Global Scale Modeller

Well, with the Summer Sci-Fi SiG a week away and a gazillion decals to add to the Phantom, what's a modeller to do? Start a detailed WiP thread of a Tiger tank, that's what!

For those of you who don't know, my first love, when it comes to modelling, is armour and my favourite piece of armour is the Tiger I. I've built six or seven in the past, mainly Dragon kits with a couple of Tamiya's offerings thrown in for good measure. The Tamiya kits are great to build, but in terms of accuracy, they could be better. Plus, don't get me started on the old rubber-band tracks. Dragon are pretty much the "go-to" name for the Tiger tank and their accuracy is pretty good. However, their prices have gone through the roof, especially for out-of-production kits. Also, they have moved away from the Magic Tracks and they don't seem to include the old Dragon card of goodies anymore (PE, metal barrels, brass shell rounds etc.), so I've been looking round for an alternative to take my fancy. I've had the my eye on the following for a while as it's quite an interesting subject. Well, if you're into Tigers that is!



Just a quick bit of background on the Fehrmann Tiger. By the end of the war, German resources were severely depleted and they didn't have the raw materials available to manufacture a new load of tanks. As a result, a number of Tigers that were used at the Armour School in Bergen for training, were enlisted for battle duty. Technically these were all early version Tigers, but many of them were cobbled up from "parts" in order to make them battle worthy. Hence, this is why some of them have the older style turrets and turret baskets, for example, but have the later style steel wheels. Plus, zimmerit was applied in different places, dependent on each individual tank. There were six Tiger's in total and as they came under the command of Oberleutnant Fehrmann, they were marked with the letter F. F01, F02. F03, F04, F05 and yes you've guessed it............F13. Don't ask!!! As there are very few surviving photos of these tanks, you have a certain amount of artistic license to do your own thing.

The box is nicely stuffed with plastic.



Instructions have some nice colour pics, plus a guide of where to place zimmerit.





Decals look pretty good and carrier film seems to be minimal.



Decent fret of PE with the usual grills, some clasps and other fixings.



A length of braided metal for the tow cables.



A nice touch is the zimmerit tool. There's no instructions of how to use it, but a quick Google-search will see you right on that score. (Other web browsers are available!)



To start off with, I had a quick peruse of the instructions and was surprised to see that step one had you tackling the turret. Usually, most tank kits get you to start with the wheels, so this was a nice change. Although, you're going to have to tackle those wheels at some point. All 48 of them!! Unlike Dragon instructions, the Rye Field Model's seem quite clear and straight forward. However, I did notice a print error early on where part A22 actually refers to two separate pieces.



Not the end of the world and most people that are familiar with building Tigers will probably only give the instructions a cursory glance. However, if you're new to armour and especially to the Tiger, you could be left scratching your head as to which part to use, as there's a choice of hatches.

Looking through the sprues, I noticed one or two things that gave me cause for concern. There are a lot of EPMs and some of them are in really tricky places to clean up.



It's going to be a job to fill and sand EPMs like these, without damaging any surrounding detail. You can of course display the tank with the hatches closed, but personally, I like to show one or two open, just for a bit of interest.

Plus, some of the sprue gates seem quite big and very close to the part. Not too much of a problem on bigger parts, but on smaller more delicate bits, extra care is going to be needed.



On a positive note, it's a very nicely detailed kit and accuracy seems quite good. However, I am no expert by any means and I'm sure those more knowledgeable than me will advise if this isn't the case. I have started building it, but as I can now hear the sound of snoring, I will wrap this one up for today.

I really wanted to like this kit and to a point, I do. However, there are a few things that are starting to bug me and that will always put a crease into your enjoyment levels. More on the next update.

Thanks for taking a look!

I like it ! A nice looking kit, but I hope there isn't too many pin marks in awkward spots.

digger303 wrote: Sun May 26, 2019 1:41 am I like it ! A nice looking kit, but I hope there isn't too many pin marks in awkward spots.

Thanks Digger. It is very nicely detailed and the pin marks are just one of those things that us modellers have to deal with. It just leaves me scratching my head when other companies seem to deal with them, when others don't. All part of the hobby I guess.

Update One

I was tempted to dive straight in and tackle the wheels as normal, but instead, I decided to follow the instructions. The turret built up nicely, although I did need a smidge of filler in a couple of place at the front of the turret roof. The hatches and commanders cupola have some nice touches and all of the levers and handles are nicely detailed. I was going to be lazy and leave the EPM's on the hatches, but my conscience got the better of me!





The barrel comes in three parts and at first I thought it was slip moulded. However, spotting the seam lines indicated otherwise. No biggie though, a couple of swipes with a sanding stick and they're taken care of. Be a little careful when lining up the different sections of the barrel as there's a little play and it could lead to it being out of line. The muzzle break needs a little filler as well. Again, not much and it's all taken care of in a matter on seconds.



