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Hi All, I'm a new member from Italy. I've just completed my 1/35 Tamiya Austin Tilly. A little gem to mount as usual. I added some details to the interiors cab and into the rear cargo area (wooden bed from Tamiya was not correct). I used a combination of Hussar resin wheels (civilian and military pattern). Very good. About camo I was a little in doubt until I saw the well done Austin by Bullbasket John. I never knows that 51st Highland Divisioni was in Italy (thank you, John!). So I decided to paint it in the same way😀. I have a little doubt about area where the Divisioni was assigned. Here the pics. Hope you like and feel free to any comments. Ciao Filippo

Hi All, some years ago I spent hours ad hours to improve the nice Tamiya kit. It was destinated to a publication for a well known magazine. I'm still waiting! Anyway it was a dare and pleasure confront myself with this work. Here the article, the wip pics and those of the completed model. The figure was from Hornet. Hope you like Ciao Filippo Last of the Lost Sd.Kfz. 182 Pz.kpfw. VI Tiger Ausfuehrung B Koenigstiger 3./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 511 Kassel area, april 1945 Introduction In general I like to represent a specific model with a story to tell. This help me to obtain a better approach with the project. This time I turn my attention to a Koenigstiger from a march 1945 production run attached to schwere Panzer-Abteilung 511[-1] . On 31 March 1945 the 3rd kompanie received 8 Koenigstiger through from Henschel factory in Kassel area where they fought the last battle. Unfortunately pictures of actual late production version are very rare. Anyway T. Jentz “V.K. 45.02 to Tiger II” volume (from now JD KT where J stand for Jentz, D for Doyle and KT for Koenigstiger) is an excellent source of informations. At the same time H. Doyle scale drawings did the rest. Koenigstiger march ’45 production run Koenigstiger march ’45 production run showed lots of external differences. A fews of these differences were introduced during previous production runs, others were specific elements of march ’45 production feauturing hull and turret. The hull differed from previous production runs with the following features: - 18 teeth drive sprockets; - single link Kgs 73/800/152 tracks; - two locks for driver’s and radio operator’s hatches; - dropped jack and wooden block on rear hull; - dropped track mounting cable on port side hull; - four vents lines for fuel system; - armour cover engine compartment vent on rear deck; - engine hatch stopper; - dropped metal meshes to prevent mine inserting; - squared instead rounded notches reflected on the sponson as squared grooves. - strenghtening front mudguards; The turret differed from previous production runs with the following features: - inverted U shaped guard welded over the gun sight aperture; - poison gas identification panels (two on rear turret and one on gun mantlet); - half cylinder armor guards welded onto each side of the lower turret torsion bars; - semplified squared rear hatch; - 40mm loader hatch cover; - four sets of two tracks hangers each one welded on both side of turret. Tamiya Koenigstiger The Tamiya kit n° 35164 is, as usual, an excellent base kit but it lacks some minute details. I divided my work in five steps: turret, hull, tracks, painting/weathering and setting. Anyway are some operations concerning both areas. As general rule at first I soften lower and upper hull, turret and other major components with a light sand paper. This helps me to “take contact” with the model components and to check all the imperfections. Then I filled all location holes with plastic rods and putty removing all details which were uncorrected or oversized. First step: the turret After closing and sanding the two halves of the turret I began the work reproducing with a sharp X-Acto knife a better interlock between the front, vertical and rear steel plates. According to JD KT, I enlarged the interlock in the lower part of the turret as it was 2 mm too short. I completed it adding a piece of strip with an hexagonal bolt from Punch and Die set. The 40mm loader’s hatch cover is well reproduced. This hatch was introduced in July 1944 with four U-shaped channels, welded on each corner which use was unknown. The remnants of the welds were made glueing two bolts for each one softened with liquid glue. At the end I added the key lock and paddock lock. The two hinges from Tamiya are U shaped; they are wrong as the correct shape was very similar to Porsche Tiger II so I build them from scratch. Around the hatch I added eight little holes and did the same around the Nahverteidigungswaffe. By august 1944 the commander’s cupola was not welded but bolted to upper turret plate with seven bolts so I reproduced the thin recessed area around the cupola with a sharp X-Acto knife. The commander’s cupola was completed with two Minimeca tubes welded diagonally across the cupola itself; they were rarely