Here are a couple of pictures of the Bergetiger(P) by DML I just finished. Waiting to weather the lower hull (tracks) until I decided what type of base to put it on. Great kit, by the way.

Zimmerit is DAP spackle raked on with the Tamiya PE rakes...

Comments welcome, of course.





Somebody needs to get the weed-eater out...

Shaun

Very nice looking BergeTiger Shaun, i have one in my to do pile, any problems you encountered? And why the side skirt on the right hand side, i thought these Tigers did not have any?

Regards from the Swamp

Hawkeye

Looking good, Shaun
I really like the paint job .

Cheers
Erik

Hawkeye,

They didn't have side skirts. Bit of artist license. I just took a piece of aluminum made one and hung it on there, since they were maintenance vehicles.

I only had one problem that anyone building it that everyone who is going to build it should be aware of:
In one of the early steps you are instructed to drill a bunch of 1mm holes in the upper hull from the bottom side. Be aware that four of those holes should only be drilled if you are going to build yours with the crane in the stowed position. If you build it with the boom up, like mine, you will have to go back and fill four of the holes you drilled.

Shaun

Thanks for that Shaun, and the side skirt does not look out of place, you could always say it was one of the 653rd "funnies" like the Panther with a PIV turret

Regards from the Swamp

Hawkeye

Looks nice Shaun. I really like the finish and the zim came out nicely.

Shaun:

Nice Berge. Zim looks great. How was the kit to build? It looks like one that needs to make its way into my stash.

SWEET

Great job. Well done. I like the zimmerite nicely done.

great work keenan... as the others have mentioned, the zimmerit and weathering looks pretty good...

Wonderful peice of work there Shaun!
I love the zimmerit!

Hi Shawn that is one cool looking beast you have there. Your camo and weathering came out great. This berge would look great working away in a dio.
Are the chains aftermarket, or is this OOB.
Your rusting may be bit over weathered compared to the rest of the vehicle, although that stuff does rust pretty quickly .
Do you know if this berge ever saw action or was it prototype?

Bruce

Ps I can send you my old weed wacker :-)

Good work Shaun!

The weathering is spot on so far, can't wait to see her in a dio/groundwork.
Can you please explain to this (ignorant) Dutchman what the heck DAP spackle is. Your zimmerit looks great, so I would like to know what the stuff is....

Greetz, John.

Bruce,
They only made 2 that I know of and I have no idea whether they saw any action. The chains came with the kit. Two different sizes, in fact. If you take your time, the crane "works." You can raise and lower the hook.

John,

DAP is the brand name of the spackle I used. Spackle is used to fill or repair holes in plaster, drywall, etc. It comes ready to use in various size little tubs. The vinyl works really well.

Link to DAP spackle:


http://www.dap.com/products.aspx?subcatid=75

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Shaun

Great looking Bergetiger P, Shaun. Your paint scheme and overall finish is excellent. Zimmerit looks really good, as do the tow cables as well.

I have 2 questions:
1) How come you did not install the remote MG (Hetzer-styled one) on the rear roof ?

2) Did you use the kit tracks, or are they aftermarket ?

I will agree, this kit is begging for a diorama. Even if its just groundwork and a couple crew figures.

Cheers !!

Alpen

Shaun.....I think in that diorama that this is begging for....may need and elefant or a ferdinand.

Excellent model!! I particularly like the appearance of your rusted areas, the colour is spot on.

I am more curious however about your use of vinyl spackling (In the UK I assume this is merely "filler")

is vinyl spackle the kind which is slightly flexible ?? In the UK a kind of filler is available called "Flexible Gap Filler" and I'm curious as to whether this is that stuff.

Also, what is your method for application as I assume you can't roll it into sheet form??

Sorry for the barrage of questions mate!!

Robert,
Good catch on the remote MG. It is still on the work bench. I am fighting with the PE shield...
They are the kit tracks. Some of the best one piece flexible tracks I have ever seen.
Jon,
The vinyl spackle seems to be a bit smoother than the other spackles I used. All of them are about the consistancy of thick sour cream or thin toothpaste, if that makes any sense. I trowel it on with a spatula and rake it off with the Tamiya PE rakes.

Here is a picture of the zimmerit in progress. To make damaged areas, like in the right hand side of the picture, just wipe off the spackle before it dries.

Hope this helps.

Shaun

Excellent job on the weathering and zimmerit; I would also like to have a bit more information on how you applied it, drying time, etc. I have a small tub of spackle and a practice Panther I want to experiment on before I mess up a more serious project.

As to getting out the weedwhacker, when my yard gets somewhat overgrown, I just refer to it as 'habitat'

Shaun,

You used DAP vinyl spackling compound for the Zim? Does it stick well? How does the paint stick? Needs primered or sealed?

There were three Bergepanzer(P)'s built for the, 90 some, Ferdinands/Elefants of the 653rd & 654th Panzerjager Bns. One went to Italy with the 2nd Company of the 653rd and I don't think it made it back out of Italy. The other two were lost in the Eastern Front in summer of 1944. Of the 90 Ferdinands two survived to fight near Berlin in 1945.

I have only seen one picture of the MG mounted on the roof and it looks like it is just ready to leave the rebuild factory. No equipment stored on the vehicle yet, but zimm had been applied.

Shaun - Thank you kindly for that in progress picture it has really cleaned up a lot of confusion for me as to how to approach zimmerit.

I will be trying out some methods tonight!!!

I don't want to splash out on a tamiya set, so I will be attempting to create a rake of my own...wish me luck...if it works out, I have an idea for cheap and plentiful zimmerit rakes

thanks again

Jim,
Spackle stuck really well. I prime everything with flat black rattle can spray paint before I put on my base coats and it took that paint really well. This stuff is made to take paint and I didn't have any trouble.

Jon,
Exacto brand micro saw blades work pretty well. So do some coping saw blades.

Shaun

Thanks, again for all of the interest everyone.