T-bolt, your King is looking good!

Thunderbolt - Really, Really nice work so far. I'm definitely on to the exhaust painting tips.

Armor - Thanks. and thanks for the tip on weld seams. I'll have to practice that little technique on some scrap and see if I'm skilled enough to give it a go.

 In regards to a primer coat I had read a tip on painting an enamel red/brown coat first as the following acylic paints will have an extra bite. So. I just received in the mail some Tamiya Enamel Hull Red + thinner to apply as my primer coat. Any takes or suggestions on this approach? I have though already primed my wheels with Tamiya gray.

                              Joe

The Cavalier zimmerit looks great Mike.

Pyerman, you are correct. Might not have been a bad idea. I was going to spray green as the base, since so much will be covered up by it, but thought that that the green would cover better over the yellow.

Damn that padlock looks sweeeet Wingnut!

I definately want to use them but I've never used anything this small. I should be fine but this is definately going to be one serious challenge when I get to that part of the build.

Cheers Wingy,

Ben  

I agree the locks are a work of art.  Thunderbolt your zimerit is looking great.

Thanks, guys! Okay, final grills done:

Okay, the running gear isn't actually jiggled temporarily into place, but with the exception of post-paint items, she is structurally finished:

I'm not sure when I'll get to the paint, it might be a short while, I want to get my entry finished for Forces of Nature, it's well through the paint stage and shouldn't take long, plus I really want to get my StuH 42 done for Pz III & Variants -- I'll just keep plugging away at them all!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Mike-your KT is coming together-looks great.  Looking forward to more progress pics.

TB, your KT is looking great.  Can't wait to see the final results.

TB379:  Looking good!  Just double checking...you're using Cav' zim', correct?  I have the same set for a Panther and I sure do like it's "not so perfect" appearance.

Thanks, guys!  Yes, SMJ, it's the Cavalier set, and it's real easy to "distress" to look chipped. I'm pretty well sold on this stuff!

M/TB379

Hey great work Mike!

BTW guys: If you're going to use the tread link hangers on the sides of the turret of a Royal Tiger, um you might want to drill out the location marks or otherwise mark them before you apply the zimmerit... 

Don't ask how I figured this out... 

wing_nut

Damn the quality in here is relay something.  Can't wait to start on mine.

Ben, the agony of putting together that little lock really is worth it.

I've been looking at the JagdTigers in my stash .All by DML . Two of them are Henschel running gear and one with the early Porsche type running gear . I'm leaning towards the late Jagdtiger ..no zim . I want to replace the kit plastic 128mm barrel with a metal one . Maybe a nice p.e. set also.and who knows ,maybe even some after market tracks .

Any suggestions ? If not i'll keep looking around . R B models has a nice looking 128 mm gun barrel .............

Thanks for any help guys .

Thanks, Gamera! Fortunately the KT I'm building didn't have the spare links mounted on the turret...

M/TB379

Hi Carl. After seeing the previous RB Panther barrel, whom can blame you for getting one?

Wise to choose the Henschel version, I heard that the tracks for the Porsche version are much more complicated.

As for PE,I'm not sure, but I'd check Voyager (expensive), Lion Roar, Royal Models, and Eduard.

Hi guys,

As you can see from my previous posts on this thread I have currently chosen the Italian Tiger #1 for my build but have NO idea how to EFFECTIVELY lay down that rather tricky hard edged cammo scheme. My cammo skills with anairbrush are getting better but these hard-edged schemes I find VERY difficult.

So far I have not used any parts that are unique to the Italian Tiger and if I cannot find a way to effectively lay down this scheme I fear I may have to move to a freehand cammo - the like seen on the Polish Tiger but I'd want to build one with Normandy markings. I'm not going to stick 100% to the painting layout but use it as more of a 'rough guide'

What suggestions can you put my way? Also, I have no idea what the top of the deck will look like. I can't find decent colour drawings from a 'birds-eye' view.

Thanks guys,

Ben

Ben-regarding the hard edged camo, I use Silly Putty or Blue Tac (poster putty) to mask off-both armor & aircraft.  Masking tape could also be cut and used as a template.

That what I was thinking Bob. I think that Blu-Tack tends to lift at the edges giving a softer looking cammo. Andy Deafpanzer kindly sent me a few 'eggs' of Silly Putty to use. I might try that on some scrap plasticard.

