1/35 CMK VW Type 83 Ambulance
by Andy Fulcher

I've always liked VW's, although I've never owned one. While on a flight out west I was looking though a model magazine and came across an article which featured a VW from a model company named CMK. Besides the featured model there were four others mentioned. Of the four I liked two and thus the search began.
I went into hobby store in Nevada and there it sat. The purchase was made and the planning begun. Which version, tri-color or gray (ambulance or postal). I've never done a tri-color German scheme and thought it look attractive and would be a challenge to do.

The model was assembled without modifications. I began the paint sequence by laying done a dusting of black (mostly in the crevices and panel lines, just like my airplane buddies do). After the black had dried I applied the base coat (Tamiya XF-60, Dark Yellow). I waited 30 minutes then I painted the red circles (Tamiya XF-64). After the red circles dried even smaller circles followed, green this time (Tamiya XF-61). All of this was done without the benefit of masking so the circles are not perfect, but then they really don't have to be. Once all the paint dried (about 24hrs), I dusted on some Polly-S Earth Red and after an hour or so sprayed on two coats of Future.
Twenty-four hours later the decals were applied. After letting the decals dry for 24 hours, I applied two coats of Tester's Dull Coat. The last painting exercise involved dusting on Tamiya XF-57 (buff). This gives the model a used looked.

The wheels were also done without aid of a mask based on an article I had read. I began by painting the whole wheel assembly black followed by carefully dusting on the main color (dark yellow). After this had dried I dusted on Polly-S Earth Red and Tamiya XF-57 thus finishing the wheels. I thoroughly enjoyed the painting but I won't be doing any circles any time soon. My next tri-color German scheme will feature crooked lines!