Hi all - been out of action for a while but I see this place is maintaining its usual high standards hope you are all well.

Anyway - just thought I'd post up some pics of my latest project - these shots were posted not long after applying the 3-tone camo base coats. The paint seems to have gone on nicely, in particular exposing the pitting on the armour surface which I achieved using a sharp knife and some poly cement.






Lots of work to be done still.

No matter how often I see this beast, it´s always impressive piece of metal.
Your King has got the looks he deserves! Colours seem just right, build is flawless and I can´t wait for seeing more of this.
Is this the Tamiya kit?
Those tracks look like vinyl and they are probably not attached yet, but I think they need to be adjusted in a way that they won´t hang outwards (the second pic).



Toni

Thanks Envar

Yep - Its the Tamiya kit, first Tamiya kit I've made in a long long time, and the quality of the kit is superb - even the vinyl tracks are excellent, so good that I'm going to use them rather than shelf out for the aftermarket jobbies.
I've drilled out a series of tiny holes in the lower hull sides, and some wires will pass through these to correctly position the tracks and achieve the correct 'sag'

My only dilemma is wether to leave the camo style as it is, or add the spots reminiscent of ambush style camoflage.


John

till now seems a fairly good work and believe will go like this all the way. Just wanted to ask if you plan to paint the tools in the usual pattern wood grip and metal head or gonna leave them under the camo painting of the rest of the tank?

Major Goose

Good question - I'll probably paint the tools in the correct wood/steel colours, always hard to emulate a correct wood colour I feel, but nevertheless I'll attempt it.

VERY nice work here. Your paint scheme looks perfect ! If I were you I'd leave off the 'ambush' spots. Makes me wanna do another Henschel myself ! I have a Porsche
I'm working on now. Think I will save your pics for a future reference.

Great job, and your Tiger II will look even better once done. Thanks for the motivation !

Cheers !

Robert

thanks Alpenflage

I'd leave the camo as is - you've nailed this one really well.

FSM has a 'wood' painting article in it this month. Not to bad.
One method actually has a dark base coat and a light color streaked on over the dark to simulate grain ??

If you can check it out it might be worth while.

skii,
I'd leave it as it is it looks great you can always buy another and do the ambush
pattern on that

Excellent paintpattern really smooth :-) Looks perfect the way it is. Make sure to post when finished!

Matt

about the wood painting of the tools grips skill you know for sure that depends on what weathering will follow. If your tank will be in battle the grips of the tools dont look so woodish after all this hard use, they turn to a mixed dark brown,gray black mixed colour much grasy from all these dirty hands on them. This also goes for the metal heads of the tools that do not keep of vcourse the original colour but chip the paint from use and become silverish metal also greased and oily from all the dirt in the tank. On the other hand if you try to make the tank "from the factory" the tools would be brand new and a mediyum brown with some darker mixture for the grips will do just fine .

Thanks for the comments and opinions guys, I'm still undecided, however the spots will go on last (inbetween final weathering processes) * if at all *

To help me decide I had a play around with MS Paint program - this is what I'm basically going to end up with if I do the spots.



I think it looks alright, my main concern is of it interfering with the weathering process and looking too 'messy' - I guess the crux of the matter will be how it looks after the washing / highlighting phase.

John

Very nice work. The airbrushing is done very well.

talking of KING TIGER, i ve found severall models from a guy that's killing a closed shop stuff. and has one KING TIGER II KONIGSTIGER Sdkfz 182 that he sell for 35 euros tha Tamiya one.Do any body knows anything about it?

Just some latest shots with wash and initial highlights completed



Also I've had some success with emulating rust - rummaging around in my artists
pastel set I found a really good match for rust - I just mixed some of the powder with
thinners and painted it on - this was the result

Heya mate - that looks great! Keep up the good work! The paint job looks fantastic as is - I reckon stick with it and forget about the ambush route.

Keep us posted!

Cokes

Colours look good to me.
Get a few filters on and some umber / black washes. Will look GREAT!

VERY NICE PAINTWORK - CONGRATS

Skii:

I have to say I think you are doing a wonderful job on this beast. I did one myself a couple years ago and it was really fun. I did opt to go for the ambush scheme. I think it was a good idea for you to add the dots in MSpaint to see if you like it or not. With how nice yours is turning out I could see going either way with it (big help hey? lol) Here is a picture of mine weathered up with the ambush. Although not as nice as yours is turning out, it may give you an idea of how it might look. Hope it helps.



Good luck either way you go, and please keep us posted. This one is going to be a winner.

John

Skii you're gonna have to tell me how you did the track runs. they look GREAT! also what was the mixture you made for rust it looks very realistic! congrats on a great job

Howdy fella's,

WOW!....2 excellent Tigers in 1 thread......nice read first thing in the morning. :-)

john17: Nice dio work, your Koenig Tiger looks great. The damaged armour skirts are a nice touch. Are the trees in the background part of the dio, or are they 'forced perspective'?

Skii: As usual sir, superb work!! Your camo pattern is dead-on. The balance of colours is something I always try to acheive, but always seem to feel it 'could-be-better'.....you've hit it right on the noggin! As to the addition of Ambush spots......I'd add the filters first, and the additional washes (pin washes too?) and reevaluate. Something to keep in mind is, sometimes it's better to 'leave well-enough alone'......just a thought.
Lastly, I just love your 'rust' result. Good on ya mate!

Tread out.

Thanks guys

hehe - I thought you guys would like the rust - simply ground up pastel mixed with enamel thinners - works beautifully

John - your Tiger is a beauty m8, the damage on those fenders with the muddy running gear looks amazing - the diorama is fantastic too - brilliant work Sir - your ambush pattern is spot on ('scuse the pun)

Tread and others - many thanks - I will be doing some chipping and rain marks, possibly a little more rust in some areas, wheels are a little too clean right now.

Hi Skii ...Great job so far ..You just got to love them KTs....I think if I were you I would tone it down a bit with a few filters, a light dusting with some tamiya buff and a good coat of dusty color pastels .Have fun with it !! I guess you are doing this one as part of the 501SS in the Ardennes? You could muddy up those wheels and tracks a bit too.. Keep up the great work!!

Rick

Very nice. Put it in a contest and you will win just like I did! I love that King Tiger.
Gets me thinkin, I should probably finish my Porsche turreted one. I did one like yours
and it turned out great. No problems at all.

~Chip :-)

looks very nice, the colour are very similar at the reality, now you have to do a little bit of weatheing..
so congrats!!!