to do my Steel Legion in a desert paint job. This looks fantastic.

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Troy . 🐺

[@Grithertime]

the correct colors varied wildly, many vehicles initially shipped in Panzer grey and then were painted in the filed workshops. There are vague reports of using various thinners for the paint for application. Fuels and other things lend to tint of many shades and then going over the factory painted grey added to this. As the supply lines getting longer towards El Alamein and then shorter but the supply support was severely reduced. Following the Heer's guidance for applying RAL 8000 or whatever was out the window. Looks great!

[@avocato1135]

More on to this point, various shades also comes down to a factor of how much individual painters thinned down the issued paint as well as the thinner itself, some units thinned more to try and ration the fuel they thinned with etc. and also to an extent the paint being bleached by the hot sun of the arid desert conditions, and weathered by sandstorms.

[@justanothercaptain6566]

Awesome as always! Loved the history lesson on German paint jobs. Makes perfect sense. Thanks! 🙏😊

[@Marshal976]

Another great tutorial, going to be hard to resist the Bolt Action starter...

[@MrMichcio22]

Just what I needed, I'm gonna start painting my DAK and 8th army next month!

[@darioscomicschool1111]

Man I am gonna paint my 222 the Same Way! Love it!

[@teamkeogh]

Just want to say that is is still one of my go-to tutorials. I’ve painted up a panzer IV using this scheme. I put it up on the bolt action sub-Reddit and linked to this video in the tutorial.

[@ARed-TailedHawk]

What a great tutorial on effective weathering. Thank you!

[@andrewphillips8341]

I do like how you have the 'worn away' paint.

[@monitor1862]

You mentioning the Tiger being painted Olive Drab reminded me of a Panther tank I painted Olive Green. I patterned in after a Panther the British captured in late 1944. They named in "Cuckoo" and used until early 1945.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Now that one at least we know is true! 😂

[@irishtom30]

Desert vehicles are the least stressful, because, as you say, you really can't overdo it with the weathering

[@tylerdurden108]

The trick with the water and the shade is great Successful video 👍👍👍👍👍🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@peterdonkerlo9992]

Just finished mine using your video of the 222 and the result is nice ❤

[@greggregson9687]

Very nice work. Easy but effective.

[@ThatGuyMrman]

This is great!!! Amazing work!

[@rottiehood3872]

Awesomeness! DAK my favorite!

[@andyshaw5378]

That’s awesome, cracking video 👍

[@musoseven8218]

That looks cracking another great video👍😊

[@simdoyle]

Nice and simple. Great video.

[@theministryofminiatures]

another amazing video, thank you 🙏

[@TheEccentricMan]

Another great tutorial Troy!

[@hermanhandbrush4402]

Excellent stuff!

[@stevenbuerkle9329]

Awesome , great video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼. I think I used Army Painter Dessert Yellow on my Afrika Corp, washed with soft tone . They came out pretty good. Oh German grey , black grey work excellent for tires and stuff like that. Cheers 🍻🍻🍻🍻

[@kitchenwargamers4141]

Thanks for this give me great ideas thank you. 😁👍

[@rickyl3136]

This is something I do, mix some mixing medium with water in a dropper bottle. It's not magic but it will get that middle ground you need when you need it. Just my two cents.

[@AluVixapede]

!!! Oh that's great I love it

[@smoothbrush4722]

nice tutorial will come in handy soon

[@sleepsinleaves]

New Gassland vehicles!

[@nickdavis5420]

Been looking at these for k47 .

[@PLASMAMATE]

Do you know of a Citadel equivalent for Dark Sand ? Thanks for your video, they are a huge help.

[@andreaspersson5639]

Dropper bottle of water: whoever thought of that, you GENIUS! (Now I just need to get an empty dropper bottle, preferably one that's easy to clean out) As for yellow, aside from the "which yellow did they use?" (and "what shade is that, exactly?"), there's also the sun, wind, and dust (which combines into something a bit too close to sandblasting), that will further distort whatever the paint was when newly applied. So as long as you go with a light(ish), dust(ish), yellow(ish), I'd say you're close enough Also, I once read a story of a Panzer IV, very early in the desert war (I think around the first siege of Tobruk), that hadn't been painted yellow by the time it went to the front. Was surprisingly effective, since it was much bigger than the other tanks around it, and thus more intimidating.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

This is why I like sharing the 'obvious' stuff people show me on occasion. 😅 It's obvious once you know it, but sometimes these simple things escape you for the longest time!

[@peterclarke7240]

I buy them from amazon. I can't stand citadel pots, so I started transferring the paint to dropper bottles... Never occurred to me to put water in one, though 🤦 😅

[@NHseacoast]

Great video! What scale and kit is this from? Thanks and subscribed!

[@peterclarke7240]

*shows off water bottle hack* Well, I guess i now know what the sound of one hand clapping is. It's the sound of me facepalming myself because i cannot BELIEVE that's never occurred to me. 😂

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Ha! Don't worry, I had a similar reaction when it was first shown to me. 😅

[@tomgodson666]

Brilliant video, and always good advice to lick the tip... of your finger 😉😆

[@alessiodecarolis]

The 222 it's iconic for the DAK, a little nice model, this kind of tutorial could apply to every desert based model. P.s., wasn't easier painting some details such as guns & tyres separately, just to avoid headaches for trying to paint some recesses?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

You don't really need to, the weapons and wheels are easy enough to reach. With tracks it might be a little different, but even then you've got plenty of room to get into them where you'll actually see the paint.

