There are a lot of photos of Kursk tigers and some very good modelers have built them. Kursk was fought before the “3 color” camo scheme became standard. From what I can see the Tigers were painted with stripes that followed no particular rhyme or reason in position, thickness. Some had lots of little thin stripes, others looked more like late war tanks with large panels painted green. As the kit's instructions dispensed with a view from the top, I looked at some other kits online and gave a fair approximation of what I think the kit was looking for. Wasn't sure, however, what color it should be. The call from Dragon was for Gunze khaki green. I saw some terrific work from excellent modelers that applied the kind of green-grey seen on some Afrika Korps vehicles – almost reminded me of a khaki olive drab. Most modelers used some shade of olive green. I had also picked up the AK “Green/Brown” modulation set to go with the dunkelgelb. I don't know about later tanks but the AK colors were much too green. So I made my own brew out of Vallejo Model Color olive green, reflective green and Model Air olive gray. All the camo schemes I saw were very soft – I'm sure the tanks were painted dunkel and given stripes on the field. So soft and irregular. I'm a C+ hand with an airbrush but this could only be handled free hand. So I drew thin lines of Revell Aqua Color olive green so I could think about keeping the airbrush working right and not where it was going. It did stress my skills. A hard pattern is much easier – so is dappling an aircraft with little dots and squiqqles. So there were errors in lare number, especially at first. (I was using a new HS Infinity with a .15 tip and it was a real help.) But as I got the hang of things the situation settled down. It did mean, however, that the stripes ended up a bit thicker than planned – that was the easiest way to fix errant spray. Also added some extra stripes to cover sins. No accuracy issue really as putting stripes on Tigers seemed to have been an exercise in individual whim at Kursk. Overall I think it worked out okay. Please note that weathering has not yet begun and the finished model will look quite different. Anyway, here's the striped tiger awaiting a full scale assault of tints, washes, pigments and dry mud:
[URL=http://s971.photobucket.com/user/ebergerud/media/March13/stripes_zps869ef5d5.jpg.html]
There was a lot of weathering involved. I did three filters and some highlighting with oils. (I followed a tip I picked up on Model Warship: use Ronsol as a thinner and oil paints dry very quickly and there's no damage that I can detect.) This was followed by AK streaking grime. And a lot of pigments.
I could be accused of over weathering this one. Perhaps I'd plead guilty. Two factors guided my approach. I don't have the experience or natural skill at this hobby to find my own answers to a model that's both historically sound and an attractive build. So every kit I try something else. In this case, I used a lot of “Spanish School” techniques found on DVDs from Mig Jimenez and Adam Wilder. I also have Mig's wonderful book “FAQ2.” I also consulted the complex approach to weathering found in Michael Rinaldi's “TankArt Volume I. I can't tell you that I followed a bouncing ball. For one thing these sources give quite an array of possibilities. The real world interfered badly, so I didn't have the time needed delve deeply into Rinaldi's complex use of pigments and oils. His results are very impressive and as I've got Volume II (allied armor) I'll his approach my best shot on my next AFV which I think will be a Tasca Sherman. But as it stood, I spent a lot of time trying this, that, and another thing. Doing this almost guaranteed an excess of weathering – but it's a price I'm willing to pay for the experience.