mounted the rain cover for tank commander similar to that used on Tiger I. At the end I added the hatch stopper just behind the 12 o’clock periscope. The Tamiya commander’s hatch is a single piece. Real hatch was a two-pieces one. I was a lucky man as I found another hatch left behind from an abandoned Dak Tiger I conversion. The pics show the two elements. At the end I added the devices for paddock: one onto the hatch the other onto the cupola. According to JD KT drawings the Tamiya spent cartridge ejection port is too far back. So I closed the hole for kit no. C8, removed the rain guard and made a new circular location closer to the welding line. I added the hole in the center for the closing mechanism, a new rain guard with photo etched strip and a stopper between the two hinges. Under the loader’s periscope cover is an oversize gap I fill with two pieces of plastic card. The commander’s targeting guide in front of the cupola is placed too far left and had to be repositioned in front of 12 o’clock periscope on the cupola. A piece of plastic strip as a rain guard was welded across the front edge of the turret roof. In September 1944 orders stated to weld an inverted U-shaped guard over the gun sight aperture to prevent fouling rain and blinding from direct sunlights. This modification anyway appeared only from January 1945. I reproduced this guard with a photo etched spare part cut to shape with some little difficult. The gun mantlet from Tamiya sports the ring detail on the center. I wanted to reproduce a solid cast mantlet but at that time Ardennes Tiger from Tamiya, which sports the feature, was not on sales. When I planned this project, Artisan Mori conversion kit n° MGP 02 was not available. So I modified the Tamiya mantlet covering it with Squadron putty. Then I worked it with my wet fingers to the desired shape. The rough surface was achieved using a new way for me. I covered the mantlet with a liberal amount of liquid glue; just before it was dry I pressed an old piece of steel wool and quicky removed, pressed and removed, more and more times. When all was totally dry I lightly sanded it. I’m satisfied by this process as it leaves a subtle rough surface in a non-symmetrical way. Little numbers from sprue tree were added for casting number “02” to the right side of the mantlet. To remove these numbers and letters from sprue you need a very, very sharp blade so pay attention to your fingers. The six-bolted collar of the mantlet had a wire running through the center of each bolt. I made the holes in the six bolts and added the wire using a thin line of sprue. The gun barrel comes from Jordi Rubio. Even if it lacks the six holes on gun half section it looks good so I added only the secure pin to the muzzle brake. The rear access door was a problem as mentioned before the only after market I knew was form Artisan Mori. JD KT call it as a simplified access door but under modelling view it is not so simply. I tried to modified the Tamiya piece n° D11 three or four time in different ways but with unsatisfied results.In effect the Artisan Mori rear hatch is really superb. The high quality resin has no bubbles and the details are excellent. I only added the handle and two reinforced plates on the lower side. The rounded armoured caps on pivoting bars were too long so I reduced to the desired length. The three pilzen sockets were in a wrong position and had to be repositioned. At last I added three poison gas identification panels from Aber: one on the gun mantlet and two on the rear of the turret deck. Koenigstiger from March 45 production had only eight hangers for spare tracks links, four per side. The six hangers per side came later with some particular, limited Wegmann turrets. Before the hangers were glued I simulated the rough effect on the whole turret using the same method as gun mantlet. The torch cut effect on the edge of the plates was achieved with a rectangular dental burr used as a chisel at low speed in my Dremel motor tool. At last I added welding seams. I do not use pyrogravure as, in my opinion, it gives an effect which is completely wrong and unrealistic. I prefer a different approach (I call it Greenland’s way) glueing a very fine plastic strip in place and burring it with the previous rounded dental burr turned at low speed. Then I cleaned the weld seam with fine steel wood, added a liberal mount of liquid cement to give an uniform texture and repeated the burring. The four per side holes just behind the frontal plate (which were use to ease it’s right allocation and welding) were too little and unrealistic. To improve the effect I enlarged the holes and closed them from inside with a plastic rod. These rods were not flush outside but with a little depression that I filled with very wet Squadron putty. Then I positioned a toothpick cut to the right diameter onto the hole and began to squeeze. This action create a realistic circular burr leaving inside the hole the typical rough effect from fusion. Second step: the hull The