Global Scale Modeller

Alrighty then,here we go on another modelling first for me...my first Tiger I.But I feel I need to waffle a little bit first.As I was beginning to make my first forays into the military side of modelling I have to admit I was a little bit apprehensive seeing some of the awesome builds and all of the techniques that were foreign to me being that I come from an automotive modelling background.After finding this forum(one of the best modelling moves I've ever made) I stumbled onto Paul's excellent how to vids and some vids from this muppet named Coen . After watching the whole Jagdpanzer shadow build series he did I found that the modelling techniques that I had thought was almost witchcraft slowly started to make sense to me.Now I am FAR from being a master modeller or even as good as most of the builders here but I feel without Coen and the others here that took the time to help and encourage this dumb Yank,I probably would have gotten frustrated and went back to only building car models.So when Devon & James announced this SiG(big tip of the hat to the both of you ) I decided that there was no way I was gonna miss it.

So enough rambling on,here is my contribution to this SiG......another damn Dragon 6600

I will be building Tiger number 100 from the Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 that saw action in the Mga area south east of St.Petersburg on the Eastern front in late 1942.Below is a little bit about the Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502.

The Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 was formed in August 1942 and the first tanks arrived at the front near Leningrad on 29 August 1942. The rest of the first company arrived in November 1942 and more tanks arrived in February 1943.
The second company was formed in late 1942 and was sent together with the first and second companies of Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 to the Kalmückensteppe in December and was integrated into that unit as the third company in February 1943.It was redesignated Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 511 in January 1945.

Commanders

Major Richard Märker (? Aug 1942 - ? Nov 1942)
Hauptmann Artur Wollschlaeger (? Nov 1942 - 7 Feb 1943) (WIA)
Major Richter (? Feb 1943 - ? July 1943)
Hauptmann Friedrich Schmidt (? July 1943 - ? Aug 1943)
Hauptmann Lange (? Aug 1943 - ? Oct 1943)
Hauptmann Oehme (Oct 1943) [m.d.F.b.]
Major Willy Jähde (? Oct 1943 - ? Mar 1944)
Major Dipl.Ing. Hans-Joachim Schwaner (? Apr 1944 - ? Aug 1944) (WIA)
Hauptmann Ferdinand von Foerster (25 Aug 1944 - 13 / 31 ? Jan 1945)

Area of operations:Eastern front (Aug 1942 - Jan 1945)


Holders of high awards

(this was the most decorated of the Schwere Panzer-Abteilungen)
Holders of the Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (1)
- Meyer, Herbert, 27.05.1943 (1815), Leutnant, Zugführer i. d. s.Pz.Abt. 502
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (3)
- Bölter, Johannes, 29.03.1943, Oberfeldwebel, 1./s.Pz.Abt. 502
- Göring, Kurt, 09.10.1944, Oberfeldwebel, 2./s.Pz.Abt. 502
- Meyer, Herbert, 30.12.1943, Leutnant d.R., s.Pz.Abt. 502
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (1)
- Meyer, Herbert, 27.03.1944, Leutnant d.R., 1./s.Pz.Abt. 502
Holders of the Knight's Cross (10) (8 RK + 2 EL)

Notable members

Johannes Bolter (usually credited with 139 destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Otto Carius (usually credited with 150+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Alfredo Carpaneto (usually credited with 50+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Albert Kerscher (usually credited with 100+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Heinz Kramer (usually credited with 50+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Johann Muller (usually credited with 50 destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)

I know everyone has seen sprue shots of this kit as Nige,Devon,ForbesHutton and Ozzie are building Dragon initial kits but here goes anyway

Nice box art.



Mirrored sprue.







Now to the first of a couple slight disappointments with this kit...the tracks.They were just stuffed into the box without any protection and as a result they are a little bit warped.These two weren't too bad....

But this one looks like a banana


And the second slight disappointment,the PE or lack of.I read several reviews of this kit on line and they showed this kit had PE tool clamps,wire for the light conduit and some other goodies,but when I got to the PE frets here is what I found.

Everything was stuffed into a little bag with only about half of the PE that the kit reviews showed.Another slightly irritating thing is no extra track links,they included the holders but no track links.I guess this is a running change Dragon has made


But it is what it is so on to the plan.I wanted to do something a little bit different so I picked up some of these guys from Verlinden.





The plan is to do a vignette depicting the crew of tiger 100 making their tank go from this(these are pics of Tiger 100).



To this.....


I have got all the things needed for this build so I guess it's time to get cracking

Great subject !!.. interesting dio idea !!

Looks like a great little project planned. Really look forward to it!

