Hero of the Soviet Union Tiger 212 1943

Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:22 am

This done.

Thanks to Devon and James for hosting this. I thoroughly enjoyed my own build, but I'm greatly enjoying the amazing builds being done by the rest of the fellas. It's very humbling.
Thanks to Forbes Hutton, who actually contributed about 13% of the materials used in this diorama haha. Thanks bud... you really are a star

And thanks to whomever it was that gave me the ass. I can't remember who it was now and I feel bad about that, someone gave me a figure set of a pair of Fallschirmjäger and a pair of arses, but I'll be damned if I can remember who it was now. Either way they have my thanks as well.

I really want to say thanks to all of you fellas though. You make this community what it is, and I take quite a lot from it every day. Without all you lot this hobby would be pretty damned Blah for me, so I can't say thanks enough for all you hoopy froods!!

So... on with the photos and a shorty video

[youtube]xB8J14IEfak[/youtube]

Post by **alextheblue** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:46 am

When I first joined ISM, I was blown away by the standard of the work, and I couldn't believe what could be done with some plastic, a bit of glue and some paints. And then I saw your portfolio and wow, your stuff was just off the scale. The complexity of the dioramas was staggering as there was so much packed into one small scene. But then it dawned on me, sure the skill of the building was extraordinary, the painting and weathering was pure artistry, but the thing that set your work apart was it just all looked so right. No one thing stood out and everything just went together and blended so well. The vehicles, the figures, the scenery, the base, the colours, the poses, the staging - it all looked, well, right. Almost as though you had captured a snap-shot of time and frozen it in all its 3D glory. And this piece is no different. I could throw all the usual superlatives at it and they would be rightly used, but it just looks so, right.

And lastly (yes, yes, I'm almost finished

) a very big thank you for everything that you give to this community. I don't think there's a single person involved in this SiG that you've not helped in some way and the sheer number of people that are participating is testament to just how highly you are regarded.

To you sir I raise my glass, doff my cap and my ovation could not be more upstanding, for you surely are the hoopiest of froods!!

Post by **jbellos1** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:00 pm

Truly a masterpiece. What you have done in relatively the same time as me - phenomenal...quite amazing story telling. I enjoy the sense of community as well, makes it very much more worthwhile.

Post by **LordFarnswaller** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:02 pm

looks ace mate

Post by **rsrdevon** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 1:48 pm

Amazing Mike! To do that in just a short few weeks is simply amazing! The number of people participating and the amount of work being put into all these Tigers shows just how much you are appreciated by all of us in the community. It was because of your videos that I am back in the hobby. Thank you for answering my questions and doing a few videos for me back when I was getting back to the hobby. Thank you for your friendship as well. That I'm itself is an honor. Just to know you and a little bit of your family is truly an honor.

Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:57 pm

Ok... Blushing now.

Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:58 pm

Again Mike,I am blown away by your artistry (know matter what you say,this is art) The vehicles,the figures,the groundwork,everything in this dio is top shelf!With the way you positioned the figures,it didn't take much imagination to have the scene play out in my head.This is one you should be very proud of.

Post by **trekfanj** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:19 pm

Great job, Mike!

There's so much to look at; the figures by the shed pointing every which way and yelling at each other, the officer standing by the schwimmwagen with a disapproving look on his face, the tank crews working diligently to get the Tiger unstuck...

And last, but certainly not least, the ass!

YouTube · Post by **Kingdan** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:28 pm

Wot they said Mike WOW nuff said

Dan
________________________________________________________________________________
On the bench
Airfix 1/72 Saturn v rocket
Revell 1/24 red bull rb8 racing car
Oh and a couple bits of crap

Post by **Joesdad** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:19 pm

I can't add much to what's already been said Mike, your work truly is the Gold Standard. An artist....? well, looks like art to me....

Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:37 am

A brilliant finish to what promises to be a SIG reveal to rival all others. Well done mate.

I'm still making my way through yours vids to see how you do it. You've just added the spices.