first modification was in engine deck area. Detailed pics shows that the joining line between the rear vertical hull plate and rectangular air vent presents a C-shaped aperture missing on Tamiya hull. To make it removed 1mm from the two rectangular air vent and rebuilt the missing area with three Evergreen strips of different length: one of the same length of the air vent, the others two of the right length to simulate the C-shaped aperture. After some try and errors I was able to find the exact and convincing sizes; so I glued the strips in place and sanded the joining lines. I wanted to simulate the C hooks on the rear hull were lost so I reproduced their location points with Evergreen rod. The closing mechanism was detailed with Aber parts and ModelKasten nuts. The Tamiya armoured guards for the exhaust pipes had to completed with four lifting pegs (two per side) that I made drilling the holes and glueing a plastic rod plus a plastic disk from Punch and Die set at the end. The rough texture, more heavy, was added using a burr in my Dremel at very low speed. These armoured guards need casting numbers. Using the same method used for gun mantlet I glued a “240” to the left armoured cap and a “259” to the right. Later I noticed that all pics of actual tanks show casting numbers on left armoured guard, only, so I had to remove those on right armoured cap. I left the exhaust outlets for each tube as they seem to me good and realistic. Since October 1944 were added four vent lines to ventilate all seven fuel tanks. These lines were made from copper wire while the securing pins were made from plastic strips and bolts. The engine access door needs some more details. At first the carburator air vent armoured caps were from different shape: to avoid contact with the turning turret forward cap had hedged shape while rearward cap was rounded. This correction was simple as it was sanded till the desired form. Unfortunately this operation deleted the disk above it that was reworked adding four little strips from plasticard. The same four strips were added either the rounded cap than the same armoured cap between the front hull hatches. At second, I added the hatch stopper “stolen” from my previous Dak Tiger I conversion. At third, the three rectangular rotating stoppers on the rim of the access door need three fine tubes that I made from Minimeca tubings. At fourth, the semicilidrical piece put between the two armoured caps was not solid. I completely removed it and reworked it with a brass strip rolling on a rounded pen. Remaining in the rear hull deck area: - I added four lifting hooks from Aber around right grill and three around left grill; - Two bolts just near the antenna mount; - A Minimeca tube as base for antenna must; - Aber wire meshes on rear grilles; - Squared location points for protection wire meshes. Since November 1944 driver’s and radio operator’s hatches had two repositioned locks. All the details were covered with stucco making the repositioned locks from 0,5mm Minimeca tubes. The handles with the same location as the previous hatches were made with Evergreen rods. I use the welding way to add the seams in which front and rear hull plates meet side plates. Welding seam around bow machine gun mount was a little unrealistic. I prepared a plastic card disk to which I gave an heavy texture with motor tool; then it was glued in place in an enlarged hull location. After that the bow machine gun mount was glued with a liberal amount of liquid glue. Bosch light was fine but its mount was too heavy so I changed it with a thin piece of plastic card. Then I added the electric line with copper wire Both Porsche and Henshel Koenigstiger reveal two (one on each side) curved notches reflected on the sponson as rounded grooves. These grooves, which allow the access to the rear plugs, were easily visible on late Koenigstiger as they were not covered with zimmerit paste and often lacked side skirts. This detail is well visible at page 97 in “Schwere Panzer in detail by B. Culver and U. Feist from Ryton Publications. I made the rounded grooves ciano-glueing two metal strips in two parallel lines each other. With a rounded dental burr I went up and down between the two metal lines until desired effect. The little imperfections were covered with Squadron putty and sanded. The details were completed adding two plastic disks. Anyway I must confess that on late KT sported squared and not roundled grooves but I found this detail too late so I decided to stay away from any other modification. Front armour plate ended onto vertical plates leaving visible the welding seam on both sides. Same thing on rear armour plate with vertical plates. I formed a rectangle with four plastic strips and glued in place. Then I reproduced the welding seams with Dremel motor tool, as usual softening the whole surface with steel wool. Koenigstiger was an huge and massive tank but without side skirts and front/rear fenders it looks more terrific and “bad”. So I preferred to remove