Hi guys -- well, we're right up against the deadline on this GB and I'm afraid I got side-tracked with some other projects even further behind schedule, which compounded with decal sheet failures to see me days off the planned completion points... Will it be possible to complete projects in hand beyond the deadline?

Cheers, M/TB379

PS: One sweet, clean tiger, Dan, like she just rolled out of the plant! Nice!

Dogzilla17: looking forward to seeing you Mark IV F2, if that the #6360 smart kit?  Looking to get one of those.

Jgeratic: Thanks for the infromation on the Cyber Hobby kit #9142.  I remember somebody posted awhile back about a aftermarket Tunisia conversion kit for Dragons Initinal Production #6600.

Now my Tiger is complete, tank command is in his place now.  And I am using Route 66's display case, 13" x 5.5" x 5".

Hi Guys-- very impressive all around --I'm just about to put a wash on the Dragon Mark IV F2 --proud to say I used a Humbrol tin that was probably close to 25 years old (Afrika Korps Desert Yellow)  I'm new to posting pics from social media ,hopefully I'll make it under the wire !

Aside from that I need to add tools / paint  the Alpine DAK TC --

Regards,

Dog

Dan - yes, I'd suggest storing your Tiger in a safe and dust free location.  You never know, at some later date you might want to add the weathering to it.

Cyber Hobby kit #9142 has a few features that make it not quite right for Tunisia.  There are fewer fixes if you do the 504th Tiger battalion, which arrived between March 6 and April 16th 1943.

-- Some of the noted differences --

Feifle Air Cleaners: different cannister design

Gun mantle: earlier type without reinforcement

S-mines: they don't seem to be attached in period photos, but possibly the base plates are?

+++ Of special note, the b/w photos are of the captured Bovington Tiger, courtesy of this site;

http://privatefor-aana.bigforumpro.com/t89-tiger-i-replacements-in-afrika-query

regards,

Jack

Thanks Tigerman, yes my next build's will have some weathering on them.

Thanks Bish, Gamera, Schatten Spartan, Jgeratic.

I know what you mean, clean looking Tigers with no zimmerite looks more bulky & muscle.

Would I be able to use the Cyber Hobby kit #9142 eastern front early production for a North Africa early tiger?  I would prefer that kit over Tamiya's.  And this morning I finished up painting the tank crew men, then I sprayed on Testors Dullocate.  Going to let him dry for two days,  might have pictures of him with the tank up by Friday if not Saturday.

Dan, it's a refreshingly clean build, though I'd love to see some dot filters and a little dust on her.

Dan - Excellent work on Tamiya's Tiger I.

regards,

Jack

She's looking fantastic, Dan! A nice, clean finish and a great build!

I'm afraid there's no way for me to even get close to finishing the interior of my Pz.IV in time, but I'm still going to watch all the wonderful builds going on in here...

She's looking fantastic, Dan! A nice, clean finish and a great build!

I'm afraid there's no way for me to even get close to finishing the interior of my Pz.IV in time, but I'm still going to watch all the wonderful builds going on in here...

Very sharp work there Dan! You've really captured the hulking brutal look of the tank.

Lovely looking Tiger there Dan.

Thanks Gamera.

Zvezda1980: Thanks oh yeah those clean lines, could be used in one of the tank training films.
Your panzer is coming along nicely,  when I started my Tiger was thinking about going with the two color scheme.

Armor86: Nice storage rank.  With that full interior and the hatches open it will really stand out above the rest.  I'm determined that next tank will have all it's hatches open.

Well I'm calling my Tiger done,  it looks much better than the one I built back in 2010.  Cleaner construction & assembly.  The three light coats of future and one light coat of dullcote makes the dark yellow even darker.  I'm still working on the tank figure, should be done in a few days.

Mike: Sounds like a plan to me, looking forward to seeing how things come out.

A86, thanks for the ref images there! I think there must have been as many variations as there were batches going through the workshops. The design I'm following was a strip steel type, bent/welded into p[lace, possibly incorporating some boards though it's hard to tell. Basically I have one strip of plastic left to add which will tie together all the uprights, then there will be a couple of oblique strip metal props to support it. I'm hoping it'll play the game and not fall to bits on me!

Oh, I heard from the service shop, and my airbrush is on its way back, thoroughly cleaned and serviced, with a new air cap, so I should be painting again soon.

Cheers, M/TB379

Couple photos - Pz IV with storage racks mounted - with only one week left it may be tight getting it all painted and weather. Armor86

Thunderbolt379 - just posted my storage rack on IV - I was looking at another after market set for the Pz III, didn't think it would fit and review several photos found a few that mount metal brackets on each side and then wood planks across the bottom and back side. Armor86

Schattenspartan - yeah have the older Dragon Super Kits with 1000s of parts - 'Pz IV E', 'E Vorpanzer', Super 'D', and Tristar 'D'.  I did check out the rubber tires and they would fit the road wheel rims included in the Dragon Smart Kit 6779 - it has the right road wheel but no rubber O rings. A prior Smart Kit which uses the 40 cm size road wheels is also included in the kits and have the rubber  rims as one piece - yeah I have a ton of spare parts. Made a request to Dragon Care and have not heard back. Have assembled a storage rack on the back end using ever green. Armor86

Oh wow that's amazing Zvezda- how you guys build stuff that small continually amazes me- looks great so far!

