¹⁄35

Rye Field Tiger I

This is what Cody has to say about Rye Field's kit:

This is the Rye Field Models late production Tiger, finished as Pz. Abt. 505, nr. 312 at Kowel, summer 1944. This is one of the paint schemes offered by the kit.

Some highlights:

I rolled the Zimmerit using Lion Roar's tool.

The rescue logs were tied with Uschi riggings. It is probably a bit too thin even though I used 0.03mm which is the thickest they have. I needed something to distinguish it from the tow cable, but still looks like ropes. I think it's not bad in scale, but it could perhaps be a bit thicker. But it was a good choice in terms of making the tie down work, because the flexibility of the riggings allows it to be stretched. It also responded very well to CA glue, so making them stay put was not difficult.

From the SMCG I learned that German antenna are tapered on top and the kit one isn't, so I shaped it.

I had some real problems with the track since I didn't properly test fit it. The idler wheels have adjustable slack but you want to set it first, otherwise what I ended up doing was to use a flat nose plier to twist the idler axle to tighten the slack, which seems really dangerous. Also with plastic tracks you don't get a natural sag, and you have to make one.

Overall a very enjoyable build and one that I got to test some weathering techniques on. The model is painted with Tamiya paints and rendered with oils, Ammo washes and streaking grime, plus Vallejo and Ammo pigments. Thanks to Rye Field Models for supplying the kit. Comments on what to improve upon are very much appreciated since I'm still learning.