all moulded attachment points on both sides of the hull using those included in the ModelKasten working tracks set SK-6. Removing front and rear fenders needs to add the remaining attachment points which look like an inverted C-shape (three on each mudguard) line. At first I reproduced these details using copper wire; it was fine but not enough as they looked to me a little out of scale so I repeated the experiment with plastic lines from sprue and they looked better. I completed the hull with the rough texture with Dremel and all welding seams. At the end I added: - on vehicle equipments from Aber set n° 35040; - chain hook for Mg cover just in front of radio operator’s hatch; - three lifting hooks for transmission plate from Aber; - two clamps on transmission plate from Aber. Third step: the tracks I used Friul tracks n° ATL-37. The set contains two 18 teeth drive sprockets but I must admit I preferred previous linkage way even if it was more weak than the new one. In fact the worst problem of new linkage is that the track pin insertion hole stands on the outside of the track run, instead of standing inside, and these holes are all visible. The only way to solve this problem is to cover each pin with a plastic pin end from Punch and Die set. A very tedious job as Koenigstiger need 86 tracks links on right side and 88 on left side but it worth the time as when finished it gives a very realistic sag. Fourth step: Painting and weathering At first I covered the whole model with a light over spray from white Tamiya primer. This helps me to uniform the different materials used in this project and to find errors and imperfections. At first I pre-shaded the model with Tamiya Black XF1 in order to evidence the details. Late Koenigstiger base coat is not a simple choice. Were in effect two different options: red oxide primer and Dunkelgruen paint (RAL 6003) base. On September 1944 a first order from OKH stated that the armour components had to be coated by the suppliers with red oxide primer onto which Henshel (for hull) and Wegmann (for turret) completed the camo scheme with Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) and Olivgruen (RAL 6003). A later order from OKH on November 1944 stated that the armour components had to be delivered with a Olivgruen (RAL 6003) paint base leaving assembly firms to complete the camo scheme with Rotbraun (RAL 8017) or Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) sprayed paints in sharp edges. This second order started with 1 march 1945 but OKH itself stated that, due to raw material shortages, old paint stocks can be used up to may 1945. So it could be possible that Koenigstiger from march 1945 production runs were covered with red oxide primer or with a Dunkelgruen paint base. We had to add that all major components (hull, turret, gun and wheels) came from different firms, which had the order to paint the component before it’s delivery to Henschel and Wegmann. So it could be possible that i.e. a Dunkelgruen Koenigstiger had a different shade between the turret and the hull or that another Koenigstiger had the camo scheme on turret or hull only or vice versa. With this guesswork in mind I sprayed first the hull with a Dunkelgruen base coat using Humbrol no. 105 in a cloud pattern. Then I added some Humbrol White to base coat and sprayed the turret. This gave a subtle, different shape. Concerning the camo stripes I had in mind the so-called octopus pattern. It consisted in Dunkelgeld sharp-hedged waves painted with brush on (in my guesswork) vertical surfaces with randoming Rotbraun hand painted circles inside. As always I reproduced the general 1/35 line and size of Koenigstiger on a transparent plastic card; next I reproduced with Tamiya yellow tape the camo scheme using the general 1/35 line as template; carefully I removed the tape and put on the model with some little adjustments (in effect are many differences passing from a two to a three dimensional surfaces). I find that Humbrol no. 105 is perfect to simulate Olivegruen (RAL 6003) but the choice for the right yellow stripes was another story. I tried Tamiya XF59 Desert yellow, XF60 Dark yellow, XF57 Buff, Humbrol Sand no. 93. No one satisfied me. At the end I tried Humbrol no. 81 At first looking at the bottle I said “Terrible!” but when sprayed I was perfect. So I sprayed the camo colour paying attention to cover the green base zones. The brown circles were hand painted with Tamiya XF64 red brown . At the end I gave the whole model an overall coat with Tamiya Buff XF57 to reduce camo contrast and add a first weathering effect. In weathering process, to simulate rust, dust and oil stains, I used for the first time the excellent powders from MMP in particular Rust red no. 009 and Pure black no. 017. To prevent Panzer-Grenadieren from heating I bended a three-tone Panther side skirt and positioned to cover exhausts pipes As actual pictures told, I left the model without markings and Balkenkreuz. So this time no Archer Dry Transfer