Chilly Kitty! Takom 1/35 King Tiger

[KungFuDrew]

Hi folks, and welcome to my build of the Takom 1/35 King Tiger for this GB (my first!)

This is the kit I will be building:
There's alot of plastic stuffed into the box:
A Bit of History


Well what can you say about the King Tiger that hasn't already been said? Not a lot. But for the uninitiated, here's what Wikipedia has to say:

Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 182. It is also known under the informal name Königstiger (the German name for the Bengal tiger), often translated literally as Royal Tiger, or somewhat incorrectly as King Tiger by Allied soldiers, especially by American forces.

The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latter's thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. The tank weighed almost 70 tonnes, and was protected by 100 to 185 mm (3.9 to 7.3 in) of armour to the front. It was armed with the long barrelled 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 anti-tank cannon. The chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer.

The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army and the Waffen-SS. It was first used in combat with 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion during the Allied Invasion of Normandy on 11 July 1944; on the Eastern Front, the first unit to be outfitted with Tiger IIs was the 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion, which by 1 September 1944 listed 25 Tiger IIs operational.

A Look at the Kit

Well, the kit does look impressive. The detail is nice and fine, and doesn't look soft. There are lots of EPM's, but by they seem to be in places that they will be hidden. So far I've only noticed 2 problems. One is that the upper hull is bowed, but this shouldn't be a problem once everything is glued up

The other problem is the track links. They do remind me of magic tracks, but the back of the tracks are covered in EPM's! So I will be replacing them with Fruils to avoid a lot of tedious sanding (also the first time using Fruils for me!).
Well that's enough natter, on with the kit!

[chief5437]

Nice choice, king tiger is my fave German armour. Enjoy!

[KungFuDrew]

Thanks!

So, build update. The fit of the kit so far is pretty good, nor quite Tamiya fit but not far off. Here is the lower hull with the side walls and braces fitted


And various other internal parts fitted


It's at this point the instructions would have you fit the torsion bars, however I will be leaving them off for now as they will be painted a different colour.

As a side note, I really like the way Takom has shown the paint scheme for the interior in the instructions:

It just helps take any guesswork out of the model. I also like that Takom have provided corrections to their instructions, instead of just leaving mistakes in (cough...Dragon...cough)


Thanks for checking in!

[Tomcat64]

That's an impressive looking beast!

Love the coloured section in the instructions - that's a great idea.

[LM951]

I want this kit! Kinda jealous, not going to lie. I'm sure it'll turn out great!

[KungFuDrew]

Thanks guys, I just hope I can do the kit justice, so far it's not gave me any real problems. The crew compartment is almost done, all I really have to add is the ammo and a few braces. I won't be adding these now though to make painting easier.



The torsion bars are in but not glued, these will be removed when it comes to painting.

I also have the engine constructed, I'll be leaving it out for now to paint it up.

I've tried dry fitting the engine, and it might give me a bit of trouble because of everything that needs aligned, but only time will tell.

[chops1sc]

There's alot of plastic stuffed into the box:

Are my eyes playing tricks on me or does your plastic look tan in this picture?

[KungFuDrew]

There's alot of plastic stuffed into the box:

Are my eyes playing tricks on me or does your plastic look tan in this picture?

I didn't notice that until you pointed it out! I think it's just a combination of lighting conditions and camera. I had my desk light turned off and it was starting to get later in the day.

[chops1sc]

I didn't notice that until you pointed it out! I think it's just a combination of lighting conditions and camera. I had my desk light turned off and it was starting to get later in the day.

LOL I was thinking "I have that kit and mine are grey!" Then I noticed your assembly is grey.

I'm pretty much at the same pace as you but I am holding off until I get the right colors for the interior. I ordered the MIG paint sets specific for this kit. I have to wait since they are coming from Poland, lol!

Looking good so far!

[pourquoi61]

Looks like a very nice kit, will look good when done.

[KungFuDrew]

Looks like a very nice kit, will look good when done.

I certainly hope so!