Second, I think a Kursk Tiger deserved some pretty aggressive weathering. Citadel only lasted for a few days, but prior to the battle both armies were in intense maneuvers as Hitler waited for Panthers to show up. The Germans knew Citadel was a desperate gamble and took real chances. Although the day of the tank “cavalry charge” were over by mid-43, the Germans put their tanks very far forward hoping for a fast breakthrough even if it cost them. In tactics both grand and small the Wehrmacht attempted to put their heavy tanks forward and support them with the older and more vulnerable Panzers III and IV. (Painful losses due to mines resulted.) This would have put the Tigers in the line of fire. (And let's not forget that after Citadel was canceled, the fun really began as the hoped for orderly withdrawal of German armor to Italy turned into a mad dash to the Dnieper River when the Soviets ouflanked both Model and Manstein.) So we have tanks that were quite new, but well broken in. And I think they would have been under heavy fire. When weathering gurus talk about chipping they advise looking for places that would receive wear: fair enough. But it's my guess that shrapnel from artillery and mortars, machine gun and small arms fire from infantry (not to mention anti-tank rifles and aircraft mounted canon) would have been prime culprits. And lets' not forget that the reason Tigers were built in the first place was that they could bring a powerful direct fire weapon to the battlefield but still withstand the much of the “storm of steel.” The Germans didn't lose many Tigers at Kursk (many were lost on the later retreat when a mechanical failure likely meant a tank loss in addition to casualties from powerful Soviet tanks and anti-tank gun) but it would have been a tough job to hide a Tiger moving forward and they would have drawn fire. And of course the crew was moving around. So there is a lot of chipping.
Kursk was actually a pretty good place for a battle – sounds a bit like Wisconsin without quite as much water. But dry weather would have been the norm and the Tigers were all pretty new. Hence, except for the mufflers and exhaust I used almost no rust. Although perhaps I should have used artistic license, I also avoided wet mud. But I'm sure that some nice summer sun would have led to some fading, wear and rain would have left a good supply of streaking. Above all, these tanks would have been dirty and dusty. If fifty ton tanks were in action they would have been throwing buckets of dirt and dust – whopping buckets of it. (I've interviewed WWII tankers and the subject of dust and dirt comes up real fast. Imagine driving down a dry road with hatches open behind another tank.) The filters and enamel AK streaking grime that I used began to wear and darken the very bright and heavily modulated dunkelgelb base. I use Iwata Com.Art acrylics for pinwashes. This product is used by railroad fans I like it a lot. It comes in opaque and transparent colors, is a cinch to remove if there's too much and because it doesn't really adhere well to plastic it gives a distinct look grime (if dark) or white wash (if light.) There's a color called “old oil” that when mixed with gloss varnish does a nice job of fuel stains. (I also used AK enamel fuel stains and the two approaches are indistinguishable to my eyes except that Com.Art dries fast and doesn't smell.) The PE over the engines was given a good blast of the stuff and I think that looks pretty good.
All pigments were applied without any kind of white glue or acrylic medium: I used MIG and Sennelier pigments fixed first with a hand spray of Tamiya X-20 (or ISP – same difference) followed by a misting of Gamsol Oderless Mineral Spirits from the airbrush to fix it. Again, I wanted a good dose of dry mud and clumped dirt but not wet mud. I commit sins with dust. I know many wise heads (like Jimenez, Wilder and Rinaldi) like to use a light dusting of Tamiya acrylics to emulate dust. I beg to differ. My pigments are so fine that when slowly dusted on with an airbrush they look like dust. Clean it up – it is dust. I did end up with one problem that I'm not sure how best to handle. The horizontal surfaces would get the most sun and hence the most fading during the modulation stage. (You can still tell that the top of the turret is lighter than the sides.) However, it is those surfaces that would get the most dust and dirt. The vertical surfaces are shaded more darkly, but that's where you see the streaking. Rinaldi talks about this dynamic and argues that good weathering will darken a model sometimes substantially. Perhaps I should have adjusted the base coats more for scale and lightened the whole kit from the start. I could have also either kept more dirt and dust off the horizontal surfaces or kept streaking and splatter off the sides. That would have led to more visual contrast. Indeed, I frequently seal an AFV model with a satin/flat finish over a very matte hull. But I'm not sure it would have reflected what a vehicle looked like during the summer of 1943 because lot of dust is going to cut reflection. So I'm not there yet. And if anyone has any good ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. That said, it was my first Tiger, it was a very challenging build and great fun. I don't think I'm going to throw it away tomorrow.
Pic below
Eric
