Painting and weathering the Maschinen Krieger SAFS Type R “Rabid” Raccoon

I figured it was time to branch back out and do other genres. I’ve enjoyed the year long focus on Warhammer 40K, and will continue building them. But I realized there’s just so much out there that I also want to build.

So I kicked things off with a Maschinen Krieger build.

The painting and weathering for this model is very narrative driven. In reading about this particular version of the SAFS, I noted that it was not only a recon version, but also was used as a command and control version. That got the wheels turning.

The Raccoon typically is not armed, but if it were a C&C unit, I could imagine the pilot wanting to have some bit of weaponry available. I don’t ever recall meeting a recon platoon sergeant without a weapon. Thus I decided to stick some leftover parts from the kit on it to add a gun. And to be different, I added it to the right arm. That way he could still write with his left hand. 😊

For the scheme, I decided it would be a temperate scheme suit in RLM02 that had been sent to a wintery urban environment, and given a fairly hasty overcoat of white. Aside from a few unit markings added back on, all the other stencils were overpainted.

I actually spent a bit of time just imagining the environment. I never really settled on where it was, figuring that in the middle of combat it didn’t really matter. (I know this to be the case from my own experience…) It was simply a combat zone.

The city had long been destroyed, and aside from perhaps a few stragglers trying to hide out in the ruins, the only “citizens” were combatants. No vegetation, little sunlight, and everything just a gray mass of dust and ruins. The only value to the place was some strategic importance that doesn’t matter so much to the soldier at the tip of the spear.

You just focus on the mission and your buddies. Forget the rest. If it opposes you, kill it. If not, ignore it – but keep an eye on it.

So anyway… here’s a Ma. K model. They’re great fun.

Paints Used