Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 With apologies to Roger Waters. The Pink Floyd song is about Tiger tanks at Anzio not in Normandy... This will be the Tiger tank which Michael Wittman used in his famous rampage at Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. Much has been written about Wittman's exploits on that day and he seems to have gained a legendary status because of it. You can read an overview of the battle at Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Villers-Bocage I am strongly in the camp which says that although Wittman was a gifted leader, his tactical thought on the day was severely flawed. His attack was audacious, but he failed to have his abteilung provide support. With that support they could have punched through the British lines and opened up an opportunity for a counterattack which could have affected the whole Normandy campaign at a very critical point. In the event, every vehicle in Wittman's abteilung was lost on the day. Some to mechanical breakdown, others in combat because when they were finally deployed, the British had had time to regroup. Even the vehicle that Wittman used in his attack was disabled at he tried to withdraw and the crew had to abandon it. Wikipedia has a nice picture of Wittman's abteilung on exercise a few months before D-Day. Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-299-1804-07 / Scheck / CC-BY-SA Although Tiger 205 was Wittman's vehicle, it broke down shortly before he commenced his attack and so he had to use Tiger 222 instead. I will be using the Tamiya 1/48 kit for this model. It is definitely out of my comfort zone as I haven't built any armour kits in more than four decades! Incidentally, I'm not starting it now... I started it at the beginning of the GB. I just haven't posted a build thread until now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 This is the kit box And the aftermarket bits. Decals from Techmod. The kit bitself does not have any zimmeritt so Tamiya provide an aftermarket set. Blue Peter viewers will be familiar with the concept as it is basically sticky-backed plastic! This requires you to cut out the panels and stick them in place. I had my doubts about this, but the glue used works surprisingly well. There are panels for the turret with alternative patterns. I also got some PE sets by Hauler for the mudguards and exhaust shrouds. In the event I only used the front mudguard pieces. Here are the kit parts. Typical Tamiya. Lovely! The lower hull on this kit is moulded in plastic. Previous Tamiya kits in this scale have had a die-cast hull, providing a bit of weight. In this kit, the weight is provided by four metal rods. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Hold on tight, rider! First job is to fit the weights into the lower hull. This makes it reassuringly heavy. Primed with grey car primer and then sprayed dunkelgelb. I used the Lifecolor Easy 3 Contrast and Desaturation set. This provides three versions of the same colour. One is standard, another is slightly deeper while the third is slightly lighter. I sprayed the hull with the deeper shade and then weathered it using Flory washes (grime, mud and dark dirt) and Mig washes (cold grey and rust) The running gear was then sprayed with the deeper dunkelgelb shade. The tracks were then sprayed. They were primed with black car primer and then sprayed with a mix of Alclad2 Dark Aluminium and Exhaust Manifold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 That is some nice work done there. I also like the kit. Can't wait to see some more. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 That is some nice work done there. I also like the kit. It really is a lovely kit, as you'll see in a moment. I have to admit to having become a little bit obsessed with Tigers now. My mate Steve-At-Work keeps showing me pictures of them. In combat. Undergoing maintenance. You name it, Steve-At-Work has shown me pictures of them! The thing with Tigers is that there were so many tiny modifications and that sort of thing really appeals to me. So I now have a number of these kits in the stash and I am just about to start a second. So here is the upper hull assembly. This simply falls together! And the turret. Not being convinced that I could pull this off, I had to quickly put it all together. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 With the hull and turret built, no filling or adjustment was needed. What a wonderful kit - so easy to build. Now it's time to mess it all up! I'm very good at that. Foirst step was to apply the zimmeritt to the hull sides. I also removed the front mudguards and messed up the side ones. I first thinned the edges then held them over a candle until they started to soften so that I could deform them. I sliced through the panel lines and discarded one section completely And once again, put it all back together to reassure myself. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goggsy Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 The Tamiya Tiger is a great kit and you are certainly doing it justice. What is the purpose of the weight do you know? I built a mid production version a few years ago and it didn't have those, just some rather fiddly and pointless axles that it just ignored. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Great start Enzo, looking forwards to it. Will you be doing a base, perhaps a straight rendition from the photograph at the top would be good? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 The Tamiya Tiger is a great kit and you are certainly doing it justice. What is the purpose of the weight do you know? It just seems to give the model a bit more presence. I could understand it if the suspension worked, but it doesn't. Great start Enzo, looking forwards to it. Will you be doing a base, perhaps a straight rendition from the photograph at the top would be good? No base at the moment. This is my first serious armour model in forty years so I'm a little overwhelmed by being out of my comfort zone. However, I can't rule out a base sometime in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 A selection of photos of the various stages of painting. The camouflage should be a lot tighter so I think I need to invest in a better airbrush. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Looks very good so far, I like the way the hull is molded without the sponsons, " I wish they would do the same in 1:35" . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goggsy Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Does it have vinyl tracks? How did you get them to sit on the wheels so well? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Does it have vinyl tracks? How did you get them to sit on the wheels so well? No, the tracks are injection moulded link and length. I thought they would be difficult to build, but they're not. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Looks very good so far, I like the way the hull is molded without the sponsons The Early (Afrika Korps) and Mid Production versions of this kit have white metal lower hulls with the sponsons moulded in. I should shortly be finding out how they fit as I really want to build another Tiger! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 The self adhesive zimmeritt looks excellent, this is the first to9me I've seen a model with it on. I especially like what you have done with the track guards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Finished! The crew came from various Tamiya sets. The commander, Wittman himself, is the figure from the kit but with a different head. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim T Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Cracking work Enzo. Makes me want to build some armour! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Makes me want to build some armour! Do it! This is an ideal kit to start with. I've already started a second Tiger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Looks great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 (edited) Your finished artical looks really good, can't wait to see your metal hull tiger. I started my 1:35 tiger today, I have cut the sponsons off for better access to the tracks, I wish I had done this years ago with other kits Edited September 28, 2014 by Ozzy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Great job Enzo, well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Your finished artical looks really good, can't wait to see your metal hull tiger. I've just been spraying the wheels on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Can't wait to see it. I have embarked on a 1:35 project, I cut the sponsons off to allow easy fitting of the track, it seems to have worked out well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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