Hi guys, I'm plugging away, doing a little each day. The turret is done:

Tan = Tamiya, grey = Cavalier, metal = Eduard.

Upper hull detailing is now underway, and I'm doing the zim on the rear hull plate. The set is quite old and that piece was damaged on the sheet; it also wants you to cut away a lot of moulded detail, and the resin seems to have shrunk a little as each piece is typically smaller than it needs to be. Instead, I chose to separate up the piece into multiple sections and leave the moulded detail in place, it's a long job but it gets around the problem of destroying the kit detail in favour of a part which is itself less than perfect.

The kit is pretty much falling together, I am a big fan of Tamiya's overall precision, and I'm thinking the zim should look great under a coat of paint!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Hi guys,

I have actually found a bleedin' Dragon Tiger I 6383 in stock in the UK! May wonders never cease?

http://www.dragon-models.com/html/6383-poster.htm

My LHS said that the Dragon Rep had been round and they asked about my order for this kit and apparently there is a big shortage of Dragon Panthers/Tigers & King Tiger's/JT's/JP's etc! So, today I set about Googling on-line stores and making phonecalls and actually found a place in the UK - WITH STOCK!

It wasn't cheap, £42 including express postage, but at least I have one now and although I like to support my LHS, I could have been waiting ages for my order to be filled so decided to make purchase now and rest easy - breathing a huge sigh of relief in the process!

• So, I now have a Dragon Late Tiger I Ausf E (kit) with Zim to go alongside my Dragon Initial Production Leningrad Tiger I (build)  that I finished in January this year which rates as my best and favourite build so far (photo below).

I'll be receiving this kit in the post shortly so all I have to do now is complete my wip Pz II and I'll be jumping on board the GB! I'm planning a war weary battered monster with plenty of heavy wear and chipping.

I'd best get going on the Pz II - all I have left to do is assemble the second run of Friuls and start the weathering. The weathering will be kept light and dusty so no real chipping or battle damage for the Pz II.

I look forward to joining you all! Some great work so far!

Take care lads,

Ben

Nice one Ben, where have you got it from.

Mike, very nice. Lovely work on the Zimm.

Thunderbolt379 Looking good.  I have the dragon version of the Porsche turret KT.  I have a set of Cavalier coming in for it.  Also I think I might have the PE damaged zimmerit for it.

One day I will try to do zimmerit with just putty.  I have the AFV tools but yet to work up the courage to try it.

Kim

Wonderland Models Bish - I know it says '1 in stock' but by the way the bloke was speaking I think they have some more too (should you want one).

Ben

I didn't notice that bit about only 1 in stock, but glad you got hold of it. I already have a Late Tiger I (6406) and i am not a fan of the pre zimmed kits. I think the one i have is basically the same as your but minus the Zimm. So will be nice to see how it builds.

Mike: Nice work there! I've also found that it does help to cut up the zimmerit sheet to work it around the kit details too even when replacement parts are molded in the sheet.

Ben: Ohhhh, looks like a super kit there! I'll admit that 42 pounds is a little more than I'd pay but I'm happy to see you've got a kit and she looks like she'll be worth it. 

Cliff

Busy -busy -busy ........

Yeah, you guys are busy......

I've been welding.......

and that's about it.

Mike - Looking solid so far. Nice work indeed.

Ben - Dang glad see your perseverence paid off. Good Show!

Dadgum, the more I see getting done here the worse this here armor building itch gets!

                                                                              Joe

Shellback

Marc , what ? Your "brassed out " ?

OMG yes!

The build for this GB  will most definitely be OOB.  The old Initial Tiger kit 6252 does however have a ton of extra goodies in the box and seem pretty tame... comparatively speaking

Thanks, guys, more coming soon... RBaer, what a great idea, I did something similar on my Tiger 1 (Kursk) for the original Big Cats GB (missing welds on the turret roof), so I have a good mind to do the same. Interestingly, the Cavalier zim actually provides space for those weld seams to be added, I'm not sure if that was deliberate or shrinkage, but it makes sence now!

M/TB379

Thunderbolt- Holy cow!!!  It has been only 8 days since this GB started and you are away ahead of us.  Loving the homemade ZImm!!!  Well done!

Thanks, Andy -- what can I say, this kit is a delight, it's a chore to slow myself down from racing ahead. The Cavalier zim is so darn easy to use, and I'm very happy with my first putty/rake zim as well. Four sections of zim to go as soon as the body is assembled, and that's dependant on getting the stern plate finished, so that'll be tackled later on today. Not all that many parts to go before I reach the point that all remaining details are mounted after painting, and that's my punctuation point, when it changes from building skills to finishing skills. It looks like I'll wrap up this one before too long, so I'm thinking seriously about a Jagdpanther in complimentary zim and markings for the late '44 period...

