Italeri Tiger I Ausf. E/H1

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:06 pm

This looks to be tons of fun! (About 56 tons for the real beast)

This will be my entry:

I am considering finishing as SPZ.ABT.504, Sicily 1943, as noted in Italeri instructions and an Osprey reference (Scale Armor, Modeling the M4 Sherman and the PzKpfw VI Tiger Tanks).

I have a question for the Tiger I experts here on the forum though. I want the finished Tiger to have an historically accurate finish. Does this kit "fit" this time frame if I were to finish it this way?

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:56 pm

That's a fine looking kit!
Have fun building it!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 1:46 am

Opening the kit and some sprue shots:

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:26 pm

The Fun Begins!

First off, I completed a few older Italeri kits recently that I had in the stash from years ago, and comparing this kits plastic with those older kits, the pastic in the Tiger kit is MUCH softer.
(The Tiger kit box was dated 2007).
Also, the amount of flash is hit or miss, as it seems most parts have very little flash at all, but some do have a good amount of flash (which seem to be the smaller bits).

Lower Hull Construction:
Completed Lower Hull, with the exception of Upper Front Hull part 5D.

Lower Front Hull Center section part 3D:
This part was too wide, the front side sections (parts 2A, 4A) were bowed outwards like ducks feet with the part as is. I sanded the sides of part 3D, until the nose of this Cat was square. (as marked in photo)
This was the only issue I had during this phase of construction. Very happy with the the results so far

Two more pics of the completed Lower Hull:

The Upper Front Hull (part 5D) will need some trimming done also as a result of the narrowed lower plate. I'll save this modification for later, until I test fit all the Upper Hull parts together.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:34 am

Roadwheels...and then some more roadwheels, along with the drive sprockets and idlers.

All went fairly well here, just a few larger than normal mold parting lines to clean up, mostly on the outer set of roadwheels.
Roadwheels all cleaned up with center wheels assembled:

Thank you to Russ72 for the tip on correcting the drive sprocket hubs. The hubs had an ugly sink mark right in the middle with no center bolt. Drilled out a small blind hole in the center of the hub, and used a nut/bolt detail from an old Sherman sprocket to fill the drilled hole. I guess there will be a little bit of Sherman in this Tiger!

On to the tracks, this is the AFV Club Tiger I early version track. There are four ejector pin marks (raised) on each link. These can be cleaned up with a whole lot of one on one time with your favorite hobby knife. Link on left shows the ejector pins, link on right has been cleaned up.

Assembled a small section of track, just to get a feel for what was ahead. With careful glue placement, they really are very workable and quite NICE!

Test fit the completed track section over the sprocket...Not quite perfect, but very, very close!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:58 am

Top Hull Plate:
Hatches can be positioned open or closed. The fit is good in either position.

Periscopes: I trimmed some plastic on these to allow the periscope to protrude further through the hatch. I'm NOT an expert on the Tiger, but there wasn't much of the periscope protruding through the hatch, which also left a gap between the periscope and periscope guard. I left the periscopes off for easier painting, and will assemble them after painting.
Trimmed part on the left, stock kit part on the right

Test fitting the upper hull parts. Nothing glued here yet.
I trimmed the upper front hull plate (part 5D) to fit the narrowed nose. Most of my mark on the part was trimmed to get the part to nest nicely.

Other than the fit of the nose pieces, this is the only edge that might need some trimming (the front edge of the left side plate). Overall very happy with how the kit is coming together!

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:46 am

That's a really great start OD! I really like those tracks. It's a pain that there's so much clean up, but they look cool on the inside. The teeth are correct.
You asked if that tiger would be suitible for Italy, sadly no. For some reason Italeri boxed that kit as a initial tiger but it's actually a non production variant.

There's a list of things that this kit has that could us as tweaking. This fella tends to be a bit brutal with his suggestions, but essentially you could fix up the kit a bit if you addressed a few of what he mentions.

Quoted: Demian Alcazar .track-link.com
1) sprockets: they are mildly accurate if you overlook the hubcap. on these, the one bolt that goes in the middle of the hub cap is missing, there is a sink mark in it's place and it shouldn't be too much trouble to add, the other bolts that are present are out of scale being much too small.

2) tank's jack: the jack is completely wrong and undetailed, if you put it on as the instructions suggest it will be upside down with the handle pointing downwards even though the support plate is facing in the right direction, this can't be fixed and you'll have to completely replace it

3) Tracks: as with Italeri's sturmtiger (and it's probably even the same sprue) these are link and length affairs, there are many ejection marks on the upper surfaces, these will have to be fixed -not too hard but tedious work- left as is, or replaced with aftermarket ones.

