Hey all,

Well, I'm adding my Tiger to the one just a few threads below, and not much different, at least in terms of the 'style', and probably not much interest to all of you who have seen a million of these, but, just curious about your thoughts. This is my second model, the first was a Challenger 2. I'm not happy with a lot on this tank, but thee are things that went well. I think the wheels look okay, but once seeing them in the pictures, the track and the wheels need some 'mud'. I had critiqued the other gent with the other thread about his numbers being too bright, and mine look bright as well, but in real life, they are far more 'toned-down' than they appear here. I got anxious, and just didn't put the tow rope on the sponson, as it was supposed to be. I used Phil Appleyard's thread as a guide, and tried some of his techniques, but far from all of them. The mud on the hull sides, inside the road wheels, looks GREAT, just wish it could be seen!

So...let me have it, guys. Remember, also, that this is not only tank number 2, but model number 2...

Oh, by the way, a few details relevant to the build. I used Friul tracks, the front and rear fenders are Voyager photo etch, as are the sponson mud guards. Some of the clamps, such as the rear jack ones, were PE, but none of the ones on the top of the hull were PE; the 'rifle rack' on the commander's hatch rim was a PE construction. I used Tamiya paint. Please ask if you have any questions. Lastly, I know I probably missed a whole lot of the wrong parts on this Tiger; I was not so much concerned about the historical accuracy, as you can tell from my awful paint job/camo pattern.

Thanks for looking!

And, after critiques, what would you build next if you were me, with the following general categories available to start:

Dragon Panzer IV
Tasca Shermans
Dragon M1A1 Abrams
Extra detailed Tamiya Challenger 2s
Hobby Boss/Meng/Tamiya IDF tanks: Merkava 1, 3, and 4

Curtis,excellent job on that camo,your decals went down great,and I really like your treatment of the tracks, They look great.i also like the slightly weathered look you achieved.

Only some small suggestions,just opinions.Overall burnt umber wash to pop the Zimm and to hilite the road wheels.Also perhaps the spare tracks could be rusted more.maybe some soot around thevexhaustscand shields.Keep up the good work,it really looks good as it is,just some thoughts

Anthony

Anthony,

Thanks for your very kind words! I realize, looking at the pictures, as posted, that the colors look somewhat odd...the very first picture, on my monitor, looks the closest to the actual colors. Regarding the rust, I agree with you, the spare tracks need more rust, and probably should look a bit closer to the tracks mounted on the tank. I actually have extra Friul metal links to do that, as I'd painted extra links in case they were needed. I have enough for the turret mounted ones, anyway, and could just 'rust' em up a bit. I'll see how hard it is to remove the ones I glued in place....if I can't get them off, without creating other problems, I'll just put a bit more rust on the turret and front mounted ones. I like the idea of emphasizing the Zim, but I've already done a lot of washes (for blending). I"m concerned about getting overly 'cute' with emphasis. if you give me some idea of what exactly your thoughts are, I'll surely consider them. Thank you, sir!

Curt B.;

Hi!

Nice Tiger, and the more so if this be your second child only!

I've not had the pleasure of doing a 1/35 Tiger yet, but have several lurking in my closet and it's only a matter of, well, er.... working up the nerve, I guess!

These later-production kitties with zimm and spare track-links hung on the turret really call me, and so I look in on each posted build so to see how folks treat things.

So - to your build:

I think it overall a really nice and clean job. The tracks are very neat and look the part, as do your wheels. The camo looks good, and your tools and bits mostly look right, IMO.

IF I were "directing" any mods and changes (aka "suggestions!"):

1) The camo colors look good, albeit I think I would blend it in a little more - as mentioned by Anthony C., a good wash with a dark or burnt umber oil will go far - both to pop all the weld lines and the zimm, and actually tone-down a little the color differences in the camo.

2) Dust the whole thing up afterwards: I'd follow that wash, which will darken and blend all a little, with maybe a few dusting passes with a very very dilute acrylic - say a Tamiya deck tan or a lightened dark yellow (dunkelgelb)- this will serve to lighten it up a little, and get the general dusty appearance which frequently holds true for tanks. This will also blend in the camo colors more.

3) Maybe add a bit of "flat earth" or other dirt colors on the running gear and lower hull - this stuff gets very dirty very quickly, and differentiating the upper from the lower reach of your big cat will pop all, IMHO.

4) The tow rope/cable... the cast / formed metal parts of eye-ends were very often painted dunkelgelb and, this being a later kitty, this would be what I would do - that and ding that paint up on the eye. You could very easily do this by dry-brushing or detail - brushing with dunkelgelb, and then use a toothpick to ding and scrape off some in and around the eye. The cable itself would be just fine, I think, in what you have. Maybe add a little dark-brown pin-wash on the eye and the cable to bring out the eye details a little and also add a bit of rusting to the cable.

5) Those spare links mounted on Tiger turrets... Probably one of the single coolest things, IMHO, going on these Tiger kits. And, strange to say, seems that most modelers want them to be either black (as in newly-mounted, new black-enamel-painted links from the factory) or have them rusty!

I'm into a rather different look...

See the very cool Normandy Tiger pic at : http://www.worldwar2aces.com/tiger-tank/tiger-tank-images/tiger-tank-09a.jpg

This one is colorized - the original BW pic is there also.

IF you look at lots of German AFV pics, you find that lots of the attached stuff, including both tow-cables and spare track-links, were painted in the prevailing camo of the vehicle. This was in large part due to the fact that AFV crew painted their own vehicles, and often repeatedly-so... And many clearly painted right over those heavy links... Like in the above Tiger pic.

I also urge one to consider that those links may have rarely been swapped-out or used, so they could remain either factory black, or be camo'd, or be base-coat colored, and seems both likely and FUN to have a mix of such on a turret!

So, IMO, there's no reason to "just" rust them up - you have a lot of reasonable and easy options!

Just a bunch of ideas and suggestions! Your kitty looks pretty good to me, and I would be mostly happy having one this nice, particularly were it only my second build, on my shelf!

Cheers!

Bob

Ditto all the above X 2.

Nicely done sir!

G

Hey Bob,

Thanks for your thoughts. I found that the 'vibrance' of the colors on the tanks are far more pronounced in the photos than they are in person. That said, for the NEXT TIger I do, an overall dusting of base color is probably in order. I did put 4 coats of the SIN FIlter tan for German tri-color camo on this one, and it toned the colors down considerably....again, in person. I can't explain why the colors seem so bright in the photos.

Since I had such a GREAT experience with doing the mud/dirt on the inner hull, where, unfortunately, you can barely see it in the pictures (and in person as well), I was wrestling, strongly, with adding touches of the same on the wheels and the outer edges of the tracks. I do think, if not overdone, that effect would look quite good. I'll consider it.

Regarding the spare tracks, I had been really happy with the look I got on them using the Vallejo Oily Steel color, which gave a genuine metallic look to the tracks, BUT did not have the awful thickening problem that I find happens with the Tamiya metallic acrylics when I hand-brush. I do think the tracks could use some attention, and for sure, the tow cables need some rust. Not like i don't have a lot of options for that, as I have the various tones of rust in MIG products, rust washes and rust pigments, plus some rust toned paints in the Tamiya and Model Master brands of paints. I'm going to ponder!

Thank you for the great ideas!