Definitely looking like a real winner now, Phil!

Good observation on that balkenkreuz! That's a good tip for us to consider. But to tell you the truth, what you have there doesn't look awful--I would lave it as it is, or risk really making a mess "cutting and pasting".

Hi Phil, great work mate!

112 looks great, see what you mean about the Balkenkreuz. Phil lucky its only small, doesn't look that bad. Really starting to look as karl has said "A show winner" awesome stuff. Looking forward to what you do with the DS tracks. Lots of people of been Discussing them, be nice to see your take on them. Should look good with your slighty aggregated suspention. Later Geraint

Hello there! Right the strange dry weather held on, and I was able to 'purity seal' the decals ready for the full blown weathering processes! I started to apply the pin washes and some mild rain streaking prior to the main filter, I used a very weak wash of Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna, mixed with MIG Productions Thinner for Washes. I have kept the washes as weak as possible so as not to kill off the light that has been put back into the GS Panzer Colour H403, as well as the pin washes to accentuate the weld seams, rivets and bolts etc, very faint rain/rust streaks on the turret behind the spare links, and in areas of the hull where collision damage has occurred, on route. Right images...





So round one of the lived in look completed, just let that dry off whilst we get on with the tracks and running gear. A very thin patina of dry and damp Normandy clart sparing applied to the lower hull with the odd splatter from a puddle along the way... What do you reckon?
Hey Karl,Martyn, and Geraint, thanks for your kind words on this Tiger... And this is supposed to be the ugly duckling eh? Can't wait to get the others to this stage, I have been tinkering behind the scenes a little (don't fret, I have photo-logged it all, so nothing will be omitted ) Some attempts at resin casting are due up as well as a few little mod-tweaks on some parts, just for fun...

Right off to bed then! See you all real soon. Phil.

Phil,

thought you might like this photo. Yes its colorized but it sure looks good. Tiger is looking good!

Hi Dave! That image is excellent... New Desktop Background! Did you colourize this yourself? If so that is probably the best re-touched three-tone I have ever seen. You don't have any more from the VB Bundersarchiv set do you? Thanks for posting it as it give a good start for the camo scheme of 121... I know that the image is now thought to be 111 (I might change the Turret Numerals again for the modded #6383) Right back to the weathering... Light chipping and scratching then some dust, maybe it's quicker just to leave it in the elements for a month or so for that natural aged worn feel?

Thanks again Dave for sharing that great image... Phil.

Looking really nice now, Phil!
Those green numbers really give it a unique look!
Not sure about those exhausts though; it would seem to me that you have the weathering backwards? Shouldn't the black smoke ne up top? And I wouldn't have extended it onto the hull on the sides of the muffler mounts there---am I misreading your intention there?

Inspiring Phil, inspiring indeed old chap! Need to get one of those thingmabobs don't you know, Tiger or Panther! Just back in the "business" after 20+ years and have just finished three 1/48 kits, a '109, a '190 and a Heinkel 219... Reading this thread (among others) and looking at the pics, give me a severe itch in my fngers to build something slightly heavier than an aircraft...carry on old bean!


Toodle Pip and all that rot!

Phil,

I had these on my HD for awhile now, think they came from a site called ww2incolor. Here is another cat from that unit. I'm going to be starting a Tiger II myself shortly if I can ever find some half decent photos from s.SS-Pz.Abt 503. I cant wait to see all your cats in one photo once they are done.

Good spot and suggestion from Karl on exhausts, here is colour pic which is excellent ref for you.

Hi Dave WWII in colour is a great site, got it on my Fav's. Spend hours flicking through the wicked images. Phil love the black ring on the recoil area of the 88 nice touch. Have you altered the Balkerkreuz? It does'nt look so stunty. LOL Geraint

Hi Everybody! Hello Karl... I forgot that I had dry fitted the armoured exhaust covers! And when I received the Gunze weathering set, had a little play with the rust pot (pick of the pack) I only dabbed it onto the uncovered areas. I have slowly been toning down the original black pre-shade behind the muffler stacks, I have been playing with some pigment on them today.

Hi Pete, nice picture, thanks I grabbed a similar set a few months ago, I will have to get down to Bovington and see the beast now it is restored... Awesome. I have seen a handful of images of Tiger 1 steel exhaust shrouds that are scorched in the lower mid section, though you are correct in stating that the heat damage was mainly to the upper portion of the panel.