4) commander's cupola: this piece seems to have been made with construction ease in mind, the problem is that in doing so they sacrificed detail and the cupola is inaccurate, it should be replaced. He doesn't say why and I can't find a good pic showing what's wrong... sorry

5) turret roof: this kit, as well as others, depicts 8 holes on the top of the turret's roof, this was where the gun's travel lock was fixed to the turret but these holes were never present on the real thing and they should be filled.they weren't present on the initial variant he means

6) Glacis plate: this piece doesn't fit right, if you try to correct it by filing down and such means it will become crooked and not have the right angle of encounter with the hull roof, which incidentally doesn't fit well either.

7) turret: the turret's shape is symmetical and that means inaccurate since the Tiger's turret had a bulge, however I'm not one to look THAT far at details. this is the biggest one and most difficult to fix. He may say that he's not that fussed for detail but most tiger nut cases would see it right away. The only way to fix it is to replace the turret. Myself... I'd just leave it and build it anyway as that would be expensive.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:25 am

Coen wrote:That's a really great start OD! I really like those tracks. It's a pain that there's so much clean up, but they look cool on the inside. The teeth are correct.
You asked if that tiger would be suitible for Italy, sadly no. For some reason Italeri boxed that kit as a initial tiger but it's actually a non production variant.

There's a list of things that this kit has that could us as tweaking. This fella tends to be a bit brutal with his suggestions, but essentially you could fix up the kit a bit if you addressed a few of what he mentions.

Quoted: Demian Alcazar .track-link.com
1) sprockets: they are mildly accurate if you overlook the hubcap. on these, the one bolt that goes in the middle of the hub cap is missing, there is a sink mark in it's place and it shouldn't be too much trouble to add, the other bolts that are present are out of scale being much too small.

2) tank's jack: the jack is completely wrong and undetailed, if you put it on as the instructions suggest it will be upside down with the handle pointing downwards even though the support plate is facing in the right direction, this can't be fixed and you'll have to completely replace it

3) Tracks: as with Italeri's sturmtiger (and it's probably even the same sprue) these are link and length affairs, there are many ejection marks on the upper surfaces, these will have to be fixed -not too hard but tedious work- left as is, or replaced with aftermarket ones.

4) commander's cupola: this piece seems to have been made with construction ease in mind, the problem is that in doing so they sacrificed detail and the cupola is inaccurate, it should be replaced. He doesn't say why and I can't find a good pic showing what's wrong... sorry

5) turret roof: this kit, as well as others, depicts 8 holes on the top of the turret's roof, this was where the gun's travel lock was fixed to the turret but these holes were never present on the real thing and they should be filled.they weren't present on the initial variant he means

6) Glacis plate: this piece doesn't fit right, if you try to correct it by filing down and such means it will become crooked and not have the right angle of encounter with the hull roof, which incidentally doesn't fit well either.

7) turret: the turret's shape is symmetical and that means inaccurate since the Tiger's turret had a bulge, however I'm not one to look THAT far at details. this is the biggest one and most difficult to fix. He may say that he's not that fussed for detail but most tiger nut cases would see it right away. The only way to fix it is to replace the turret. Myself... I'd just leave it and build it anyway as that would be expensive.

Thank you Coen!! I am soooooo glad I joined this forum, the sheer amount of knowledge and material posted on this site, along with the great people has made this a wonderful experience. Back to the Italeri Tiger: Perhaps a Tunisian Tiger would be a better fit for this kit. I'll keep on doing more research but found some neat pics, (thanks to DC87 for posting the link).

Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:04 pm

TO AFRIKA.

Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:39 am

Mmmmm

love those pictures.
One of the cool things about the forum is how awesome photos look when you post them well.
Thanks for sharing those.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:05 pm

Holiday vacation was over, so it was back to work this past week. That darn thing called work sure cuts into the modeling time! I did still manage to get some quality time with the Tiger, some shopping, and more research

Whew! All of the track links have the ejector pins and excess flash cleaned up. The guide horns also had some flash to clean up.

Initially was going to use some spare mesh screen for the engine deck screens, but ran across the Eduard photo etch set for a great price ($7.95 shipped to my door), and received it already on Thursday. I've dabbled with just a few photo etch pieces before, but never a complete set. Not sure how much of it will get used, (I should probably invest in a good folding tool).