decals! Fifth step: diorama setting I’m not a diorama lover. First as I’m not able to create realist settings! Second as I prefer to concentrate the attention to minute details which could be lost in a dio setting. This time I change idea even if I did not want to make a dio but a simple and realistic setting. I prepare a cloud base with a paste called Das (very similar to Cell clay). It was later covered with a white glue solution where at random I put some grass and sand. The whole was sprayed with Tamiya Sand Yellow to tone down a too bright green grass. Then I added my Koenigstiger and the figure when the ground was still wet. The lone soldier comes from Wolf range with Hornet head. It helps me to show the dimensional contrast between the man and the huge mass of the machine and to underline the sense of desolation and pity. It was painted using Humbrol enamels for skirts and oils for face. The red crosses on helmet and arm band are from Verlinden range. The Red Cross soldier does not stop himself. He looks at with no apparent emotions and pass away. Who is “The last of the lost”? The soldier or the tank? Items - Tamiya Koenigstiger kit n° 35164 - FriulModel working tracks, kit n° ATL-37 - Minimeca assorted tubing - Aber photo etched set n° 35040 - Artisan Mori set n° MGP02 - Tamiya acrilics XF1, XF2, XF57, XF59, XF61, XF62, XF64 - MMP pre-mixed weathering powders - Olympus Digital Camera C-2500L References - Germany’s Tiger tanks, VK45.02 to Tiger II, Design, Production & Modifications by T.L. Jentz and H. L. Doyle, Schiffer Military History (*) - Germany’s Tiger tanks, Tiger I & II: Combat tactics by T.L. Jentz, Schiffer Military History - Schwere Panzer in detail by B. Culver and U. Feist from Ryton Publications - Tiger in Combat I by W. Schneider, J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing - The Combat history of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 507, edited by H. Schneider, J.J.Fedorowicz Publishing - Achtung Panzer no. 6, Dai Nippon Gaiga (*) - King Tiger Heavy Tank 1942 – 1945, by T.L. Jentz and H. L. Doyle, New Vanguard 1, Osprey Pubs - Tiger Model Fibel no. 468, Model Art - Sd.Kfz. 182 Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. B “Koenigstiger”, volume 1 by W. Trojca - Sd.Kfz. 182 Pz. Kpfw. VI Tiger Ausf. B “Koenigstiger”, volume 2 by W. Trojca - Bulge King Tiger by Mario Eens in Military Modelling Vol. 32 No 4 2002 (*) (*) highly recommended Brescia, may 2019 Filippo Chessa [-1] 3./510 received on 29 march 1945 six Tiger II from Henschel factory in Wilhelmstal/Kassel

Hi all, Been working on Revell's new Spitfire over on Large Scale Planes and it's suddenly dawned on me it might be of interest over here. OK - before I wade in - I won't pretend this is in any way definitive - it will include some mods I'll make following reference to photos/drawings/published dimensions/other kits - but my aim is to make a nice looking Spitfire - something I think easily achievable with this kit. What's more - it cost me the princely sum of £18 and I'd hate to waste it! For anyone that followed my He219 build I'd like to keep this thread on a similar - and positive - note throughout. Please chip in if you spot anything - and feel free to throw in discussion points. So - before I start... Kit fuselage: Top Hasegawa, middle new Revell, bottom Tamiya: Kit with Hasegawa Vb/Revell Hasegawa IIa fuselage (note difference in length from firewall (almost line-up perfectly - to front of cowl - don't ask which is right just yet): Hasegawa Vb/Revell Hasegawa IIa and Tamiya fuselage: Tamiya and Revell IIa fuselage: Comparison has already been made between the Tamiya kit and the new Revell one in Jen's excellent post on LSP, along with Derek Bradshaw's ongoing appraisal - nothing further to add. Interesting to note that the nose is quite a lot longer than the Hasegawa Vb - more investigation needed - but otherwise it matches quite closely in profile - if not cross section. Right oh - now to start... One of the first things I spotted were the fuselage sides - around the cockpit - appear to bulge out a little when viewed from above (or finger run along the sides) - and will need sanding back. Area is marked in red on photos - but actually are that needs modding extends further towards the firewall too. Likewise there is additional material on the wing roots that could do with removing - again as marked below. Not sure if I'll need to pack the area behind to prevent sanding all the way through - we'll see: And this is the relevant area inside the fuselage - not spotted before - but not conducive to getting the outer shapes right: Port side wing root in progress... Using the power tool and round grinding bit to remove most of the excess plastic: Before wading in with 280/400/600/1200 grit wet and dry wrapped around a pen: Looking better - still a little more to go methinks - but looks like there's enough 'meat' there to avoid any backfilling (modified left - kit right): Total time so far - about 20 mins. Back soon... Iain