Well, as you will soon see, 'm off onto a sort-of "maverick-y" adventure here; the Quest for Something Different.!
I've been wanting to give this build something different, and I'll be honest--with so many prototypes and paper panzers out there--and all the subsequent wild paint schemes---it's been hard to think of something original-yet-plausible. I've been working away here, made a few missteps, and am finally correcting course and think that I'm on to something "different".
First, some construction updates:
Here's the nice gun breech to be painted and added to the turret interior:
Next, I've added a ring of .015 strip to the turret ring because the turret really scraped the hull--I mean, it REALLY was low! I also added two tools to the rear hull panel on either side, and light wiring with terminal "buttons".
The turret sits at a more realistic height now.
I also used a Dremel to chamfer the hull sides, as the turret just barely cleared the sides.
You can see how close the turret comes to the side.
The underside looks good now with the added detailing and the new Dark Grey paint as a base coat.
I cannot tell a lie---in my quest for originality, I had a few missteps. Here's my concept for this tank:
Historically, the prototypes were not accepted as production Tigers, and the remaining turrets were placed onto Henschel hulls and they became the "Porsche turret" Tigers. The hulls were left in storage at Kummersdorf Testing Grounds until the very last months of the war. At some point, Kummersdorf was "raided" for spare vehicles and armaments--anything that could be thrown at the advancing Russians. There are reports of a "Tiger" being used from Kummersdorf in the final battles---could it have been a prototype with a refurbished turret added?
In any case, the protoype would have presumably been painted in Panzer Grey, as the first tanks were completed in October 1942, and Dark Yellow was not standardized until Feb 1943. My model postulates that the hull was painted thus; later, zimmerit was applied-whether as a testbed for eventual widespread use, or in maybe as a practice hull for workers? Maybe it was even added before being sent out to face the Russians in 1945, as the superstition regarding the magnetic mines remained entrenched. The model will be painted with this narrative in mind.
My first experimental scheme was a two-tone green with "Czech cream" hard edge lines painted via the Silly Putty method:
After shading, it looked like this:
Hmmmm.....it looked like Salvador Dali got into the paint shed...
...so I tried to tone it down with Schoklolade Braun....
Cool, but not plausible in my eyes. It was into the Mean Green bath, and stripped......sigh....
Back to the drawing board, I envisioned now painting the zimmerit "zimmerit color", under which would be the original base color of Pz Grey. What I intend to do is to show a thin Dark Yellow/Pz Green hard edge pattern over the added zimmerit hull sides, and leaving the hull top and suspension in grey. Kinda like the workers got whatever small stock of paint they could procure and painted what they could before rolling it out to the front ASAP. The turret will sport a normal 3-tone, as if it were added from a reconditioned wreck that had acted as a donor tank.
So, are you following me? Good! 
I started back with the base coat:
Next, I painted the zimmerit a grey-tan. Use Tamiya thinner to keep the fast-drying Tamita paint "wet" while you brush paint.
I added chips for variety and interesting visuals....
Here, I'm masking off top surfaces to paint highlights. This is how you "color modulate" using an airbrush...
Masks come in all shapes and sizes....
I've shaded the top, and actually even added some weathering filters from Adam Wilder's new line. This is because I want to simulate a coat of camouflage paint that will have gone over an already-existing hull. So the finish has to be somewhat advanced to get the proper effect. The chipped zimmerit parts have been given a light acrylic drybrushing to simulate leftover zimmerit dust or whatever putty-like material it was made of?
Here's where I"m at now. Getting ready to add the camo colors!
Let me know what you think of the concept, guys. I'm trying to "think outside the box" on this one and pull ff something original! Comments and critiques warmly welcomed! 