Comparing the kits side fenders to the photo etch, the kit parts have good bolt detail. So out came the razor saw to section the fenders, and with some trimming with the hobby knife and then some sanding, the edges were thinned for improved appearance. I'll save the photo etch fenders for my next Tiger

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:24 pm

Found some nice Tiger reference while doing some research. Don't forget about Paul's post on the Tiger in the Walkarounds & Vehicle Reference section, awesome site right there!

This site has photos, and a very nice walkaround:
http://www.net-maquettes.com/photos-doc ... ion/tiger/

More photos:
http://ww2db.com/photo.php?list=search& ... &image_id=

Green Tigers???? Certainly possible according to this reference from the Squadron/Signal book "Tigers in Action".

Nice shot of Tiger I in Africa:

Post by **martin57** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:29 pm

nice P E set you got there thats going to make it look real nice.
good luck with it .

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:20 pm

Sweet! That's the first time that I've seen inside a set of eduard pe. Thanks for that, it looks to be and interesting addition.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:12 am

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Slow but steady progress being made on this Tiger...and having lots of fun too.

The AFV Club tracks are going together well, no issues. Tedious and time consuming work, but I think they'll look GREAT on the big cat.

All hull plates assembled and glued in place except for the top plate. I'm keeping this part loose for now, I'll need to get to the interior for assembly of the hull machine gun and interior painting later. Apparently, I didn't do a very good job with my test fit of the upper hull parts. I noted earlier the left side plate may need trimming, this was not the case at final assembly, as all parts glued up nicely with no additional trimming needed, but there was a small gap between the top plate and front glacis plate.

Filled the gap between the top hull plate and front glacis plate with .020" strip styrene. Roadwheels and tracks on just to test fit (not glued), they'll be removed for painting.

Speaking of painting, I was wondering what everyone's favorite paint they like which is a close match to RAL8020 Desert Brown, for the North African Tigers

Post by **Nige201980** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:52 am

Really great work so far mate.

Post by **Coen** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:45 am

I can't see why that gap appeared in your kit OD. There shouldn't be one with that kit, I've used that hull a couple of times and it never presented itself. Odd.
Fixing that would be no easy feat.
For the DAK tigers I use one of two colours as a base. Vallejo Air's Dark Yellow or Mig's AMMO Dunklegelb Dark Base. They're essentially the same shade.
Once I have that on I'll darken all the areas that are in shade (under the sponsons and the turret chin for example) with AMMO Dunklegelb Shadow or another yellow brown colour. After that I'll lighten all the top surfaces for sun-fading with AMMO Dunklegelb light or I'll add a couple of drops of white to the colour that I used for the base.
That's probably more info than you were looking for though haha.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 9:36 pm

Nige201980 wrote:Really great work so far mate.

Thank you Nige

Post by **OliveDrab** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:16 pm

Coen wrote:I can't see why that gap appeared in your kit OD. There shouldn't be one with that kit, I've used that hull a couple of times and it never presented itself. Odd.
Fixing that would be no easy feat.
For the DAK tigers I use one of two colours as a base. Vallejo Air's Dark Yellow or Mig's AMMO Dunklegelb Dark Base. They're essentially the same shade.
Once I have that on I'll darken all the areas that are in shade (under the sponsons and the turret chin for example) with AMMO Dunklegelb Shadow or another yellow brown colour. After that I'll lighten all the top surfaces for sun-fading with AMMO Dunklegelb light or I'll add a couple of drops of white to the colour that I used for the base.
That's probably more info than you were looking for though haha.

Can't thank you enough Coen, the paint info is awesome and very much appreciated

As for the gap, very odd indeed

It really didn't show up in the original test fit, just some minor warp on the front glacis plate:

After hull front, sides and rear plates glued up, the gap appeared. I'm not too concerned about it though, I need to take a little material off the front edge of the strip I added, and after the top hull plate is glued in place, I'll be adding the weld detail in the recess between the top hull and front glacis. The trick will be blending the seam of the added strip on the top plate. I could also take about half of the material thickness off the added strip, slide the top plate forward some, then just have a little larger seam at the rear to fill. Would that be a better option as far as dimensional accuracy? Any comments and opinions always welcome

Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 12:29 am

I'm not sure what to make of it OD, in the first image it appears that just clamping the glacis to the side plates firmly and gluing should fix it quite easily.
(I have an idea why these parts aren't lining up, but I'm not sure of it. This is a problem child kit as it is so a few of these issues are probably going to happen. There will be more with the turret)

However, in this image the sides are touching and a mysterious gap has appeared which you have filled with your styrene strip.