I opted to leave the suspension working, although I'm not sure why. I'm not planning on building a dio for this one, so it's just going to sit flat on the ground. Although, knowing what I'm like, I will probably change my mind, so it's worth leaving my options open.



One little note here. I added a dab of TET to the torsion bar attachment points. This will stop the torsion bars from keep falling out and allows you to test fit all the wheels etc., without everything falling out onto your workbench every time you move the model. If your careful with the TET, it still allows some decent movement on the suspension.



I always leave the axles for the idlers free as this will give you some "play" when you come to fit the tracks. It's also good to have some leeway when setting the sag for the tracks.



Another cautionary note here. When attaching the towing hook attachment points to the inside of the hull, you will need to make them thinner so that the rear hull wall will fit. It's a common problem with this kit apparently, but again, easily fixed. By attaching the rear wall with masking tape, you can keep testing the attachment points until it all goes together nicely.



And that's where I'm at. Lower hull, suspension, drive sprockets and idlers all done and now it's onto the deck of the Tiger. Once again, I've spotted a couple of challenges, but nothing that going to be too taxing.



Thanks for taking a look!

Great job so far mate

rcfanuk wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 9:29 pm Great job so far mate

Thanks rcfanuk!

Update Two

Well, I couldn't wait any longer. What can I say, they were calling me from the box! Wheels have been cut, cleaned and are ready for assembly. I always keep them separated until they are assembled as they are easily mixed up.





I've opted for the steel wheels as to me, they look a little bit more "interesting" than the rubber rimmed options. As the steel road wheels were slightly narrower, spacers were needed in order for them to fit properly (parts D48).



Location of these isn't great and you have to make sure they are central so that they fit onto the axles. The problem is, there are seams on the axle as well as in the centre of the spacers. The result being, the wheels don't fit onto the axle once the spacers are fitted! Not a huge problem, a quick scrape with a hobby knife and they are good to go. One tip here, dry fit the spacer to make sure everything fits and then add a dab of Extra Thin. Be careful to ensure that the TET doesn't leak onto the axle, or you could melt the entire thing down to a stub after doing a couple of wheels!



With the wheels essentially done, I turned my attention back to the deck of the Tiger. There is a ton of holes to drill for all of the tools and cables and whilst the instructions are clear, they don't match the underside of the deck. There are loads more marks than in the instructions and you have to be careful that you drill out the correct ones. Take your time and it should be fine, although, I thought I was being careful and I got one wrong. Don't you hate it when you get the wrong hole!!!

The engine cover has some nice detail, but the engine hatch closure clamps are a total PITA!



Nothing unusual about how these go together. If my memory serves me right, Dragon tackle them in the exact same way, with three bits making up the complete part. The problem with RMT's offering, is that the tab on F7 is too big for the base plate, F6. More pesky seam lines again. The parts are tiny and you risk either losing them to the carpet monster, or scraping too much material off and the whole thing not sitting right. It took me about twenty minutes to do each one and when you sit back back and look at the finished article, you wonder whether it was worth the effort. I don't remember having this problem with other kits



Fitting the fan cover grills proved to be no less frustrating and once again, the culprit seemed to be the excessive pesky seams. They are just too wide to sit comfortably and you have to sand off quite a bit of material in order for them to fit. I would advise sanding the inner side of the grill as it will be easier to fill any "bodges", or mishaps. Hey! What do you mean it's only me that has bodges and mishaps!



Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying building this kit. It's a Tiger, I would enjoying making it even if it was made out of dog crap! I'm just a little worried that if this was your first Tiger, or your first piece of armour, you might be put off altogether. The problems are minor and easily fixable, but you know what it's like, once you hit two or three in row, it can severely kill your mojo.

Luckily, I don't have any mojo, so that's never a problem for me!!

Thanks for taking a look!

Update Three

Carrying on with the upper deck, I decided to add some of the tools and gubbings. This is where I have to admit, I've made a bit of a schoolboy error. Before I started the kit I had a scan through the destructions, as you do, and I noticed that there was an option to add PE clasps to all of the tools. However, I had already dived in and drilled all of the holes for the moulded clasps. Oops!



No biggie. If the truth be known, I'm not a fan of PE and the fret that comes with this kit is very thin. Great for in-scale detail, but not great if you need any margin for error. Bend this stuff more than a couple of times in the same place and it will break. I know because I tried it!

One nice touch with this kit is that they provide both options with all of the tools. Both with and without clasps. So, that saves all that fiddly business of cutting the styrene clasps off.



There is also a very helpful diagram showing the placement of all of the tools and fixings.



