Hello everybody!

First of all my sincerest apologies for the extended festive break, 2009 really has been one of those years eh? Perhaps 2010 will be a better year for productivity?

Hi John! Thanks for looking in on this madness again, and especially the kind words of support. Hope you manage to get hold of the CH Fehrmann Tiger, a great kit, with many possibilities for the various late war hybrids that were seen.

Hello Rob my friend! How are you doing? Thanks for the positive remarks on the painting and weathering, this is probably the area that can bring many a modeller into self doubt, and reflecting, as often I have a look or a feel I am going for, and often it can go the wrong way... So far the Normandy mud and dust look, seems to be working! Now a for few beaten up Tigers of the Bocage eh? Missing Zimmerit, field repairs, maybe even burnt out!

Hi Herbert! Good to see you back up an running with your Panthers. ...A book! Now that would be an interesting development, a dio based publication with SBS and colour plates! We would have to get Rob on board for the wrecks, and draft in Claude Joachim for Villers Bocage! Ah well we can dream eh?

Hi there Stuart! Thank you ever so much for posting your excellent Tiger, I really like the dry dusty look of it, and especially the Zimmerit damage along the hull side. I am very happy that my ramblings have been of some worth, and got people trying new kits and things. Looking forwards to more.

Hola' Andres Thank you for the invitation to join your modelling community, I signed up the other day, and had a good look around... Some really awesome modelling going on in Venezuela, your attention to detail and the modelling skills employed within your build are excellent. Well worth a look, lots to be gleaned... Marvellous Andres.

What about the Tigers I hear you ask? Well with the little spare time that I have had of late, PE and Clamps have been the order of the day... Next will be getting some onto the hulls. Then a little has been done on preparing the next two Tigers on the conveyor, and some more weathering of '121' has been done. Some work with the pigments and selective staining washes, then a light application with the AB of very dilute Tamiya Buff XF57 along the edges of the lower hull and bottom of the turret, to blend and tie in the pigments, creating a travelled look on top of the static dust build up.







Right then folks... Back in a tick, thanks for looking in, and all your continued interest and support.

Cheers Phil.

Looking good Phil..
Have you decided which shade of green digit you prefer yet?..Bison's or Dragon's?..I can't decide.
I've also managed a little bench time today, being snowed in..

Grant.

HiLo Grant!
How was the peregrination to warmer climes? All rested and re-fitted ready for a 2010 Tiger onslaught?

I think that I visually prefer the Dragon hue... But my slewed logic on colour application, makes me think a lighter shade would be more true to actuality, especially if it was painted over a solid white numeral. I suppose a lot depends on, if the green paint paste pigment was used with a spirit thinner, or if another source of green paint was scrounged or supplied for the tactical numbering? Well you have done it to me again Grant... I'm off on one!
Snow here too! We had a foot last weekend, and it hasn't thawed... And it has just started snowing again... Strange weather indeed.

Take care Phil.

Hi there Stuart! Thank you ever so much for posting your excellent Tiger, I really like the dry dusty look of it, and especially the Zimmerit damage along the hull side. I am very happy that my ramblings have been of some worth, and got people trying new kits and things. Looking forwards to more.

Hi, Phil,
Thanks for the kind words. I will post a couple more pics if you like. I need to sort out the pinkish colour on the tracks first though. I used the wrong pigments. My later works have turned out much better.
Regards,
Stu

Beautiful tigers,
Can't wait to see them all finished.
You must really like tiggers!
Matt

G'day everybody!

Hi Stuart! A light wash with some dilute oil colour (of your preference, perhaps a brown tone?) this will knock the pigment/or colour back somewhat. Feel free to post any further shots you have of your Tiger, mine get lonely from time to time!

Hello Matt! I think that this will rumble on for some time, as I am still a way off building all 'six' of Wittmann's Tigers bivouacked outside of Villers Bocage, but all plus some anomalies from the unit will be completed ready for paint... This year, I promise.
...Tigers, yeah, they're alright!

Right then Ladies & Gentlemen... Live from the Peppermint Lounge it's...



Sorry couldn't resist that one!