Myself I would have moved the entire deck forward to meet the glacis plate and added the strip to the rear plate, thickening it slightly. It would be easier to blend it back there as there's nor weld seam to recreate and all you're doing is making that back wall a mm or so thicker.
If you've already glued everything there's really nothing that you can do now other than some really difficult putty work along that styrene strip to blend it in. You shouldn't need to do anything about the weld seam as it's still present on the glacis plate.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 4:33 am

Thanks a bunch Coen. Yup, the styrene strip is already glued in place. As luck would have it, I realized I should have added the strip to the rear plate as you suggested....the day after I glued it to the front

I really want the deck moved forward though, (the top deck is not glued in place yet), so we'll see how ambitious I get the next modeling session.

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 6:22 am

Great modelling OD, you're doing a fine job!

Post by **gosselin2112** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:11 am

Nice work on your Tiger I. I had an older version of this kit in gray plastic. Nice to see it in tan now. You have a lot of patience working with those AFV track links. I may have to invest in a set sometime, as I need to restock my Tiger I supply box. Gotta love them Tiger Is

Great to see that Bruce Culver's, Panzer Colors are still being thumbed through. Lots of great pics and color plates. Model On!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 4:24 am

PaulAyrey wrote:Great modelling OD, you're doing a fine job!

Thanks much Paul, believe it or not, I am kind of enjoying the challenge of this kit....there must be something wrong with me!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 4:37 am

gosselin2112 wrote:Nice work on your Tiger I. I had an older version of this kit in gray plastic. Nice to see it in tan now. You have a lot of patience working with those AFV track links. I may have to invest in a set sometime, as I need to restock my Tiger I supply box. Gotta love them Tiger Is Great to see that Bruce Culver's, Panzer Colors are still being thumbed through. Lots of great pics and color plates. Model On!

Thank you gosselin. The AFV links really are very nice, like any indy track links though, it took me a few evenings (edit - more than a few evenings, lol) cleaning up the ejector pin marks and flash. You are right about the Panzer Colors book too

Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 4:01 pm

Great job taming this unruly kitty

I was wondering if you have any tips or tricks on assembling the AFV club tracks as I have a set for my Tiger build.

Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:09 pm

Hey mate, just caught up on your thread. I didn't get the gap at the top there, I ended up with what appeared to be too much of the hull sides hanging out the back, so I sanded them off a bit. Good luck with the rest of the build. Tracks look a hell of lot better than the link and length.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:07 am

Russ72 wrote:Hey mate, just caught up on your thread. I didn't get the gap at the top there, I ended up with what appeared to be too much of the hull sides hanging out the back, so I sanded them off a bit. Good luck with the rest of the build. Tracks look a hell of lot better than the link and length.

Hey Russ, that's very interesting, thanks for sharing! Can't wait to see the progress on yours

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:21 am

Gap-itus Cured!!!

Styrene strip added to rear plate and blended. Much happier with this fix than the original goof of adding the strip to the front of the top deck...Thanks Coen! Top deck still not glued, will need to get in there to assemble hull MG and paint interior.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:55 am

With the basic hull work complete, I've been jumping all around the assembly instructions, building up some of the multi-piece sub-assemblies, and was anxious to try out some of the PE.

The rear tool box should have latches on it. There were two in the PE set...until I lost one.

I had crafted some "poor man's PE placement tools" by dipping toothpicks in contact cement. I did 3 layers of cement on the toothpick. It's been working well so far!

The air filters needed some cleanup after gluing, the two halves had a bit of mis-match in areas.

Finished cleaning up all the fenders, thinned the edges a bit more, also removed the vertical supports that were on the front and rear side hull fenders. The rear mud guards had the lower outside edges rounded.

Work on the turret has begun:

Post by **Nige99** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 9:19 am

Looks like a tuff build this!! But fair play to you OD you've overcome them all

Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:10 pm

Nice PE work there.

Also love the homemade PE placer idea,gonna give it a try myself.

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 3:40 am

Well done on that fix bud!! You can't even tell. Amazing!!!
Nice PE work too. On fire now!

Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:18 am

That's some great progress OD, I hear that this isn't the easiest kit to build, but you're nailing it so far!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:47 pm

Nige99 wrote:Looks like a tuff build this!! But fair play to you OD you've overcome them all

Hillbilly wrote:Nice PE work there. Also love the homemade PE placer idea,gonna give it a try myself.

Coen wrote:Well done on that fix bud!! You can't even tell. Amazing!!!
Nice PE work too. On fire now!

alextheblue wrote:That's some great progress OD, I hear that this isn't the easiest kit to build, but you're nailing it so far!