Post by **Art17847** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:47 am

i think alextheblue summed it up all to well.....this piece is just amazing you could spend days just taking it all in...great job

Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:41 am

Wow...Wow...and WOW

Post by **Tarasdad** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:19 am

As I said on Facebook, utterly brilliant! Now go enjoy a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster or two in celebration!

Post by **NAMBiohazard** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:03 pm

I love the way you display your kits in dioramas

There always a story in the final piece.
BRAVO

Another one of your beautiful finishes.

Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:02 pm

Now I'm really blushing

Post by **Thunderbird** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:15 pm

A Great diorama, another Masterpiece

As everyone says, there is so much going on that you discover more things the longer you look

Post by **Dunhill2005** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:28 pm

thiiswesome.jpg

Post by **HamilkarBarkas** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:42 pm

Ausgezeichnet!

Post by **rwsmith14** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:34 pm

Jaw Dropping !!!! ...." WOW !!"

Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:41 am

Thanks Guys

Post by **PaulAyrey** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:07 am

Utterly superb piece. Ground work is really cool. Excellent finish and a wonderful thread and supporting videos!

Post by **Riderville** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:09 am

It is truly a work of art. You are an inspiration to all of us modelers. Thanks Mike

Post by **Coen** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:55 pm

Thanks Fellas.

Post by **rodrant** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:26 pm

Like the donkey !!!

Well like all diorama , the figures poses , the all diorama idea ...you see the nasty job that they are having removing the Tiger from that situation, and those officers at the road seems ready to show the Tank commander some discipline

, we could spent hours looking at all those nice details ,

Seems a lot of the other guys have said it all !

Thank you Coen for all this masterpieces and your threads are better than any modelling book ...you are an inspiration for all.

By the way , I didn't start my Tiger I yet (maybe in the weekend ...) , but must really now do something special in honour of a great guy ...you !

Post by **Nev** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:42 pm

Damn I keep looking at this! Truly a stunning work of art!!!

Post by **Coen** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:54 pm

I had a couple of requests to post a slide show on youtube of all of my tigers that I've built. I can't really do that as I've built near 25 over the last 8 years and I only started photographing them in the last couple of years. Many of them have either been recycled or they've been given away as gifts.
The earliest one that I have goes back to 2010 and all the way up to the tiger for this SIG.
So I did the slide show at the end of my January 2015 channel update, and I thought that I'll add the stills here at the end of the reveal of my entry into the tiger SIG.

Here we go.

This is my Tiger I Early Production "Michael Wittmann" 13. Panzerregiment 1 Operation "Zitadelle" July 1943 from Cyber Hobby 6350 that I built in 2010, back then the kit cost me about $54, now the thing will sell for $200-300 on ebay. It's a foolish thing. I've taken this kit apart ages ago and recycled it for other kits now. So it's gone gone gone.

Then there's Tiger 212 that I build some time in 2011 maybe. From the Dragon 6406 Tiger I Ausf. E Sd.Kfz. 181 late production (3 in 1).

Followed imediately by Tiger 222 from the Dragon 6383 Tiger I Late Production w/ ZIMMERIT.

Then the awesome kit Dragon 6600 Tiger I Initial Production s.Pz.Abt. 502 Leningrad Region 1942/3. I love this kit and I want to build it again with a different version.

Then I build this Tamiya kit... my first Tamiya kit... I wasn't impressed. It was ok, but I realised that Tamiya tigers need a lot of help and some money to look properly. It's also my first attempt at zimmerit, battle damage, and winter camo. This is Tamiya's Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger I (late) 89562

Then I got really ambitious. I used dragon's three in one kit again and used it to build my first diorama. It was also my first try at a full interior, fruilmodel tracks and extensive PE.

First it looked like this...

Then last year I tore it all apart and rebuilt the diorama into this...

It will most likely be nailed again and retweaked as there are a few things that I want to replace with new products.

I've rebuilt Wittman's Kursk Tiger a total of three times now and it won't be the last time. This one is fine except the turret numbers are the wrong type. I'll rebuild it or start from scratch at some point in the future. I haven't a clue what kit I used to build this, but it was more than one. This was an extensive kit bash.