Now with the DML clamps being a sure ticket to a 'sectioning order' (or is that just me?) I have been trying out lots of different clamps from various manufacturers... Firstly the 'workable' options, Aber and Lion Roar.




These consist of three parts, the base plate, top clasp, and locking handle. The trick is to get them all together, without losing your sanity. I have tried lots of ways to make them behave, but have resigned myself to a small pair of flat jawed pliers, tweezers, and a large cup of tea! Just clearing the mind, switching on the magnifying lamp, and using my opposable thumb and fingers to coerce the pesky things to 'mate'!

Of interest, to me anyway, is the size disparity, between the two brands, Abers being a good 1/4 if not 1/3 bigger, than the Lion Roar version. And for some reason, the Lion roar clamps go together a little easier despite being smaller! Perhaps it is to do with the length of the joint tabs on the base and clasp top being of differing widths. Lion Roars being longer than Abers, giving a better chance of the parts staying together, when the handle is 'closed' up locking the clamp together! I will have to try and show this in an SBS, when I have worked out how to operate the camera and fit the parts together using two hands!



Now putting them on the hull, that can be tricky, we are often told to use tweezers, but I have been shown by other modellers, that a humble piece of blu-tack will hold the piece, and enable a more natural 'hold and placement' between thumb and forefinger.
A dab of CA from a brush applicator, a steady hand, and some guiding pencil marks and Bob's your Uncle!


Take your hand away... Tah dah! Affixed clamp!


Now let us see in comparison what they look like in comparison fixed to the kits.





So I will leave you to make up your own minds, as to choice. And will get on with some modelling.

See you all later kind folks! Cheers Phil.

Beautiful work! And impressive clamp building! I will have to try the attachment method. I tend to launch little bits with my tweezers.

Now if only they sold whole frets of just clamps I could practice practice practice...and maybe get a good set out of a couple of dozen!

'Working for the clampdown'

Very tidy work Phil, my average is 3 botched for every good one... and I use the non-workable Griffon 2 parters
You forget to mention the 3 buckets full of patience needed in the SBS

The LionRoar clamps do look a nicer size to me.

Top blog Phil, looking forward to the next installment,
Grant.



PS: I'll get that Verlinden clamp set off to you, (that I'd totally forgotten about until I saw this ). They're also 3 parters.

Phil,
Good comparasion info-been listening to The Cramps for years! Dan

Phil,

Again you make this look like a walk in the park. Patience of a Saint you have.
I could only manage to superglue the Lion Roar clamps together. I will attempt some more now seeing that it can be done.

Still following this thread with great interest, and just finishing Mid-Prod version (Academy, with Interior). All built to the spec of your extensive online manual here, many tanks for this.

Rgds
Peter

What I always do when I am adding small PE parts to plastic, is that I brush on a small tiny bit of regular plastic glue, let it work the plastic a bit and then add the PE part. Wait for the glue to completely cure/evaporate and then flow on some CA-glue to permanently fix it in place.

This way, I can manipulate the PE into the correct place without the risk of excessive CA-glue on the model.

Anyway, the German clamps will forever remain the modellers benchmark for measuring "abbility to use tweezers, patience and not losing ones marbles at the same time".

Wotcha!

Well back at the homestead, and back to the workbench...

Hi David! Glad to have you along, I know what you mean about not enough clamps, especially within the DML boxes, you alwaysseem to loose more than you complete eh? Lion Roar's set has possibly the most on one fret, divided between early and late variants.

Aber not supplying as many, and Griffon about slap bang in the middle, but as Grant states, a lot easier to assemble.

"Working for the clampdown"! Missed that one Grant. When I get a bit of spare time I will knock you up a couple of sets, ready to go! Now that would be a good little 'cottage industry' for someone 'premade clamps'!
The Lion Roar clamps are the best option in my opinion, size wise and how easy they go together with rudimentry tools (a pair of pliers/tweezers and a sanding stick). Cheers for rooting out the Verlinden PE fret, I am really looking forward to trying it out.

