Opel Blitz Assembly And Paint Guide

Opel blitz assembly and paint guide
This guide shows you how to assemble and paint the Offensive
Miniatures Opel Blitz in Deutsche Afrika Korps livery. Although our
kit looks like a lot of parts it is actually very simple to assemble. We
refer to airbrush use, but a wide flat brush will suffice.
Clean in soapy water and check all
components. Stick the load parts and wheels
etc to card with double sided tape.
Fix cargo bay by locating on pins.
Glue tilt frame to front of cargo
bay.
Having assembled the crates as
desired, undercoat the cab / chassis
sub assembly, loose parts, and cab
top. Leave to dry overnight. These
sub assemblies will be fully painted.
Paint the driver and cab interior.
Glue in driver before fixing the cab
top in place. Clean off paint on
meeting surfaces before gluing.
Scribe a
windscreen using
a old blister pack
of clear acrylic.
Make 2 side
windows.
Pins for cargo bay.
Drill out a hole between the dials and
glue in steering wheel on dash. Fix this
assembly onto the cab/chassis, or just
glue wheel into drivers hand .
Stick wheel arches to underside of
cargo bay once set. Locate on the
guide. Make sure to get the arches
the right way round with flange
facing outwards.
Once undercoat is dry, spray or paint
all parts flat black. This acts as a preshade and ensures nooks on the
underside are painted. Leave to dry
overnight.
Once dry, gently stuff the cab with
paper tissue as a mask. Spray with
floor polish or high gloss and leave to
dry. Apply decals, which are widely
available, with a decal solution.
Stick front axle in by sliding it in
from side. Glue transmission in
place.
Spray or paint the vehicle Panzer
Grey leaving black in the recesses.
You could spray light grey highlights
for an ETO version. Coat the decals
again with floor polish. Once dry, for
the DAK version mask the markings
with Blutac and cover with hairspray.
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Opel blitz assembly and paint guide
Paint with DAK pink, (Revell
Aquacolour Flesh is ideal), leaving dark
Remove the Blutac and reveal
‘Play’ or feather a highlight colour
showing in recesses and underneath.
over the very centre and top of panels the markings on the grey
Spray centres of panels.
etc. This is called colour modulation. background.
Now the fun part! With a cotton bud
moisten leading edges. Then scuff the
paint through to the grey with bud and
cocktail stick. Think about the vehicle in
use. Concentrate on door handles, mud
guards etc. Be subtle!
Area wash: With a flat brush
apply thin full wash (I use Mig
neutral) to whole model. Don’t
forget to do the loose bits!
With some torn foam dipped in dark
grey, speckle on some fine paint
chips round the scratches. Test this
on an old model first! Paint a spot of
rust in the middle of the bigger spots.
Pin wash: With a fine brush apply pin
wash (again, I use Mig neutral) to
recesses and around rivets etc. Let the
wash run into grooves around doors etc.
Paint tools and sidelight frames.
Mask of arcs on windscreen and
spray with matt varnish. Use a pencil
to show bare metal.
If you want, apply light
weathering powders to horizontal
surfaces before matt varnishing.
Otherwise spay a light filter coat
Leave to re-harden and then give
another protective coat of floor
polish or gloss varnish. Water
based floor polish is best, but
gloss varnish will work.
Once dry, gently dry brush the
model and bits. Paint detail on bits.
Assemble the model and remove
tissue. Fix ‘glass’ in front and sides.
The finished vehicle ready for action.
DAK Opel Blitz truck, code EGDK302
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