Hi Guys, This is a Tamiya King Tiger with Eduard Barrel and screens, and MK tracks. The crew is by Tahk. All comments(good or bad) welcomed.






















Thanks for looking!
Cheers Kevin

Looks great. I love the battle damage you gave it. Good work!

-Mike

Oh man, Kevin, that is a fine piece of work. Too much to compliment on it so I'll just say, stunning! How did you achieve that sheen?

Very nice model, excellent weathering.
Miloslav

Hi Kevin. Excellent model. Love the camo and the weathering is exceptional. Nice one.

Looks great, although the green looks a bit too minty...

Apart from that, great work!

Very nice work! How did you apply the paint chips-- salt method, paint brush, or turpenoid removal?
thanks
DJ

Hello Kevin,
Wonderful Konigstiger!! You truly did an expert + job on this one!! I am about to start my Dragon KT w/zimmerit and was wondering if you had any advice on the painting or weathering that might help my KT look even 1/10 as good as yours. Congratulations on a fantastic build!

Merry Christmas!!

Walter

Kevin -

Sorry, no matter where I see this, the result is still the same. A masterful, superbly done King Tiger. Every detail and aspect is outstanding. The weathering, added touches are just right and really accentuate the build. Congrats!

Blade48mrd

Ola Kevin

Stunning work. Really. Good weathering... Not too much. Love the crew. Absolutely a brilliant piece of work...

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hi Kevin

I'll add my voice to the others and their remarks in it being an excellent build.

Really nice detail, restrained weathering and damage, with the icing on the cake being the great crew figures. I'd love to see you continue this on to build a suitable scene to place it in.

Great work

Alan

Nice work Kevin really nice, the crew figures are outstanding as is the camo and weathering.

Kevin your Tiger is absolutely awesome!, I can't imagine anyone finding anything wrong with it. I took a peek at your gallery and was really impressed with the work you 've done. You should really put some of your dioramas out there for people to see what an artist you really are. Thanks for the pictures and keep up the good work.I sure wish you were my neighbor!!

frank

Everything about it is beautiful Kevin, a real pleasure to look at and admire, great job.

Ron.

That is really nice. The small details are wonderful. The subtle texturing shines.

Well done Kevin.

verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry nice.
Wonderful realism.

Herbert beat me to it - what colour green did you use?

And someone has to comment - in photos I've seen, the rear mudflap is usually hinged into an L-shape if the sideskirts are missing.

There - I'll be vilified again

Check JagdTigers, those are more often than not seen without skirts, the rear flap is in most cases left flat.

There'd be no need to have the flap up unless the Tiger-B was put on rail transport.

Wow, I love Tigers II. And this one is just wonderful. Great build!!

awsome work the battle damage is just right

very nice..awesome job on the weathering and camo scheme. i have 2 tigers waiting to be painted..i still dont know how to start the soft camo edges. could you give us some tip on..'how to'..achieve this effect. thanks so many.

Hi Kevin:

Great looking Tiger II! Is this going on one of your dioramas? if so, what type of theme?

Keith

Kevin,

I really like these big cats and yours is very well done. I also like the way you photographed this one . . . It gives me a sense of what it must have been like to be standing next to one as it is rolling by. WAY TO AWSOME

I normally build in 72nd scale but seeing such fine work like yours and some of the other models here has pushed me to try a couple in 35th. My wife really believed I was viewing some pics of a real tank when I opened the post and scrolled down to the first pic. She is also very, very impressed!!!

-Eddy

Beautiful stuff my friend. Big cats were always your forte !!!!!! The painting and finishing is great as well as the work on your figures . Bravo

I really hate to quibble because the assembly and paint work really is superb. However, 555 is a nonsensical number for a King Tiger, since it would be the fifth tank of the fifth platoon of the fifth company. Trouble is, Tiger battalions had three companies with three platoons containing four tanks each (plus two staff tanks per company, and a battalion staff platoon of three tanks). Highest number in that system should be 334. There were some alternate numbering schemes. The 506th Schwere Panzer Abteilung used the 1, 2, and 3 prefix, but speed numbered the tanks in each company from 01 to 14, and skipped the platoon numbers (figuring the platoons would be reorganized daily to allow for vehicle breakdowns, anyway). For about two months, this battalion also had a company of Tiger I tanks attached for the Ardennes Offensive, so those were numbered with a "4" prefix.
Some Tiger I tanks appeared with higher company numbers earlier in the war, but that was during the period when heavy tanks were assigned to the Panzer Regiments of Panzer Divisions. King Tigers were organized in independent battalions and assigned to higher formations as needed.
There is one photo of the a King Tiger with a "five hundred" series number, but it was a captured vehicle being tested by the Russians.

Hi Guys, thanks for all the comments!

James, the sheen was done with a little graphite powder rubbed on places then followed with a light wash of dark brown oils.

DJ, the chipping was done a few different ways. Firs twas the scotchbrite pad corner dabbing on a bare metal color. Around the hatches I also used an 00 brush. For these two types of chipping I used a mix of Vallejo paints for its thinness when going on. I also added some wear spots using graphite pencil.

Walter, I don't have any tips as of yet for doing Zimmerit but as far as weathering goes I love my graphite pencils, pigments and scotchbrite pad for chips. I'll keep an eye out for your thread when you get going an see if there is anything I can offer to help.

Alan, no dio for this one. I built this for Ebay. Its on its way to its new home in Singapore. I do have a pair of King Tigers in the work for a very special dio soon though.

Frank, Thank you for all the kind words. You can see most of my dio's in the Diorama features section here on Armorama.

Catch-22, the Green I used is a mix of Tamiya colors including XF26, XF60 and XF2. I know its not the standard green you would usually see on a German ww2 Vehicle but with paint shortages what they were I felt a little artistic license could be had.


Ed, for soft edge camo, I use a real low pressure on my compressor, around 7 psi and a real thin paint mix. I do the first passes with the darker colors then come back in an add lighter color where I feel it looks right for a good an faded effect.

Keith as stated above this was build entirely from the conception for Ebay. It was good practice for a future dio that will feature a pair of King Tigers.

Gerald, After reading your post I checked my "Tigers in Combat" Vol.2 an you are right sir. I haven't looked through any of my other books yet but I really didn't research this one to much. I used the decals Tamiya supplied with the kit and since I didn't want to do an Ardennes Tank I chose the other option in the instructions for a Oder River Front KT.
Sorry about that. On my next ones I'll do a little research before decaling them. Thanks for the catch.

Thanks to everyone one for all the kind words they have said about this model. I appreciate it. Cheers Kevin