Mike/TB379

Steel Cats (Sept. 2012-April. 2013)

First post with photos - Tamiya Tiger I Initial Production DAK (35227) - replaced kit's MG 34 with after market barrels (Lion Marc LM10029) Dry fitted Front armor plate to Upper Hull, Lower Hull, Rear Hull plate, removed front fenders for PE version (Voyager Model PE 35061). The kit is festooned with holes for the various tools and other parts. Filled / plugged with putty, and removed several molded on clamps and fasteners on the rear deck and will replaced with PE ... Armor86

I feel like a proud father watching all his children working in the fields harvesting the crops. 

Mike, you're making fantastic progress so far.

Richard, keep a chugging along.

Ben, happy you found your Tiger.

Joe, liking the the PE zimmerit.

My update? I can't believe I've been locked out of the man-cave. Seriously. My step-son brought his cat over and the family moved all of my models (without my permission!!!!!!!!!!!!) into the closet, so he could stay in the room over night. Well, I am PO'd big-time. i can't work in there and how dare they touch my builds!! They could have easily broke something. I would have died had they broken my last 4-5 builds. They didn't even ask me. Now i can't work on the Jadgpanther until the stupid mutt leaves tomorrow. I lost  a lot of limited build-time. 

Armor86 -- great progress on your tiger, this is going to be a sweet animal!

Tigerman -- too bad about being locked out the the cave, and I understand that sense of affrontery when your work is touched without your permission. It's not happened often in my life and I sure hope it doesn't in future!

M/TB379

I dont blame yuh for being p.o.'d Eric ! Seems like people look at our hobby as if we are building toys . Hopefully nothing was damaged my friend .

Marc ..............

ThAnks guys. I'm still ticked and was looking forward to getting some work done in the process.

Armor86, the tiger is looking good. I like those barrels. I'll have to look into some.

tigerman

My update? I can't believe I've been locked out of the man-cave. Seriously. My step-son brought his cat over and the family moved all of my models (without my permission!!!!!!!!!!!!) into the closet, so he could stay in the room over night. Well, I am PO'd big-time. i can't work in there and how dare they touch my builds!! They could have easily broke something. I would have died had they broken my last 4-5 builds. They didn't even ask me. Now i can't work on the Jadgpanther until the stupid mutt leaves tomorrow. I lost  a lot of limited build-time. 

Tigerman, that sucks big time.  I totally understand when something get moved without your permission.  Things tend to get lost or damage. Hope everthing survived the temporary move.  

Thank you. The cat goes home today and I will move everything back accordingly. I hope to get a little bench time later today.

Eric, Umm just a bit curious as to why the cat had to be shut in your room and all the models moved to safety. Is this little cuddly ball of fur actually a spawn of satan?

Eric: Don't blame you a bit, I'd be as mad as myself

I mean they couldn't leave the cat in the pet carrier???

Armor86: Nice work!

Great work fellas... Love coming here to see all the progress (and get ideas).

Too bad tigerman's steel cat was ousted by a little furry one. Glad to hear things will be returning to normal.

Not a whole lot done here. I just received my ATAK zimmerit on Saturday. I've been anxiously awaiting its arrival. I did manage to get a few pieces applied. This is my first try with this stuff. I'm hoping that it will all come together nicely.

I also made use of the time by painting the wheels.

JOE RIX

Eric, Umm just a bit curious as to why the cat had to be shut in your room and all the models moved to safety. Is this little cuddly ball of fur actually a spawn of satan?

Eric glad to hear no damage.  You know if you stuff the cat it makes both a good back scratcher and door stop.  ( Never guess that I am a dog lover.)

Hasenpfeffer,  That zimmerit is looking great.

moose421

Eric glad to hear no damage.  You know if you stuff the cat it makes both a good back scratcher and door stop.  ( Never guess that I am a dog lover.)

Hasenpfeffer,  That zimmerit is looking great.

Glad to see the damage wasn't too bad, still it's the type of thing that really ticks you off that they went and messed around with your stuff without asking.

At least it wasn't my sister's Jack Russell terror, I mean terrier . There wouldn't have been anything intact in the room left. Then he'd smash the door off the hinges looking for more to destroy. I am convinced that if we could safely release the power in one Jack Russell we could whip the energy crisis forever.