Thank you for joining in with us. Ive got this kit in my stash as well. Sounds like you have a great idea for yours. Cant wait to see it come together for you.

Ok,with my Stug III out of the way I started on this beast.I have to be honest,this thing so far has went together pretty nicely.I took my time and triple checked the instructions and so far she hasn't fought me too much.

Sooo many damn road wheels(now I know why I build Stug's )



Next up was the torsion bars and suspension arms.And whilst doing so I made a blood sacrifice to the modelling gods.



After a band-aid I finished up the suspension.



I next started on the rear hull plate.It's close to being done just have a few odds and ends to add.



I used some Mr Surfacer 500 stippled onto the exhaust to give it some texture for rusting later on.




I hope to finish up the rear hull plate tomorrow and move on to the fuel tanks and fans,ect....

Looks very cool so far Steve. I love the effect that the stippling had on the exhaust. That turned out really well

Thanks Mike Yep,the Mr Surfacer trick is real simple and gives good effect I think.

Ok,got a little bit more building done and a little bit more research too.I am having some trouble finding some info on Tiger 100 such as commander,battlefield reports,ect...But I did find out Tiger 100's ultimate fate courtesy of the book Tigers in combat I.It seems that 100 got stuck in a peat bog on 18 January 1943 and was abandoned intact,after that she was captured by the Russians and had the whitewash camo cleaned off and displayed in Gorky park for Russian dignitaries.



Here it shows that the right side stowage bin is missing.



Here it shows Stalin viewing Tiger 100.



Here is a pic of Georgy Zhukov inspecting Tiger 100.



After this I have no clue of 100's fate.

Ok,on to the build pics.I have to warn you all this build is not close to accurate,as I found out after it was too late but it is what it is and I shall trudge on.

The lower hull is together and sprayed with AK's horrid black primer (worked ok this time though )I didn't use the PE fan shrouds as they wont be seen with the grills down,so I saved them for future projects.



The rear hull plate is done also.Here is where some of the inaccuracies are as I believe the jack block should be on the front of the upper hull and the Dragon instructions call to delete the external starter guide plate(which I now think might be wrong).



The front glacis plate.I think this might be the only accurate part on this build.




Next was the upper hull.Again lots on inaccuracies as far as tool placement as I found out AFTER I already had them glued down The tow cables look dark because they were a little stiff so I annealed them with a small torch to make them more flexible.




One bit of scratchbuilding I did was the conduit for the headlight wiring as my version of this kit didn't have any.Pretty simple addition to make,I drilled a hole in the headlight mount and made the conduit out of some 24 gauge beading wire and then added a couple PE brackets.






That's all for now,I am hoping to get the hull together tonight and then get started on the turret.

Ok... You've gone and made me buy this kit again haha.
Tiger 100 is something that I've always wanted to build myself and never got around to it. Your telling of the story has rekindled the interest.
As for the inaccuracy of your build... what makes you think that it's inaccurate? I haven't looked at the research yet (other than the photo that you've posted), but it looks pretty good so far.

I was going off the pic from the Tiger bible you posted showing the tool layout and rear hull plate configuration.One of the big problems with researching this build is that there is only one photo that I can find of 100 in German service and it is taken from some distance.The Gorky park photos are after she has been stripped down either by the crew after she got stuck or the Russians after capture so not much help there either.The more I research this tank the more it makes me want to buy another one and do a dio of her sitting in Gorky park with all the Russian military inspecting her.

Got a small update.The hull is together,the DS tracks are pinned and it's on to the turret now.

I had planned to use a set of AFV Club tracks for this build but after messing around with them for a bit decided against it.They look good when assembled and are easy to build but take ALOT of cleanup and I just couldn't bring myself to deal with them.I used five links for extra stored track and that alone took way too much time.here are the AFV Club tracks.




So after watching Mike's video on how he pins DS tracks I had a go myself.Pretty simple but fiddly procedure but worked a treat and when done looks real good.



Here are pics of the completed hull,not much trouble but the PE front fender hold-down latches were a little bit fiddly though.





Then it was on to where I am now,the main gun.

I've got some Mr Dissolved Putty on the seams of the barrel drying now.



I needed a casting number for the mantlet and as there is no way of knowing the number 100 carried I just pulled a number out of my arse and used my age.



I have nothing to do for the next two days but hide in the workshop so I hope to have this thing into the paint stage by the end of the weekend.

I had a pretty productive day today and I can finally say that the build phase of this project is done!

I didn't go crazy on the interior as only the commander's hatch will be open and there will be a figure in the cupola.Basically glued everything together and gave it a quick spraying of cheap ivory white craft paint and gave the gun a half-arsed wash.