Thank you all for the comments

There are so many awesome builds going on here in this SiG, just unbelievable

You ALL have kept me motivated to battle through the challenges of this build, and it really has been fun too!

Post by **OliveDrab** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:16 am

Work continues on the sub-assemblies....

Side fender placement: Placing the fenders over the hull lugs leaves too large of a gap, placing the fenders above the lugs locates the fenders a bit too high on the hull...off came the lugs, as I will have all fenders mounted on the completed Tiger anyway.

I had one spare jack and some tools from a Dragon PzIV kit, they will come in real handy.

The front will be naked

Most of the reference photos I've viewed of the early Tunisian Tigers are void of spare track and shovel.

I just had to build a paint/model stand as seen in many of Coen's videos!

The tow shackles have a strange eyelet on them, which I have not seen in any reference photos??? More plastic surgery perhaps, unless I get lazy and leave them as is.

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:28 am

Looks like you're doing a great job putting this together.

Post by **Coen** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:03 am

That's looking very cool now Curt!
I usually replace those offal tamiya jacks with the dragon ones too. I have tonnes in my spares bins. The tamiya ones are horrible.
Those loops on the U bolt pins were common on the initial tigers used on the Eastern front and in Africa. They all came from the same stores. They were discontinued in December of 43. The later ones without the loop came after that.
Nice paint stand

Post by **OliveDrab** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:07 am

PaulAyrey wrote:Looks like you're doing a great job putting this together.

Thank you Paul

Coen wrote:That's looking very cool now Curt!
I usually replace those offal tamiya jacks with the dragon ones too. I have tonnes in my spares bins. The tamiya ones are horrible.
Those loops on the U bolt pins were common on the initial tigers used on the Eastern front and in Africa. They all came from the same stores. They were discontinued in December of 43. The later ones without the loop came after that.
Nice paint stand

The Tiger Master comes through again, thanks for the info on the U-bolt pins Coen!

Post by **jamesdivall64** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 12:21 pm

Great work with the Sprockets there chap, build is looking fab

Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:36 am

jamesdivall64 wrote:Great work with the Sprockets there chap, build is looking fab

Thank you James

The next update coming soon...The PE work has turned an already slow builder into a Tortoise

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 3:07 am

The Hull is ready for primer

This kitty just might grow up to be a Tiger some day!

On to the turret.....

Post by **Coen** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:27 am

That's some superb building work OD. Very professional.
Great work with that putty.
Well done so far

Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:39 am

Coen wrote:That's some superb building work OD. Very professional.
Great work with that putty.
Well done so far

Thank You Coen, so very much appreciated

Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:02 am

Bring on the primer!

Not too much time spent on the turret interior. Enamel basecoat, (white with a some yellow added to make an ivory color). Then a burnt umber oil wash with a touch of black added, followed by some drybrushing and chipping.

Had lots of free time this weekend...To the mancave!!! and when I emerged, the turret was complete

Post by **rwsmith14** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:15 am

Looking

good !

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:50 am

Outstanding! Looks a top class build so far, really like it.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:59 am

rwsmith14 wrote:Looking good !

PaulAyrey wrote:Outstanding! Looks a top class build so far, really like it.

Thank you all,

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:57 am

Time to break out the airbrush.

For the primer coat, I sprayed a thin layer using good old Testors enamels. I went for a dark gray by mixing some white with the black.

I would normally hand paint the rubber portions of the roadwheels after the final basecoat, but with so many roadwheels to do, this would be the perfect time to try out the "template" method. So after letting the enamel cure for 48 hours, the rubber portions of the roadwheels were airbrushed Tamiya flat black.

Roadwheels, and then more roadwheels, I was still fretting this task...so I enlisted the help of a very good friend to make up a template to paint a bunch of wheels at once. That was the plan anyway, however, positioning the roadwheels and trying to tape them in place on the template became a real headache

So on to plan B, just hold the wheel by hand, and paint them one at a time using the template. WHOO HOO, Success!

For the basecoat, I used a mix of Tamiya Buff and Tamiya Desert Yellow (about 4 parts buff to 1 part desert yellow).

Very happy with the painted roadwheels, I owe my buddy a few beers for the template!

A light coat of Testors Rust (with some black to darken and drop or two of steel paint added) was airbrushed over the exhaust and upper portions of guards.

On to the tools! To help minimize my mistakes

, where possible I have been using paper as a mask.

Till next time,happy modeling everyone.

Post by **NAMBiohazard** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:30 am

Wow

That is coming along very nicely