So I am leaving for my senior year of college in less than 2 weeks. I couldnt resist buying AFV club's 1/35 scale Sturmtiger so I decided to challenge myself. I want to build this, and a dio, in less than two weeks. I started yesterday night, August 9th and will include some more pictures as I go along. Here is the layout for the diorama that I have planned. We all know the sturmtiger could easily destroy buildings and I have a miniart building, and planed on having figures come and survey the damage caused by such a monster. So here is a very rough layout but more pictures will be on the way. I was working on another vehicle but i decided that this was too good to pass up.

Wow an AFV vehicle and a MiniArt building in two weeks - that is aggresive.
Love the vehicle and MiniArt has some nice buildings so it should proove to be a good diorama.

"power build", hm? Good luck - I'll watch your progress. Coffee comes handy: both staying awake, and for aging walls

So here we go.
After debating on if I should really do this I decided to start building around midnight last night. I thought I could pull this off with ample time as long as I work efficiently, especially since I really have nothing but time on my hands for the last two weeks I am here. So to maximize time, as my white putty dries before sanding I am here uploading pictures and explaining what I am doing.

So the Sturmtiger will be a complete out of the box build with the only aftermarket addition being Friul tracks. I just love the way they look. So I began wiht the lower hull and noticed the kit calls for zimmerit. I knew i should have gotten the atak zimmerit set but I thought, it never hurts to try. I have no roller so I decided to steal my girlfriends nail grooming set and made zimmerit from there. I tested it first but it actually came out quite well, maybe a little wide but it will have to do. Then from here the kit really just comes together aside from small gaps. I find that in every german armor kit, the rear hull armor always has a gap when meeting the hull. This was easily fixed with some sheet styrene strip. So this is my work in 12 hours, including some sleep. I plan on taking my time with painting because if that is rushed then your whole model falls apart.
















Thanks for looking. More to come as soon as the putty dries

So after 18 hours of work this is what I have. I filled the gaps between the side armor and the lower hull and then apply zimmerit to the sides. This was the most difficult part and will still need clean up around some of the details but other than that it is going by well. I really do hate how it looks during construction but paint is what brings its all together. Anywho, I assembled part of the engine deck, and next I will finish those engine deck details and then the superstructure.

The worst part had to be the engine deck where the grills sit upon, you can see below that when these things break youre just all over the place, but luckily you didnt need them to complete this portion. I think this may it till today, maybe more to build later but tomorrow for sure. I believe i might spend a good portion of the day cleaning up details. Here are more images. Enjoy and thanks for looking.

so thats it for me today, i think i wore myself out from working on it about 8 hours straight. tomorrow evening I will be back at it.

Damn dude. looking good. keep on keeping on.

thanks mike, i havent touched it today but tonight i shall. More pictures to come

So I was able to put in about 2 hours of work tonight but I am pooped, so time to call it a night. There are some fit issues that will need to be addressed tomorrow and quite frankly I am so tired I cant at the moment. Here is what I have and some test fitting.

The hardest part had to have been the rifled PE part but once I got the idea it was easy peasy.





More to come tomorrow!

Sean

Looking good. I'm a bit further advanced than you as my Sturmtiger is ready for paint. Suggestion if it's not too late - paint inside the engine compartment black so nothing can be seen when looking through the engine grilles.

I know what you mean about that rifling - I found it to be a pain in the butt too. Solved the problem by heating the piece of brass up to red heat with a gas blowtorch several times - makes it a lot more malleable.

Have fun, and if you need any help, drop me a line.

Rob

Thanks. I was planning on doing that, but it never hurts to hear it when someone is ahead of me. Hopefully after tomorrow I will be ready to paint.

Nice update - watching as you go

dont rock the boat, theres a james coming aboard!

nice build so far, good luck with ya speed build!

Really nice work, I like the texture you've added as well.

2 weeks is an ambitious time frame for sure! Will there be any figures in this diorama?

yes, at least a few. That will be the hard part to fit in. I havent ordered or bought any yet but i will start looking into them today. Any suggestions?