Then it was on to the turret.Nothing special happened,just a matter of cutting and gluing.





With that she is ready for paint.I am going to start on the resin figures next before I put any paint on the Tiger so I don't scratch anything test fitting the figures.

Looking really good. I was tempted to put the side bins on but went for No.3 instead.

Spectacular work Steve!!! Top work.
That shape with the bins on the side is just soo cool.

The casting number for tiger 100's mantlet was 20 if you're interested in switching out the numbers.

Nige99 wrote:Looking really good. I was tempted to put the side bins on but went for No.3 instead.

Thanks,the more I look at the the double bins the more it makes the tank look like Dumbo the elephant.

Coen wrote:Spectacular work Steve!!! Top work.
That shape with the bins on the side is just soo cool.

The casting number for tiger 100's mantlet was 20 if you're interested in switching out the numbers.

Thanks Mike.I had thought about using 20 but the 2's and 0's ended up as sacrifices to the carpet monster.

Looking good there also a good job with the PE.

Jan01 wrote:Looking good there also a good job with the PE.

Thanks Jan,I am pretty happy with it.But I'm afraid that I might be coming down with Tiger-itis though,already looking to start another one.

Ok,after a little break from this project to work on a couple others I have now started really what is my first real attempt to paint some figures(only done one other half-arsed figure).All the figures I am using are resin figures from Verlinden.They have some really nice detail and minimal clean-up is required,just some filling of joints and pin-holes with some Mr Dissolved Putty(man I love that stuff ).






Next,I gave everything a coat of AK grey primer.



After that dried I started on the uniforms.I had a little trouble finding what color the jump suits should be so I just defaulted and tried to match the box art on the figures.I don't have a lot of different uniform paints so I went with Model Color German field grey for the jump suits and Model Color US field drab for the vests.I still need to do some more to the uniforms(painting rank,ect.),but they are real close to being done.I am on the fence about adding highlights and shadows to the uniforms as the way Verlinden made the creases and folds in the uniforms they might not need it.








Like I said before,this is my first real attempt at figure painting and so far I am pretty pleased with the result.

Those are wonderful figures Steve.
The detail on them is top rate. They should look really cool once you're finished with them.
The poses a awesome too.

The Figure painting is SUPERB !!

Ok,life has slowed down a bit now and I have gotten some more done on Tiger #100.I spent the day finishing up the figures and getting the tank ready for priming tomorrow.I would like to remind everyone that this is my first real attempt at painting figures so don't expect too much I made some mistakes but I also learned some stuff(gotta get painting eyes figured out) so I guess the figure portion of this build could be considered a success.I cheated on the tank commander by using rank decals from Alliance Modelworks,which probably kept me from pulling my hair out.Anyway here they are,warts and all......








As you can see my technique for painting eyes needs work,but ya gotta start somewhere right?Out of them all I think the tank commander turned out the best,but the rest will look ok sitting in the display cabinet.With these guys done it's time to get some color on the Tigger.

Holy cow!!
For your first time painting figures you did better that I can do on my best day, and I've been trying to paint the damned things for years.
That's excellent work.

That's some Awesome figure painting !!

Very nice figure work

Very impressive figures. An EXCEPTIONAL piece of work, especially as you say they are your first attempt.

Steve.... dude.... Those figures are superb buddy...
Gonna be a fantastic piece when finished.. and if these are your first attempts at figures then "Man!" I gotta long way to go!... Lol..
Well done again!

Coen wrote:Holy cow!!
For your first time painting figures you did better that I can do on my best day, and I've been trying to paint the damned things for years.
That's excellent work.

rwsmith14 wrote:That's some Awesome figure painting !!

OliveDrab wrote:Very nice figure work

PaulAyrey wrote:Very impressive figures. An EXCEPTIONAL piece of work, especially as you say they are your first attempt.

wappynutter wrote:Steve.... dude.... Those figures are superb buddy...
Gonna be a fantastic piece when finished.. and if these are your first attempts at figures then "Man!" I gotta long way to go!... Lol..
Well done again!

Thanks alot guys I have done one other figure but it was just a quick one color uniform,one color skin tone and big Cookie Monster eyeballs disaster Believe me I am no natural figure painter,I spent hours watching how-to videos(Mike,the video series you did for Ben really helped) and articles.I think I might have got a slight case of information overload though and that kind of messed with my head a little.All the different techniques out there is mind-boggling so I had to step back,clear my head a little and in the end everything worked out ok.

