This is my first armor kit in over 12 years. In the past I built 4 tanks in all, using a simple single action airbrush with a can propellant. I didn’t have access to the internet and all the great threads we see today on forums, so my only sources on how-to’s were two books by Sheperd Paine that I bought at a local hobby store – and they weren’t focused in airbrushing, but general assembly/painting/weathering.
Since then, the internet became accessible to the public and we started to see a lot of reference documentation online.
Hence, for this model, I will try to use some of the techniques I found on MilitaryModelling.com, using different pictures for reference purposes.

Assembling the model and the indy tracks. It’s my first time working with these kinds of tracks. I used Plastruct Bondene to join the tracks together, about 10 at a time and mounting them accordingly on the wheels trying to create a natural sag.

When I assembled the main gun, I wanted to practice painting it with a brush, even though it practically won’t be visible from the outside… I used Humbrol enamels, made a wash, and dry-brushed with enamels mixed with white oils. The finished result isn’t really to my liking. The wash made a blotchy job…  

For the main hull and turret, I primed everything with a thin coat of white Tamiya Fine Surface Primer.

For the main colors, I used Bill Plunk excellent and inspiring work on his website http://www.bpmodels.net – more precisely the DML PzKpfw III Ausf.E http://www.bpmodels.net/Model/Album/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4

Bill even explained the pressure and distance he used for different layers, which helped me a lot since I have no bloody idea how to use an airbrush

I started by airbrushing flat black as an undercoat. 

As a base coat I used Humbrol Tank Grey (#67). Then I airbrushed US Dark Grey (#125) in an irregular pattern to have different hues. Finally, I mixed the US Dark Grey with some white and tried airbrushing only the middle of panels to simulate faded paint and add some effects. 

Mind you, this is my first ever attempt of painting an armor model using these airbrushing techniques. All in all, I think the final light coat is just a little too light IMO…
I already learned a lot with this first paint job. I realized that the airbrush can be VERY sensitive when painting from up close. You can notice the back of the turret where I pulled back a little too much on the trigger in one spot

My next step was to put a gloss coat, but decided to attach the wheels and tracks first. I dry-brushed a little Tamiya Metallic Grey on the idlers, sprockets, and on the bottom hull before mounting them on the model.

For the indy tracks, they were assembled in two sections - top and bottom during the kit assembly stage. Before cementing them, I did a final dry fit test. I noticed that there was a small gap between the 2 sections. Thus, I added another track to the two bottom sections, which I'll paint after the cement dries.

After the tracks are on and cement has cured, then I'll put a gloss coat

 While installing the tracks, I unfortunately had a gap on the left side. It was too small to put another individual track in, and too wide to join both ends of the track together.
Solution: I got the insane idea of taking a spare individual track, cutting the middle off and rejoining the ends (hinges?) together lol And it worked!
After putting it in the gap, the difference isn't even noticable
I then sprayed the entire model with a clear coat, put on decals, and sealed them in with a flat coat. Next was slight drybrushing.
The next step will be to seal everything again with a clear coat and apply some washes and maybe masks...
I also started to build a base for a diorama. The problem is that the colors of the tank and the base don't match at all... Have to tweak somehow the hue of the tank towards more of some earth-like colors... maybe with masks? Haven't tried the masks technique yet...

To be continued...