Stumtiger

[privatepete]

Hi this wil be my next build the Stumtiger Heavy Assault Mortar (38cm) and I'll try to doing the disc camo scheme.



This is the disc camo scheme I'm aimimg at and yes by hand.


For discussion purposes only

The Sturmtiger (‘Assault Tiger’) was an assault gun used by the Germans during World War II. It was built to support troops fighting in towns and cities. They were effective in close combat with armored vehicles and infantry, and provided heavy firepower. The idea of a vehicle with heavy firepower fighting in urban areas came about after the fierce fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942.

It was mounted on a Tiger I tank and armed with a 380 mm rocket launcher and a 1 MG34 machine gun. There was also a 1000mm grenade launcher on the rear of the loading hatch that could move 360 degrees. They launched bouncing mines, which exploded in mid–air and sent deadly shrapnel flying in all directions. It carried 14 rounds of ammunition. The rounds could weigh up to 367kg and could be fired at a range of 6000 metres. The rocket launcher was originally designed as a depth charge launcher for vessels in the German Navy. All five crew members were needed to load it, with the help of a crane attached to the rear of the tank.

The Sturmtiger went into production in 1944. Only 19 were built. They fought in the Warsaw Rising, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Reichswald. They were in combat mostly on the Western Front, in defense of Germany. Seven saw action in the battle for the bridge at Remagen, where they bombarded the town.

There are only 3 of the 19 Sturmtigers left. One of them was captured by the Red (Soviet) Army in April 1945 and is on display in the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia. The Deutsches Panzermuseum in Munster has one, and the last is in the Bovington Tank Museum in the UK.

The sprues.




Started by cleaning up all those lovely road wheels.


Onto the lower hull which is cleaned up ready for assembled.


Thank you for looking in thats it untill Monday, have a good weekend.
Pete

[TheNordus]

I'm definitely looking forward to this one and seeing what you're gonna do with it!

[DrSprue]

Great!! Already got this one on the wish list. Count me in to enjoy!

[OneSmallStep1966]

I’ve had a Tamiya Sturmtiger in my stash for a few years do I’m looking forward to seeing what you do, might give me some insperation

[Jens]

That looks like a great little project - and you can never go wrong with ambush camo if you ask me, especially not for one of the biggest "surprise" ambush "tank" they every deployed in action!?!

Are you going to free hand the disc camo or are you doing a stencil variant?
I've got etched brass stencils for disc camo but they don't work well at all unless the surface is totally flat. I'm trying to get Alex (Uschi van der Rosten) to make me vinyl stencils of disc camo instead because his ones have been out of stock for a very long time...
Those are the best ones I've seen so far.

I've also been thinking of buying a vinyl plotter so I can make my own stencils in the future but I don't know if I can easily buy low tack stencil film anywhere? The regular film is probably way to sticky so it'll rip up all the primer...?

Anyhow, good luck with the project! I'm no fan of Italeri kits because the ones I've built have all been wonky, but I've heard they do really good kits as well so hopefully yours is one of them?!

[privatepete]

I’ve had a Tamiya Sturmtiger in my stash for a few years do I’m looking forward to seeing what you do, might give me some insperation

Hi Norm I hope it does it would be great to see your work again, I know what you said earlier.
Pete

[privatepete]

I'm definitely looking forward to this one and seeing what you're gonna do with it!

Great!! Already got this one on the wish list. Count me in to enjoy!

Hi you two are always welcome

[privatepete]

Are you going to free hand the disc camo or are you doing a stencil variant?
Anyhow, good luck with the project! I'm no fan of Italeri kits because the ones I've built have all been wonky, but I've heard they do really good kits as well so hopefully yours is one of them?!

Hi I will be painting it free hand with my old trusted hairy stick
Pete

[Jens]

Are you going to free hand the disc camo or are you doing a stencil variant?
Anyhow, good luck with the project! I'm no fan of Italeri kits because the ones I've built have all been wonky, but I've heard they do really good kits as well so hopefully yours is one of them?!

Hi I will be painting it free hand with my old trusted hairy stick
Pete

To be honest, the best ones I've seen that hasn't been done with vinyl stencils have all been brush made so you're choice is a good one!

I'm looking forward to see how it turns out!

[digger303]

That looks like a great little project - and you can never go wrong with ambush camo if you ask me, especially not for one of the biggest "surprise" ambush "tank" they every deployed in action!?!

Are you going to free hand the disc camo or are you doing a stencil variant?
I've got etched brass stencils for disc camo but they don't work well at all unless the surface is totally flat. I'm trying to get Alex (Uschi van der Rosten) to make me vinyl stencils of disc camo instead because his ones have been out of stock for a very long time...
Those are the best ones I've seen so far.

I've also been thinking of buying a vinyl plotter so I can make my own stencils in the future but I don't know if I can easily buy low tack stencil film anywhere? The regular film is probably way to sticky so it'll rip up all the primer...?

Anyhow, good luck with the project! I'm no fan of Italeri kits because the ones I've built have all been wonky, but I've heard they do really good kits as well so hopefully yours is one of them?!

https://www.dickblick.com/products/graf ... sket-film/

[Jens]

https://www.dickblick.com/products/graf ... sket-film/

Well that'll do the trick!
Cheers!

[privatepete]

Hi assembled the lower hull.




Clean up and fitted some interior, engine deck & box, sides, shell racks.






The Sturmtiger’s Weapon
The Sturmtiger’s armament originated as a German Navy project intended to fire depth charges from shore positions at enemy submarines. The Army was impressed with its potential against fortifications, and after further development decided to fit it to a tank chassis to produce a Sturmgeschütz (‘Assault gun’, armoured vehicles with a primary role of providing fire support to the infantry). The only chassis that could mount the new weapon was that of the Tiger tank.

