Well, with having had the weekend and then some days off work I've managed to finish the basic build. Painting over the rest of the week - to allow proper drying time. Weathering next week or the week after, I guess.

PE & Zimm from Eduard.









More pics in my Gallery .


Sean

Nicely done, which King Tiger kit is this?

Tamiya's. I'll be using Modelkasten tracks.

Sean

Very nice!

I have the same kit at home, plus Tamiys PE set, plus some Fruil tracks. I've been stalling on it because I am afraid I will screw up the zimm, but the PE stuff looks darn good! How did you go about attaching the PE zimm?

Thanks,

Ray

Wow ........... man i am scared to post my pic of my Panther..man do they have a beginners level ..... that is a good looking Tiger ,,, :-)

Very impressive Sean

Gettting the PE zim to fit around the gun mantlet must have been fun

Cant wait to see more progress pics


Ian

Nice work Sean. I'm trying to work up the nerve to try my hand with photoetch.


I know the feeling John......

Thanks for everyone's comment.

Photo etch is nothing to be scared of. You do need a hard surface to cut and form it on. I use a ceramic tile - a box of them is very cheap and they are very useful a palettes for paint (particularly oils) as well. When gluing it I always use a gel form of superglue applied with the tip of a cocktail stick (you need to keep this sharp). Remember to fold with the scored lines of PE on the inside. Don't rush - if you don't enjoy the actual process of forming and gluing the PE, it might not be for you. Fine nosed tweezers are a must, obviously. Bigger pieces with a longer fold line are actually more dificult, I find although the etch mate is well worth buying if you're very keen on using PE.

As for attaching the sheets of zim, I used a lot of the superglue, spotted liberally over the model surface. Make sure you test fit first!! It's amazing how well the zimm fits - this is the second time I've used Eduard PE zimm (first time was on this Tiger I and I've been very pleased at how well it fitted both times. You have to make sure that there are no gaps between the edge of the zimm and the model, so ideally you want some of the superglue to ooze out of the sides to be shaved off with an old scalpel blade. Fitting the brass around the gun mantlet wasn't too bad - not compared to getting it to fit around the opening for the hull machine gun at any rate!

More pics soon, the cammo is half done.


Sean

Excellent job with the brass Zimmerit sheets. Looks as good as the Cavilier I always use. I've got this kit in the stash. It is one of my desert pieces as I call it. Only build when I feel real stressed and feel I deserve a treat.

And now the basic cammo is on, using Tamiya paints. Given how these always leave a lovely, completely matt coat always think it's a pity to gloss it up for the decals, but needs must







Build slows here to allow 24-48 hours for decals to set, washes to dry, varnishes to dry, etc.


Sean

It keeps getting better Sean

Well, so far, so good. The next stage is to paint the detail: tools, cables, jack, etc. Then finish the weathering (the lower hull and exhausts need a little more work) and add the machine guns.

Sorry about the glare on a couple of the pics - caused by the flash I had to use for the pics because it's raining today so I can't get outside to use daylight.














Sean

Real sweet looking KT. I've only seen Annaliese with the whitewash but I love this particular 3 tone scheme....more green than yellow. Tracks look fine !!!

OK Guys,

Well, I think I've finished, but I'm hoping other eyes than my own might see things I've missed and need to sort out. I've noticed one of them is the rear convoy light, which needs to be painted.

I know there's some glare on some of the pics, but I've had to use my camera's flash because the light here is not good. If eveyone thinks that it looks OK as is, then I'll take some final better quality pics for the campaign.
















Sean

Oh my, oh my...

After seeing this beast, my 1/72 Kingtiger looks like.... nothing but a toy, or a bad imitation...

Nice work. A few questions:

- What did you use for woodwork? Like the MG handle?
- What color is the series of rods on the left side of the tank? I vaguely remember them to be barrel cleaning stuff or such but I painted them gunmetal. What is the right color?
- I think your mud looks cool. What did you use for the "strawy-grassy-mud" look? (I mean the ingredients, not the color, I tried using modeler's grass but either it is really not made for mixing with paint or I couldn't figure out how to)

I really do envy you I must add. One helluva beast, aye!

Really really fine looking KT. That old Tamiya kit still holds it's own. Thanks for all the extra super detailed pix. I'm sure everyone enjoyed them

Are you joking? :-) I think it takes far more skill to work with a smaller scale and I've told you before how good I think you paint job is for such a small scale. I really like your KT Emre




I painted the MG butt tamiya dark yellow and then, when dry, painted over with burnt umber oil paint. Then I took a clean dry brush and started brushing off the oil paint, cleaning the brush on dry tissue regularly (you have to keep the brush dry). You soon get the woodgrain effect. Ditto for the jacking block on the back of the hull. It's a technique I've seen many people describe on armorama and in magazines, but this was the first time I dared to try it for myself. I must confess I was delighted with the results and will do this all the time from now on.




I don't know , and meant to ask in the Armour forum during the build. Keep an eye out there, because after finishing this post I'll ask in there and see what people say. I've looked at my referencs, but you can't tell from bl;ack and white photos! :-)




This is a very easy and fun technique. I made a mud mix of old coffee grounds (for texture), static grass, ground pastels (for colour), and polyfilla



(which is a type of filling plaster for DIY repairs - I don't know if they sell in in Turkey, but I'm sure there'll be something similar), thinned to a workable consistency with water. You could use white glue or artists stucco instead of the Polyfilla. I applied some with a stiff bristled child's paintbrush, but mainly applied it using a toothpick, pressing the mix into the grooves of the tracks.




Thanks Emre, I'm quite pleased with it myself, I must confess


Sean