[@gruppenfuhrer45]

Awesome work as always. Question, where or how did you learn your painting skills mate?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Long years of making a mess, mostly. 😅 A combination of following along with other folks, robbing ideas from scale modeling and wargaming groups alike, and just practice.

[@Vortagh]

I've been rewatching this video a couple a times getting ready to paint my own AK and just now I realized that this SdKfz 222 is totally different to the one I have (from the Gentleman's War box, same with the one they sell as a kit). different hubcaps, no little details (mirror, antennas, what have you and especially - a WAY nicer turret mount - try painting the hull, once the turret is glued together...), but otherwise seems to be the same. Is this an older resin kit?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

This is actually a 3D print. I don't remember off the top of my head where the files are from; I thiiiink it's a Night Sky Miniatures STL set.

[@JZStudios2]

Pretty good job! However I have noticed, as I acquired Black Grey and German Grey on your recommendations that I really don't find a big difference with them, even when they're side by side. Could this be me, or could it be because I'm not shaking both bottles intensely enough?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I couldn't really say. An agitator wouldn't hurt, at least. They're quite similar, but they *are* different. German Grey has a slight blue base to it, where Black Grey is a more neutral, 'true' grey tone. It's fractionally lighter as well. The real difference between them is honestly more visible once you've shaded or done other things over top. German Grey stays closer to black, but Black Grey will almost lighten a little as you work with it.

[@timbrogren7330]

Hi! When you mixed the soft tone, you said that you wanted to change the flow. Did you think of putting something in to break the surface tension? (Like dish soap) did you leave it out for a particular reason? Thanks for a great vid ☺️ 👍

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's really more about changing the consistency than the properties of the wash. You still want it to be a little gloopy and to settle where you brush it rather than turning completely fluid, like an ink. You could put a little washing up liquid in there but I think it'd just end up making more work.

[@timbrogren7330]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio ok, thank you! Interesting 🙂

[@ml6158]

What kind of dry brush is that? Is it just a make-up brush? If so wish one, I still havent found one with a size I like.

[@huwtindall7096]

Troppen scheme was RAL8000 with RAL7008 camo pattern no? Can get both colours from Vallejo.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

RAL 8000 is Green Ochre, but RAL 7008 I don't recall off the top of my head - it'll be out there, surely. 😅 The two tone pattern was instituted at some point in '42 (I think? Or it might have been '43) but it still came largely down to whoever was able to get the supplies necessary to paint their gear as ordered.

[@huwtindall7096]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio yeah RAL8000 has the name Green Brown but it's a tan desert colour. RAL7008 is called Grey Green but again it's pretty much a tan desert colour with a slight green hue. I just did a ton of research for North Africa Tiger 1 I'm painting and this was what was suggested. Some just had RAL8000. Newer tanks were painted in teh factory and tanks which were transferred from Europe had the colour over the top of the German Grey! Dunkelgelb, the other yellow, came along in 43. In the end though you're right there was so much variation apparently with the same paint from different factories even looking different. Can't be a pedant with these things. For a quick build I just use a rattle can of Zandri dust and a bit of weathering and away you go!

[@rafal1993]

So you don't use gloss varnish before decals here right ?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Nope! By the time all the weathering and such is done, any possible hints of the decal edges are usually smoothed over and hidden anyway.

[@DieTabbi]

Interesseting tutorial. Why dont use dark yellow? The correct color was RAL 7028 dunkelgelb and you get from various companies eg AK interactive also Valejo or Revell have the correct colors for Afrca Coprs, East Africa etc.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I actually don't remember whether or not I mentioned in the video, but the 'correct colour' didn't last long in the field. Between sunbleaching effects, dust and wear, and the intermittent supply of paint to the field, there wasn't a huge amount of uniformity in vehicles after a couple months in the field. Especially during the desert campaigns, both sides were commonly painting their gear with captured stocks of enemy 'yellow' paint, wearing their shorts or shirts, and so on. There's also scale fade to consider, which is the physical property of how much light hits a model; the smaller a miniature is, the darker it will look, so painting it too bright is required to offset some of that so it will visually match a full-size vehicle. Finally? I honestly just prefer the look.

[@DieTabbi]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio sorry should no offend. Your painting looks awsome. Thats only what is important.

[@torlaurens7372]

8:34 you called the main weapon an "Auto Cannon", Hilarious! Bless you. You made my night! :o)

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Well, the 20mm KwK 38 is defined in Bolt Action as a light autocannon, so...

[@torlaurens7372]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio I called a Browning 50 cal a "Heavy Bolter" the other week 😂 It's just funny how random bits of lore work their way into the every day.😀

[@ml6158]

Would the wash be thinnable with alcohol?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I suppose? But the wash from the dropper bottle is acrylic, you don't need to use alcohol or thinners.

[@noneofyourbusiness5392]

No, you'd use the alcohol to wash your mouth and throat after painting :)

[@StackingLimit]

Where's the base?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Not sure why I'd base a 28mm vehicle?

[@eenis1281]

Can you airbrush the Iraqi?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

There's no reason you couldn't.