Then I had a go at Tamiya's 1/25th scale Tiger I.
Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger I Ausführung E, Display model Tamiya 1:25 3061. I was inspired by Shep Paine's build of this ancient stinker of a kit so I bought it cheap from an ebay dealer in Turkey and spent two months hacking and slashing it into Otto Carius' first tiger. It's not completely accurate, but there's not much aftermarket for tigers in this scale so I had to make do.

After that I had a long stint of building every vehicle that Otto rode in or commanded. His first tiger came again but in 1/35th scale.

Then his second tiger...
Both of these builds were extensive kit bashes. They were built long before kits of his tanks were made by dragon/cyberhobby.

Then I spent about a month researching Wittmann's January 1944 tiger, and another two months building it. Only to have cyberhobby release a kit of the thing two years later. They did the same thing with my Otto Carius tiger 217. It was three months after I built it they release the kit of the very same tiger.
Now when ever someone sees them they think that they're from those kits. I had to kit bash two expensive kits to build these things. haha. Ah me as my grand mother used to say.

Next I built Wittmann's final ride. This one I build from the box. Cyberhobby beat me to it this time haha. I just recently rebuilt the base for this one.

My next one was the DAK tiger that I built for Nigel Wells' North African GB. It's part of a larger diorama, but here's the tiger.

And then there's big bertha! The 1/16th Hobbyboss monster tiger. It dwarfs my entire collection.

And lastly... the recent entry into Devon and James' Tiger I SIG. Tiger 212

There... I'll bet you're sick of tigers now. hahaha.
Sadly... I'm not.
Believe it or not... I want to build another one.
I'm hopeless.

YouTube · Post by **ManCupboardModels** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:01 pm

Stunning stuff! So much to look at, superb detail!

Post by **Hank** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:41 pm

Holy moly! I'm blown away by the quality on display here! Even with a quick glance at the dio, the scene is set and you can tell exactly what's going on. And then so much can be said of the details. If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, then a physical model must be worth ten thousand!

Website · Post by **TonyCnyc** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:07 pm

Great visually inspirational works!

Post by **timtamtung** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:22 am

slip and slide! I love it

Post by **billk** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:52 pm

Well i dis try Michael but i really can't find words,this is truly amazing!

Post by **Yevgeny** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 1:51 am

Excellent and inspirational work.
Your build threads are most appreciated Coen and its a pleasure to see the end results.
Great to see the other Tigers as well. Great work/progress and thank you for sharing.

**Felis Barcinonensis YouTube Channel** · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:27 pm

Pure art mate!!!

Post by **Nev** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:11 pm

Not worthy fella!!!

Puts mine to shame

Post by **fly1ngdutchm4n** » Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:51 pm

This is why you are the Tiger king! Or is it king tiger? Now i'm confused....

Anyway, STUNNING work! And a big inspiration.

Post by **hansolo** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:57 pm

Hi Coen,

This has turned out an awesome piece!
Loved watching you make it come together.
And it's got a great story to it!

cheers

Post by **Coen** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:06 pm

Thanks fellas, I really appreciate it.

Post by **CaiusMartius** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 3:47 am

When my 9 year old son and his friend saw the pics of your build, in unison, they said "WoW it looks real", if I ever get the same reaction to one of my efforts it will be the highlight of my modelling efforts. Great work, well done.

Post by **Schoof** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:06 pm

..............

Post by **generalgrog** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:03 pm

[youtube]c3sOuEv0E2I[/youtube]

GG

Post by **Nige99** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 8:03 pm

Well done the master armour builder

your builds and dio's are inspirational Mike

that's some collection you got there. Now let's see the Sherman one!

Post by **Coen** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 10:22 pm

Thanks fellas.

Nige99 wrote:Well done the master armour builder your builds and dio's are inspirational Mike that's some collection you got there. Now let's see the Sherman one!

Haha. I'd have to do some dusting for that one Nige, I'll see what I can do.

Post by **Nige99** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:49 pm

I'll get the

out ready for when you do Mike. Perhaps when we do a Sherman build you can treat us all.

Post by **Coen** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 3:35 am

Deal