Michael Wittman's V-B Tiger I, finished

Definately something you can be proud of!  That looks great! 

Looks good Hermes.  Thnx for posting your pictures.

May I offer two suggestions? There is a huge gap on the front right and left corners, where the zimmerit on the glacis meets the zimmerit on the hull sides.  While the overall model looks nice, in a modelling competition, those would be lead weights on your chances of placing well.

Also your spare track links on the  nose plate are mounted too low. Check your references and you'll see they were much higher.  Dangling down like that would be very hazardous due to the uneven terrain the Tiger would be required to navigate.

 HTH, RC

 

Looks good, how 'bout paintin' the MG!

Oh yes...I noticed the unpainted MG while I was taking pictures, and the gaps in the zimmerit, both of which I fixed since taking the pictures last week. As for the spare tracks, the only way to get them much higher is to turn them upside down, but I remember now that the picture I was using was the pic of 222 towing 231, after 231 took a big hit to the spare track, knoking one side of the retaining bar loose. I'll probably fix that too, since I wanted it to look like it did right before the battle.

Maybe you should take a little more time, the trunnion pins for the main gun are missing, the large muzzle break i believe is incorrect for this vehicle, and as stated previously, the zimmerit needs some attention.

It doesn't make much sense to apply details such as PE parts and some really nice weathering, only to forget the obvious construction errors simply by "rushing".

You obviously have talent and this model simply needs finishing. I dont know why one would use Tamiya "hull parts" as the Dragon kit needs no help from Tamiya? But to each his own. Use some putty to fill in those gaps on the zimmerit.

Try a little patience and attention to detail, and you can bring his build up to standard.

 

regards,

 

Steve

Trunnion pins...didn't realize I had to add plastic parts to the resin turret, will fix it.

The large muzzle brake is correct, 222, 212 and 205 had small muzzle brakes while 231 and 232 had large ones.

The reason I used Tamiya hull parts is because I dislike gimicky operating features, the Dragon (sort of) workable suspension being one. Fine for diorama use, and I saved the Dragon hull and torsion bars for that purpose, but when you want it to sit level on its very many road wheels, the Dragon suspension isn't too great.

This is the first and last time I use resin zimmerit - PE fits much better and is a lot thinner.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. 

i wouldn't write off resin zimmerit. However, Verlinden has gotten bad reviews.  Two other companies make resin zimmerit plates and they are widely praised (unlike Verlinden).  ATAK and Cavalier are the two companies I'm referring to.

 

Very good products, check them out.  I don't think PE zimmerit in 1/35 looks right -- it's too even and it's very apparent in that scale.

Looks great! I love the weathering! Other than whats stated, you have a mighty fine build!

The painting and weathering look really nice, but can't really see any other parts of the model since you only have 3 pics of the front vehicle.  I am a big believer in doing your own zimmerit if you could, but Atak and Cavalier offer excellent products.  In saying that, I am not a fan of Verlindens 1/35 scale products.  I too do not fully understand the need for an articulating suspension on a kit that will be displayed on a flat surface, but Dragon's hull is so far superior then Tamiya's that you could just glue the suspension in place.  I also would want to know why you would want to bang out this fine kit in 4 days and not put a little more time ensuring not necessarily the historical accuracy, but the accuracy of a late Tiger 1 as a whole.  You diefinately have to fix that gap in the Zim, plus paint the MG something other then the hull color.  Again, you have done a very nice job, but would love to see more pics of the rest of the vehcile.

 Cheers

Rob

Hermesminiatures wrote:

more pics, click here

 

I provided a link to all 17 pictures in the first post.

Also I built this model to sell, so I tend to be more concerned about keeping my hours down that I am about ultra-accuracy. I do plan to fix the trunion pins and spare track, but when I sell to eBay customers who primarily like a nice paint job, well, you can probably understand. That's why I saved the workable supension, so I can use it on the upcoming Otto Carius Jagdtiger I'm building for a spring show. The comment before about "maybe having something I can finally enter in adult categories" was just because this was my first model that wasn't pretty much OOB, like the last three years' intermediate show entries have been. My show model will be the Jagdtiger.

 I actually make my own zimmerit most of the time, but didn't this time because of the time issue again. I have tried cavalier zimmerit and I like it, but the first few sets didn't always fit right, even on the specified kit. I haven't tried ATAK yet but probably will sometime.

 

Edit: Duh...Tiger I suspension is different from King Tiger/Jagdtiger... 

My bad Herm, I didn't see the link to those other pics. Definately an outstanding paint job. I really think the weathering is very realistic and convincing.  Make sure you spend at least 8 days on that Jadgtiger bud!

Cheers

 Rob