The 38cm Raketenwerfer 61 auf Sturmmorser Tiger or 38cm rocket launcher 61 on Assault Mortar Tiger was the largest of the German heavy self-propelled guns during WWII. The inspiration to create such weapons came from the battle experience gained at Stalingrad and Leningrad, where there was a requirement for heavy close-support vehicles. The 38cm rockets is breech-loaded and were originally developed for the German Navy as an anti-submarine warfare system. To mount on a Tiger chassis, the turret and hull top were removed and a new fighting compartment made from sloping armor placed on top of the open space. Only 12 would be completed and see action in Warsaw and other big cities.



This is Dragon's 7204 German 38cm Assault Mortar Sturmtiger. This was one of the early Dragon 1/72nd kits and was released with a die-cast upper hull, PE parts and DS tracks. It took me under 3 hours to build out-of-the-box but 3x the time to finish using Vallejo Model Air Dark Yellow, German Light Green and German Light Brown over a primer of RJ London Grey primer coat. I gave it a Gunze Clear Gloss coat before placing the decals then added Mig Black Wash, Sin Tritonal Filter, Vallejo Sepia Wash and various layers of Sand, Light Sand, Yellow and Mud from Tamiya Weathering Sets. Lastly, I applied Vallejo Light Sienna to simulate dried mud.

Hi Toby,

Wonderful paint job, most impressive. I am intrigued by the Vallejo washes, I have heard of them, but not anyone using them, how did they perform? I look forward to seeing more of your work.

All the best,

Paul

Thank you Paul for your comments

With regards to Vallejo Washes, I used them more as filters and for creating rain marks and oil stains. I still prefer to use enamel based washes such as Mig Dark wash (the one I used for this build) as my general purpose wash.

Out of the bottle, Vallejo Washes are too thick but mixing it with Vallejo Thinner around 1:1, its as good as any other wash but too opaque for my liking.

@ChaosXVI - Toby, Haven't seen you around this forum for quite a while, welcome back. You've sure chosen one ugly beast this time around. You've done a beautiful job on the finishing and it really gives the model some life. Thanks for sharing and hope to see more of you builds here soon!

Cheers,
Jan

Hello again Jan and thank you for appreciating this ugly (and heavy-because of the die-cast hull) beast. I always lurk and see what's going on here and i've been pretty busy with real life stuff to finish much. But as soon as i have something i'll post them asap

@ChaosXVI – Toby,

Great job on the camouflage, weathering and the accompanying short history for this vehicle. I happen to have this kit in the stash and have some worries about he die-cast part of the kit. I may try a coating of primer to see if that will keep that part of the model from eroding over time as has been mentioned in several other forums including this one.

I also like the light brown and white photograph and the oversized bottle of paint you sat next to your build giving us a good idea of this kits size. Keep building and posting and sharing your work here with all of us.

~ Eddy