Masking tape could work - I need to find the best tape that isn't so sticky as to lift paint nor to leave marks. Tamiya tape maybe or Scotch Tape (clear tape that is low tack and leaves no sticky residue).

Do you guys think that to work this scheme must have rock-solid hard edged slashes of colour and no fuzziness. Would a little bit a 'fuzziness' on cammo edges in some places be acceptible i.e. if I were to overspray or found hh

Ben :-)

Ben - I can relate to your issues there. I'm looking to do a Normandy tiger of Abt. 101. Each on the Bison decal sheet I have has a fairly complex camo pattern. My intention is to use silly putty. I too am a bit unsure about the edges but my reference photos indicate niether hard edge nor overly fuzzy. Thus, I will apply my silly putty with edges slighty rounded as to not give a stark hard edge. Indeed, each example I have gives the pattern for the front, back and right side of the tank. My assumption is, again referencing what photos I have available, is that there are no pics of the left side of these tanks let alone a birdseye view of the top. So, I figure it is simply up to me to apply a pattern that simulates as best as possible what is on the rest of the tank.

  I will be taking a short hiatus from the Tiger as I have received replacement decals so the I am able to repair and finish my P-47D Thunderbolt for the Big Beautiful Jugs GB. But, I will following along deligently and may get a bit done here and there.

Joe

Hinksy:  Silly Putty works great, but it will be difficult to get a real hard edge.  I haven't used it on models but I do use DRAFTING TAPE for my job all the time.  It's low tack and I never get residue.  It's a bit pricey (about $8) a roll, I buy it at Staples.  Depending on the size of the area you're spraying you could form the edges with the tape and then fill the fields with the putty.  Maybe give that a try.

BTW:  How about posting a pic' of the scheme you have in mind, it might give us more ideas.

I hate wheels... especially Tigers.  I don't understand why guys whine about Pz IVs and its wheels.  They are nothing compared to Tigers!!!  After two nights of working on the wheels, they are complete so I can finally move on to the next stage.  

Because I love weary and very dirty tanks I had wheels chipped on the rubber.

My boys will be gone camping with Boy Scouts and my wife is having her ladies night out thing tonight... hoping for great bench time!  

Hinksy

That what I was thinking Bob. I think that Blu-Tack tends to lift at the edges giving a softer looking cammo. Andy Deafpanzer kindly sent me a few 'eggs' of Silly Putty to use. I might try that on some scrap plasticard.

Masking tape could work - I need to find the best tape that isn't so sticky as to lift paint nor to leave marks. Tamiya tape maybe or Scotch Tape (clear tape that is low tack and leaves no sticky residue).

Do you guys think that to work this scheme must have rock-solid hard edged slashes of colour and no fuzziness. Would a little bit a 'fuzziness' on cammo edges in some places be acceptible i.e. if I were to overspray or found hh

Ben :-)

Have you considered white tac rather than blue tac. I have used it a few times for hard edge and it works fine. Its not course like blue tac and i have never had an issue with it lifting paint.

Ben-one thing to consider if you choose to use the Silly Putty.  In the past I have found that a fresh 'egg' has an oily residue that caused me some grief.... The best thing to do is to take the egg, play with it a bit and let it 'air out' (or de-gas?)....maybe do some test runs on an old build?

I hear you Andy on the wheels. Both vehicles have 32 wheels, but the Tiger and Psnthers are so much bigger. I have my own to deal with.

Hi guys,

Joe mentioned posting a photo of the scheme I had in mind - if you go back a few pages you'll see it; it's the Italian Tiger with the pink highlighter mark next to it but I'll post it again:

It's actually all ok - Good old wbill has confirmed no Tiger had a very hard edged cammo scheme so  that's good enough for me, coming from Bill!

As long as it looks good I'm happy. I just want to be able to show plenty of Dunky basecoat as the weathering will look so much better imo.

Update tomorrow - I have the weekend all to myself so I hope to make some good progress!