However, the thoughtfulness shown in providing both sets of tools is soon negated by how poorly they fit. The axe sits slightly too close to the jacking-blocks for my liking, but it's not too bad. The shovel that sits below it however is just no good. It's too long for a start and overlaps the axe, but there's an even more glaring error.

See if you can spot the difference between this two photos.





That's right! The locating holes are in a straight line, but unfortunately, the lugs aren't. No problem, just remove the lug on the business end of the shovel and you're good to go. Well, your are once you've shortened the whole thing.



Cut a smidge off the handle and reattach and now you're good to go!





This kit is really starting to frustrate me now. None of these problems are big, or difficult to sort out. They're just unnecessary.

I know, I'll move on to the jack. Maybe that will offer a little bit of light relief. I've lost count of the number of these that I've built. What could possibly go wrong!

F#*!!

Yet more niggling little problems. Everything goes together nicely until you get to the handle. The lugs/pegs on parts B31 & B36 are too big to fit into the holes.



Again not massively difficult to sort out, either make the holes slightly bigger, or shave a tad off of the locating pegs.



So, in the time that it would normally take me to fit all of the tools etc., all I have actually managed to achieve is to fit an axe, a shovel, a sledgehammer and the jack. And I thought adding all the stencils to the Phantom was going to be tedious!

Right, I'm off now to check out eModels and see what Dragon Tigers they have in stock!

Thanks for taking a look!

Update Four

Next up are the hatches. Again some nice detail, but also some EPMs. As this kit is slowly zapping my will to live, I decided to leave these rather than sort them out. You can always glue the hatches shut, but as there is some nice detail, I want to show at least one open. The hinges are workable, and as long as you line them up properly when gluing everything in place, you can leave them like this.



However, it's just as well I want to leave one open, as it doesn't shut anyway. One of the tool clasps is in the way.



The glacis plate and front hull are quite straightforward, although part B25 will need some attention.



You need to fix the hull wall first and then the glacis plate as the latter locks in the former. However part B25 then doesn't fit, but a few swipes along the bottom with a coarse sander soon rectifies the problem.



The attachment points for the rear mudguards/fenders are a little vague and if this is your first Tiger, you may be left scratching your head. The paint guides in the instructions are very good though and some careful study of these will guide you in the right direction.







With all of this taken care of, I'm nearing the end of the build. Hurray!!! The tow cables are made up of the braided length of wire that comes with the kit. A nice touch. However, please ignore the instructions when it comes to cutting the required length. See if you can spot the error!!!



45 mm!!!! Really! I know that us Brits insist on using the old imperial measurements, but even i know that 45 mm is barely 2 inches. Clearly not long enough. And it can't be 45 cm as this would be almost 18 inches. From experience, I know these tow cable are somewhere between 210 and 220 mm, depending on the kit etc. The easiest solution, is to cut the length of wire in half, glue and attach one of the attachment eyes, and then glue the cable in place with a little dab of CA on each of the attachment points. You can then cut the wire to the right length and then attach the other "eye". Not too fiddly and it gives a nice effect.



And that's the build almost finished. A few little details to finish up and a bit of clean up here and there and then it's onto the primer. I seem to have lost one of the lights. I have the front cover, but not the main body of the light. There was nothing but an empty space on the relevant sprue. A lot of the parts came away from the sprue really easily, but as it was mainly the grenade launchers (which aren't used on this kit), it didn't really matter. However, I couldn't see the missing part in any of the bags or in the box and after and long search of the carpet on my hands and knees, I still have no light. Oh well, will have to put that down to battle damage!

And this is what I'm left with.







I had high hopes for this kit, but too be honest, it has fallen well short of expectations. The detail is excellent, but let down by the poor engineering of the plastic. The main offenders are the relentless seam lines. I know there is nothing we can do about this as it is part and parcel of the injection moulding process, but other kit manufacturers seem (forgive the pun!) to deal with it better.

I'm sure once I've got some paint down, I'll start to feel better about the whole thing.

Thanks for taking a look!

I'm glad you bought this thing about seam lines to everyone's attention. I hadn't heard it before and thought they were a really good replacement for Dragon. I'll certainly think twice about buying one of those. Despite all that your pulling it all together well.

digger303 wrote: Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:53 am I'm glad you bought this thing about seam lines to everyone's attention. I hadn't heard it before and thought they were a really good replacement for Dragon. I'll certainly think twice about buying one of those. Despite all that your pulling it all together well.

Thanks digger!

Despite the niggles, I'd still recommend this kit. The detail is really nice, certainly on a par with Dragon. Plus, it's just a tad over half the price, (65 AUS$), so you have to accept the odd compromise here and there. Plus, there's nothing too difficult involved in fixing the problems. If you prefer the build stage of scale modelling, you'll probably thoroughly enjoy it.

