In this week's Flames of War Friday it's time to start painting some German armour: The Stug Gs from the Open Fire Boxed Set.

Now it can be tricky painting German tanks because the camouflage schemes used by the Wehrmacht and SS changed considerably over the course of the war. Also as Flames of War armies are divided into early, mid and late war you also need to think about what colour scheme fits each period.

Now you could sit down and research to find the correct scheme and then the paint colours which match. The easy way is to grab either the German War Colours 1937–1944 or 1945 German War Colours paint sets from AK Interactive. AK have done the hard work for you and made 2 great 6 colour acrylic paint sets which accurately match the historic German camouflage patterns and are suitable for both brush and airbrush application.

As Stug Gs can be fielded in both the mid and late war periods I choose the 1937–1944 paint set and used the reference guide to choose the colours used during the early 1943 to late 1944 period.

Stage 1: Priming and Base Coat.

As usual the first step is to prime the assembled tank. I used Vallejo Model Air grey and an airbrush but you could use a brush or spray primer if you prefer. Then paint your base colour, in my case its AK 753, the dunkelgelb yellow used by the German Army from 1943 to the end of 1944.

Stage 2: Camouflage

Using the guide on the paint set as a reference there are 2 different options for adding the olivegrun camouflage pattern. For crisp, freshly applied camouflage use the AK 752, which is a slightly darker shade, and apply it in well defined wave or zig zag patterns.

For an older, weathered look, which is what I choose, use the AK 755, the lighter shade, and airbrushed a soft edged pattern.

Stage 3: Paint the details.

Now its time to start picking out the details. Paint the stowage (Jerry cans, tarpaulins etc) with your choice of colours, I used chocolate brown and german camo, dark green and paint the tracks gunmetal grey. Then paint the road wheels and machine gun black. As the road wheels are rather small either use a fine detail brush or fine tipped marker, Gundam markers are great for this.

Stage 4: Washes

Now that our base coats and details are all painted its time to add depth with the wash. Take Vallejo dark brown wash and a large brush and apply it over the entire model. Then use a tissue or cotton bud to stop it from pooling too much in the recesses. I've also used AK Interactive's Track Wash on the tank tracks as the German's oxidised their tank tracks.

Stage 5: Highlights and Weathering.

The dark brown wash dulls down the model quite a lot so its best to highlight some of the raised edges and corners to help the model look more dynamic on the table.

Just use a fine detail brush and your base coat colours to paint the corners of the armour and areas like rivet tops, hinges etc. You can also increase the contrast by adding some black wash into the deepest recesses.

I've also began to add weathering with some chipped areas and rust streaks. To show paint chipping use AK chipping colour in small areas and then paint some gunmetal grey in the center of the chip. I've also used some of AK's rust streaks and dark streaking grime to apply pin washes to the panel lines and rivets and to show streaks of rust undeneath paint chips and in areas where water would collect.

As you can see to the left the AK products create very good, realistic streaking grime on vertical armour panles.

Next week I'll continue on the weathering theme and start to add dust and mud effects to both the Allied and German tanks. If you're looking for inspiration the latest Weathering Magazine Issue 5: Mud has a fantastic “Flames of Weathering” article.