Just a small update today, I have all the rear compartment components constructed


I have dry fitted the engine and it should all fit fine with a bit of persuasion.

The amunition is also prepared, but I forgot to take a picture . Now I can start work on the upper hull, I'm not far from putting a coat of paint down!

[privatepete]

Very nice looking kit it's certainly has a lot of detail, it's coming together nicely, good luck with the rest of the build.

[Bissyboat]

Wow! Look at all that interior. Quite an undertaking.

[SergioSolo]

One of the coolest box art around, isn't it?
Looks like a great kit. Keep the great work!

[chops1sc]

How are you going to paint the interior? Is everything just stuck in place?

[Stokesy44]

Beautiful detail on that interior. Almost a shame to put the hull on!

its the one thing that stops me buying one. Still looks superb though

[KungFuDrew]

Thanks for all the compliments guys! I've started painting, I'll post pictures once I get the base layers down.

How are you going to paint the interior? Is everything just stuck in place?

Some things are glued, others are just dry fitted.

Beautiful detail on that interior. Almost a shame to put the hull on!

its the one thing that stops me buying one. Still looks superb though

I'll be leaving all the hatches open, hoping that will be enough to show a decent amount of the interior.

[Tomcat64]

Wow - the interior detailing in there is fantastic and looks really crisply moulded too.

Very tidy job so far

[KungFuDrew]

So, time for an overdue update! I painted the interior using the Mig Ammo colour set for this kit. I know some folks have had problems with these paints, but I have found that you just need to be careful with your coats, and they generally spray and lay down fine. However, saying that, I did find the cremeweiss and brass colours to be particularly difficult, needing very fine trigger control, otherwise they would just fisheye. Anyway on with the pics!

Base colours down. I also painted the engine and its components at this point.

This is where I am just now. The engine was a bit of a sod to get in, but with a bit of swearing and persuasion, I managed to get it to fit without it getting in anything else's way. The ammunition is 33% done, it's proving a real mojo killer, as the rounds and the brackets are moulded as one piece, making it rather annoying to paint.

[privatepete]

Very nice job, stick with it mate

[Bissyboat]

Coming along just nicely. Prima paint job on the interior.

[KungFuDrew]

So, time for an update. Hannants finally got the Fruil tracks I needed in stock, so the postie delivered these a few days ago:


To get through the tedium of drilling out tracks and painting ammo, I've set a rule for myself that every time I sit down at the bench, I need to drill out 20 links and paint 1 bracket of ammo. This allows me to get through it decently quickly, but helps me stop losing mojo.

I've also been thinking about how I'm going to display the model once it's done. Once the upper hull and turret is on there won't be much of the interior visible, so I'm thinking about making a workshop dio. For the GB, I'll call it done once the model is finished, but at some point in the future I'll probably buy a 1/35 crane and show it lifting the turret off it's ring, allowing people to see more of the interior.

[spock1701]

I think that interior looks fantastic. Those ammo brackets sound tedious though. Almost like sanding rubber road wheels on a Panzer III or IV.

The workshop idea sounds very interesting. A clever way to show off the interior.

[KungFuDrew]

Update time!

I took a few weeks off of the KT as the ammo was really killing my mojo, but I'm back on the horse and ready to go! I have painted and assembled 50% of the ammo, and the other half is well on the way. The tracks are now prepped, and I gave them a bath in Ultimate Burnishing Fluid. I assembled a small run of links, this is what they look like:



I did get a few air bubbles in the links when I was burnishing them, however this shouldn't be too much of a problem as I will be using pigments on the tracks. The turret basket and gun breech have also been assembled:





I don't have too much more interior assembly to go, it won't be long until I can close this beast up. In addition to leaving hatches open, I'm going to leave a few of the panels unglued and removeable. This will leave a decent amount viewable, and will also make the workshop dio easier when I get around to it.

[Stokesy44]

Absolutely stunning gun breach and turret details. Cant imagine how fantastic they will look when the paint goes on.

