Looking real good so far.  Clean build!  My Tiger 6600 has arrived but my wife got her hands on it first before I got home.  So she hid it somewhere in the house... crap!  Guess I have to wait until Christmas...

Thats coming along very nicely Ben.

deaf, o now thats just nasty. Wicked woman.

To Hinksy and others...

I am at the point of painting my Tiger I "inital" production and the model will represent the '41 campaign at Leningrad.  I am not sure if  I will white wash yet or not....so if I stay with the German grey, (Tamyia XF-63)

It has been suggested that this color is a good match to the actual colors.  Even though it tank looks almost black, I have read on these forums that it is correct.

So my question is, what do you weather with to make this look battle hardned.  I don't think a dark brown wash will work, 

What colors can be used if employing the dot filtering method and other weathering  techniques.   

Yes, the original "Panzer" grey was almost black, but generally you'd have to wash the tank to see that effect. These things would pick up dust on their travels that would lighten the tone significantly.

But your "100" is camouflaged, I believe? There are a few photos here, including "100" itself;

http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?postid=1927

and it seems the most typical weathering is snow packed into the tracks.

David

Hey guys,

Tiger I '100' is back on the bench! and I'm raring to go!

My last update was made during last December when I'd finished the basic assembly - since then I've breathed some new life into an old Hetzer in my cabinet and built a lovely Marder II (I just fancied a breather from the Tiger prior to painting).

All I've done today is get the wheels separated on a board and marked up so I know what goes where (obviously there's a lotta wheels). I've got a Tiger I early Quickwheel Mask so that will help!

I also tried out a new primer - Mr Surfacer 1200 in a rattlecan. Ii's superb stuff and something I can highly recommend.I know Andy Deafpanzer wants to try it out. A few light passes and nothing is obscured and all details remain without having the 'edge' taken off them.

I'll be basecoat painting the Grey and White next weekend so here we go again! No doubt David will be about to put me straight and I've got wbill's blog too to help me with the painting.

Wheels laid out and sorted:

The build as she stands now after priming with the 1200:

I will be buying Friuls but that will be later on in the build.

I reckon she could be a real winner - fingers x'd!

Thanks for looking in guys-any comments or Tiger I advice please send them my way!

Have a great week guys,

Ben

The Fruil set that you need is ATL-116.

David

My, what big ears your Tiger has, Ben.

Looks great so far. That primer looks pretty good--I'll bet it would work pretty nicely for cars--is it smooth enough to put a high-gloss finish over it?

Hey David and Doog,

David - My 'Friul man' Steve has them set aside for when I need them and they are the number you quoted David so I'm all ok there.

Karl - It's a  great primer and very fine with super small particles. I know nothing about high-gloss finishes on model cars BUT it definately feels very smooth when you run your finger over it as opposed to my cheaper primers which leave a 'matt' type textured surface. No hint of that here. I'm impressed!

I'll be keeping this for my best builds! All the armour guys at my modelling club use it and rate it highly.

Thanks chaps,

Ben

the doog

My, what big ears your Tiger has, Ben.

"You know what they say about big ears?"

No, no, no, it's means you carry a big gun. An 88mm!

Thanks for the recommendation.  I will order few cans next time I order something from online vendors. Shops here dont stock Mr. Surfacer products.  

Good to see Tiger back on your workbench! 

the doog

My, what big ears your Tiger has, Ben.

       Yes,

"EEERIE" 

Hi chaps,

Thanks for looking in on the Tiger build. That Mr Surfacer 1200 is great stuff - it dries to a lovely smooth finish that looks great. It has taken to the metal barrel fine too so that's good.

Plan for the weekend is to get grey basecoat laid down  followed by the patches of white.

The main question I have it thus: When I built the Panzer with the same paint scheme I painted it grey then added the white THEN weathered it etc.

In theory this tank would have been grey and with the arrival of Winter the crews would have applied the white over the top of the already mucky grey (correct)?

Would it be an idea to actually paint the model that way. Paint it grey and weather it (lightly) and then lay down the white patches and weather them separately - then finish with an all-over wash?

What do you reckon chaps?

I've got Friday off work (long weekend -ahhhh!) so I'll be making a start then. Also, I've got Vallejo Panzer Aces and Model colour paints (lots of) which I normally use for detailing - is the model air stuff any good for basecoats compared to Tamiyas? I hear it's a little soft and not so good?

I'll be keeping the build fairly simple but trying out some different techniques to obtain new effects. I was going to use the pin vice to put a few small arms hits into the side bins - that would work wouldn't it? I understand the bins weren't 'armoured' as such?

