Winter Hetzer 1/48th
Tamiya (1/48)
♦ Detail: 5/5
♦ Fit: 5/5
Highlights:
- Heavily worn whitewash scheme
- muddy tracks
- Rotating cannon and MG turret
The Build
This was an out of box build of Tamiya's Hetzer 1/48 scale kit. I painted it with Vallejo and Life Color acrylics with dark yellow on the sides and under body with dark green hard-edged patterns on the sides. The top was also covered with dark green, and the gun was hit with red primer.
I sprayed a coat of chipping fluid over the model, then used Mig Ammo Washable white paint on it. I was able to remove most of the paint creating a heavily worn white-wash. I repeated this process after coating the initial white with Future.
For weathering, I used AK and Ammo enamels for a filter and wash. I used oils to create streaking and mud on the upper surfaces. For the mud on the tracks, I mixed Mig mud with dark colored pigments and applied it to the tracks. I hit muddy areas with additional pigments and enamels afterward to create contrast. Finally, I added some Future to create a wet mud look.
The Hetzer was a German modification of the Czech 38(t) chassis in an attempt to field a fast, small tank destroyer. It never actually served in Africa, as it began service in March 1944. The Hetzer was one of the few vehicles to meet production numbers with 2,827 built in roughly 14 months.
The single 75mm PaK 39 L/48 was a capable gun, though not as powerful as the L/70 on the Jagdpanzer IV. Still, it’s low silhouette and cheap cost made it a very important tank to the German forces.
After the war, the Swiss adopted the vehicle, calling it the G-
Neat fact: the weight of the drive made it sit a few centimeters lower in the front than in the back.