Andy as I said before... It's all about the dowry my brother  My feet got cold just looking at oyur base.

Final mock up of the vehicle with only the tools to be added.

The tools are done and ready to mount. I made the "threaded" rods ends by rolling some solder under a file.

Marc,your attention to detail is outstanding,those tools look great.

Wow guys! Love the base Andy and those PE fender skirts and tools are the cat's meow Marc!

Tojo72

Marc,your attention to detail is outstanding,those tools look great.

Those tools are looking good....as is your KT.

Marc- Amazing work as usual… where you keep all your finished builds? The rods ends are just incredible. They should give you a column in FSM for all the build ideas and techniques you have.

Andy – Great looking base….   My backyard looked like that 6t hours ago (sand tank tracks), now buried in 6 inches of snow with 15 more to come.

Tigerman – Cheers, I will finally be able to spend time in my workshop for the first time in months. Beats shoveling a foot of snow. Oh wait, will be two feet of snow by tomorrow….

Andy-the base will really add to your Tiger....that is one good looking base-so realistic

Marc-again, Wow!  The attention to detail really sets your builds apart.

Marc- I think I better propose your KT to marry me now before others... beautiful work again!

Guys- Thanks for your comments... it has been one fun build so far.  Here's few more pictures... still work in process as I will add more snow against the Tiggy and on its tracks.  I have decided to have it attached to the base securely so it will not cause any damage.  

More to come... again thanks for looking!

Andy, that is splendid. I was wondering if you'll be adding some light washing on some of the piles of snow? I just know that snow can get dirty quickly especially around plants and the such, or am I off base on this?

Andy – Very  very nice build! Love the base…  Tiger looks great; I needed one of those to get out of my house this afternoon…

Guys – Is there another Armor GB after this one? I have not been around for months, may have missed something obvious….  

Cheers

Andy - That base is really outstanding. It honestly looks realistic. Wonderful job.

Marc - Just when I thought you had topped the scale for detail and workmanship you go and raise the bar even further. Just simply a magnificent King Tiger you are building.

 Indeed, I'm still kicking here. Although another GB has captured my attention I'm still picking away at my Tiger. 

Outstanding work Andy - another cable assembled ... looking at period photos of DAK Tigers 732 for where some tools will go .... updated photos .... Armor86 

Armor86-looks good.  

Question-what type of wire cable did you use?  Looks really good.

And how do you manage to paint all of the tools, cable, etc with it attached?

Thanks bobbaily - mounting the tow cables takes a lot of work bending, glue, which would likely damage the finish of the paint, plus the glue holds better without the paint ... after the primer and base paint I will go back over and paint the tools with a fine brush - most of the tools and cables are raised above so its not that hard ... Voyager PE Set provided both large and small cables. Armor86

tigerman

Andy, that is splendid. I was wondering if you'll be adding some light washing on some of the piles of snow? I just know that snow can get dirty quickly especially around plants and the such, or am I off base on this?

Thanks!  Yep, it was still in process when I took the pictures.  Added dirt last night.  Will take more pictures when I am done.  Gonna add snow trapped inside the tracks today.  

Armor86- Love all of those steel cables!!! 

Guys- Thanks for the comments.  Added more snow last night... it looks much better now.  More to come... 

JMart

Andy – Very  very nice build! Love the base…  Tiger looks great; I needed one of those to get out of my house this afternoon…

Guys – Is there another Armor GB after this one? I have not been around for months, may have missed something obvious….  

Cheers

Not sure, but I'm sure there will be another armor GB after this one. I haven't decided if I'll run one, but you never know. 

Malone, Marc and Armor68 - great stuff with the detail work

Andy - base is looking really good - wish that was what I was seeing outside my window instead of the four feet of snow that has accumulated so far this winter

Finally, all PE is on and ready to hit with paint.  As mentioned, the clamps and hooks on the left side are all scratch built.   Once the base colour is on, plan is to thread the cables on.  The clamps holding the eyelets are left open ended till then.

I also had to rebuild the base/post for the headlights, the stands though were provided by Voyager.  The black electrical cords for the lights is the larger EZ line product.  In the close ups you can see it is more flat than round, but with the naked eye looks fine.

regards,

Jack

tigerman

JMart

Andy – Very  very nice build! Love the base…  Tiger looks great; I needed one of those to get out of my house this afternoon…

Guys – Is there another Armor GB after this one? I have not been around for months, may have missed something obvious….  

Cheers

Not sure, but I'm sure there will be another armor GB after this one. I haven't decided if I'll run one, but you never know. 

Hey Eric, Simply a suggestion but, rather than a new GB would you consider an extension on this one. I know, I for one would certainly appreciate it if you would give that some consideration.

Jack-continuing to look great-I'm looking forward to seeing your Tiger painted.

I was able to get a few hours in this afternoon-The major assemblies are close to being complete-still need to paint the periscopes, tools, etc. and attach.  Lower & upper hulls are not glued at this point.

Also need to start work on the road wheels-they have been primed but that's it.

Great work all around guys!

I have to call out Andy though- absolutely beautiful work there on the Tiger and base, wish mine looked half as good! I don't marry German armour but I would be open to a one night stand...