For discussion purposes only)
The weapon’s official name was 38cm Raketenwerfer 61 (RW 61). Unlike a conventional gun this fired rocket propelled projectiles containing a motor which continued to burn after the round had left the barrel.This allowed it to be fired from a short barrelled weapon without a loss in range or accuracy. In fact the RW 61 fired 1.5m projectiles from a barrel just 2m long.As the hot rocket exhaust would wash over the front of the vehicle crews were instructed to close the Sturmtiger’s hatches to protect themselves. Afterwards they had to switch on the ventilation system before opening the breech in order to clear any lingering fumes.The high pressure created by the rocket charge would have destroyed the gun if it wasn’t vented somehow. The solution was a series of ventilation shafts running from breech to muzzle.The distinctive ring of holes around the muzzle are the exhausts of these shafts. Photographs show that different Sturmtigers had varying numbers of exhaust shafts. Vehicles have been seen with 20, 30 and 31 shafts. The rockets had 32 nozzles in the base.

The Barrel


The barrel on this kit is not rifled so this is my attempt to show some rifling , some maths , paper, gule






Thank you for looking in.
Pete

[DrSprue]

That was cool!

[OneSmallStep1966]

The barrel rifling is way cool Pete, very well done

[ElCapitan]

Great idea, makes a big difference!

[privatepete]

The barrel rifling is way cool Pete, very well done

That was cool!

Great idea, makes a big difference!

Glad you guys like it, had to use the old gray matter for a change and yes I had a lay down after
Pete

[TheNordus]

Looking really nice, can't wait to see what other additions you are going to put into the kit.

[privatepete]

Hi got a bit more work done on this beast

Rear engine hatch, 2x exchausts, 2x mud garuds,2x shackles fitted.




On to the Casemate and the hatches will be closed.





Added rear hatch,tools, odds & sods.





On to the tracks.
As you can see the track guide horns are missing the slot/hole so got out out the drilled and did the lot.




Started with the front drive sprockets track assembly using my newly construted gluing jig.


The finish off the tracks.


Added the engine grills.


Added some missing welds.


Assembled the crane and made up lifting cable.




Thined down exhaust shields & fitted.


Added missing bolt heads.


All ready for paint.



Thank you for looking.

Pete

[digger303]

[TheNordus]

Really nice and clean build. That's some dedication on drilling out those tracks!

[digger303]

Bronco aftermarket have all the guide horns done, but I wouldn't have bought them either unless it was to replace ds tracks.

[OneSmallStep1966]

Awesome job on the tracks. You have far more patience than me

[DrSprue]

Cool, love your homemade tools Pete!

[privatepete]

Got the primer on the body. wheels, tracks.


Got the base coats on the body & track and the detail painting done the paint's I used are shown below

Everything you see is paint by hand





Thank you for looking now it's time to workout ho to do the camo disc pattern .

This is what I'm aimimg at.


For discussion purposes only

Thank you for passing by
Pete

[OneSmallStep1966]

It’s coming together nicely Pete

How are you finding those Lifecolor paints? I need to find a range that can withstand months/years of storage in my garage workshop (gets hot in summer, very cold in winter) without deteriorating. I had a lot of Vellejo Model Air that don’t work well now and both my bottles of Ultimate primer won’t airbrush anymore despite being kept in the house (I hadn’t even opened the grey one).
My paint woes might be down to the cold damp air here on the North Kent coast, but the only paints I can make work in my stash right now are Tamiya acrylics (yes, I have been modelling again ).

[TheNordus]

It's looking really great, as I've come to expect of your work! I'm paining over whether or not to use some store credit I've accumulated to buy the Tamiya Sturmtiger right tomorrow or not. I definitely want to build this vehicle.

[digger303]

It’s coming together nicely Pete

How are you finding those Lifecolor paints? I need to find a range that can withstand months/years of storage in my garage workshop (gets hot in summer, very cold in winter) without deteriorating. I had a lot of Vellejo Model Air that don’t work well now and both my bottles of Ultimate primer won’t airbrush anymore despite being kept in the house (I hadn’t even opened the grey one).
My paint woes might be down to the cold damp air here on the North Kent coast, but the only paints I can make work in my stash right now are Tamiya acrylics (yes, I have been modelling again ).

Lifecolor seem to be reasonably shelf durable here in the heat, but No paint really likes freezing conditions. I would suggest storing the paints in the house during winter, perhaps in the boiler room.

[privatepete]

Hi is is my attempt at the disc camo I know I've missed bits and will be go back over it.




Got all the camo disc pattern done.





This is now finish , it was a leaning piece and i no where i went wrong for the next time I do disc pattern camo.

All the painting is done with a hairy stick.











Thank you for taking time to look till the next time.
Pete

[Tomcat64]

Very nice work Pete - and an interesting approach to the disk camo!

[OneSmallStep1966]

It turned out well and I like your solution for the disc camo.

[DrSprue]

Wow that came out awesome!

[Stokesy44]

Beautiful camo Pete, both the application method and how its looking now.

Especially like being able to see the mortar in the barrel too

[privatepete]

Wow that came out awesome!

It turned out well and I like your solution for the disc camo.

Very nice work Pete - and an interesting approach to the disk camo!

Thank you I'm glad you all like it.
Pete

[darrengreenwood]

Excellent work on this Pete!

[mick]

great work

[privatepete]

great work

Excellent work on this Pete!

Thank you to both of you, as you can tell I don't login/post anymore well 6 months ago probably, I normally just check out my mates progress then go but I noticed your posts.
Cheers Pete.

[Gary30]

Looks great! I really want to build one of these, they look so mean.