Me. Bring on the airbrush!

Update Five

With the main build pretty much finished, it's time to turn to my attention to the tracks. They are individual link tracks and RMF claim that they are fully workable.





The kit comes supplied with a jig that you lay the individual links in. There are then a series of pins that locate into the links in order to hold them together. Pretty much the same as the real thing. There are four jigs in the kit and whilst you can join them all together, more than two just distorts the whole thing too much. As the pins are in sets of four, it's best to do no more than four links at a time.





As a slight aside, the kit instructions call for 96 links per side. Now, I'm no expert, but this doesn't seem quite enough to me. Fruilmodel tracks come in packs of 220 and even taking into account spares, you still use over 100 links per side.



Same with Dragon's Magic Tracks. I seem to remember that they recommend 102 links one side and 103 for the other.





Now, either RMF have misquoted the number that you need, or the links are slightly off scale. Either way it doesn't really matter. As long as they fit nicely.

First job though is to make up the track links for the turret.





There's no location marks on the turret roof, so you just need to place them by eye. Not a problem as long as you take your time.

And now onto the main tracks.

I was quite impressed with RMF's take on individual track links. The jig works nicely and the pins are quite straightforward to locate. You have to be quite careful removing each group of four from the sprue as the attachment point is quite large and it's easy to move or knock off individual pins. Be careful here, as to the naked eye, all the pins look the same, but there are actually two different types, N1 and N2. I didn't notice at first and almost put N1's into both sides. I don't think it would have made a great deal of difference though.

The instructions don't make it clear as to whether you should glue the pins in place or not, so to start with I tried them without. Pins N2 seemed to locate quite nicely with a friction fit, but pins N1 definitely need a touch of TET to stop them from falling out. As the track length started to get longer, a few of the N2 pins fell out, but there's enough spares in the kit to replace them if you lose a couple and a dab of Extra Thin kept them in place. Be very sparing with the TET here or the glue will seep into the links and prevent them from being usable.

A short while later and one side was done.



When I say done, the guide horns still need to be added! These are tiny (obviously) and really need a bit of clean up before attaching them, but as there are two per link, "sod that!", became my moto and I ploughed on regardless. Bring on the tedium!!!





The detail on the links is quote good and they seem fairly accurate. However, there was something about them that seemed a bit "clumsy" compared to other indi-links that I've used.



I would say that if you want to pay the extra, go for Fruilmodel metal tracks. These are unbeatable, especially with tracks that need to show weight and good sag. Personally, I can't justify buying these for every tracked kit that I build. As for workable tracks, you can't go too far wrong with Meng. Easy to build and the quality is always spot-on. For me though, the best tracks all round are Dragon's Magic Tracks. No removing from sprues or clean-up needed and the quality is excellent. Also, the guide horns are already moulded onto each individual link!!

Well, I've finished 10 track links, so that's only another 364 guide horns to attach in place!!!!

Thanks for taking a look!

great work

mick wrote: Sun Jun 02, 2019 7:41 pmgreat work

Cheers mick!

Update Six

Phew! Finally got the tracks finished! Putting the individual links together was a piece of cake thanks to the jig, but the guide horns seem to take an age. The fit was really nice though and there was no problem locating each one in place. At the end of the day, it's the price you have to pay in order to get half decent looking tracks. It's either that, or the horrible rubber band tracks you used to get with Tamiya kits. Do you remember when you sometimes had to staple them!!

Tracks and the rest are now already to prime.





Ultimate primer as always. Laid down the black first and then highlighted certain areas with the grey. I don't spend too much time on this, as with tri-camo schemes, you lose a lot of the pre-shading once the third colour is down. Still, I think it helps to add a bit of depth to the colour at the end of the day.







And that's where I'm at. I really need to pull my finger out and finish this as I'm itching to get started on the Summer Sci-Fi SiG. A lot of the fellas are well under way and I'm well and truly getting left behind.

Wait for me!!

Thanks for taking a look!

Update Seven

With everything primed, its time to decide on the paint. My go-to paint for dunkelgelb is usually Hobby Color Aqueous Dark Yellow (403). Mixed with self-levelling thinner, these paints go down smoother than the posterior on a new born infant and even though this is one of the matt colours, it still has a nice sheen to it. There is some debate that the colour is a little too "yellow", but once you've applied the washes and blended the camo, the final result bears little resemblance to the original colour.

This time though, I went for a different option and for those of you that have used these paints, you may be shocked.