I finally got fed up with trying to match up the barrel cleaning rods with the figures hands and grabbed my Dremel tool and just drilled the little SOBs fists out, it's not perfectly centered as I feared but feeding a paper cleaner wire painted brown though looks better than the crooked tube I had before. Hopefully photos soon!

Another armour GB would be cool. I had thought about tossing together either an Anglo-American or a Sherman GB but enough people asked I went ahead with Japanese GB II instead. Will be looking forward to anything you might throw together Eric!

Guys- Thanks for your comments!  

Bob- Love those Panthers!  Hoping to build one later this year... can't wait.  Yours is looking real good!  

Jack- Stunning work on your Tiggy!

jgeratic

Andy - base is looking really good - wish that was what I was seeing outside my window instead of the four feet of snow that has accumulated so far this winter

Bad news... I had to add more snow! LOL  Wasn't too happy with the base and received excellent feedback at other site so I added more.  Now I am very happy... LOL  And I added dirt around the tracks like Eric mentioned earlier. 

First I had the Tiggy secured to the base so I can add more...

More snow... for my friend Jack. LOL

Added tiny pebbles to make the ground look pretty roughed by the Tiggy's tracks... 

For sure the base is complete!  I worked on the tracks and wheels today so I am happy to call it done.  I will post pictures tomorrow when the pigments are dry.   Thanks for looking! 

Amazing Andy, amazing.

Armor86, Bobbailey and Jack, you are all progressing nicely and I look forward to your camo schemes.

Joe, I might  be up for that. I wanted to get my Tiger finished, but have come to a dead halt on it. I hope to have the Jagdpanther finished by the end of the month. If I extended out to a year, that would give us 7 more months.  I could finish that by then. I would then create another GB for September and run it about 6 months.

How many kits could Marc build in a years time? 

Any suggestions guys?

Thank You Eric for giving that some consideration An extension out to a year would most welcome.

As far as how kits could Marc build in a year. I don't know but, how many kits would fit in a 3 story parking garage.

WOW this GB is bangin' on all cylinders right now.  Lots of really good progress reports from Andy, A86 Jack and Bob.  All looking really great.

Andy the "more snow" is perfect now. Amazing how much the look changes.

Builds in a year?  Hmmmm?  extend the date and lets find out.  I think I am capping this one off at 4 entries.  I don't want to get into a big cat rut  But if you really do go out a year... who knows what the future may hold  When I was doing almost aircraft only I did 27 builds in a year.  Or was it 24?  Whatever, that's a bit on the loony side  LOL.

The wife had foot surgery on Friday, that went very well, and I had to stay close to home since she really couldn't get around. So while she watched the tube... just realized how outdated that expression is... I sat at the bench and got all the little fiddly bit for the tools and cables attached. Last night I finally got to get this thing primed.

Here's a couple of closeups of the steel texturing with some oblique lighting. I am pleased with the look.

Armor86: tow cables look great; amazing attention to detail

Tigerman/Gamera: Cheers, I will join whatever is next : )  If this GB gets extended by a few months I will be able to re-visit my original idea of the dual Tamiya/Dragon Panther As build.

Jgeratic/Jack: Looks great; love the photography, very nice crisp close ups.

Bopb: good progress, looks good from here

Deafpanzer: Love your base; worth saying again! The chipping effect looks great

Marc: Hope wife is on way to recovery. Steel texturing is spot on… I will repeat, you need your own FSM column….

Tigerman -- I would welcome an extended timeframe, I wanted to do a Jagdpanther in complimentary scheme to my KT, and the long deadline would make it more likely. I have recently embarked on a potential book project for a UK hobby publisher, so bench time is being apportioned accordingly -- and "tight" is the watchword, but I would love to be able to revisit late war panzers in the process!

The weather has settled a bit so airbrishing is back on the agenda, and the KT is still at the paintshop stage, I need to firm up the DY component, general touchups, spray the tracks and get to the shade/fade coats.

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Eric - would love to see the GB extend out for a year - could built a panther ... Andy, looking great. Armor86

Thanks all for the encouraging words.

Andy-the added snow looks great.....your Tiger looks at home.

Marc-the texture on your KT is spot on....great work...looking forward to seeing some paint on it.

Eric-I'm all for extending the build....I might even get motivated to add another build...if not, I would just enjoy watching everyone else build.

Well I'm glad to see the enthusiasm. Let's go ahead and extend it for the full year until the end of August. Time has been flying by so far in this GB

Jack and Carl, if it isn't too much trouble, could you update the badges? If not, no big deal.

Alrighty, here's the updated badge:

Eric,  the idea of the extension is good, certainly lessens the duress of getting things done on time, (well except for Marc - lol). The other night I was cleaning up just one half of the Tiger's road wheels, but man there is enough there to use as bingo chips.

BobB - nice to see your progress, interesting to see  the front hull hatches have  PE on the top covers.

Marc - sweet looking surface texture

Andy - your whole project is looking brilliant.  I think though, your base has some kind of voodoo magic going on - you added more snow, and at the same time my town had more snowfall.

----------------------------------------------

Question, does Mr'Surfacer primer help strengthen the  PE parts to stay in place?

I've rarely applied a dedicated primer, usually just use some shade of model paint.  In this case I had Tamiya's German grey handy, so sprayed that on.  This was followed with darker mix sprayed from an underneath direction, and a lighter mix from overhead.  Main colour will be Ral 7008.

regards,

Jack