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Tiger I “131” in Tunisia* - 1/35 Dragon - update 23/07/18 - ##FINISHED##


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On 21/05/2018 at 18:49, Ozzy said:

Nice going Stix, I must admit I put off the road wheels as long as possible too. 

Thank you Ozzy - and if you check below you can see I have now got all the wheels painted and fixed in place!! :yahoo:

 

On 21/05/2018 at 19:10, modelling minion said:

Great brush work and weathering, as usual, Stix.

Good luck with the road wheels, they should keep you busy for a while!

Hi Craig and thank you. Yep they took for ever - or at least felt like it....but they are done.

 

On 22/05/2018 at 09:30, NotDaMama said:

That is absolutely amazing! I had no idea effects like this could be achieved with just brush painting. I'm going to have to pinch that method for future use!

Hi NotDaMama. Thank you very much. Yeah - I don't own an airbrush so have had to find ways to recreate a few of the effects using brushes.

 

On 22/05/2018 at 17:43, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

You should look up Stix’s youtube video. Its well worth the time to watch it. 

Most kind! :thumbsup:

 

On 23/05/2018 at 09:45, vppelt68 said:

Excellent painting again Stix! I h8 painting the rubber rims of a German tank with an interleaved suspension - those German engineers didn´t think of us future modellers at all when designing them back then 😜. V-P

Thank you very much V-P. Yeah those designers were often really not fair to us modellers!! :winkgrin: I have now got into a habit of painting in batches. Paint 4.......do something else.....paint 4......etc....

 

On 24/05/2018 at 22:55, stevej60 said:

Looking a good'un already Stix.

Thank you very much Steve - despite the wheels taking forever I am really enjoying my first 1/35 Tiger 1!

 

I have actually done quite a bit on this project over the past three days but not had chance to do an update on here - so to rectify that - first off I got the axles for the wheels attached:

41468104625_be4eaafe40_b.jpg

 

41468104255_66e6f4549d_b.jpg

You'll notice - as I usually do - I have painted these before attaching them. It gives me chance to weather the sides of the hull without them in the way.

 

Dragon's instructions would have the radiator cover unit attached to the underside of the upper deck - I decided it would be easier to just attach them to the fan/radiator assemblies:

41468103825_6254932282_b.jpg

My feeling was fitting them to the upper deck underside and then hoping it would line up exactly with the stuff below was a bit of an ask!

 

Final look at these units before they are hidden away forever:

42321924932_6ed77b3345_b.jpg

 

Front machine gun painted with thinned Revell's Anthracite and then dry-brushed with Humbrol's Gunmetal:

42321922842_4cce4cc402_b.jpg

 

And to prove the wheels have been painted - here are some of them with the drive sprokets and idlers:

41512803455_a983efd9fd_b.jpg

 

They have all been painted and weathered to make it easier when they are assemebled - as they are here:

40607262970_5f9849a638_b.jpg

 

28542062088_fbe7a11d98_b.jpg

 

28542061388_a7c7a7e04d_b.jpg

 

28542060788_678f59dfb6_b.jpg

 

Wow! there's a lot!:

28542086908_9b79e644bc_b.jpg

......and that's with the two missing from the front!!!

 

I also started the painting and weathering on the upper hull deck - it's only resting in place here as I still need to add some parts from the inside:

40607278230_2ccc4ea079_b.jpg

 

A couple of closer views:

40607277560_31c6073560_b.jpg

 

40607276920_e43fa8b905_b.jpg

 

And one from above:

42415440251_3021a4cf7e_b.jpg

 

Well it's been most enjoyable so far if a little dull when painting the wheels and tyres.

 

More next weekend.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
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Browsing through those pics above I kept remembering that Tamiya Tiger I from 1970, that I built in the mid 1980-s, and how much improved these kits are out of the box... but how much more demanding these are too! V-P

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I LOVE your technique and the results you have gotten so far!

 The one tone paint has a "depth" ?, "tone"?  I dunno how to describe it but I like it!

 

BTW may I ask how you achieved the wear on the drive sprocket teeth and idler wheels?  they are subtle and look fantastic!

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Nice job Stix,

 

ive got visions of you and Mrs Stix sat at the kitchen table in a far eastern sweat shop style, not being able to move until there all complete. Have you stuck the top down yet? As if I remember right, the front plate goes in first then the driver/gunner plate sits on top.

