I finished my Skybow Tiger I diorama this week. This was a fun project and a welcome diversion from my N scale model railroad layout. This project was my first armor model as well as my first attempt at painting figures. I think both came out reasonably well, for a first effort.

I know some of the detailing isn't quite prototypic, which of course I figured out after it was painted. One thing I could've done better is use a darker colored pin wash rather than the medium gray area wash I used. This would've made the detail stand out better. Next time though . . .

























Erik

Erik, don't beat yourself up. It looks great. I l ike the turret number over the spare tracks. Please explain that one as it looks pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. "Q"

REALLY! It's beautiful and the right amount of chipping and weathering.


Jeff

The spare tracks as add on armor were common on the tanks of the 507th Schwere Panzer Abteilung. Since they covered nearly the whole side of the turret, they would repaint the number on the tracks. This seems pretty unique, which is why I chose this tank to model.

Erik

Ok, I know why they had the tracks on the turret sides, I was wondering how you did the markings on the tracks on your model. Paint, decals, dry transfers ??Thanks, "Q"

terrific work!

You mention that this was your first attempt at painting figures? I'm impressed!

Can you give a quick description of how you painted the faces?

The numbers on the track links are from a Bison Decals set for this specific tank. I cut them into three horizontal strips to fit flat on the track links and then applied them. Once they were softend with decal setting solution, I used a sharp #11 blade and cut of the decal film between each link. I then applied more solution.

The faces came out better than I had thought they might. I painted them with a light tan/ skin color, then applied a very thin orange/ red wash. Lastly, I highlighted with a very thin light skin color. All paints and washes were acrylics.

Erik

Okay. That makes sense. Thanks for sharing. "Q"

Hi Erik. For a first armor model and first figures, you should be very pleased. So many positives, the weaker things are not even noticed. Great work ... and also kudos for the very professional base and groundwork. Nice one.

Excellent build! I wouldn't sweat the wash at all, as this truly looks scale rather then overdone and I don't see anything wrong with it at all. Great job on the weathering, figures, and base as well! Everything is attatched with a bracket, no excessive rust or grime, tracks look good, cables have slack where they should-looks like you've been doing it for years, bravo!