Dragon #6253 Tiger I Late Production-Complete 12-20-13

Missed your reply before the New Year's stuff Eric, thanks for the comments as always! Hope you have a Happy New Year in 2014!

Pretty late chiming in here but she turned out great Bill, just gorgeous!

Thanks Nic!

An absolute Killer Tiger and awesome build!!!

Merry Christmas to you Ernest! Glad you were able to stop by and catch this one. The kit is a lot of fun to build, look forward to yours when the time comes!

A little late here Bill!  You've produced another beauty!  I really like the freehand camo job you applied, it looks quite realistic!  That Dragon kit sure builds up nicely, one of these days I've got to work on mine, but until then yours will serve as inspiration!

Beautful work, BIll, a real "classic" Tiger!

IB

DM

Bish

Yep, its another beauty. Always a pleasure watching your builds, and always something to learn.

Have you ever thought about doing a base or even a diorama for your builds.

            Super Job Bill!

        A great way to finish out the year.

Puuuuuurfect!!! Another winner!

Will be using your track weathering techniques.

Eric

Brian

wbill76

The rear turret bin clears the antenna just fine though regardless of direction. The clearance issue I have is a small one regarding the height of the shovel on the front and the mantlet, not one with the antenna.

Ah.  I misunderstood.  I thought the problem was that the turret bin didn't clear the antenna.

Don

One more fine effort to add to the collection Bill!  Two thumbs up.

Brian

Another beautiful build Bill. You nailed the camo and as others have stated, you have a unique style which is easily recognized.

Thanks Don! I have thought about doing a wreck but in my mind that would require a base to show the context properly and that's not something I have the display space for, so haven't done it as a result.

I'm not sure I understand your question about an 'error in the kit', are you talking about the turret rotation? The radio antenna on the actual vehicles had a rubber base that allowed it to flex so that the turret could traverse but the gun barrel would prevent a full 360 degrees unless the antenna was dismounted. The rear turret bin clears the antenna just fine though regardless of direction. The clearance issue I have is a small one regarding the height of the shovel on the front and the mantlet, not one with the antenna. I found that if I started the turret with the gun pointed to the rear and rotated it counter-clockwise, I could get it to clear by lifting up on the turret after the tabs had engaged every so slightly but the clockwise rotation would snag on the shovel every time even with the lift attempt...no real explanation for why other than just a fractional mm difference in how the turret 'floats' in the ring I guess and interacts with the shovel from one direction vs. the other.  

Really nice, Bill.  The thin line camo is done perfectly.  You have a distinctive style; a very clear attention to detail and an approach to depict a weathered but not abused vehicle.  Just curious if you have considered modeling a wreck or severely weathered vehicle (ala DisasterMaster).  For me, it would be a very interesting build to follow.

wbill76

The turret was added back to the hull for the final time to allow the antenna to be added. Once that was installed, it was no longer possible to remove the turret due to the clearance issues with rotating the turret to the other side to line up the tab/notches in the hull..

After a few minor tweaks here and there, it was off to the photo booth for the walk-arounds.

So this was an error in this kit or something that occurred with the 1:1 vehicles? 

Don

Garzon

Anthony

Bill, exquisite build and an uber job on that camou!

regards,

Jack

You kept this one pretty clean,another great job,your website and logs are so helpful

PS,just getting to the camo tonite on Wiitmans,pics soon

Another outstanding effort as usual Bill! Thanks for another WIP- more tools for my techniques toolbox

Dave

Me liked it so much!!

Those colors and cammo are amazing, light weathering and rusting gives it a perfect, out of a book look!

Great build and photo and explanations are worth of magazine report.

Cheers!

Managed to get the finishing touches in on the Tiger and get it across the finish line. First things first though, the remaining details included some additional pigment treatment for the running gear and fenders. I applied some dry Mig Light Dust pigments to further blend in the previous efforts and tone down the reddish effects a bit as well as tie things back in with the rest of the vehicle.

Using the same pigments and approach, I also added some dust tones to the spare tracks on the turret and the hull tools/equipment.

The turret was added back to the hull for the final time to allow the antenna to be added. Once that was installed, it was no longer possible to remove the turret due to the clearance issues with rotating the turret to the other side to line up the tab/notches in the hull...so that's why this was saved to the very end. An RB Models brass antenna filled the role here and was detailed with MM non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal.

After a few minor tweaks here and there, it was off to the photo booth for the walk-arounds.

Thanks Jack! Pigments are a very versatile tool and their behavior changes depending on whether you use them wet, dry, or in combination. Lots of room to play with and have fun experimenting!

Bill, looking sharp!

Interesting technique with the water applied pigments... I've used Florys wash in the same manner, wiping off after application.

regards,

Jack

Bish

Don

Bill,

Nice job!  I've been waiting for this weathering step because I couldn't remember whether you fix your pigments or overspray after application?  If not, do you just keep handling of the finished model to a minimum?  I seem to always end up smudging pigment weathering when photographing, and attempts to fix or spray with dullcote significantly lessens the effects.

Don

Bill, lovely work as always. And love the little tut on pigments as well. I haven't tried any of those yet, but have them on the shopping list, and now I don't need to ask how to use them.

Lovely.

Karl

Anthony

Johan