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Your work is really quite amazing and very inspirational. I am a beginner myself so don't currently have an airbrush and to be honest I didn't want to get one, partly for the expense but mainly since it would then relegate me to the shed and I would prefer not to be isolated like that.

 

I've just finished watching your video after watching "The Accountant" just prior. I do have to be honest, The Accountant was a lot more exciting but your video was far more informative and useful. In the beginning I kept thinking I'd skip a bit but then you'd say something really useful so I'd keep my finger from the mouse button. I'm glad I did. I suppose it's hard to make painting look interesting to someone else but your quips, tips and techniques pulled it off admirably.

 

I realise that you've had a lot of practice at this painting and it will take me a long time to come even close to your level of skill but by showing me what is possible you've given me the inspiration to stick with brushes and try to improve my own abilities.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share, you've made me feel a lot less nervous and even a little excited to crack on with the painting of my own model using your techniques.

 

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On 29/05/2018 at 10:50, vppelt68 said:

Browsing through those pics above I kept remembering that Tamiya Tiger I from 1970, that I built in the mid 1980-s, and how much improved these kits are out of the box... but how much more demanding these are too! V-P

Hi V-P. You are quite right - Dragon do usually provide a good version of the models in their boxes but they are a lot more complicated to put together than Tamiya kits. I am enjoying the build though - it is, however, taking a bit more thinking than some kits in places - like trying to decide an order to build in so I can still brush paint stuff easily - so, as you can see below, I have painted and started the weathering some of the parts for the rear hull before assemebling them.

 

On 29/05/2018 at 13:34, sithman said:

I LOVE your technique and the results you have gotten so far!

The one tone paint has a "depth" ?, "tone"?  I dunno how to describe it but I like it!

BTW may I ask how you achieved the wear on the drive sprocket teeth and idler wheels?  they are subtle and look fantastic!

Hi sithman and thank you very much for your very kind comments. I think I have been lucky with some of the results I am able to achieve with brushes - a matter of needs must as I don't have an airbrush. The use of washes followed by dry-brushing was learnt off various other modellers on here and across the web - and I've now got a sort of routine which, I feel, works for me.

With regards the drive sprocket teeth - I paint the entire part first in exactly the same way as all the parts:- a few thinned coats of the base coat applied by flat brushes. When dry - this is followed by and overall wash of Revell's Gunship Grey. Once dry I do a targetted wash of Revell's Anthracite which I apply in and around the detail using a very fine pointed brush. This creates sort of artificial shadows. I then dry-brush over everything using a lightened, but unthinned, version of the base coat. Once fully dry I then do weathering like the teeth. First I used quite thinned Humbrol Gunmetal - which I applied with a fine pointed brush around each tooth - going down about 3/4s of the way on each one. Once dry I then applied a thinned Anthracite wash around the base of the Gunmetal area so that some of the Anthracite went over the lower Gunmetal paint and some over the main paintwork. And that's it. It kind of creates a worn paintwork effect, followed by a slightly worn, starting to wear, effect and then the brighter, bare metal area at the ends. It's not perfect but it gives a reasonable impression. Reading that back looks a bit complicated so please just ask if anything needs clarification.

 

On 29/05/2018 at 13:49, mick said:

great work

Thank you Mick!

 

On 29/05/2018 at 19:35, Ozzy said:

Nice job Stix,

ive got visions of you and Mrs Stix sat at the kitchen table in a far eastern sweat shop style, not being able to move until there all complete. Have you stuck the top down yet? As if I remember right, the front plate goes in first then the driver/gunner plate sits on top.

Thank you very much Ozzy. Yes - Mrs P and I do work side by side but it's usually me that doesn't move until something is complete!!......to the point that I sometimes forget to drink my tea until it's gone wayyyyy too cold! Thank you for the tip about the front plate. It doesn't go in first but they do both have to be assembled at the same time - or so it seemed to me. I hadn't glued the top in place in the photos above, but your tip made me check very carefully and it's a good job I did - so thank you! :thumbsup:

 

On 30/05/2018 at 09:09, Hewy said:

Very convincingly weathered stix, very nice job

Thank you very much Glynn.