I suppose it all depends where the muffler was damaged or failing, it would appear that a good ding in the sheet shroud speeds up the process, especially if it comes into contact with the exhaust or exhaust cover.
Hey Dave, Jan and Geraint, thanks again for the words of encouragement, this weathering takes an age... And I haven't used a hair-dryer since the eighties Though I do possess a tin of Ellenette Hairspray... For modelling purposes of course No big hair with the coarse grey Craggy Island style of mop I have now!
Okay then, you might not notice much progress on the washes, but there is a lot more on it now. Some initial subtle rain streaking and bleaching, I have gradually and gently added to the pin and detail washes so as not to kill off the light that still remains in the 'Dunkelgelb' ,it appears to be working so far. I am even tempted to stick everything together and finish placing the few remaining parts, and get towards the end of this Tiger until we decide on a large display base for them.






It's a bit like spot the ball eh? Only with shy paint
With that Gentlemen and... It's bedtime
Cheers for looking, and thanks for joining in. Phil.

OOH yeah, Phil!

Thats the ticket for those exhausts--looking primo now!!

oh my! this is excellent Phil, I fully admire your work! We'll see the final effect but it already looks awesome.

spit

Hi there Phil,

A great job on the painting and weathering. I am looking forward to seeing what you do to the tracks and running gear. Your work is inspiring me to finish off my own tiger. Once again thanks for taking the time and effort to photograph and share your techniques with us all.

Cheers, Jim.

Comon Phil, dont bull about the hairspray. Its surprising how high you can stick up a flop top.Propper NMA style'ee Really looking good, the exhaused's look good. You can see what people are saying, if the shrouds were bent and smashed up then soot would carry over onto the back hull. Good one to remember for later prodjects! Still looking forward to the DS tracks C U soon Geraint

Looking mighty fine Phil. Lovely rust work on the exhausts, it'll be a shame to cover them up.
Looking forward to next weathering installment..

WOW that Tiger is looking great. I especially like the camo with green numbers. This baby will look even better with running gear. I'm staying tuned to see the finished model.

Rob

Wotcha! Folks! Right pencil and pens down, and back to the pigments, washes, filters, paints and graphite! Good morning, Karl, Jim, Geraint, and Grant... And a big hello to you Rob! Thanks for dropping by... I must admit that I was a little worried when I first saw your post, as I expected for you to send a 17pdr up it's rear end, just to see what '112' look like 'inside out'! Every time I cast a glance over the Panzer Lehr Pz.IV (is it an Ausf H or J? , sorry not well up on the 'midi tigers' ) I think what would 'Scratch' make of this? You could take it through it's phases of destruction, knocked out-partly destroyed and covered in rubble- and it's complete obliteration other than the odd idler or roadwheel, after the'Tactical' bombing of Villers Bocage...112 stood up pretty well to the might of the RAF though eh?
Right then 'DS tracks'. (I will try to get the W.I.P. shots of the stages,mediums and processes used later on )


So thats how they will look prior to sealing, and placing onto the Tiger, They were AB'd basecoated with a mix of GS 'soot' H343 'Oil' H342' and Gs Panzer colour 'Schokoladenbraun' H406 in roughly equal portions. Then with the aid of Mister Jiminez's 'SIN industries Filter' P241' Brown for dark yellow' I fixed a mixture of MIG pigments(Old RustP230 & European Dust P028) and ground 'Conte Hard Pastels' Black and Raw Umber into the recesses of the track face and inside area of the band. When the deep grime application had 'cured' I ran a 6b Artists Solid Graphite Stick/Pencil over the portion of the tracks in contact with the steel face of the roadwheels, and spocket teeth. As well as the cleats on the track face. This should give them a good deep tone before the lighter mud,dust and detrius that is to be applied when they are fitted to the hull. I am a bit undecided as to how far to go with weathering in relation to general wear and tear, scratches,chips and other damage due to the relatively short active life of this vehicle (mid April to mid June, possibly without a shot fired in anger? And only live firing exercises in May '44' followed by the road march to the front with a little attention from the RAF and USAAF oh! And Naval bombardment for good measure...) The 1st kompanie Tigers disabled and knocked out within the Town of Villers Bocage appear to be in pretty good shape (other than the odd RTA ding, and the obvious 6 & 17 pounder holes and dents! ) I have been playing about a bit with casting some rubber 'footprints' and 'handprints' from a gen2 'Wittmann' figure for the purpose of using them to 'imprint' footrints and handprints into any acculmulated dust on the horizontal surfaces of the Tigers... Then thought, would 'nailed' boots make a full print or would they just scrawp the paint on the vehicle... A bit like my old 'clogs' did on the cobbled streets and tiled floors of Olde Stockport! Does anybody else have much thought upon this? Also if these cats spent a lot of their static time innactive time 'parked' under trees then there would be an awful lot of 'bombing' fro the feathered 'Airforce' eh? Right it's cup of tea time (calms the delerium)

Cheers for dropping by... Phil.

