Tamiya's King Tiger (Henschel) WIP Build

This big cat looks fun, can't wait to see some progress pics!

I echo Jester on that one!!

The King Tiger & Tiger I is one subject I can never get tired of building.  I have a Dragon Jagdtiger on the shelf with the Voyager detail set & Aber side skirts as well :D

Hi,

Are you going to paint as in the box?

I haven't decided.  I have some extra markings left over from my Dragon 'Battle of the Bulge' King Tiger.  

I have bad news, the barrel I have doesn't fit properly the same as the kit part does.  I've tried every configuration to get it to fit and it just won't sit flush so I think I'm gonna have to use the kit part.  But the PE parts are fitting very nicely as well as the PE side skirts.

Tankster, don't give up on the metal gun barrel. Seems like I had a similar problem. I think I had to shorten the end of the gun assembly....not the barrel but the kit assembly that protrudes from the turret through the mantle and then just super glue the end of the barrel to it. Then again I may have actually shortened the metal barrel itself. I can't remember for sure but I did have to shorten one of them. You'll just have to work with it to see which way is best for you. But, I did get it to work.

Jim

I built this one a few years back, it was a nice build. Look forward to seeing this one.

You mention the battle of the Bulge markings. The box art does show a vehicle from that battle, that's the one I did mine in, so you could do that one if you want a vehicle from that battle.

I think I'm going to use the markings from one of my Dragon kits.  The reason being is this kit seems like its been in storage for a while.  The paper on the instruction sheet is starting to turn and I'm afraid the decals might be too fragile to use.  The Dragon BOTB kit has markings for 4 diff vehicles I think and I did the 'Yellow 222' King Tiger so I have a few left over.

Here's the issue with the gun barrel I was talking about.  The CMK is of better quality but the barrel slightly different than the Tamiya.  The mantlet part is hollowed out on the Tamiya part making it fit more snug to the gun breech.  The CMK is not so I doesn't fit as close and that my issue with it I don't really know how to make it fit snug like it should be.

Here's the kits part barrel when mounted to the turret:

And the CMK part:

Here's what I've got so far, its a little over 1/2 way done.  The PE is very nice.  It even includes the individual hatch locks. 

Sound like it would be a good idea to use the Dragon decals from the sound of it.

As for the gun, I guess the CMK one isn't designed for any specific kit. If you sand off those two tabs on the bit that comes out of the turret, that should work.

Tankster

Here's the issue with the gun barrel I was talking about.  The CMK is of better quality but the barrel slightly different than the Tamiya.  The mantlet part is hollowed out on the Tamiya part making it fit more snug to the gun breech.  The CMK is not so I doesn't fit as close and that my issue with it I don't really know how to make it fit snug like it should be.

yeah it does, I think that's what I'm gonna do, itll just be less of a hassle. but everything else fits fine.  The only issue with the Eduard PE set is the plate on the back of the rear hatch is too big so it wont close all the way.  

Here's my latest progress:  I got most of the tools attached and just need to finish up with the tow cables.  I had my first taste of the nightmarish monstrosity of the German tool clamps.  But fortunately the good people at Eduard offset this problem by offering tool clamps which are one piece instead of the clamp and handle being separate pieces and this made things so much easier.  IMO this is the way it should be done in 1/35 scale.  Having separate parts for the handles would be better suited for 1/25, 1/16 or 1/6 scale kits.

I can definitely tell the details are much improved and hopefully it'll be ready for primer and paint by this weekend. I've been lagging behind trying to juggle other things going on right now.  But fortunately its a holiday weekend.

After this the next step will be to finish up with the side skirts which should be an easy attatchment.

I'm liking the progress so far.

I got most of the PE done, only a cpl tidbits left.  And started folding the PE side skirts from Aber.  They folded perfectly on my PE folding tool and I stuck them on with poster putty to while I decided on whether or not to put them all on or leave a couple off.

Looking real good there Tankster! Gorgeous work all the way around so far.

Thanks man, I can't wait to be done with it.  I've put alot more time into this than any other build that I can think of.  I just hope all that PE will hold up during the painting/weathering process.

Your efforts show. Just take appropriate care during those stages and you will be fine. And be ready to fix any mishaps that just might occur in spite of your care.

Looking great, Tankster! How is the Tamiya kit? I finished Dragon's King Tiger recently and loved it...

I've got plenty of cyano glue and Gorilla Glue 2pt Epoxy just in case :)  I had to pop off the big hooks on the engine deck because the Eduard instructions showed them facing inwards when they should be facing outwards and that was not fun.  Hopefully everything should hold up but I do have a tendency to use alot of elbow grease when I drybrush.

Started painting the tracks & wheels.  I have to paint the separately from the upper hull since the side skirts obstruct the airbrush. 

Started out with Vallejo Surface Primer (Lt. Grey)

Followed by a pre-shade coat of MM Acryl Panzer Schokoladenbraun

Then the basecoat of Vallejo Sand Yellow

\

Vallejo Sand Yellow was then followed up with Vallejo Panzer Olive Green and MM Acryl Panzer Schokoladenbraun.  I added pin washes on the bot heads and drybrushed MM Steel on the drive sprockets and track guide horns.

SchattenSpartan

Looking great, Tankster! How is the Tamiya kit? I finished Dragon's King Tiger recently and loved it...

As far as plastic quality goes its on par with the Dragon Kit.  I compared the wheels and drive sprockets as well as the tracks and they're virtually identical.  The only thing it lacks is the aluminum gun barrel, and PE parts.  But it does have the ammo racks inside the turret which the Dragon kit does not have for some reason.  But its pretty much like a Dragon Kit w/o any metal parts or Magic Tracks.

Looking good tankster. I still don't get how you guys can paint with the tracks on.

Making good progress on the KT, nice!

Bish

Looking good tankster. I still don't get how you guys can paint with the tracks on.

I tried to take them off as I didn't glue the drive sprocket but they were on too snug so I left them on there.  I have a Badger Krome a/b with a .21 mm tip so I can spray really fine lines when I need to.  Thats how I do it :)  But I think in the future I'm gonna start using either the ModelKasten or Fruil Metal tracks so I can build, paint & weather them separately and not have worry about getting them off after the glue has set up.