 

On 01/06/2018 at 12:01, Kahunaminor said:

I have just read it from the beginning. Stix, you are a master painter and modeller. Thanks so much for sharing.

regards,

Hi Kuhanaminor. You are wayyy too kind but thank you.

 

On 03/06/2018 at 04:57, KelT said:

Your work is really quite amazing and very inspirational. I am a beginner myself so don't currently have an airbrush and to be honest I didn't want to get one, partly for the expense but mainly since it would then relegate me to the shed and I would prefer not to be isolated like that.

I've just finished watching your video after watching "The Accountant" just prior. I do have to be honest, The Accountant was a lot more exciting but your video was far more informative and useful. In the beginning I kept thinking I'd skip a bit but then you'd say something really useful so I'd keep my finger from the mouse button. I'm glad I did. I suppose it's hard to make painting look interesting to someone else but your quips, tips and techniques pulled it off admirably.

I realise that you've had a lot of practice at this painting and it will take me a long time to come even close to your level of skill but by showing me what is possible you've given me the inspiration to stick with brushes and try to improve my own abilities.

Thank you for taking the time to share, you've made me feel a lot less nervous and even a little excited to crack on with the painting of my own model using your techniques.

Hi KeIT and thank you very much for your kind comments. I have the situation that I don't have a place to use an airbrush and, I must admit, I really (usually) enjoy the process of brush painting. I say 'usually' because I have had some paints which do not paint well - often when a manufacturer changes a formula - but I have learnt to test any new paints I get on some scrap first - to see how well they go on. I have also read about modellers sometimes having had real problems with airbrushes playing up and it ruining the work they had done so far. Plus there's all the cleaning of the airbrush...........brush painting, although it can take quite a long time, I find quite relaxing. It took me a while to feel confident about how I was painting so when I started getting back into kits I began on cheaper versions first - in case I messed up. Very early on I saw that Eduard did a 1/48 Spitfire kit, the likes of which I had never seen. It had photoetch and amazing detail and cost almost £30!!! I bought one but then then thought, having seen some beautiful versions made online, that I didn't want to spoil it and ruin a good kit, so ended making some 1/72 Spitfires first and then a Revell 1/48 Spitfire before attemting the Eduard one. And I think it paid off - I had learnt from some of the mistakes I made with the early ones and ended up with a nice Eduard Spitfire. I look forward to seeing some of your builds.

 

On 03/06/2018 at 08:10, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello @KelT Im happy you found Stix’s video and that it was helpful. 

Dennis

Thank you Dennis.

 

Over the last weekend I worked quite a lot on '131' and made some decent progress. In no particular order - I got the PE grills painted with thinned Humbrol Desert Yellow - applied by a small flat brush:

28669353048_e9f4a87ca1_b.jpg

 

Then, having got the upper hull deck and glacis glued in place, I attached the grills using small amounts of CA glue:

28669351828_f31df4e9a8_b.jpg

The photo above was taken after I had given the grills a very thinned wash of Revell's Gunship Grey and then a dry-brushing with a lightened version of Desert Yellow.

 

A couple of photos to show the deck and glacis in place. As with the hull deck, I assembled some parts on the glacis and did the base painting and weathering. I found it a little tricky to get these two fitted - it seemed to me that they both needed to be fitted at the same time which was a bit awkward - but they are on and glued in place:

42542906951_306f3e102c_b.jpg

 

42490863452_b645747a85_b.jpg

You can see in the photo above that the machine gun is fitted. The vision blocks are also fitted in the tops of the front two hatches but it's difficult to see them.

 

Another job over the weekend was getting the tracks painted - two coats of thinned Revell's Anthracite first - applied by flat brush:

40734534520_88f95a17fb_b.jpg

 

These were then dry-brushed with Humbrol's Gunmetal:

40734534140_dbc41d9cf3_b.jpg

 

Over these I first applied a very thinned wash of Humbrol's Desert Yellow followed by some small amounts of Railmatch's Light Rust. I don't do this to make the tracks look rusty but rather give effects of build up of dirt. Finally the upper ridges were dry-brushed with Gunmetal again:

28669321628_6504e2dfb4_b.jpg

 

Then - following some test fitting - I got them fixed in place using CA glue:

28669401048_0903dc77d6_b.jpg

 

28669400628_b8dc7b5eb2_b.jpg

 

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28669398048_63072b3fce_b.jpg

For 'band' tracks I don't think they look too bad. Once they have had some more weathering and some dirt added they should look okay.