Hi Dan! Always good to hear from you, have you ever ventured further into the Garage/Psychobilly genre? It's the stripped down, raw guitar that always gets me. How is the weather treating you? Not so much white stuff over here now!

Hello Peter! Great to see you back! I have a few Academy kits in the back of the cupboard. Early and Mid with interiors, I will have to get round to them one day. Glad you are still enjoying this saga, even in it's stop start phase at the moment! And really happy it is of use to other Tiger builders out there.

Hello daar Herbert! Hoe doet u? Nice tip on the pre-gluing of the clamps beforethe CA, I gave it a whirl, and it certainly makes PE fitting less hectic!
I think with the clamp assembly, I lost my marbles years ago... Probably listening to The Cramps etc!

Okay then, finishing off '121'... Well this beast is being rather difficult, at taming in relation to the weathering, the 'liberal' application of the Mig concrete Pigment, has hindered somewhat the flow and placement of detail washes and staining... But perserverance and a very soft brush has helped, get a key to the surface.
Some more of the final 'damagble parts' have been fitted, antennae, Bosch light, etc.and rain, fuel, oil, and water staining has been applied to the rear deck.





With a little more dusting of the rear plate.



Onto the weathering of the roadwheels, this is done with some a mix of the obligatory Mig pigments, applied dry over some thinner. Do not worry about over application, as a larger flat brush will remove the excess when dry.








Then after the mud and dust slurry has dried, you can add some lubricant leaks from selected hubs. Thiswas achieved with various mixes of Tamiya smoke XF19 and Mr Hobby GS H342 Oil, some heavily thinned Raw umber and Burnt Sienna can also be used.



Okay I'll go and give the post office a prod, and see where my AM packets are up to! Back ASAP!

Cheers, and thanks muchly one and all. Phil.

121's looking nice and mucky after it's road march. I'll have to invest in some of Tamiya Smoke, it's appears very useful. Already got the some Gunze Oil, nice for spills.

VP clamps in the post this affa.. I'm free from 1pm today..

This most impressive Phil. I really love all the weathiering you have done. I will make myself a pdf from this build a keep it safe on my HD.

thanks for sharing

spit

Phil,

I've been following your build since the beginning (of time ) and have learned a great deal from you and those that have kindly posted here too. I have yet to try my hand at Zimmerit, you make this time consuming task look so easy. There is a wealth of well researched information here. I'm very happy that you have taken the time and extra effort to keep this post going. This is the kind of modeling that helps everyone and keeps the hobby alive and enjoyable. You have a very magical way about you. Not only have you done an outstanding job with the Tiger I projects, photographs, techniques used and a great many other things here, you've also set a benchmark for those that have yet to post their own build log here.

Thank you for just being you Phil,
-Eddy

Very nice Phil, just love the way you dirty up those wheels, just the inspiration I need to do on my JT.

Always great to see your latest post.

Rob
www.scratchmod.com

Hi there Phil!!! I've just registered here on Armorama just to tell you about how informative, efficient and convenient for all the 'tiger freaks' your blog is! Watching the way you apply and improve zimmerit made lots of people believe it's not that difficult and to try it themselves. I personally thank you for that.
Now there are some isssues I'd like to mention (and to dascuss?):
1) Are there any photos with tiger I late having welded loader's hatch?
2) There's a plan to build an SPzAbt 101 Tiger late with larger muzzle break but without spare tracks on its front glacis. Could you please recommend some particular vehicles?
3) I know you have AFV Club Tiger in your stash. What about its most noticeable highs and lows?
4) Stop with my questions now. With your attention to details I hope you'll be interested in a link concerning AM track link sets. [url=http://www.dishmodels.com/gshow.htm?p=1593]
It is generally in Russian, but it's not a problem. Let me explain.
There's a table on top of the page where
1) is for vendor
2) is for the lenght of track link (actual data is given in brackets)
3) track width
4) total track height
5)track height minus guide horn
6) guide horn thickness
7)distance between guide horns
8)total matches/total discrepancies/sum of them
Within each short review there is information about:
-the degree of true-to-life look
-moulding quality
-easiness of assembly
-the amount of extra links and bonus parts
-total rating
Both actual Kubinka and kit links are measured with electronic calipers
Sorry for such along 'letter'. Being brief is not my talent!

