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Bergetiger with 3.7cm Flak gun

The Bergetiger (p) was used to recover the Pz jgr Ferdinand and Elephant on the Eastern front. It was not uncommon for recovery units to come under enemy fire while working on or retrieving a disabled tank on the front lines. Field modifications by division workshops to outdated tanks were very common and many were used in a support role such as munitions carriers. I based my model on a Bergetiger that could have had a 3.7cm flak gun mounted on it for extra fire support while recovering a tank, or simply as a mobile flak gun used against enemy aircraft.

The model used for this conversion was the Bergetiger kit from Dragon and the flak gun from a Tamiya mobelwagon kit. I replaced the rear superstructure with a tread pattern floor from Plastruct and made the side armor plates from .5 styrene sheet. The rear plate was made to fold up when the flak gun was not in use, and down when firing. A rack for additional fuel cans was mounted to the side of the vehicle and a tow bar on the other side. I also added some extra track sections to the side of the tank, these were taken from a Ferdinand kit.

The model was painted with Tamiya acrylics and a wash and filter with oil paints. The armor plates were painted to resemble bare metal that has started to rust. The rust was made using real rust powders mixed with pigments. The dirt and mud was made by mixing pigments, plaster, white glue and a little bit of dirt from my back yard just to give it some texture. A final dusting was done with pigments only using a soft brush.