Thanks for that additional info, Jack!

I'm not sure what the firt number is supposed be, but the 3rd one is the length of the track links AFAIK. They are 380cm x 120cm in size.

jack, the comment about the track pins is something I have come across elsewhere and would make sense.

As for the question about German track designation, I have often wondered that. One thought is that the last number is the size of each link front to back. The other could be the weight for each link in Kg's.60ish Kg's sounds about right for a track link.  But that's just a guess.

Great updates everyone!

Looking forward to them all as the deadline approaches.

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

Schatt - you should be fine with the smaller size tracks.  From what I've read, the confusion likely was a result of British assessment of captured panzers, in which they only measured the track width and did not include the pins on either side. 

The link Dan provided has lots of info, and it gives both measurements with and without the pins.  Note though the measurement is expressed in millimeters.  I think the official nomenclature is like this  one for example:

Kgs. 6111/380/120

where the 380 (or 38cm) is the size.  Any ideas what the values on either side represent?

regards,

Jack

Zvezda: Looking very nice!

Mike: I actually haven't tried the AFV tracks yet. While I love my Friuls, I'm not a huge fan of workable plastic tracks (except if I get them for free included in the kit ). The Modellkasten would be my backup solution if the 36cm Friuls don't fit my kit. I'll look into them for other projects though.

Dan: I did notice that in your post and immediately checked my Pz.IV kits. The kit I'm building has the neat extra of separate rubber rims for the roadwheels, so I took one of those out of the bag and compared it with a roadwheel from Dragon's J. The J's roadwheels are significantly wider so I think Dragon got it correct on their old Pz.IVs...

Lack of progress report -- the rack in the Verlinden set was for the Pz. III and it's not a matter of simply modifying it, the Pz. IV is 10mm broader in the rear hull. Without having additional views to work with I'm no wiser as to what was done on the original, sooooo -- I think I'm back to the rack I was scratch building. At least now I know how this type of rack was probably attached on the real thing. I'll let you know how it goes!

M/TB379

Clemens - Bish - Pz IV Question - saw the same website (http://panzerivuniverse.phelpscomputerservices.com/Specs-02.htm) Panzer IV Universe and noted the confusion regarding width size.  Several references note 38 cm (A-E) and 40 cm (F-H). Don't know if you noted my previous post that the Dragon Smart Kit (6779) has the wrong width road wheels (40 cm) - using the Tristar Panzer IV Road Wheel Set. Dragon Care has not gotten back on possible replacements. Armor86

Clemens, did you consider AFV Club's workable plastic PZ.IV track? It would have been a third the price of even one set of Friuls. I've not build a set yet, but I have built their T-34 set and while they are fragile, they do work and sag like the metal ones. Not sure of the size, though...

Zvezda -- your work on that palm-top Panzer is breathtaking! Oh, re the tiny boltheads, blame Tony Greenland, I'm replicating one of his builds from about 25 years ago!

I'm starting the etched rack today, let's hope I don't stuff up!

M/TB379

Bish I got a perm for half vacation time, for the rest I could not find a return ferry ticket

Browsing through all photos of all the builds here, I declare truly amazed.

Mike who punished you to make all those super tiny bolts ?

I love the clean Tiger, Dan. Fresh our of factory revealing all its scary huge outline.

I finally managed to paint inner and outer faces of all the wheels. I made a (basically two) template(s) for this otherwise I think I would totally

Then the tank was given some dry brushing passes with white and sienna oils, in order to further fade and blend the camo colors. I do not intend to practically wipe out the demarcation of the two tones, as I have seen on many photos on the web. I shall suppose it is a quite new vehicle to the front and some weeks of desert sun has not yet faded everything out.

Finally I started cleaning the track links. Only Mars the god of war can now help me assemble them (or somebody could give some rough advice of how not to mess this up)

The first tank pic below is before the oils were applied just for comparison

All your comments and advice are welcomed.

I have his books on Heavy Tank Destroyers, Pz.IV and Tiger. They really are great books and I especially like the one on the Tiger because it doesn't only cover the Tiger itself, but also the whole development starting at the Durchbruchswagen 2.

Ye we do. But so far I only have the panther and pz III books from his German armour and military vehicles series, the Pz IV is the next one. My Osprey vanguard book on the Pz Iv only stats one width change, but that says from 38 to 40cm. But that could be a misprint.

Thanks for that info, mate! I'll go with the 36cm ones then. I don't know where i read about those 36cm tracks, but it was in a discussion I found during a google search on Pz.IVs. I was kinda confused by the three different track widths too because my book on the Pz.IV (recommended by a very good armor modeller at my LHS who really is into the technical aspects of the tanks he is building) only states one track width change AFAIK... The book's author is Spielberger (i think you have some of the english versions of his books)