[mick]

great work

[KungFuDrew]

Small update today. The breech and basket have both been painted and glued together, I'll post pics once I have finished weathering them. Half of the tracks are assembled and I think they look pretty awesome! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the ammo is concerned with only 4 more brackets to go. I'll have to paint the ammo in the turret as well, thankfully however it's only 6 brackets compared to 14, and I can dry-fit the upper turret, allowing me to crack on with the rest of the build while painting and assembling the ammo at the same time. Thanks for checking in, pics coming soon!

[KungFuDrew]

This is going to be a pic heavy update!

I finished the ammo in the lower hull and was finally able to call it done. This is what it looks like:




Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. All the ammunition really help finish it off and makes it look really busy and claustrophobic, as I imagine they must have been in real life! As you can see, I have assembled all the tracks as well, with the weight of the metal tracks and the interior this is going to weigh a tonne!

In the time that I was working on the lower hull I also managed to get a lot of work done on the upper hull, so it only required a few bits and bobs stuck on and then I stuck the two halves together:



And with the hatches off:




This is the turret basket and gun, painted and weathered, all that really needs done here is the ammunition in the turret rear:



At this point I can add the turret and basket to the hull and it starts to look like a King Tiger!



So that's it for this update. There's not much to do on the exterior (compared to the interior), so it shouldn't be long before I can give it a coat of primer! All comments and critique are welcome, see you guys later!

[mick]

looking good

[Stokesy44]

Stunning work Sir. I love the work on the turret and the gun, (the rest is fantastic too) beautiful painting and weathering.

[SergioSolo]

My goodness! Beautiful work!

[KungFuDrew]

So I finally got the turret ammunition done, here is the turret completed:



If I never see another ammo bracket it'll be too soon!
While finishing the turret I managed to complete the hull exterior:



The hull exterior only took one night, as I said there wasn't a lot to do on it. Once the hull and turret interior was completed, it didn't take me long and I had a fully built King Tiger!




Overall I have really enjoyed the build, now onward to paint!

[KungFuDrew]

Paint is on!


I used the Mig Ammo exterior paints, they laid down well and gave good coverage. I did have some problems with the Schokobraun colour, halfway through painting the hull the paint changed from a brown-red to a red-brown! There was quite a large difference in shade so I had to go over all of the camo again, fortunately the paint decided to stay the same shade for the rest of the painting. It was very weird as I shook the bottle thoroughly before using it.

Anyways, after painting the camo it was on with the white. I used Ultimate winter wash instead of the Mig colour that is part of the exterior set:



I can't decide whether I like it or not, I might go over some of the white again to give it a more even finish, what do you guys think?

[spock1701]

Looks fantastic mate

No need to change it, in my mind, but I know how you feel. Everything always seems like it needs more work

[Bissyboat]

Wow! You´re flying away with that build. Looking good.

[KungFuDrew]

OK, so I didn't reapply the winter wash. Instead I used some white oils as a really heavy dot filter, making it look as if it was running off of the tank. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of this once I finished it because I forgot. I'm still getting used to having to take pictures regularly. After that I glossed the tank and gave it a wash of Ultimate Earth, again forgetting to take any pictures. Then it was on with some pigments, I used Mig Russian Earth along the running gear and tracks and Humbrol Smoke on the inside of some of the hatches. At this point I did remember to take pictures, but that was only because I think I am done!



These pics are pretty crap, I'll upload some better ones when I get time. This is how the model will be displayed until I get around to making a dio for it, unfortunately the commanders hatch is moulded in a way that it can't be left open. I'm happy with how much of the interior can be seen, however I would have preferred to see more on the turret interior.

Comments and critique welcome as always, better pics are on the way!

[Stokesy44]

Superb work. Really like the look you have created

[KungFuDrew]

Thanks Stokesy! So after various problems with work, camera and computer I finally have the final pics!




There's more pics over in my reveal thread. I've enjoyed taking part in this GB, I can definitely see more on the horizon! Thanks for looking in guys, comments and critique welcome as always.

[mick]

excellent work