Tiger I last production

1
November 21, 2023
2
November 7, 2023
Started with the camouflage. As I'm terrible with the airbrush, I tried something new (at least to me). I painted the camo with a brush, and then toned it down by overspraying it with RAL7028 Dunkelgelb. The goal is to get blurred edges and and a somewhat lightly applied colour, to get a slightly cloudy effect.
3
November 7, 2023
The exhaust shrouds will be placed when the exhausts are painted.
4
November 19, 2023
After burnishing, I treat the tracks with diluted pigments, Gulf War Sand and Europe Dust in that case, to have a little colour variation.
5
November 19, 2023
After drying, I remove excess pigment with an old toothbrush. Finally I go over the tread with a sanding stick to expose the chevrons. The inside of the tracks is treated with black pigment, which is really graphite powder, applied with a rubber brush.
6
November 25, 2023
The camouflage after painting with the brush. Looks quite ugly in this state and much too stark.
7
November 25, 2023
Blurred edges.
8
November 25, 2023
And the final result after filtering with dark yellow, applied with the airbrush.
9
November 25, 2023
10
December 20, 2023
The correct 600mm idler wheel from Modelkasten. The kit only contains 700mm idler wheels, which are not correct for a Tiger of this vintage. The kit didn't contain any polycaps, or I lost them long ago, so I used spares from a KV tank.
11
November 25, 2023
12
December 20, 2023
The spare track links were primed with panzer grey. In the weathering phase they'll get some rust treatment. Sometimes these links were painted with camouflage, but on all pictures of sPzAbt 510 I found they were dark and rusty, even the ones welded to the hull front.
13
December 20, 2023
The RH wheels now have steel rims, applied with my True Metal wax. Now it starts to look like a Tiger.
14
December 20, 2023
The wheels are not yet glued on, next I'll put on the tracks. The fit of the sprocket wheels is very loose, so I guess I'll have to them on for that.
15
December 20, 2023
Just wanted to share this unusual perspective.
16
December 29, 2023
The wheels after pinwashing but yet without pigments. While trying one track I managed to break off two mudguards.
I put the kit's idler wheel next to the correct one to show the difference in size.
17
December 29, 2023
The 1st track fitted. I had to shorten it by 7 links.
18
December 30, 2023
2nd track also fitted, also shortened by 7 links.
19
December 30, 2023
The damaged mudguards back in place.
20
December 30, 2023
Next will be rust treatment of exhaust mufflers and the spare track links.
21
January 7, 2024
Some rust effects on the exhaust mufflers.
22
January 7, 2024
The shrouds now in place. As they're PE, I was able to replicate some damage seen on the original photo.
23
January 7, 2024
Next I'll add all the small parts like tools and other fittings. For the tool clamps I'll probably go for 3D-printed ones.
24
January 28, 2024
The clamps for the jack are incredibly poor, and the supports are missing altogether. I had no choice but to use the PE set for that. Lots of fun with the wing nuts.
25
January 28, 2024
This is the Dragon kit for comparison: no need for aftermarket replacements as far as I'm concerned.
26
January 28, 2024
For some reason, the handle is outside the tool clamp on the original picture, so I used an open one in 3D.
27
January 28, 2024
These are the other tool clamps, if you can call it that. They'll all be removed and replaced by 3D-printed ones. The sledge hammer will be placed on the engine deck, so I used open clamps where it would otherwise be.
28
February 12, 2024
And this is how it looks with 3D-printed tool clamps and some PE from the Aber set. The jack block is WIP, and the C-hook will be "is use", so I'll have to add the mounting pegs. This is very tedious work with tiny parts and I wish this was over.
29
February 12, 2024
To bring these parts together: C-hook, shackle and tow clable grommet, I had to saw open the latter two. After inserting the C-hook, I glued these parts back together.

Comments

16 7 November 2023, 19:06

Jonathon Herring
Liking it so far. Looking forward to more 😊

19 November 2023, 17:31

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

19 November 2023, 18:05

Mr James
looking very good.

20 November 2023, 15:41

Jean-Christophe Zeus
Thank you! The front of the vehicle is more or less conjecture. The pictures of 132 only show the rear. But other pictures of s.Pz.Abt. 510 show that this unit used a unique method of holding the spare tracks on the lower hull front: they welded a U-shaped bar between the two hull side extensions. These bars were additionally stabilzed by two more short bars welded to the hull front. So there was space for nine links separated into groups of three. I used Evergreen U-profiles for this.
The track links welded to the drivers' front plate were often attached in this fashion.
All in all chosing this kti for a return to the hobby turned out to be a mistake. The guy who sold me the Tamiya kit was well-meaning, thinking I wanted a hassle-free build out of the box. That I became a rivet counter he couldn't anticpate.
Lots of things wrong with this kit. Most egregious is the 25mm roof plate and the 700mm idler wheel. The tracks are single link, but the guide teeth are solid. I tried my best to correct the turret roof.

20 November 2023, 16:19

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work so far.

21 November 2023, 05:41

Album info

An old shelf queen started ages ago. In fact it was my 1st project after restarting the hobby. Somehow I got bogged down in details.

Tiger I last production

29 images

1:35

In progress

1:35 Tiger I Tank (Late/ Final) Barrel with Canvas Cover (Panzer Art RE35-101)

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