 

With the tracks in place I could then attach the side skirts:

27672320067_f6c67d07eb_b.jpg

 

41820087744_4ea065002d_b.jpg

I have used a knife to score beteen each panel - just to give more definition between each. These were again painted and weathered slightly before fitting.

 

Next I decided to test some camo patterns on the parts for the rear of the hull. As you can see I have tried to replicate some of the damage seen in photos of '131' at the time. My thinking is that some of this may have happened before the damage that happened on the day of it's capture. As I'm making it as it may have looked before that day - and most of the damage to 131 on that day - seemed to come from a frontal attack, I'm claiming artistic license that the damage at the rear happened beforehand. The camo was applied after the main painting by stippling on thinned Humbrol US Dark Green and then dry-brushing over it using a lightened version of Desert Yellow:

42490917302_0d3d454009_b.jpg

 

Next I added the first two decals:

42490916612_3d2056d451_b.jpg

 

As there are a lot of parts to go on the rear of the hull I decided to add some more of the weathering before fixing anything in place:

27672316847_47ca1712b2_b.jpg

 

And this is where I stopped yesterday evening:

28680999498_6ec0c5c4a1_b.jpg

 

All in all I am quite please with my progress.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by PlaStix
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2 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Coming along a treat Stix,keep it up!

Thanks Steve. Yes it has been fun so far. I am hoping to get all the camo on the rest of the hull next weekend so I can add more stuff!

Kind regards,

Stix 

 

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Hi Stix,

Hope you and yours are well. Me and mine are doing okay!

 

Great job on the rubber bands. I thought I'd missed a step and you'd upgraded to single-link tracks at some point. Lovely paint finishes as always. And a superb job on the blurred dark green camo pattern - something most brush painters would steer away from, going for hard edges instead, I reckon!

 

Glad to see you're able to upload images. I'm having a mare! 6hrs trying to upload just one image to IMGUR! I've ended up installing/uninstalling various browsers, restoring my laptop to factory settings, hitting router with hammer, freezing it and placing it in an oven.... all to no avail.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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Nice job Stix,

 

Those tracks scrub up well, I shall be tempted to use the kit tracks on my tiger build. The camouflage scheme looks very nice, she's coming along nicely.

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18 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Stix,

Hope you and yours are well. Me and mine are doing okay!

Great job on the rubber bands. I thought I'd missed a step and you'd upgraded to single-link tracks at some point. Lovely paint finishes as always. And a superb job on the blurred dark green camo pattern - something most brush painters would steer away from, going for hard edges instead, I reckon!

Glad to see you're able to upload images. I'm having a mare! 6hrs trying to upload just one image to IMGUR! I've ended up installing/uninstalling various browsers, restoring my laptop to factory settings, hitting router with hammer, freezing it and placing it in an oven.... all to no avail.

Rearguards,

Badder

Hi Badder,

Yes me and Mrs P are fine, thank you, and I'm pleased you and yours are well too.

Yes the tracks didn't come out too badly for Dragon's DS band tracks. I think the careful gluing I did helped make look more like they should. I think the weakness is they don't have the flat sectional appearance around the sprocket and idler. I think they'll look better when there's some dirt and grasses in amongst them. Thank you for your comments about the camo paint. It seems to be going on quite well at the moment - so I just hope I can keep it going all over the hull at the weekend!!

I'm sorry you are having problems with photos. I use Flickr which is (usually) fairly stable although it does sometimes have it's moments! It is fairly straight forward to use for the most part. Good luck getting sorted!!

 

18 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice job Stix,

Those tracks scrub up well, I shall be tempted to use the kit tracks on my tiger build. The camouflage scheme looks very nice, she's coming along nicely.

Hi Ozzy. Thank you for your comments. The tracks - as I mentioned to Badder above - are actually pretty nice and do seem to work quite well. When you build your Tiger it'll be at least worth giving them a test.

 

13 hours ago, Kahunaminor said:

Great progress matey, 

Your deft touch with a brush is better than a lot of airbrush finishes I have seen. The weathering on the exhausts and rear damage are top notch.

