You asked about buying aftermarket decals... just as an example, this is the decal sheet from Dragon's #6700 which builds the same type of Tiger that you have.



Great variety, as you can see.

David

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Hey Dustin,

If you want to stick with the mid tiger, id like to suggest a subject matter that may interest you--the 506th. The unit's emblem features a tiger over a big W. And I believe it had some of the Sept zimmeritless tigers (Byrden may correct me, I am operating from memory).
Complete accuracy would require some tweaks, but from a distance and to everyone who does not obsess over such things, you'd have a nice facsimile of a 506th tiger that you can enjoy building, learn from and take pride int.

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So that would basically just require to purchase a new decale set?

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Well, depending on how accurate you want it, yes. If you want just a rough facsimile of a 506th, a basic mid tiger that overlooks some of the month-to-month modifications that occured, 506th would be an excellent choice:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Echelon-AXT351008-1-35-Schwere-Panzerabteilung-506-Gruppe-Fehrmann-Tiger-I-/371438104584?hash=item567b6fb008

You'd have a mid tiger that looks like a mid tiger with an historically correct unit marking.

Byrden and others can confirm if I am correct but I am 95 percent sure this unit had at least some zimmeritless mid tigers. Not all were. most were not, but there were some (I think).
Here are some other tips. Do try and at least get a budget airbrush for the basic coat. There are some bare bones ones I think for 30-40 that operate on canned air. I recommend tamiya dark yellow xf 60 for dunkelgelb, with a little white, thinned down with isopropyl alcohol. Note that tamiya and other paints intended for an airbrush do not paint well with a brush.
For the tires, a rookie mistake is to paint them black. Now in some settings, ie when wet, the rubber on tires can look black, but usually it looks toyish when painted with straight out black. If you are airbrushing, I suggest tamiya nato black. regardless, you want a dull grey black color, not pitch back. Vallejo also has a dark rubber color that is excellent if you paint with a brush.
Heres another tip: when you paint the tools, use vallejos acrylics. They are the only paint I find works well consistently with handbrushes. You only need two three maybe four colors to start:

-old wood
-oily steel.
black for the parascopes

You may also want dark rubber to touch up tires.

Or, and this is more advanced, you can paint the steel with metallic black vallejo and then run a soft lead pencil to get the most realistic finish.
I in effect ruined a second kit when I first started by not understanding the correct paints to use for painting by hand.
There is an excellent video entitled realistic armor finishing techniques that you may find useful if you want to learn about some of the intermediate finishing techniques that more advanced modellers use. A lot of it is pretty easy (and fun) if you simply learn how. It seems to go in and out of print but is available by other means, if you catch the drift. Pm me and I might be able to help you out.
I also recommend a book called Panzer's Tactics by Chris Mrosko, if you can find it (which may be nigh impossible). It was a cheap, to the point how to book but is not easy to find any more. One thing I learned from it is that you cut, sand and smooth and paint the wheels and the tracks as subassemblies. It is sheer folly to try and go by the kit instructions of installing wheels and tracks first.
Those are just some off the cuff suggestions and pointers for people just starting a first armor build--suggestions that if made to me could have helped me learn and develop much faster.

it is pretty much impossible to get a passable finish by brush. Some like to hem and haw on that but they are wrong. Painting base coats with a handbrush is not in accordance with those fundamentals.
There are I believe cheapo airbrushes for 30-40 that will get the job done with a base coat.

Hey Dustin,

I build this kit many many years ago.
As far as i remember the two kit barrels have different size muzzle breaks.
For a mid production tank u will need the barrel with the biggest one, the small muzzle was only for very late tigers.

Regards
Tony

A DAK tiger would also be available in a basecoat without mottling.

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F.W.

I bought TS2 and TS3 in rattle cans. I figured that would get me by for now with the TS3 but I'm unsure that I can get the camo to look proper with the TS2 rattle can.

Also, I bought Tamiya extra fine primer in a rattle can and Tamiya matte black in rattle can. I was going to do a lite coat of primer and then matte black before the TS2.

Thoughts?

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I have no idea what ts2 and ts3 are. Maybe someone else can help you to get proper colors in spray cans. The fine primer is excellent choice. I dont 'think youll need matte black. See another thread I posted about whether its appropriate to advise getting a starter airbrush--Bill Cross posted a great starter airbrush for 65 shipped.

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TS-3 = XF-60 in a spray can

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I was unaware of this. I even googled tamiya dark yellow x60 spray can to make sure that I was up to date. I stand corrected on this matter.
You'll still have difficult applying camo (61 and 64). Not possible with a spray can. So you might want to find a different vehicle that has a basecoat only, unless you want to spring for an airbrush.

Oh boy this is going to be fun. Goody goody.

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There are rattle cans that create a good Dunkelgelb include one which is a primer coat as well,

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Link one. I dare you.



I really wish you would just go away but I am sure that won't be the case and I can look forward to more distasteful exchanges.