We paint the new 10mm WW2 Panzer lV ausf. D from Lancer Miniatures

Lancer Miniatures were kind enough to send us one of their newly realised 10mm Panzer lV ausf. D tanks to paint up so I thought I would add a sort of review/how we painted it post to the new blog

Panzer lV ausf D of the Afrika Korps (DAK)

About the Pz lV D.
The Panzer lV ausf. D variant was the fourth version to be built and was in production from October 1939 to May 1941, in total 229 where produced.
The D variant saw service on several fronts including France, Russia, Western Desert/Africa and the Balkans.
A submersible conversion was designed for operation Seelowe, 43 being converted to enable them to operate in water up to 15 meters deep, although they were never used in anger.
The Pz lV D remained in service until early 1944 when the last few were finally destroyed.

A few stats -
Hull Length: 5.92m
Hull Width: 2.84m
Height: 2.68m
Crew: 5
Weight: 20 tons  
 Engine: Maybach HL120TRM
Max Speed: 40km/hr
Max Range:  200km
Armament: One 7.5cm KwK37 L/24 and two 7.92mm MG13s
Armour thickness: 10mm to 30mm 

About the Model
The little 10mm tank comes in 4 white metal part as shown in the photo below.

The four parts to the model

This model was very cleanly cast and required a minimum of work to remove a few mould lines and erroneous bits of metal.  Little assembly is required with just a dot of super glue being used to attach the tracks to the main body whilst the turret sits nicely onto the hull allowing it to be rotated as and when the need arises.

The assembled model

Once put together this diminutive Panzer lV looks impressive and accurately portrays its original full size predecessor, all that needs to be done now is paint the vehicle.

Painting the Model

We have been painting a lot of WW2 vehicles and figures in both 10mm and 20mm for the North African Campaigns of 1940 - 42, so I decided to stick with that theme for this single model.

First, I applied two thin coats of black primer, in this instance I used Mission Models primer through my old airbrush.

Primed and ready to paint

After leaving the primer for several hours to thoroughly dry, the next step was to spray on a couple of thin coats of Vallejo Desert Yellow (VAL977)  which I thinned down using a little water.

Desert Yellow base coat applied

Tank tracks and road wheels next, I painted these in a dark grey, on this occasion I chose Vallejo Grey Green (Val 866).  At this stage there is no need to be to careful when applying paint to the tracks and wheels as any mistakes can be corrected later.

with the tracks and wheels painted

I then add a dark brown wash, for this I use Croma Burnt Umber watered down to a milk like consistency, you could use a ink wash such as Army Painter Strong Tone ink wash bur I find the Croma acrylic paint works very well and at a fraction of the cost.

Raw Umber wash added

This wash darkens the original Desert Yellow and adds depth to the model tank.

Picture taken without the use of artificial light.

At this point I could happily call the tank finished but I think its worth adding a few highlights by going over some of the raised areas with the Vallejo Iraqui Sand (Val 819) and some lighter grey highlights on the tracks and road wheels, in this case I just added a little white to the Vallejo Grey Green.

And that is job done as far as my Panzer lV ausf. D is concerned.  Simple and quick to do and looks really well on the tabletop.  All I have to do now is order 5 or 6 more and its game on!