All feedback greatly received and much appreciated!

Cheers folks,

Ben

Ben,

The side bins were indeed sheet metal, no armor protection at all. As for your question about the weathering...remember that the white wash was water soluble...so while yes the panzer gray would have been weathered on its own (depending on the age/environment of the vehicle prior to whitewash), white doesn't stay "white" for very long and whitewash would weather much faster than normal paint. I think you would be better off from a simpler-is-best approach to just weather the finish instead of trying to create a different weathering for the gray and white areas separately.  While the real vehicle might have had very subtle differences in the weathering, trying to create that convincingly in 1/35 will be tough...you will have to add a lot more steps and seal/protect the weathering done on the panzer gray in some respect to achieve it IMHO. Now if you lightened the panzer gray areas with some fading or color modulation, that's a different story and is something I would recommend doing before applying the whitewash pattern. That's my anyhow.

Interesting Bill - thanks,

I'll paint it like you say and just keep the whitewash areas less 'solid'. That's how I did the Panzer and she turned out fine. My idea could be complicated at best like you say! Some fading on the Panzer Grey prior to the white being added would work well-good point.

I'm liking the idea of a few small arms hits in them side bins - nothing silly and OTT, just a few and a nice a focal point all the same.

I'll get cracking on her on Friday so watch this space!

All the best,

Ben

Ben,

Great to see your Tiger make it back to the bench! Sharp work so far.

You're tempting me too, I haven't built a Tiger in twenty years. Have a Dragon Royal Tiger in my stash but not one Tiger I - somehow that seems wrong.

Hello folks,

I decided to get things rolling with the Tiger I. A basecoat of XF-63 then some Flat white (no masking this time). It's certainly come out a LOT different than the Panzer III i.e. a bit pale as I went for more of an all-over white colouring deliberately leaving some patches of dark grey for the decals. This could look really good with Filters, washes and weathering etc.

I get some decals on her tomorrow and see how she looks.

Them flat white sidewalls will be a dream to weather with some streaking effects

Only one minor disaster - after air brushing I noticed (shock horror) that the horseshoe had gone from next to the drivers slit! I made up another and it's ok. If anyone has a 1/35 horseshoe  they don't need I'll gladly take it off your hands  Let me know what you think re me effort!

Some photos - remember she will darken up considerably during weathering:

Does my Horsshoe pass the scratchbuillding test? Will it do? 

Thanks for looking guys - I hope you like her at this point, I know I do! 

Horseshoe - ok?

Thanks chaps,

Ben

Moving right along with this one Ben. Horseshoe replacement looks good...maybe a bit on the large side but you could always say it came off a draft horse.

Hey Bill!

You like the paintjob? I was worried you lot would say it's too pale but like I said the heavy weathering will deal with that.

Funny what you said about the shoe - I said to my Dad "it's a little bit big-I'll have to say it came of a Shire horse. Same thing I think! 

Have you ever tried making a 1/35 horseshoe with no real scratching experience! Nightmare!

Cheers buddy, I'm really please you've given it the 'wbill seal of approval'!

All the best,

Ben

Looking real good!   I think the paint is OK... remember they will look a lot darker after couple of dark washes, correct?  

Hi chaps,

Right - I decided at the model meeting last night that I wanted some darker grey more visible on my Tiger so I've touched her up a fair bit and she came out looking a lot better. I also realised that I hadn't left a suitably positioned grey patch on one side for  the Balkenkreuz so that needed attending to.

As you'll see she has been decaled now as well. I put a light glosscoat (Vallejo dropper bottle gloss varnish from the ab) all over, laid decals then sealed the decals with more gloss but only on the decals-not all over. When I sealed them in I bought her into the house and realise that I'd put my fingers on the sides to pick it up and both Balkenkreuz came off in my hand (they were measured out and looked perfect) so I managed to pop them into the water again and re-varnish over them when re-fitted but two nasty fingerprints were left but they seem to be gone now after additional gloss was applied?

What a stupid newbie error but she looks superb now and I'm getting some good vibes from this build. The airbrushing looks great especially as it was my first attempt at full freehand. The deliberate light spatter works perfectly as I wanted it to look like the grey was peeping through the white but the grey is actually on top of the white in most places-really chuffed!

Please let me know what you think guys:

Thanks for looking guys!

