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Airfix's old 1/76 Tiger 1 upgraded a bit and in a desert vignette


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This was a really fun build. Initially I was a little dismayed when I opened the box for this kit - it is old and shows it's age - but, as it turned out, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable little upgrade project. I added some left over bits and pieces from Dragon and Revell projects, plus some styrene. There's also a couple of bits of a Red Bull can!

The WIP can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971585-airfix-176-tiger-i-yeah-that-old-one-upgradeda-bit-update-050515-a-bit-of-a-baseboard/

The trees are from Woodland Scenics and the soldiers are Airfix's 1/72 Afrika Korps all on an MDF base covered with a product from TreeMendous - not sure what this stuff actually is though! The tufts are left over from previous projects.

As with all my kits everything is brush painted using Humbrol and Revell acrylics.

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Comments and suggestions welcome.

Also I made the base to measure 6 inches by 6 inches just to see how much space there is on the size of base that can be used in the possible Vignette Group Build - if it gets voted through the vote at the end of the year. If you think you'd like to take part in this GB and haven't signed up yet the thread can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975282-vignette-group-build/"]http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975282-vignette-group-build/

I was surprised how much space I had on this base with only a small 1/76 tank on it.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
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That,s an outstanding piece of modelling Stix,not least the great job you,ve done with Airfix,s ancient Tiger but I love those figures too! :thumbsup:

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Excellent job.

That,s an outstanding piece of modelling Stix,not least the great job you,ve done with Airfix,s ancient Tiger but I love those figures too! :thumbsup:

Hi FrancieT and Steve. Thank you very much for the very kind comments.

I meant to include the photos of the tank and the 10 pence piece so they can go here:

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The two above were taken before the tank was complete.

And I thought I ought to include a few of the tank on it's own:

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At some point, when I get chance, I will do black and white versions of some of the first set and perhaps have a play with a couple of them in Photoshop.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
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I know nothing about tanks, Stix, but this to me this is excellent! :wow: Not to mention those tiny little figures: you did a heck of a job with them, too!

Ciao

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I know nothing about tanks, Stix, but this to me this is excellent! :wow: Not to mention those tiny little figures: you did a heck of a job with them, too!

Ciao

Thank you giemme for your kind comments. I knew nothing about tanks until the D-Day GB but I find them great fun. With your skills with aircraft and figures you'd be great at tanks! Might be worth trying one some time.

Kind regards,

Stix

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It's so small! You must have eyes like a hawk and nerves of steel to do such fine work at that scale. I applaud you sir.

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hi Stix Your Tiger and troops looking just great. I really like your way of completing your models. Everything is just right for me

Well done.

The only thing I do not like is the palm trees they look so plasic. I think your little diorama would look better without them.

That is just my opinion and as long as you are happy with your project so do I :)

cheers

Pawel

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It's so small! You must have eyes like a hawk and nerves of steel to do such fine work at that scale. I applaud you sir.

Hi Grayson. Thank you very much for your kind comments. Yes this little tank was very small to work on but, when I'my working on these smaller tanks, I don't seem to notice the size as much as I'd think I would - if you see what I mean. Sometimes, even on the bigger scale stuff, the parts can be small to work with, especially photo-etch. I do like these small scale AVFs - especially some of the Dragon kits with their fine detail.

Thank you again,

Kind regards,

Stix

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hi Stix Your Tiger and troops looking just great. I really like your way of completing your models. Everything is just right for me

Well done.

The only thing I do not like is the palm trees they look so plasic. I think your little diorama would look better without them.

That is just my opinion and as long as you are happy with your project so do I :)

cheers

Pawel

Hi Pawel. Thank you for your kind comments. With regards the palm trees......... I couldn't agree more! They looked better in the shop and before I got them out of the packaging. Once I started to look at them more closely they are fairly badly done. The leaves are painted much more brightly than they appear in the photos - I repainted and dry-brushed them but they've ended up a little flat. The trunks are awful and have a big seam running down them but, for this little project, I didn't want to spend too much time on the trees so I gave them a blast of matt varnish to lessen the overall plasticky appearance. To be fair they don't look as poor in real life as the do in the close-up photos. And they were relatively expensive so I'm reluctant to chuck them away!! At some point, if I find something better, I may replace them.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
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Good afternoon.

I've been playing around in Photoshop with one of the photos - colour version:

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B&W version:

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Grainy B&W version:

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When I get chance I will do some more.

Kind regards,

Stix

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A great little diorama. Very well done. Joe

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brilliant job! The figures set it off nicely. How did you get (for the figures) a) the flash off them, and B) the paint to stay on??? Love it :yahoo:

Thank you Greg - you're too kind. It took me several careful hours with a craft knife just to get the flash off these four figures - there is loads of it. And the plastic is kind of rubbery so it's difficult to sand as we!! The craft knife had to do most of the work. The rubbery nature of the plastic also makes it getting the paint to stick - in a couple of places it came away on my fingers as I was handling them to paint other areas. Don't think I'll be using many more figures from that set!

Armour is not normally my thing but I remember doing one of these many years go.

Looked nothing like that though.

:wow::yikes:

Thank you Stosh for your kind comments. I have to say armour wasn't at all my thing until I built a couple of 1/72 Dragon kits and I've got kind of hooked! I've recently ended up making five tanks for the Achtung Panzer GB.

My vote goes to grainy B&W :speak_cool:

Ciao

Thank you giemme!

A great little diorama. Very well done. Joe

Thank you Joe for your kind comments.

Nice work Stix, the diorama turned out quite nice, but what has the lead man seen?

Great work mate.

:goodjob::goodjob::goodjob:

Simon.

Hi Simon. Thank you for your kind comments too. Not sure what he's seen - suitable suggestions accepted......... no prizes though!

Kind regards,

Stix

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Airfix figures (of the old variety) are difficult to paint. I have found that paint adheres (a little) better if you coat them in a thin layer of white glue. I was doing the RAF personel ones for a dio some time ago, and they painted up ok after letting the white glue coat dry, however getting the flash off was a real pain, and they still didn't turn out as well as yours!

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Airfix figures (of the old variety) are difficult to paint. I have found that paint adheres (a little) better if you coat them in a thin layer of white glue. I was doing the RAF personel ones for a dio some time ago, and they painted up ok after letting the white glue coat dry, however getting the flash off was a real pain, and they still didn't turn out as well as yours!

Yes I have to say I won't rush to buy any more of Airfix's older figures again. It is a shame because the detail isn't too bad but the flash, as I mentioned, took far too long to remove.

I printed a different desert back scene for my 1/35 Tamiya Panzer Kampfwagen II Ausf. G, that I've been making in the Achtung Panzer GB, and thought I'd try a few photos with this project too:

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It seems to work okay too and there's no Photoshopping involved............yet!

Kind regards,

Stix

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Better late to the party ....

Your dio for your Airfix Tiger looks very nice, the figures are very well painted, especially in this small scale.

Stunning !

:wow::thumbsup:

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  • 1 month later...

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