Regards,

Hi Kahunaminor and thank you for your always too kind comments.

 

I'm hoping that I might get chance to do a bit of work on this in the evenings this week........we'll see.....

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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I managed to find a bit of time this evening so I have started the weathering on the exhaust covers. I used Revell’s Anthracite first - very thinned and applied by stippling brush, followed by some thinned Railmatch Light Rust, again applied with a stippling brush. Finally I added some streaks using Citadel's Nuln Oil and a fine pointed paintbrush:

41694409475_f32eae8efb_b.jpg

 

There’s a little more dirt I need to add but I will then start adding some of the other parts that need attaching to the rear of the hull.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

 Stix 

 

 

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I have a suggestion!

 

 

DON'T waste your money on an airbrush!  EVER!

 

I am drawing MUCH inspiration from this build especially given the fact that you achieve a finish better than using an airbrush!

 

KUDOS Sir!!!

 

 

How long did it take you to master this technique?

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On 05/06/2018 at 20:38, sithman said:

I have a suggestion!

DON'T waste your money on an airbrush!  EVER!

I am drawing MUCH inspiration from this build especially given the fact that you achieve a finish better than using an airbrush!

KUDOS Sir!!!

How long did it take you to master this technique?

:rofl2: Thank you very much sithman - you are too kind. I must admit, at the moment, I don't see my self getting an airbrush. I really enjoy the processes I have learnt plus I do not actually have anywhere suitable to use one. Also - I know most people obviously use them without any bother but I couldn't be bothered with all the preparation and cleaning afterwards - or sorting things out if they go wrong. With a paintbrush it's usually easy to stop quickly if things are not going right and it's easy to remove the paint.

With regards how long - I don't think I have mastered it quite yet! Sometimes it goes better than others and can depend on the paint and/or plastic I'm painting on as to how well it actually goes. With this build I think I was lucky. I had just started a new pot of the Desert Yellow and Dragon's plastic seems to take the paint very well.

 

On 06/06/2018 at 06:10, Ozzy said:

I can smell the exhaust fumes from here, nice work on the shrouds

Thank you Ozzy. I was quite happy with how they looked.

 

On 07/06/2018 at 10:42, delta7 said:

nice progress , I especially like your tracks effects, 🕵️‍♂️ 📸

Thank you delta7 - it's a fairly straightforward set of stages for getting the tracks like this and does seem to look okay. I do vary the washes depending on the terrain the tanks are supposed to be on - so substitute a Dark Earth colour for the Desert Yellow for mud, etc. They will be given some more dirst and possibly bits of dried grasess later on when I put it on it's base.

 

Well I'm looking forward to getting more done on this over the weekend.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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Progress today - 

Remaining parts added to the rear of the hull and some more weathering added:

42696666301_8b32005ac6_b.jpg

 

Then I stippled on some layers of thinned Humbrol 116 - US Dark Green - for the camouflage:

27827577697_855d931b5a_b.jpg

 

42647146952_db245fd896_b.jpg

 

42647146292_120764e79f_b.jpg

 

Then, once dry, I dry-brushed over the green with a lightened version of Humbrol's Desert Yellow. I've done this because, in photos of '131', the camo is so light it almost looks like there's no camo at all. I'm going to do mine so that it's pale but slightly more noticeable:

42647145502_3dc8cd07fc_b.jpg

 

42647144502_12771f876d_b.jpg

 

42647143942_e2a6ca47c0_b.jpg

 

42647143242_38fa6fd3e6_b.jpg

 

I also started to get some of the other parts, that still need to be attached, ready for painting:

28822467508_f446f5d177_b.jpg

 

Last job today was getting the decals on the sides of the hull:

42696738271_684ddece80_b.jpg

 

41978217484_b6829520e1_b.jpg

 

Tomorrow I may try and get the weathering started on the upper hull, fron tand sides.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

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The weathering on the rear is all looking superb Stix, Some nice pin washes and dry-brushing going on there. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest done.

One question.... how are you finding 1/35th armour compared to your more usual 1/48th in respect of weathering? Personally, I've never tried the smaller scales, but I imagine you have a lot more scope for more subtle and more detailed effects on the larger scale. In other words, I think your brush skills will shine even more!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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