I'd love to hear any comments or suggestion. I'm actually a bit sure on how to weather this one. It will get a blue Panzer Grey AK Filter but what about washes? Colour suggestion for washes? I like this colour I've got and want to keep it but it needs weathering.

I'll be doing some vertical streaking on the tureet and flat sidewalls and I'll be doing some grey sponge chipping on the white to show the whitewash wearing off.

I'd love to hear suggestions as this is important to me. So far this is my best spray work by miles (imo).

Take care,

Ben

If it were me I would have done the grey filter before the whitewash. I'm thinking this way  because a lot of the weathering would have been present before the whitewash was applied.

 The whitewash (being easily worn off) would cover those effects randomly depending on how fresh the camo was applied.

 This might be confusing so I hope I described it effectively.

No that's perfectly clear DM,

I really should have thought of that - one to remember!

So, now that I can't do that (other than starting again and losing my decals-no way) what do you recommend!

Having looked at my AK Panzer Grey Filter it's called 'Blue for Panzer Grey' and iirc I didn't like it too much when I used it before.

I'm thinking keep it light and sensible with some nice streaky bits - yum

Cheers dude!

Ben

If you want a nice, gritty looking Tiger, use a standard Raw Umber or Dark Umber wash. Then use diluted white acrylic to touch up and provide shading variations in the whitewash. Or, simply use a clean brush soaked in thinner to clean the wash off the white after it dries for about 10 minutes.

In my opinion, forget about that "blue tint". It's more of an "artistic" than a "realistic" thang--and you know how I love "artistic"--but I just think it is overdone.

Your paint is quite light, so I would think that you need some kind of a dark wash to give the model some definition. Also, a careful chipping and of metallic brown against the edges will look killer against that light paint.

Lots of potential here, Ben. Be fearless.

forget about that "blue tint". It's more of an "artistic" than a "realistic" thang

Oh, I don't know.

This is Tiger 110, scrubbed clean.

David

Byrden

forget about that "blue tint". It's more of an "artistic" than a "realistic" thang

 

Oh, I don't know.

This is Tiger 110, scrubbed clean.

David

 

I've seen real Panzer Grey in Germany, and there's no blue tint to it at all.

Most modern research in this area of panzer grey tends to favor a "warmer" grey with a reddish leaning more than a "cooler" grey with a bluer leaning---almost a blackish grey....from an artistic point of view I tend to also favor the bluish tint but for realism go dark... (warm)...

Hinksy

I really should have thought of that - one to remember!

So, now that I can't do that (other than starting again and losing my decals-no way) what do you recommend!

Ben

And another one to remember.

PATIENCE. 

 Don't get anxious.....  think it out, then think it again & again right up to the moment you commit. Put yourself in the tankers boots when you are thinking it out. It's easier to stop than do it over.

 If you've noticed, I'm not one to pour out battalions of tanks like water from a firehose. It's a hobby for me, not a contest.

 $30 to 50 bucks or up for a model is a LOT. This is the ONE good reason I always take my time.......there's always the next one so GET IT RIGHT - what is the hurry? 

Why do two or three mediocre builds ($30-$50 a kit) when you can do ONE that really STANDS OUT.  On the other hand, an inch at a time.....   you'll get there. I suppose everyone has to find their own way. You're doing fine and most importantly you don't quit.

SOOOOOOO......

"what do you recommend!"

............A lot of nice guys here.

 I'm thinking someone here on the forum has this very same kit and used the alternate build/decal option. Just ask, I would hope you might have a chance to get lucky for a trade or some other deal on the leftover markings.

Then you could show us a thing or two.

Well now, after 6 months, I think I'll crank up my airbrush.....

.....wait a minute (my boot's stuck) - let me think about that.....

GottaGo,

  Good Luck.

If you want to switch options, the "3" tank doesn't need any of the decals that you've used.

But it's probably a brush job rather than an airbrush job.

David

That's right but I think he wants those "EARS" though.

Cheers guys,

Karl - some nice tips and I like the one about using thinners to remove the wash from the white patches. Great stuff buddy.

David and DM - You two are talking like I'm gutted with my build and want to start over - no freakin' way  I'm loving it and she's moving along nicely. Shame on you

I have my plans for the build and am sticking to them-the idea of using a grey filter prior to the white application was something I should have thought of myself DM but no problem.

Like you say, I want my Tiger to have ears so she'll be staying as Tiger '100'!

Everything is going to plan very nicely and the paintwork in the flesh came out better than I'd ever hoped for  

All the best guys and on a serious note thanks for all the helpful input, it's really appreciated

Ben