Yup, you're not seeing things, I opted for AK Interactive RAL 7028, AK713. Granted, these paints can be a bugger to spray. Slightly too thick straight out of the bottle and difficult to get thinned to the right consistency, they are also prone to tip-drying. They don't always give an even coverage and can easily pool (especially the lighter colours) if you spray anything heavier than a light mist coat. Then what the hell are you doing using them then, I hear you cry. Well, it's because of the some of these disadvantages that I like the finish that they give. Especially on the steel wheels. The unevenness, gives the paint a real "metal" feel, and this is even before you have applied any highlights or washes.



This is the sort of look I was going on about.



It's only subtle, but I think it's a nice starting point.

I was going to switch to Hobby Color for the main body of the tank, but I was concerned that the colours would end up being too different, so I carried on with the AKI stuff.









It laid down ok in the end. I added a few drops of Vallejo thinner and built up the paint in very fine mist coats. This was after three coats and I decided to let this fully dry before assessing whether to add any more. With these paints, the colour always looks a little denser when it is first sprayed and then it seems to "thin" as it cures.

Next job is too spray in some highlights and then on to the camo. Wahoo!

Thanks for taking a look!

Wow you are moving right along here! Great build and excellent information you are sharing! Keep on building and good luck with the build

Looking good Alex love the effect on those all steel wheels

jmurphy18 wrote: Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:46 pm Wow you are moving right along here! Great build and excellent information you are sharing! Keep on building and good luck with the build

Cheers John, appreciate that.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:24 pm Looking good Alex love the effect on those all steel wheels

Thanks Kev. Hopefully they should hold a wash nicely.

Update Eight

I've had this build side-lined for a couple of days as I've actually managed to start my entry for the Summer ScI-Fi build. With that all primed and ready for paint, I thought I'd turn my attention back to the Tiger. As the wheels are now painted, I thought, why not crack on with the tracks.

Here are my base colours of choice. Ultimate black primer and track primer from Vallejo Model Colour. The track primer looks grey out of the bottle, but it has a brown hue to it. Plus, I mix it with a generous glug of water so that it's almost a thick wash. Over the black primer this gives a nice worn dirty/rusty kind of colour. Plus, stippled on with a nice big brush, you can get an nice uneven finish to the colour.







As you can see, I've had my first guide horn casualty. I probably won't replace it, as once the tracks are installed, you probably won't notice. Also, in keeping with the well worn cry of AFV builders the world over, "Its battle damage!"

Thanks for taking a look!

Lol on the battle damage

Just caught up with this one Alex - great work so far and it's coming together nicely

I'm just about to embark on Track-fest myself (actually I have two builds waiting on tracks now) so I'm impressed with the way you just ploughed on with the things!

jmurphy18 wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:08 am Lol on the battle damage

A great excuse that covers a thousand sins!

Tomcat64 wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2019 10:49 am Just caught up with this one Alex - great work so far and it's coming together nicely

I'm just about to embark on Track-fest myself (actually I have two builds waiting on tracks now) so I'm impressed with the way you just ploughed on with the things!

Thanks Tom!

I've been following your build (fantastic work by the way ) and at first glance, those Meng tracks look a total pain in the ass. They go together pretty well though and onc you get into a rhythm you'll have them done in no time. When I first started building tanks, I used to dread Indi-link tracks, but now, I really quite enjoy them. There's something quite Zen-like about the repitive nature of building them. Plus, they're always worth it when you're finished. Well, most times!

Update 8.5

More work on the tracks. Now that the base colours are down, it's time to add some weathering etc. My first weapon of choice is an enamel track wash.



I use a nice big brush to cover the tracks. I prefer this to using an airbrush, as the finish is a bit more random. Next up is a bit of dry brushing.



I don't worry about going a bit too heavy at this point as I'll tweak the weathering once the tracks are on the tank. This is really only a starting point. Plus, once they're actually on and muddied up a bit, most of this won't be seen.







Technically, this isn't particularly accurate because of the actual colour if these tracks when they left the factory, but as I always say, representation rather than replication. Dry brushing these sorts of colours gives a metallic feel to the tracks. Well, in my addled eyes it does!

Next up, it's time to turn my attention back to the main hull and to start to get the camouflage pattern down.

Thanks for taking a look!

Looks good to me and TBH tracks look different everyday with the conditions of combat/general use, they look easier to complete than the Bronco working track I have for a future dio/ project

Looks awesome!

Hawkmoon wrote: Sat Jun 15, 2019 1:32 am Looks good to me and TBH tracks look different everyday with the conditions of combat/general use, they look easier to complete than the Bronco working track I have for a future dio/ project

Thanks Hawkmoon. Got to be honest, I've never used the Bronco tracks, but I hear they're a bit of a trial to say the least!

jmurphy18 wrote: Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:37 pm Looks awesome!

Cheers!