Hi Phil
Too late buddy, I've already knocked out a big cat, not 112 though.
I like how the DS tracks are looking. I didn't like working with them when I did the bergetiger w/flak. I had to spend quite a bit of time trying to straighten them out with hot water and hair dryer. Yours are looking great and will be even better once they are fitted and weather as you stated.
I like the idea of the boot and hand prints on the dust areas. I've always wanted to try something like that but never knew how to do it. I'll stay tuned to see how you do yours.
Here are a couple of pics of my KO'd Tiger I built about 8 years ago, it's the Tamiya 1/25 tiger.





I'm looking forward to seeing the road wheels on the cat, I'm glad I came along for the ride on this build, she's looking great.

Rob

Phil, I'm firmly one who believes that most over weather (ie:beat up) German AFV's-most didn't have a long hard life compared to a Sherman for example. I wonder how many hours on the clock did #112 have at the end of it's life? Not many I imagine.
My two cents,
Dan

Good evening all! Hey Rob! What did you go and do a thing like that for to a poor big kitty? I'll have to put a few holes in a Pershing now to make amends! The after-fire oxidisation on the turret is amazing Rob, nice and smooth without too much residue... You will have to divulge your trade secrets.
Hey Dan! How's things? You are spot on methinks about '112' and co' I don't believe '112' fired a shot after it's afternoon sojourn from the Chateau. I know that from D-Day onwards the weather in Normandy was rather changeable with showers and sunny spells, so I will rely more on a patina of clay,chalk and general dust to age it a little. I reckon those hob-nail boots would chew up the custom paint job on the hull roof, engine deck and turret roof though. The other thing I have been trying to find out more about is, the crews spraying of a gasoline and oil mix from a spray-gun onto all moving parts, in your opinion as a 'tanker' would this resist too heavy a build up of grime or aid it? You can see on a few images of Tigers in the Normandy theatre, that there is a stain on the underneath of the front fender/mud-guard where lubricant has been thrown up over the track passing over the sprocket.
Right then weathering of the running gear. The road wheels have been given a wash of thinned Raw Umber oils, then a light filter of Brown for Dark Yellow.

Then when dry ran over a sponge 'loaded' with a mix of the GS PC Schokoladenbraun mixed with the GS weathering set Soot. This primes the track contact surface of the roadwheels with an even finish on the 'steel tyre' but allows the edge to receive a 'chipped' rim, this helps both areas when applying the graphite for that polished steel effect.

Next using an artist graphite stick (9b) the tyre surface is coated, as well as the rims 'polished on the roadwheels that would come into contact with the guide horns on the track, along with the drive sprockets teeth and Idler. This can be sealed with a light coat of varnish/clear coat or future.


Then a little more attention to the lower hull with grime and streaking added with dark filters and oil paints, ready for the proper 'muck' to be applied'
.
Next we can have a little fun playing about with 'our mate' Mig's Pigments. I have found that using Vallejo's thinner for airbrushes, you can achieve a myriad of tones that dry nice and flat without to much texture, when they are 'spatter' applied from a loaded brush with the aid of an Airbrush, by mixing the pigments and adding pastels you can really layer up the thinner sort of mud and dust deposits you can see on some vehicles in changeable conditions.

The shaking hand is proof of the fun you can have with pigments!

A little of the same for the inner roadwheels, and they can go back on!

And a little 'light' coating of 'base mud coat' for the rear hull (as it probably threw up quite a lot of mud from the damp earth of the Chateau's parking area as it got underway for the afternoons action in Villers Bocage and Hill213. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, I didn't get carried away =, or anything with this excellent technique!

Right folks that's it for tonight's installment... Back soon, thanks for looking in.

Cheers Phil.

Hello Phil,

nice to see that you also care about these details which are often forgotten somehow.

Now you're really cooking, Phil--this is starting to shine!
Love that splatter technique--tricky, it is, but the results are pretty cool!

Phil, Yes, if anything has oil of some sort on it, it will attract grime big time! One must be careful and not just coat oil on a moving part for this vary reason. If you do so, now you have a second job of removing all that grime! A "light coat" is the key here.
It sounds like that time of year can be dry, this creating a very dusty enviroment for the vehicles. Imagine being in a tank company column on a dusty road and you are in the middle!
Were the Germans still using hob-nailed boots at this stage of the war?
Dan