Italeri Tiger I Initial Production - COMPLETE! Aug. 9th. Photos page 7

Johan, Thank you for the kind words. I have really enjoyed this kit and adding the small details that I did. As far as the "green" goes, in the end we have to make a decision and go with it, otherwise we will never finish anything in this hobby. Most decisions in modeling are less contentious though ;-)

Greg, thank you as well! I am glad to hear that you find my postings useful to you. But I am really not doing anything complicated. I like to keep it simple.

I have been working on a base for this over the past few days, and all I can say is that it is very aggravating.... grrrrr

stikpusher

Thank you Bill. Here I am 48 years old and still playing with mud, army men, and toy tanks...

oh plenty of planes here... LOL! but no cars... thanks for the kind words about the figures...

Well here is the base so far- base itself is from the AMPS chapter, some sort of  plastic sheeting, then I covered it with spackle for some contouring for the terrain. Painted in an earth tone, then covered with Future and sifted dirt (to make it stick to the base). I want to give in another layer of fine sifter dirt, a few areas of coarse sifted dirt, and add a few foliage items. 

and with the tank placed to show the basic set up...

I still have a few more steps to go over the next few days....

Coming right along there Stik, nice little base you've got going there.

Thank you Bill. I think tomorrow I will be able to call the base done if I am lucky and use my time wisely.

A little more work on the base this afternoon- another layer of fine sifter dirt, and coarse sifted dirt added in a few areas

overall

and some close ups

So today I did more work on the base and began weathering on the tank itself. Fist a coat of Humbrol Matt Clear on the tank- my favorite topcoat. Then a light heavily thinned coat of Model Master Acrylic Raw Sienna overall on the tank and on the fine dirt areas of the base. Followed by a heavy coat of Model Master Acrylic Raw Umber on the muddy areas of the tank and on the churned up mud areas.

After that I began adding the natural "Flora" to the base- some prickly pear cactus that I obtained and a few areas of grass

I will do another airbrushed lightening coat of dirt tomorrow to the base and add some mud around the track edges

final update before last bit of weathering and calling this one done...

the remaining crew figures- I have since tacked down the TCs goggle strap that I added from lead foil strip

and a couple views of it mounted on the base, gunner glued in place in the TC hatch and most weathering complete

I should be finished here later this evening with completed pics.

Awesomeness!  What kind of wine did the foil come from?  

bitbite

Awesomeness!  What kind of wine did the foil come from?  

Thank you my friend. Lord knows if it is from wine what it was. I have not had a bottle with good quality foil in quite some time. But I think this stuff came from the lids of disposable contact lens cases. I save the foil for this sort of stuff and the plastic carrier for mixing paints in.

Well I am calling this kitty done. I present my completed 1/35 Italeri Tiger I, Initial production in the markings of 501st schwere Panzer Abteilung, 1st Kompanie, 3rd Platoon, 1st Tank (Platoon leader).

Thank you for looking. Comments and critiques welcome.

Rockin', dude! 

Looks like a job well done Stik.  From the figgies to the base it's a solid build, and while you may say there are some imperfections they sure don't show from this end.

See, I knew you would be done your kitty before I would.  I am still wallowing drybrushing roadwheels.....all those gall darn roadwheels!!!!  I think the Germans purposely built their tanks with so many roadwheels for no good reason other than to annoy us modelers.

Brian

Thank you BB & NH. Try the Wechsler method of painting your running gear (named after guy I "stole" it from). Everything is gonna be Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, and/or combinations of the two. Adding mud like I did here is optional. It may not be an option for a desert serving tank, but works for almost every other theater of service.

That is great work Stik. I forgot to mention the great work on the figures. Thanks for sharing so much info with us in the GB.

You finished up real nice Stik,figures are really impressive

Having never built a tank (well, vague memories of one attempt, failed I think), find it really interesting what a huge impact your final weathering had, Stik.

Also, I second the comment about the your figure painting. Base does tie it all together. Nicely done.

A nice project, Carlos. Good figures, really! The foil details are really well-rendered. The tank itself is very nicely finished, and the paint looks great.

If I had to offer critique, I'd say that your weathering is a bit incongruous with your base, and conditions; i.e., mud vs sand. I think by your comments to other posters here that you may have realized that already about a "desert tank", so I'd just say you're on to the premise that I'm offering.

Check your PMs.

These Tigers operated mostly in the fertile hills of Tunisia. At the battle of Sidi N'sir they had to pass through thick mud, as you can see here.

"131" drove by this same spot.

Tojo & Greg, thank you for your kind words. I am very happy to hear that you guys like it.

Karl, I got your PM and appreciate your very helpful and knowledgable advice. Simply put, your are one hell of a model maker and a good friend on here as well. I tried typing you some good long responses to the PM... twice... and my tablet crapped out on both and lost them... a few shouted curses and fist poundings later I decided to send a proper reply later from my desktop that is more reliable ;-) All that being said, this "base" thing is very new to me, and your advice will come in handy on my next attempt.

Bryden, thank you for the photo, I think you know exactly the look, time and place that I was trying to replicate.

That's a sweet looking kitty. Great work.

stikpusher

Karl, I got your PM and appreciate your very helpful and knowledgable advice. ... this "base" thing is very new to me, and your advice will come in handy on my next attempt.

Very nice my friend.

The weathering and dust looks very nice.

Congrats.

Karl, I am defintely commited to improving my builds. And I definately appreciate the honest feedback.

Garzon, thank you for the kind words.

Nice to see this one cross the finish line Carlos!

Thank you Bill. It feels very good to get it completed. Although I do admit I am missing it right now since I sent it off to Nationals on Saturday with our AMPS crew that this was built for. And now looking back andseeing that I did probably 80%-85% of this build in a bit over six weeks, nickle and diming it, makes me feel real good as well. The first part was sub assemblies that sat sidelined for quite awhile.

Gosh that's cool!

Nice model and great figgies too!

Thank you sir- I pushed my limits, and am quite pleased with the results. it's not perfect, but it is better than anything I have done before.