Update Nine

On to the camo and time to put down the olivegrun and rotbraun. This is where I suddenly realise that I've scored a bit of an own goal. When I say a bit of an own goal, I actually mean that the other team are one up now and there's only two minutes left on the clock!

As I've chosen to use AK Interactive's dunkelgelb, I should really stick to the same paints, just to prevent any risk of cross contamination. I know I'm being a tad too over cautious, but better safe than sorry as they say.



I sat at my bench for ages, staring at these paints, trying to think of one good reason as to why I should use them. I couldn't think of a single thing, but I ploughed on with them anyway!! What a mistake! They are truly awful!!! I started with the green and it dried within thirty seconds of putting it in the paint cup. Adding thinner didn't help in the slightest, as this just made it too thin and no matter how much I turned down the air pressure, I just couldn't get enough control of the paint. After a disastrous attempt of painting the turret, I abandoned it and over-sprayed with more dunkelgelb.

I don't know why I was worrying about using Tamiya or Mr Hobby Aqueous as I know that these are perfectly okay with AKI. Really speaking, once I had sprayed the dunkelgelb, I should have put the Tiger down and called it a day, but you know what it's like, you have it in your mind that you want to finish something, so you press on.

My usual go-to choice is the following.



But I thought the Tamiya would be a better colour match with the AK Interactive.



Just a quick reminder here, never refer to the lid for the colour. These are both XF-64!



Not too pleased with the result. As I say, I should have left it, or at least, done a thorough clean of the airbrush. Instead, I rinsed it through as though it was a colour change and the paint just wouldn't behave itself. It spitted and splattered and I knew the nozzle had some shitty/grit in it, but I thought I could muscle on regardless. Patience was never my strong suit!! Still, its done now.









Next I sprayed on a lighter dunkelgelb as highlights and then sprayed a heavily thinned olivegrun to darken down the whole camo pattern.









It doesn't look greatly different in the pics, but it is starting to pull the colours together. Next, I'll paint up all the tools, spare track links, tow cables etc., and then I can start applying the filters and the washes. This is why I never worry too much about the camo colours at this stage, as you can completely alter their look when you get to the weathering stage.

Thanks for taking a look!

Looking good Alex! Don’t you just love when the AB is in charge not you
Paint looks like it is from two different lot or year runs. Markings are different. But that is a warning to take to heart!

jmurphy18 wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:56 pm Looking good Alex! Don’t you just love when the AB is in charge not you
Paint looks like it is from two different lot or year runs. Markings are different. But that is a warning to take to heart!

Thanks John!

You're absolutely right, the red brown paint on the he left must be an older pot as it doesn't have the hazard warning label on the top. And, that's the great thing about airbrushing; just as you think things are going well, the AB reminds you whose really in charge!

I think its coming on great Alex, I'm going to steal the diluted olivegrun idea as it's bound it all together rather well!

Paul

Quax wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:15 am I think its coming on great Alex, I'm going to steal the diluted olivegrun idea as it's bound it all together rather well!

Paul

Thanks Paul and it's never stealing, it's always sharing. After all, I "shared" this techique from someone else!

Update Ten

Only a short update as i have applied the first wash and filter. Being enamel based, they're going to take a while to dry before I can move on to the next stage. I chose a tri-camo filter and an earth coloured wash. Just a quick note here. You can of course mix up your own washes and filters with oils and mineral spirits. A wash should be the approximate consistency of a pin wash and a filter even thinner than this.



Applied with the following.



The round brush is used to apply the washes etc. And the flat brush is for "blending". The kitchen roll is for taking any excess off of the brush and the cotton bud is for mopping up any areas where it collects or goes on too heavy. I always try and apply the washes in the direction that rain etc., would naturally run off of the surfaces. You can actually get some good streaking effects at this stage, but I prefer to add these later with oils.



I put the filter on first, as it leant more towards a yellowy hue and then added the brown wash. Technically, this is wrong on both counts, as you should add the wash fist because it is thicker than a filter, plus it's the darker colour. But, hey, it all ends up the same in the end!

If you apply the wash/filter in nice thin coats, you can build up the effect until you get the result you are after. I only applied one coat of each and I'm going to see what it's like when it's fully dry.







Hopefully you can see from my terrible photos that the colours are starting to blend much more. Well, that's the plan anyway!

Next, I'll paint up all the widgets and greebles before moving onto the wheels and tracks.

Thanks for taking a look!

Just keeps getting better

Kevthemodeller wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:43 pm Just keeps getting better

Thanks Kev! Plenty of time for me to stuff it up!

Update Eleven

A few more base colours to put down and then I can start weathering it properly. Here are the products I used to paint the tools etc.



