From the Challenge: Nazgul on Fellbeast and 1/48 Panzer III Ausf M

 

Last year (related to the Challenge!) I picked up the Battle of Pelennor Fields box set from Games Workshop, with the intention of painting this Ringwraith on a Fellbeast. And less than a year later, here it is already!

The paint scheme is pretty straightforward - tones of grey with the leathery bits washed (repeatedly) with GW Reikland Shade. The clever bit about this ain't the painting though - it was the construction of the model...

See?!? The kit comes with two "necks" for the Fellbeast, as well as two riders - both a standard (!) Ringwraith and the Witch King!

Here's the Witch King with his flaming sword. I used magnets to facilitate easy back-and-forth swappery. 

I countersunk a pretty big magnet into the body of the Fellbeast. Not too hard to do.

Then, I cut off the pins on the necks and superglued on 5mm magnets. They hold the necks on pretty securely and I'm happy with that. Nice of GW to provide two different necks as well as riders.

Next up was a Bandai 1/48 Pzkpfw. III Ausf M. While still equipped with the venerable KwK39 L/60 main gun, there were 250 examples of the Ausf M produced between October 1942 and February 1943, and they were deployed mainly to replace frontline losses - including at Kursk.

I painted the tank in an early-'43 camo scheme taken from the Panzer Colors book - yellow over dark grey. The grey is Mechanicus Standard Grey and Dawnstone washed with Nuln Oil, with Zandri Dust as the yellow overcoat. Decals are from Pedinghaus and the decal folder.

The Ausf M had a modified exhaust valve to facilitate deep wading, as well as the triple smoke dischargers. 

I did a bit more weathering on this model than I did on the previous Pzkpfw I models... some sponge chipping and dust application with Steel Legion Drab drybrush. 

I like how the yellow and grey camo turned out on this one. It'll be a good addition for mid-war gaming and it's in the correct 1/48 scale :-)

Happy New Year!