Hello again Tiger people!
Back again, with the next annal in this schwere saga!

Good morning Grant! How is it your side of 'The Alley'? Tamiya smoke is a very useful medium for all sorts of techniques and weathering applications... Just not very good a being, well err... Smoke, I tend to use a flatter black/brown for that! But is sure is great when heavily thinned at replicating fuel/oil stains. As you will see later in this reply Grant, the Verlinden PE frets have arrived! Thank you ever so much, extremely generous of you, a real nifty set of clamps, clasps and fixings... And not a fret tab to remove! Very clever stuff indeed. Those tarp tie downs, are just the ticket for the relocation on the #6416/6406 kit bash. Thanks again Grant.

Alright there Rob! How are things at the 'Scratchmod Styrene Surgery'? I have been tinkering with some damage and repairs on a Tiger, that is coming soon to a blog near you... I must say, it is very engrossing work when you get down into it. The trouble with wrecking a Tiger for me is, (as it always turns out with these surly Big Cats) that when you start peeling back the layers of hide, usually another detail pops up with no,little,or singular information and evidence of! I suppose that is just part of the fascination with the Tiger eh?

Hi there Pawel! Great to see you back in the Scwhere swing of things again! I am always fascinated by your application of ideas and evolving techniques, as you approach each new challenge you set yourself, with the ever growing family of late war Panzers you produce. Ever fancy doing a Tiger 1 perhaps, maybe a late war 'cobbled' hybrid? Go on you know you want to... A final production version with IR and other additions would be interesting eh?

Hello again Eddie! Good to see you again. Thank you ever so much for the very kind comments on the Blog... Being, well me I just don't know how to present this madness any other way! I think the style comes from all those great publications(from Shep Paine, through Tony Greenland, right the way up to Adam Wilder, and the new groups of armour modellers) and the many great and amazing Blogs (yours included) that I follow and plagiarise! Seriously though, I just like messing with stuff visually. As for just being me, maybe Arkham Armor could be a good Blogsite name for my ramblings eh Eddie?

Добро пожаловать, и теплое приветствие мой вентилятор тигра собрата! Hi Paul I hope that makes sense, welcome aboard, really great to have another Tiger enthusiast aboard. And one so intense on tracks, is a real boon... These things really get under the skin eh? I am putting up some images of the LionMarc set in a moment, compared against a set of WWII productions resin set... Very interesting, to us!
I will have a good root through my images for some answers on your question of welded loaders hatches, and the possibility of the existence of a Tiger in the s.SS.Pz.-Abt.101 with your specific build features. Off the top of my head I don't think there was, but as with Tigers in general and especially the '101st' you can never discount anything off hand, as the Normandy campaign drew on, 1/1 scale Werkstatt kitbashing seemed to be common place.
I can get some comparison images together for you on the main differences between the AFV club Late/Final Tiger 1 and the DML offerings ASAP, the moulding and detail is excellent, just a few small (correctable) errors and measurement differences. Thank you ever so much for leading me to your amazing and very informative track thread, and the excellent Dshmodel site... Awesome scene going on there Paul. Cheers, I spent a full evening rummaging through all those threads and features! The accounts will have to wait!

Okay then... A few packages arrived, notably the LionMarc resin track set (courtesy of a fine fellow in the Netherlands by the name of Bernard Mckenna, thanks Bernie, a real life saver) unfortunately these tracks a pretty difficult to well... err 'Track' down! They are in cast in a cream resin (not overly brittle... Just watch out for the guide horns!) Some mould flash (easily cleaned of with a small toothbrush) cast into the link are both sets of holes for the track pins (supplied as brass pins, a little to long but easily sorted... And better than 'wonky wire') They fly together, and have a good feel to them... One small criticism, the are a little tight on the sprocket, and I have used the full spec of '96' links... on the 600mm idler! (perhaps a bit on the small end of the scale eh Paul?) Still it is better than them being 5-6 links under (friuls)! Right here are the images, for you all to make your own minds up!



