It's already Friday? That means it's Flames of War Fridays time and this week I'm discussing painting competition pieces.

I've been hard at work this week on the German objective marker which I'm planning on entering in an upcoming Iron Cross painting competition, a Destroyed Panzer III.

The destroyed vehicles and objective markers in the Flames of War range are really cool painting projects to work on, as they are packed full of heaps of characterful details.

Destroyed vehicles also make great competition pieces, as they allow you to use a range of advanced techniques such as weathering or rust and water effects which don't always suit operational vehicles. For my Panzer III I'm using a number of scale modelling techniques from the AK-Interactive Weathering FAQ to produce a vehicle which has laid abandoned on the battlefield for a long period of time.

Stage One: Preparation & Priming

As it's a resin piece firstly I gave the model a quick wash with some soapy water and dried it. This removes any mold release residue on the model, which can stop paint from adhering correctly. Then I primed the model using Vallejo Model Air Grey Primer.

Stage Two: Base Coats

Then I painted the base coats using the same camouflage scheme as I used on the Stugs, using the AK Interactive 1937–1944 German Paint Set.

I also painted the interiors of the hatches with Vallejo Model Colour Off White, to represent the Cremeweiss colour of the interiors of WW2 German tanks. I also basecoated the stowage, helmets and painted the tracks with Gunmetal Grey.

Stage Three: Enamel Washes

Rather than using an acrylic wash like I did on the Stugs I'm using enamel AK Interactive washes to add shading and panel lines. The advantage of enamel washes is that they flow very naturally into the recessed detail of the model and you can tidy them up by using some white spirit or odourless turpentine to ensure the effect is only where you want it to be.

Firstly I applied some Track Wash to the tracks to give an oiled, oxidised effect on the track links. Then I thinned the track wash with a little white spirit and applied a pin wash to the panel lines and joints, tidying any spills with odourless turpentine.

Stage Four: Chipping

To represent paint chips and exposed metal firstly I painted some of the edges of the armour plates with Chipping Colour. Then I used a piece of foam to stipple the armour panels with smaller paint chips. It's important that Flame of War is quite a small scale, so don't make your chipped areas too large. I then painted small amounts of Gunmetal Grey into the centre of the largest chipped areas to show the exposed metal.

Next week I'll take you through how I created the rust effects and some more advanced techniques including shading and highlighting using oils and mud and dirt effects.