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Ardennes Advance - Parts 3 & 4

Part 4: The Suspension and Tracks

One of the nice features of Tamiya's 1/16 Tiger I is the articulated suspension. The metal parts in the chassis and suspension give a nice scale weight. Therefore there is no real need to suck the model down into depressions and obstructions to show off the flexing torsion bars under weight.

The road wheels come with rubber tires so the wheel can be painted separately and the tires later attached with a clean finish.

The tracks also are quite beefy and have some scale weight as well. Since they are made of a delrin type plastic they won't hold paint well. This can work to ones advantage when the weathering stage comes in. When the paint chips away through handling the exposed areas can be primered and painted to simulate exposed metal or a mud surface to build up or stipple with thin-turfed out celluclay.

Editors Note: Thus completes this portion of Warren's work. Stay tuned for the next installment in this fascinating large scale diorama! - Jim