Mowag Piranha 4×4

[Jakko]

Another one of my long-delayed models, here’s the Piranha finished:







It’s not all that much to look at: plain army green with a few details. I sprayed the model Tamiya XF-56 Olive Green, then painted it the old-fashioned style with added a wash of first a dark green, but that didn’t have the desired effect so I added a black one over the top of it. This turned the model much darker, of course, so I then drybrushed it quite severely using a very old tin of Humbrol 86 Olive and then much more lightly with Humbrol Super Enamel 120 Light Green. Other than painting the details, that’s about it … It should really have its name on the left side too, but I so far haven’t found a sheet of suitable rub-down transfer letters; when I do I might just go back and apply the name too.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Jakko
Looks good. Difficult to “jazz up” such a plain vehicle, but your finish is excellent...

 

[Jakko]

I must say I’m pretty pleased with it, even if it did turn out a fair amount darker than I intended. Still, it looks good enough to represent a factory prototype/demonstrator to me.

The model was also unexpectedly difficult to photograph because of the very flat sides: unless I turned off two of the three lights (only leaving on the one directly above) I’d get huge reflections off the angled hull sides, especially on the left front where slightly too heavy drybrushing made the green lighter than on the rest of the vehicle. This is why there’s a fairly harsh shadow underneath the model.