It seems u r a natural at painting figures ....I just can't seem to do the eyes no matter how hard I try so I just don't do them anymore...great job so far

Art17847 wrote:It seems u r a natural at painting figures ....I just can't seem to do the eyes no matter how hard I try so I just don't do them anymore...great job so far

Thanks Art,I struggle doing them too It took SEVERAL tries to get these done and some of them still leave a little bit to be desired

Alright,I got some quality modelling time tonight and made some more headway on this project.After looking at some of the other Tiger threads it dawned on me that I hadn't done any battle damage yet.Now this tank had a short service life before the Russians captured her but it did see some action so I felt some battle damage was due.So with much trepidation I broke out the soldering iron and added some shell strikes,and using a needle heated over a tea candle added a few small arm impacts.







I then heated the right side stowage bin and added a couple dents using a hobby knife handle to form the dent.




If anyone wants to try this method of adding battle damage I strongly suggest practicing on a old kit or some sheet styrene as I did because it doesn't take much heat to ruin all your hard work!After my heart rate settled back down it was time for some primer.I used AK black primer and had nothing but problems right from the start.The stuff didn't want to spray out of my Neo at all!,so after much cursing I stuck the .66 needle in my Paasche Talon and the stuff sprayed like a dream!After I was done I pulled the Neo apart and found a slightly bent needle So I took the opportunity to try Lee's needle straightening procedure and it worked a treat!Anyway enough waffling,here she is in primer ready for the dunklegrau base.



Wouldn't be a Coen tribute thread without the obligatory "tank-on-a-stick" shots now would it.





i will probably let the primer dry for a couple days and then it's base coat time.

Right,primer has dried so it's time for some color,I used Vallejo Model Air German Grey and it went down real nice and smooth.





Next I sprayed the rubber portions of the road wheels with Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black and when they dry I can spray the centers with German Grey.I then sprayed the exhausts Vallejo Model Air rust in preparation for further rusting with pigments.



I gave the tracks a dusting of Vallejo rust for a little tonal variety.



I'll let everything dry overnight and hope to get started painting the tools and other odds and ends tomorrow.

Nice..... Looking great, rubbing my hands together for some more!

Thanks Paul,it seems every build I do I have builders block (for lack of a better word) between build and paint phases but once the painting starts everything seems to move along at a good pace.Anyone else ever have this problem?

Happens to me too.....I really enjoy the build part and then I get all stressed out when it comes time to paint....I guess cuz I don't want to screw it all up

I think you are right Art,because when I was deciding on whether to use Tamiya(mixed success before) or Vallejo German Grey(which I had never used before)I was feeling a little trepadation at the time about my decision to use the Vallejo.

Great thread so far , I wasn't with the attention that this build deserved !

First the subject : Real nice to see this Tiger , in all these years looking to WW2 photos and Tigers, this silhouete I never saw or noticed , the stowage nins on the side , that is a nive variant for all the Tigers that we usually see ! And that is precisely what makes this SiG so great we see a lot of Tigers but all different , real nice !

Now your figure painting job , that is top mate ! For the first time you paint them they are gorgeous , absolutely !

Great Build so far ! keep it coming , should be a very nice diorama !

rodrant wrote:Great thread so far , I wasn't with the attention that this build deserved !

First the subject : Real nice to see this Tiger , in all these years looking to WW2 photos and Tigers, this silhouete I never saw or noticed , the stowage nins on the side , that is a nive variant for all the Tigers that we usually see ! And that is precisely what makes this SiG so great we see a lot of Tigers but all different , real nice !

Now your figure painting job , that is top mate ! For the first time you paint them they are gorgeous , absolutely !

Great Build so far ! keep it coming , should be a very nice diorama !

Thanks António,I really appreciate the kind words As far as the subject goes,I am finding myself gravitating towards subjects that are a little bit different or that have a cool backstory.I am also really starting to get into the research aspect of this segment of the hobby.

That's some brave stuff with that soldering iron business Steve. Wow!
I'm really glad that it worked out for you, there's a real danger of cooking your build with that.
Well done.
If I may... see about getting a cheap knock off of a dremel tool of some kind. It's easier on the ol'ticker

Thanks Michael I have 2 Dremel tools and did try them first but to me the results didn't look right and besides I like to live on the edge every now and again.

Today was detail painting day All the tools are painted and I am now ready to begin the chipping process.All tools were painted with Vallejo Model Color slightly thinned with washer fluid to help the paint flow better and then given a slight dry-brushing with Vallejo gunmetal grey.I have used Model Master and Tamiya for brush painting and have to say Vallejo is hands down the best paint for brush painting.I used a silver Prismacolor pencil to give the tow cables a metallic sheen.I will add some rust effects to the spare track links,horse shoe,and battle damage later.