The panel line wash is from Ammo by Mig and is a neutral brown colour. I used this on the wheels to bring out the detail and accentuate the shadows. For all of the wooden bits, I prefer to use colours from the LifeColour range. In my opinion, these are great paints for brush painting but can be tricky to put through the airbrush. Typically, the tools on German vehicles use a lighter coloured wood, but with a bit of muck and dirt, the colour can vary a lot. The dark iron for Mr Hobby is for all the metal parts of the tools. I love these paints as they are excellent used through the AB or with a brush. Being buffable, you can get just the look you're after. Technically, there wouldn't have been any bare metal on these tanks because of their reflective nature, but I like to exercise a little artistic license every now and then.

As for the brushes, the thick "bamboo" handle one is from Zukei Mura and the one next to it is a cheap Humbrol one. I use these for appying the enamel products as they are only cheap and I don't mind giving the bristles a hammering. The Winsor & Newton brush is a sable water colour brush and even though it is a size 2, I use this for painting all of the tools etc. It's a long brush that holds a good amount of paint and whilst it looks quite big, you can actually paint quite small details. Plus, it only cost me a couple of quid.

And this is the results so far.







One quick point; I used to paint the handles of the bolt cutters a wood colour, until someone pointed out that they were actually a reddy orange colour. They were made from a bakerlite/paper mache mix and weren't actually wood. I haven't painted mine yet as I can't decide on the final colour.



I used to paint the wheels once they were on the tank, but I found that the ones at the back got missed. Now, I prefer to "dirty" them up off the tank. The panel liner is the same as a pin wash and I usually make up my own. I noticed that I had this on the shelf, so decided to give it a go. Don't be afraid to ladle it on thick as it dries lighter.



These have dried for a bit longer.



The spare track links were given a dab of track wash and that's about it. These are only the base colours and there's a way to go until I've got all of the weathering down.

Next, is to put the tracks on.

Thanks for taking a look!

Update Twelve

Before I add the tracks, I wanted to weather the lower hull and sponsons. You can do it with the wheels on, but I prefer to do it this way and then you're less likely to get any "clean" spots.

Preferred products as follows.



I used to do all my weathering with a hairy stick, but I prefer using an airbrush now. Especially for larger effects, like all over dirt and mud. In theory, the older mud/dirt on a tank will be lighter, as it will have had time to dry, whereas the newer stuff will be darker. Especially if it is wet mud. The exception to this is dust, which can be easier to add once all of the other dirt effects have been applied.

This is only the first "layer". I will keep adding layers until I get the effect that I want.





Pretty one dimensional at the moment, but I will let this dry and see if I'm happy with the colour before adding pigments etc. I thin the enamels quite a lot and they always dry lighter than when first applied.

I've also started to add some mud/dirt effects to the upper hull and turret.









Not a great deal of change so far, but I wanted to break down my weathering step-by-step, so you can see how it builds up slowly. In the past, I have seen a lot of build logs (not here on ISM of course! ) where the modeller has announced, "and here it is weathered", and you're left scratching your head as to what they used, or what order they applied it. I will hasten to add at this point, that the way I do things is purely my opinion and I am by no means an expert.

Who said, "we can see that"!

Thanks for taking a look!

Looking good an nice work and as you say the best weathering is a slow process not to be rushed.

Hawkmoon wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:34 pm Looking good an nice work and as you say the best weathering is a slow process not to be rushed.

Cheers Hawkmoon!

You're dead right, although it took me a while to learn this. I'm not the most patient of people and I was always in a rush to get every build finished. I've learnt to enjoy the journey as well now though. Well, sometimes!

Update Thirteen

Next up, it was time to put some pigments on. These particular Tigers fought mainly in northern Europe very late into the war. There's not a huge amount of photos of them, but in most of that I've seen, they don't appear to be too muddy. So, with that in mind, these were my choice for pigments. European earth and European mud from MiG.



I'll tweak the colours with paint once the pigment has dried, but this shouldn't be too far off. Plus, you won't see too much once the tracks are on. The good thing about pigments, is that you don't have to worry about putting too much on as you can always keep taking it off until you get the effect you want.







This will do for now. I'll add some more pigments once the wheels are on and this should tie everything together.

This is where the fun began!!!!!

These tracks are a heap of steaming dog excrement. They just don't seem to sit right, no matter what you do to them. It didn't help with the suspension being "pose-able" and in the end I ripped the whole lot off and started again. I glued the torsion bars in place, but without the "guides", this all had to be done by eye. No real big deal, you just need to keep making sure that the wheels are in line, so that you don't have any "floaters" once the tank is sat on its tracks.

After much tweaking and fettling and even more colourful language, I ended up with this.





Tracks can be fiddly, but I have to say, of all the Tigers that I've built, these caused me the most problems. I think if I had glued the torsion bars in place right from the start, I would have saved myself a lot of hassle. Lesson learnt! (Not that I have any inclination to build this kit again!)

