Hi all,

I'm new here and just wanted to stop in to say hi. I've lurked for a while and tried to pick up as many tips as I could, but I think I have screwed up: I bought a Tamiya King Tiger "Production Turret". Well, I spent some time on it today and it's really looking good so far. Here's the problem, I wasn't thinking about it at the time and went ahead and have about 90% of it completed. Well, I realized that I should have painted the gear that is on the sides of the tank. Now what do I do ? Hand brush the equipment after spraying it ?

Help a newbie out !

Thanks !

Mike

Mike,
Welcome to ArmoramA, the best site on the web.

As to your dilemma, no big thing really. Some put the whole kit together and then paint, some leave off the tools, etc., paint the model, paint the tools and then glue them on. I have done it both ways and I prefer to put every thing on, paint, touch up the tools, weather and dry brush. It is really up to you.
Usually the tools were put on the vehicles at the factory and then the whole vehicle was painted. This was most always the case in the field. Particularly if the tank was camoflaged by the crew.
HTH

Welcome aboard Mike!

Just like Ron had said...don't sweat it. It's sometimes just as easy to paint them on the vehicle as when they off. Imagine the vehicle is now a vise grip for holding them while you paint them.

Hi Mike, Welcome to the best site for modelling! I will not sweat a bit about your King Tiger situation. Actually IMO, if you painted the tools first, it created a lot of problem with paint won't stick to glues and things. I like the others, do the whole assembly then paint. It scares me a bit in the first, but now I found it to be both time-saving and have better result. My motto is "what you cannot get your brushs to, you cannot see" :-)

So relax, and enjoy, and as the guys had mentioned, most of the tools would be put on in the factory, and during field camos, they would be painted over. I am sure that in war times, the crews would not be so through to remove all the tools, paint the tank, then reattach the tools just to make sure that the original nice wood color on the handles were kept. #:-)

Yes welcome aboard great place this is to get good answers without all the hassle (:-)

Ditto on the tools

A lot of times, you can slide a Post-it note between the tool and the body of the tank to keep paint where you want it.

Nice tip, TJ. Thanks!

Mike,

Welcome aboard . Happy modeling. Hope to see some of your work here !

Thanks for all the replies ! Nice to have a great bunch here to ask my silly questions too :-)

One of my other hobbies is photography, so when I finish it, it will be posted.

Thanks again !

mike

Allow me to give you the welcome! I´m sure you ´ll be with great guys here and I also hope you got a real good time.
Ditto fort the tools
Cheers

Man theres another Mike added to armormama. at least 4.

Welcome to the site, hope you have fun and enjoy it as all of us have. So what kind of models do you build?


Mike

I used to model HO RR, got divorced left it behind

I just recently got the bug again, and have completed a King Tiger about 80%. Not sure what the next one will be, probably another German Tank of one kind of another.

mike

Heres a tip for ya!
If you´re a photographer, and have a digital camera, take loads of fotos of your work as you do it. When looking at your "blown-up" images you will see all the things you wont see when staring at it. A camera never lies!
When I finish my work I take a few fotos and check out the images. No matter how careful you are, you will always spot something on the screen that you didnt see in reality!

If you want to do another German tank, why not try a Tamiya Leopard2A5? Notwithstanding my attempt to direct you to the dark side (modern) of armor modelling, it's a beauty of a kit.

Mike, if you like to do a German Armor, May I suggest DML Hetzer, it's good fit, as well as Tamiya Marder III, it's good too.

Welcome to the dark side of German Armor Modelling.

Hi Mike ..........welcome aboard. Like the other guy's have mentioned
it really is a matter of preference as what you want to do when it come
to the external tool's on the King Tiger.
......However, for the record:
.............In reality, the tools that were externally mounted were removed prior to painting the base colors at the factory. The metal portions of the tools were also painted the external colors.In the field when the camo colors were applied the tools remained attached. This allowed the tools to be camo'd in with the basic tank.

- ralph