diorama & weathering advice for 1/72 Tiger 1 ausf E

Well, if it was in tunisia it is most likely going to be dusty and battered. For wear and tear on the paint job I use a #2 pencil. Make scratches around hatches and places that, well, might get scratched. Make sure the pencil is sharpened, you can also use a mechanical pencil if you prefer. For dust you could use pastel dust or those MIG weathering powder (I forget the correct name). Alot of drybrushing would be good too.
For the base, I have built 2 dios in 1/72, the only thing is different is that you have to scale things down a bit. For example, dont use as much celluclay or plaster whatever you use, and make sure the sizes of the rocks are not too out of place. Just remember, that no matter where you are there is some kind of foliage. For shrubs, I use the same materials as when I do 1/35, just alot less of it.
If you need a tank crew Prieser makes one with a whole buch of figs. Good luck with everything!

cheers duder, good advice, although why i'de like a whole bunce of 1/72 scale figs i dont know, there hard enouth to paint in 1/48 let alone 1/72 plus you cant eat them.....
;-)

one day i'll learn to type too.....

Didn't some tigers come to Africa in gray and get painted orange/yellow/desert color in the field? Does he have an opportunity to make a Tiger that looks goofy in its surroundings?

yes, a few of the early tigers in tunisia were painted dark desert yellow on top of the standard field grey, so they looked like they were painted in a kind of dark olive drab.... as the paint weatherd they lood increasingly darker and greener, it looked wierd as they looked like they should have been anywhere in europe not the north african dessert, i wouldnt have liked to have been a german tanker in a vehicle painted like that.....!