So the vehicle is almost complete as far as the build stage goes. I didn't build the crane because there are some issues I have with the hooks and other spots where welds belong. The welds are so unrealistic so I want to make them more pronounced but I have to let the glue dry. Also, I took the advice and painted where the engine compartment would be black so you wouldnt be able to see in. There was a nasty little gap as the superstructure met the hull. I just used some white putty and some strip styrene. Also, the texture on the upper armor is a little too smooth for my taste so I will finish touching that up tomorrow by adding some texture with some liquid cement. Other than that I am eagerly waiting on my white metal tracks, mr surfacers, and mig washes. So hopefully they come tomorrow and I can knock the tracks out in a few hours. Then the part where patience must come in and I will switch my focus. to the miniart building.



















Thanks for looking. More tomorrow!

So i am waiting on my white metal track but can someone help me out as far as painting. I know the last time i tried them when I primed them they were no longer flexible and when I did move them the primer flaked off. Any suggestions?

My suggestion would be to use a product called Blacken it. Here´s a tutorial: http://www.ipmslasvegas.org/Friulmodel2.htm

I´ve used it a couple of times and really like the result. The "patina" is also very strong and doesn´t rub of when you handle the tracks.

Jesper

Jasper,

thanks alot. I'm trying to find a place that sells it in my city but its a little difficult.

Sean

Another suggestion - glue a piece of 1/8" Evergreen angle along the underside of the back edge of the front mudguards (about 1/2" long). Having done that, you can then glue the vertical leg of the angle to the hull and it makes for a much better attachment of the mudguards. I don't know how AFV Club intended for the mudguards to be attached, but whatever means it was, there was hardly any attachment area.

Have fun.

Rob

I was actually going to leave the mudguards off for that reason alone and with the time restraints i didnt want to go about figuring it out. However, with your advise it makes it much easier. When I get to it tomorrow I'll take your advice.

Thanks Alot!

So its almost 4am here in Chicago and I just stopped building. I ended with the idler and a road wheel but I got tired and finally just realized the time. So tonight I switched gears a little and cut out all those vacuum formed miniart building parts and glued them together, not paying attention to details but minimizing the gaps so not much putty would be needed later. So I worked on making some of the welds much better which turned out to be a very long and tedious part and still need to be cleaned up, but the crane caused the most frustration as the instructions were incorrect and left out a major part of the crane. However, I searched the parts trees and finally found the omitted piece. Also, I dont have Blacken-it but I do have an art product called Sophisticated Finishes, which rusts metals. I tested it out on some Fruil tracks I had for another vehicle and the results look promising for a nice base color. Anywho, sleep for me and more to come tomorrow. The tracks come and the road wheels come as well. I'm very excited to hopefully finalize both builds and get ready to prime them in the evening and begin work on the base for the diorama. Until tomorrow.

So i FINALLY finished construction of the Sturmtiger. Maybe making a few touch ups before I prime it in the morning. I received my Friul tracks today and a few hours later, voila, they are finished.

MORE IMPORTANTLY
I couldnt get ahold of the Blacken-it and my Sophisticated Finish Rust solution turned the tracks a weird oxidized copper green so thats out the question. Can anyone give me some tips on painting these things?

Also, I have to attach the tools in the morning and I am personally worn out from all the building of the tracks today. Also I have to fill the gaps in the miniart building, but soon as thats done priming and preshading can begin





Until tomorrow.

Sean
Great build as the clock is ticking.....
More of us should adopt this attitude and then we'd actually get something finished

By the way, I know it's a little late now but the gap you spoke of and filled between the superstructure and hull I think you find existed in real life, not a fault of the kit. Although most of the superstructure was wielded together the structure itself was I believe just bolted to the converted Tiger hull. Hence the big bolt heads you see.

Hope you make the deadline.

Alan

Hi

Here is some shots of one of the few remaining examples.

http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/ulrich_wrede/sturmtiger/




Alan