Here we can see the links compared (WWII 'click-fit' in the Grey resin)


And here is the fit on the sprocket, I have not put any great deal of force into making them seat right, but it should not be to great a problem, perhaps a little 'opening of the sprocket teeth would help?


Right so that's the tracks looked at... What else has arrived I hear you holla'!
Tiger Model Designs 'Tiger 1 spare track hangers'


These three part, castings, should really help with the speeding up of the detailing of the next two Tigers... Though I am going to mess with the casting marks on one set, the numbers on them are a bit large and not really that accurate. The track links are very nicely cast, (three Early/ and five mid/late) with some excellent detail on the pin hole ends.
Now onto the verlinden PE sets... Very, very nice, excellent detail, lots of different options, early/late and some clasps and fixings I have never even seen! And to boot, they are supplied without attachment to the fret, on a low-tac carrier sheet, leaving you with no filing of minute 'flirtable' parts to feed the carpet monster!


Thanks again Grant... Excellent stuff!

Right gotta blast! see you all real soon... Cheers Phil.

Those Verlinden clasps look very interesting without the connecting lines to the fret. Might look into those in the future.

Hi Phil,
Good to see these LionMarc links 'in the flesh' and hear an opinion. I'd seen them at Hobbyeasy but was little apprehensive about shelling out until I had an idea how they were. Plus the resin reminded me (colour only) of some Miniarm JSII links I bought, which turned out to be awful; holes everywhere and super brittle. Good to know these aren't the same..

Glad you like the look of the VP pieces. Some parts look more to scale than other PE producers. I think the turret bin latches are the smallest I seen...
Don't curse me when your fiddling, trying to put them together

Great blog Phil (book almost), keep it comin',
See you, Grant.

P.S. Do those WWII productions 'clickable' links stay together OK?
P.P.S What do think: Totenkopf late '901'; a 25mm roof?

Hello again Tiger tamers!

Hi Herbert! The Verlinden clamps are excellent, as Grant has stated, very well etched, no nasty attachment points to file off, and a myriad of choice, hopefully this will be an ongoing trend with PE, produced on a carrier film, very much like the Lion Roar 'ironmongery' fixings. The tie downs are just the ticket, as on the DML Tigers, the depiction is a little 'flat'.

Hello there Grant... Thanks once again for supplying the frets for the saga, I shall endeavour to work as many in as possible.
Now the WWII productions tracks, they are actually very resilient, even under a great deal of strain from the infamous AFV Club sprung idler (more on this further down) I came across the odd link that was a loose fit, but not many... One down side as opposed to the MasterClub tracks is that a lot more wore needs to be put into them, in order to represent a 'spare' link, due to the 'nubs' . Another negative is the availability, you have as good
a chance of filling your manure sack by following a rocking horse around. They are not that easy to find. This really being a shame as they are right up there with MasterClub.

Now that pesky TK Tiger! I have had a mess with the image, and cannot find any hint of a 'step' in the roof. And that blinking tool box on the loaders hatch!!! One little thing of note is the height of the 'tabbed flanges' on the ventilator, these do look higher. And with the 9./s.SS Pz.Rgt. receiving six 'February 44' Tigers from the stuttering embryonic s.SS.Pz.Abt.103 this gives us the possibility of '901' being a very similar beast to '007' with a 25mm roof... I think Pat Stansell gave it the 'interim' label! ... Does this mean another Tiger growling in Groningen... Given the weather of late, you had best make it 'Siberian'!




Right then Paul!
Here are a few brief images of the AFV Club v DML lateTiger. It is a strange mix of detailing and omissions, all fixable, the most notable being the lack of a weld seam on the turret roof, no retaining grub screws and drain on the gun/mantlet sleeve, a rather strange location of the counter sunk holes on the hull roof turret protection ring. (David Byrden on his essential Tiger1 info site has all the information needed to correct this) there are no lifting pintles on the armoured exhaust covers, and the engine vent and cooling grilles are squarer and narrower than DML's representation... Meaning specific PE mesh covers have to be sourced. I noticed also when playing around with the LionMarc tracks, that they will not fit over the AFV Club idler! I thinks this is an amalgamation of the tracks being on the slightly small side and the idlers being a bit over wide, it was a tight fit with the WWII production tracks. Anyway I'll let you have a look yourself.

