I was starting to regret not putting any zimmerit on, but after this little session, I glad I didn't bother. I just want to get it finished, box it up and it will be consigned to the attic!

Thanks for taking a look!

It looks good. Your frustrations though have me wary about wanting to do my RMF tiger.

Superb build mate, with a few surprising issues

digger303 wrote: Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:13 am It looks good. Your frustrations though have me wary about wanting to do my RMF tiger.

Thanks digger!

Don't be put off too much, some of the problems were of my own making. For example, if I'd glued the torsion bars in place right from the start, the tracks would have been quite straightforward. And the other problems were really no more than niggles. Plus, maybe it's only this kit. Is a bit cheaper than the other RMF Tigers. On a plus note, the detail is excellent and it looks pretty accurate.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2019 10:32 am Superb build mate, with a few surprising issues

Thanks Kev!

As I mentioned to digger, I'm sure most of the issues are "operator error"!

Update Fourteen

With the tracks on, I decided to turn my attention back to the hull. Just for a change of pace, if nothing else. Time to dig out my "rust kit" and attack the exhausts and spare track links. I always wonder just how rusty the exhausts got on these old tanks, as all the pictures of them are black and white. Without the shrouds, they are pretty exposed and they would have been out in all weathers, so time to apply a little bit of artistic license.

I've always liked the Vallejo Model Colour rust paints. They are great to brush paint and easy to manipulate. With a light sprinkling of pigments, you can get as rusty a look as you want.







I'll let this fully dry and then take a view as to whether to tweak it any more. Now that the tracks are on, I rested the turret in place to give me an overview. You gotta love a Tiger!!





Next up, I'll add some chipping and streaking before a final go over with some washes and pigments, and this will be pretty much done. Originally, I was going to go to town with the weathering, but as I've progressed with it, I've decided to err on the lighter side. Still, who knows, I might change my mind at the last minute!!

Thanks for taking a look!

In reply to your musings I looked at pic's of tiger 131 at Bovington and with the shrouds on they get a bit rusty on the top half. I think some models make exhausts with really coarse texture which is unrealistic I think. I believe you have both the texture and the colouring pretty darn close. Most exhausts, even those that glow red have a layer of carbon on the inside. Of my gear only the Massey Harris which is over 60yrs old and has the original exhaust system has a very coarse rusted surface. That surface is a very dark type of rust.
I do love the tigers too and yours is a great looking example.....well done..

digger303 wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:44 am In reply to your musings I looked at pic's of tiger 131 at Bovington and with the shrouds on they get a bit rusty on the top half. I think some models make exhausts with really coarse texture which is unrealistic I think. I believe you have both the texture and the colouring pretty darn close. Most exhausts, even those that glow red have a layer of carbon on the inside. Of my gear only the Massey Harris which is over 60yrs old and has the original exhaust system has a very coarse rusted surface. That surface is a very dark type of rust.
I do love the tigers too and yours is a great looking example.....well done..

Thanks digger, really appreciate your feedback. I did read this when you first posted it, but this little kitty has been sidelined for a while. Apologies for the delay>

Update Fifteen

Calling this one done. Bit of light mud and dirt, some minimal chipping and a little bit of oil rendering. No zimmerit - couldn't be asked. Hell, I couldn't even be bothered to put any decals on.

As Tigers go, I do like it. It's well detailed and on the whole, it appears to be quite accurate. As far as the kit goes, not my favourite by a long chalk. I would build any other RMF kit, just not this one. But, as it's done now, there's no need for me to do another.

Few pics from my bench.













I should really do some reveal pics, but I'll have to see how the time goes. I prefer building kits to taking photos of them, but it's all part of the hobby I guess!

Thanks for taking a look!

I like it, looks great. How did the tracks turn out they look very good detail wise, but were they workable or are the tolerances too tight?
I like the restrained chipping, far more realistic. It's turned out well.

digger303 wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 12:14 am I like it, looks great. How did the tracks turn out they look very good detail wise, but were they workable or are the tolerances too tight?
I like the restrained chipping, far more realistic. It's turned out well.

Thanks digger. The tracks are very good and fully workable. I didn't glue the idlers in place, allowing them to be moved backwards or forwards slightly. This then gave a little bit of "give" to the tracks so they could be lengthened or shortened depending on how much sag you wanted to show.

With hindsight, I would have fixed the torsion bars in place rather than cutting off the locating tabs. The suspension then can't be displayed as working, but it makes the tracks much easier to install.

Thanks again!

Hi Alex
Long time no comment lol
Whilst wife watches some RomCom, I sat and read your thread all the way through. A really talented and wonderful write up. You have real skills and a great way with words. Thank you for an entertaining Sunday evening .