Next I went over the track faces with the Prismacolor pencil to show wear.



I also rusted the exhausts with AK rust pigments.For some reason the color variation doesn't show very well in the pics.



On to the chipping!

I have to say Steve, those are some really great colours buddy.
That's going to look awesome under weathering.

Coen wrote:I have to say Steve, those are some really great colours buddy.
That's going to look awesome under weathering.

Thanks Michael Going to be a chore making a single color interesting.



Haven't had much time in the cave this week but i managed to get a little bit done.I have gotten the decals on and chipped it with Vallejo German cam. black brown.I am not sure if I really like the effect with that color,something to me just doesn't look right.But I guess it will have to do,so I guess I'll say.....







After painting the jack block and inside of the commander's hatch that I forgot I glossed everything for the pinwash.I used AK brown blue wash for German grey and have to say I don't really like the looks of it.To me it looks too light and I am afraid that it will get washed out after filters and weathering,but we will see.





After the wash dries it's on to a flat coat and filters.

You probably have to a couple of rounds of pinwash to make it stand out. Maby try black if you don't like the ak. Grey is a hard color to work with. I always start with filter and to check if I'm happy with the colour. If the colour go pete tong wrong at least is just some acrylic over it.

Btw it looks like a really nice build and great eye catcher to leave the hatch in creamweiss even if you did forget. Good luck!

It looks to be shaping up to be a very impressive Tiger I kind of like the cream colored hatch interior, it adds some character to the all gray Tiger

Where did you get my picture you posted at the beginning of your post...I'm pretty sure that was me after working on the Tiger AFV Club tracks...LOL!

Coming along really well, I love it!

gustavlekstal wrote:You probably have to a couple of rounds of pinwash to make it stand out. Maby try black if you don't like the ak. Grey is a hard color to work with. I always start with filter and to check if I'm happy with the colour. If the colour go pete tong wrong at least is just some acrylic over it.

Btw it looks like a really nice build and great eye catcher to leave the hatch in creamweiss even if you did forget. Good luck!

Thanks,I might just go over it with a black pinwash.

OliveDrab wrote:It looks to be shaping up to be a very impressive Tiger I kind of like the cream colored hatch interior, it adds some character to the all gray Tiger

Where did you get my picture you posted at the beginning of your post...I'm pretty sure that was me after working on the Tiger AFV Club tracks...LOL!

Thanks,and yea you are a braver man than I. I messed with the set of AFV Club tracks I have for about 15 min. and decided....there has got to be a better way than this.

PaulAyrey wrote:Coming along really well, I love it!

Thanks Paul It should really start to come to life once the filters and streaking grime are on it.

Ok,yet another step closer to the finish line.I have done the filters and streaking grime and have it all sealed in preparation of further weathering.I used AK's filter for German Grey and kind of mucked up the process a little.The problem was my impatience in layering the filters and I made the last layer too thick and it streaked a bit I used some white spirit and got it to look presentable again...lesson learned.Next was some streaking grime also by AK Interactive,this went a little bit better than the filters but not much.I don't know what it is but I am not 100% happy with it but after some further weathering it should come around.Anyway,here is where I am now.










Next up is some dirt/dust effects.

It looks fine Steve, don't be knocking it. Weathering grey vehicles isn't easy but you're doing just fine.

Thanks Mike,you are right After looking at it again this morning it doesn't look as bad as I had first thought....I just get a little overcritical on myself sometimes,I guess it's a character flaw I need to work on.

Right,last update on this build.Modeling time has been pretty much non-existent in the last two weeks for me(1/2 hour here,15 min there) but this build is done.I didn't get many pictures of the weathering stage and dio build but here is what I have.

I went for more of a dusty look rather than real muddy.I used a technique I found in Mig's Weathering magazine on dust.It is a really simple,easy technique to use and looks pretty good when done.All I did was spray some AK Interactive earth effects and summer Kursk earth on the hull and turret sides.Then after letting that dry for a while I took a brush damped with white spirit and stumped the dirt effects to make it random and more realistic.On the hull and turret tops I used AK dark earth pigments.

Here is the dirt effects before stumping.




And here is the effect after stumping.For the road wheels I mixed some summer Kursk earth with a little plaster of Paris and blew the mixture across the wheels with the air from my AB and stumped it when it dried.




And with that the Tiger is finished.As for the dio,I don't have any in-progress pics as I just started it this morning and needless to say it was an "arse-holes and elbows"thrash to get it done.It's a really simple dio,I used Scene-o-rama grass mat,bushes and snow.After that it I placed the figures and did a little touch up and called this project finished. I will have more pics in the reveal thread.