[IMG]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e198/barkmann424/AFCTigerVersusDMLTiger042.jpg[/[IMG]

A bit image intensive, I will try and get some more measurements and observations on the AFV Club Tiger shortly!

Cheers my amigos... Thanks again for peering into the padded cell once more. Phil!

Always good to see a comparasion between two kits!
BTW-Such a big fan of The Cramps that after listening to their album "Songs the Lord taught us" about a million times that I named my brand new M1A1 "Strychnine"! That name took up alot of room on the thermal shroud!
Dan

Hi Phil,
Nice to see the two kit's next to each other. I personally think the AFV kit is well worth it's bargain price though it does need some AM extras and a little extra work.

Sorry about taking your blog off on a bit of a tangent with the TK 901. But... looking at a close up of the 901 pic; I'm pretty sure we can see loaders hatch has the splash guard around it's seating (green arrow) and the hatch is open. The edge of it is just sticking out behind the crewmans arm (red arrow) with the 'curved arm thingy' also showing (blue arrow).



I'd assumed (always a mistake) it was a later Tiger because of the monocular sight... It now looks a good contender for a 'Kurzmaul' kit build...
Well now you've helped me convince myself about it , let's get back to Normandy.
Cheers, Grant.

Surprise I'm back! Now I'm cursing the good weather that has kept me busy elsewhere!

Hi again Dan! Now if you have any photos of your mount 'strychnine' I would really like to see them... You never know it might inspire me to put inks onto board or glue onto styrene! Please tell me it was painted on the thermal sleeve in 'mutant green'!

Hello Grant! Looking further into that image, the points we have raised between us both really point to a 25mm roof! I suppose that this was a real period of flux in the the Tiger 1's latter development stage, and a few of these production mis-matches crop up, especially in the s.SS.Pz.-Abt.101 '232' being one and '233/4' being another! I expect it was due to the Kassel plant using up what was available at hand... I think that David has mentioned this on occasion, relating recently to DML/CH #6610 'Wittmann's last Tiger' as such an example of lingering vehicles and parts at the Kassel plant.
Cannot wait to see '901' get underway!

Now then what am I up to at the moment you ask? Well I happens to be these blighters!


The excellent Tiger Model Design "Tiger 1 Spare Track & Track Holders (ALL) #16514
Now this set really helps you get a fairly accurate representation of the hanger/clamps, that is possible to articulate, (being a two part clamp) with manufacturers cast numbers on the top surface (a bit on the large side, but there never the less!) Now there is a little problem with these top clamps... I and a few other people have not found another set on a Tiger 1, other than the one at Saumur! I notice that there is a lot of web reference and illustrative depiction of this variation in lip profile on the clamp. So the problem arises of changing the retaining lip on the clamp to match the majority of Tiger images.



And the culprit that started all this confusion... The very heavily researched Saumur Big Cat! (Thank you to Dennis Trowbridge for the excellent image)

Now you can see the difference, and this becomes a problem when depicting recognised Tigers (especially if you can see the Spare track Holders! Even more so on an early or a mid!) But it is easily remedied, in order for us to use these marvellous items on our Tigers...
Cut of the profiled lip, and glue a piece of 0.015 x 0.020 stock styrene strip onto the clamp underside and trim!

Did any of you notice that Ron Volstad's amazing attention to detail and in depth research is highlighted in the box top art for DML #6253?
And with some brass rod inserted into the holders base support... (purloined from the Lion Marc set!
)

The spare track can now be clamped onto the turret, safe in the knowledge it has the more common pattern of retaining lip on the clamp!

And how does it look when on the Tiger...


I go now to model my friends... Hopefully in earnest!

Cheers for looking in. Phil

Phil,
I have to say that the letters were painted in plain old flat black, nothing like green was allowed-I was surprised that I was allowed to name it that at all!
I'll look for photos and try and get them to you if they are found, but I think that none were taken.
Dan