Ben

What kind of paints do you use Ben? Here's an idea that can work a couple of ways. Say you use Tamiya for the basecoat, then shoot a couple light coats of Testors Glosscote and shoot your secondary colors over that with Tamiya. Then it's fairly easy to clean up the edges of your camo pattern with a little Windex and a brush. If you have a little slip, you can clean it up completely or you can just clean up enough overspray to get the effect you want. The Windex(or similar window cleaner) won't affect the clear or the basecoat. It takes time but so does masking.  Or if you prefer to use enamels then use an acrylic clear coat and some enamel thinner for cleaning up the camo.

Just a suggestion. I painted a 1/72 M60 in a Merdc camo recently and it was just too small with tiny segments of color for me to mask so I experimented and came up with the above solution. Took time, patience and a fine tipped airbrush but turned out pretty nice.

Tony

Hi Tony (Wingman),

Now I have settled on a combination of Tamiya and Vallejo paints. On this I'll be using my usual Tamiya 50/50 mix of Dark Yellow and Deck Tan to make the Duky basecoat which is a killer shade. For the Colour cammo 'slices' I'll use Vallejo Model Air BUT I have just seen the new Late War German Cammo set from Lifecolour which looks like a very good buy.

I'm struggling to find many pictures of the cammo on the instructions BUT I did find this picture of my tank which looks very good and I know that between my airbrush skills and some blu-tack I could replicate the slithers of colour shown here a helluva lot better!

Sorry but the link won't let me copy a photo so visit the link and look at the photos - it's the Italian Tiger I (turret number 1) like mine and the aerial shots will help too.

http://www.flyingmule.com/products/DM-61037

Ben

Hi Ben,

Not sure if you've seen these pics from a ww2 forum, but it is of the 508th in Italy.  Camou edges do indeed look to be on the soft side.

regards,

Jack

Hi guys,

Here is the usual Saturday update - I've been kicking some serious butt out of this kit today

Cheers for the link Jack but as soon as I opened it the old spyware spotted something on that link as malicious and wasn't too keen on opening on it so I haven't seen the photos as I decided not to proceed!

Anyway, I've made some kick a$$ progress today. The hull is a very basic assembly - last week I'd fitted all the Suspension arms and got the exhaust stacks in place.

Today the top deck is now in place, the Jack has been mounted on the rear along with the 'C' connector (there's another on the top deck up front. I've fitted the basic radiator gear and fans but not the PE surround - none of it will be seen but it all adds to the final weight.

The plastic grab handles on the rear engine cover were replaced with Brass rod bent to size and the Zim coated side walls fitted.

Up front the ball mount MG has been fitted along with the single centre mounted headlight with blackout cover and the supplied piece of bent-to-shape wire leading to the outlet on the deck. I was going to leave it all separate but after perusing the instructions and future steps I decided to take the plunge  and get it all assembled and fixed. This wasn't easy but with a bit of brute force the whole thing just 'clicked' into place and sat pefectly. I've noticed a few missed areas of plastic that need cleaning up on the photos which I'll do tomorrow. I also need to get the two rear fan covers fitted and the PE grills on top of them. There's a few things that I need to get done tomorrow like fitting the side track guard/fender thingies which will leave me ready to start on the complicated parts - mainly the turret! I reckon that overall I'm about 20% done!

All tow cables and tools will be left off until after painting as per my usual method of assembly. The rear convoy tube will also get fitted later as that is supplied as a clear plastic tube which I plan to paint with transparent colour.

I'm in two minds as to build this totally OOB using the kit barrel and DS Tracks. Aftermarkets will cost me £25 for the tracks and £10 (inc. post) for an RB barrel. The thing is I've just received my latest stash edition (Dragon Kharkov Pz IV from my buddy Spud which will definately get the 'full treatment' as I'm yet to buid a Pz IV! We'll see!

Here are the photos from my work today but please see if you can help with any of the questions that I'll putat the bottom of this post:

Quick questions: There are two large holes on the front fender (see the above photo). What are these for? SAre these meant for putting poles into for erecting a canopy over the tank? Also, I would like to show the side fenders a bit beaten and a couple missing BUT Dragon have supplied them in one length - would it be easy enough to cut these up into four pieces, bend the corners using a hot lamp and leave a couple off? That's the only way to do it imo?

Thanks guys - update tomorrow!

Ben

Ben, those holes are for the supports for the pilsen crane or camo netting - I forget which.

.Btw, your Tiger's coming along nicely.