My first 1/48 model and pretty much my first proper model ever after a near 20-year break (and I'm 33 now...). Tamiya's Tiger I, OOB except for Hauler grills. Painted with Vallejo Model Air and Model Color acrylics, weathered with acrylic washes and MIG pigments, mud by MIG pigments and Tamiya Weathering Master. Commander from Tamiya's German Infantry Set. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Many thanks to Jon for the tip on the grass!

Very nice - I just got one of these and it's on the shelf. After seeing it built I kinda want to accelarate the build schedule

I like the uniform mudding on the tracks and hull.

You did a good job.


Is the Infantry set worth getting? I've seen some people give it bad reviews.

Thanks Scott. Your comments are much appreciated. Currently having an argument with my non-model building brother, who knows nothing about tanks, about whether or not this is too rusty and muddy.

Personally, I think the infantry set's ok. You get four tank commanders and one non-com with it, and two equipment sprues with helmets, weapons, bags, etc. The Panzer Grenadier set is also quite good, I'm doing a dio with a load of those next. It'd be great if Tamiya would do a set with just tank crew (I've written and asked them about this, so who knows?). With regards to other 1/48 scale figures out there though, I think these are the best quality, with some other lines looking too cartoonish or grotesque. ArtOfWar's are quite ok though.

Scott there is a new set of 1/48th Germans by Tamiya that I have just seen as new stock in my local shop, it is Germans on Manouever and has a tank commander based on the 1/16 figure that was later shrunk to 1/35th as a special offer. The other figures look ok that are in there and are in a wide selection of poses.

Opps sorry a really great build on the Tiger as well Nik, I like it alot.

John

Thanks.

I was thinking of picking up the Germans on Manouvers box, it'd be quite easy to put some bandages on them and dirty them up to make them look like Germans in retreat. Could make for a cool diorama.

Looks great Nik. I especially like the commander.

Tell your brother that the muddy wheels look like it just forded a river or went through a swamp.

btw, what happened to the machine gun?

Hi Nik,

I just got this kit today (my first 1/48) and can only hope to build it to look half as nice as yours. Good job!!

Nik, did you forget the handles on the commander's hatch lid?

David

Handles? What handles? Must have missed that... Umm... They fell off, in battle, with a huuuuge Russian tank.

The machine gun was lost... Dropped it and couldn't find it again... So, umm... It also got lost, in battle... Someone nicked it.

I looked at pictures of muddy/dirty tanks in Russia, and if anything this is a mild case of mudcaking. Some of the vehicles were just covered in it.

Thanks again for the kind comments though. It's much appreciated and much more valued than my imbecill brother's.

It's a nice job OOB, but unfortunately too late for some accurate detailing. The Tiger you've modelled belongs to 2nd SS Div. 'Das Reich' during the Kursk battles. As such it should have the div. symbol (two verticle bars over a horizontal ) on the right glacis where those strange characters are. As far as I can see all DR tigers had the exhaust shields and the small raised covers on top of the exhausts removed (reason unknown). And the turret mounted smoke grenade launchers and brackets were also removed because they tended to ignite prematurely when hit by small arms fire and the smoke obscured the gunnery sights. And the 'gnome' insignia on the turret should be more upright than horizontal. If you ever plan to redo this tank, or another of the same unit and time, maybe this info can be of some use.