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Tiger I of the s.Pz.Abt.501 - Dragon - 1/35


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Finally finished this one. Enjoyed this build a lot, but it took sooo long to finish it. I think that this was my longest build ever, not sure why, maybe I'm just getting slower 

You can find the WIP thread here.

 

Anyway, the model should represent Tiger No. 112 of s.Pz.Abt.501 in North Africa. The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion was formed in mid-1942 and spent a few months training in Germany. This tank was one of the first two Tigers delivered to s.Pz.Abt.501. Battalion, including Tiger 112 arrived in Africa in Bizerte on November 1942. Its first combat engagement was the Battle of Tebourba. At this time, the 501 Battalion still had only four Tigers in Africa, of which only three were in working condition. They fought American tanks on 1st December, in the olive groves east of Tebourba.

 

During the next few months, between December 1942 and March 1943, Tiger 112 participated in several engagements, of which Operation Fruhlingswind and the battle of Sidi bou Zid were the biggest success when heavy losses were inflicted on American armor.

 

At the end of February 1943, the 501st was attached to the 7th Panzer Regiment and sent to capture Beja. The mission was a disaster, with seven Tigers lost in the battle of Hunt's Gap. The eleven remaining tanks, including Tiger 112 which survived the battle, were attached to the newly arrived 504th Heavy Tank Battalion and continued fighting until the surrender of Tunisia. After being transferred to 504th, Tiger 112 was renumbered 724.

The damaged tank was abandoned and left by the main road, somewhere in north-eastern Tunis. There are few photos of the soldiers posing by the abandoned tank in the spring of 1943.

 

This model should represent this tank while it was still Tiger 112, in its condition sometime around January 1943, before Operation Fruhlingswind.

 

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The kit itself, "Tiger 1 Tunisian Initial" from Dragon, No. 6608 is a great kit. The only bigger drawback being the DS tracks. I replaced them with the absolutely fantastic T-Rex 3D printed tracks. I also used two E.T. model PE sets, one for sideskirts and the other for details.

 

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These tanks were probably painted in Tropen 1, so combination of 2/3 RAL 8000 and 1/3 RAL 7008. Model was painted with a combination od Gunze and MRP paints, and some Mr. Metal Color and Vallejo for detail painting. It is very hard to notice the disruptive color due to the low contrast. Especially when covered with some dust. On bw photos, almost impossible I would say.

 

Side of the tank had some repaired battle damage that was brush painted after repairs probably with RAL 8020.

 

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Model was weathered with some pigments and MIG's nature effects. And here are some details shots.

 

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This tank was photographed a lot, so abundance of reference material. Here's a compilation of few shots:

 

ref

 

And of course, tiger1.info was and amazing source of reference material. My longest build would be twice longer without it :)

 

Thanks for watching and thanks for feedback.

 

Cheers,

Nenad

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Another winner from Nenad! Absolutely stunning finish. You know that I like your thorough research, but also how you size your pictures so that they don't need ages to appear - everybody else hear the message!

 

Michael

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Nenad, that is a great looking build.  👍

 

  You say it was a long trek to completion, but I think you did a lot in less than three months?    I would still be at the construction phase in that time frame...

 

regards,

Jack

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It might have taken you a while but it was well worth it 👏👌

Outstanding work in all departments and the model looks stunning...I love the contrast between the very light pigments and the slightly darker paintwork especially on the turret roof.

Super photos of the model and I really like how you immerse yourself in researching the particular vehicle.

 

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On 11/21/2022 at 11:08 AM, echen said:

Awesome build!

 

Thank you Echen.

 

On 11/21/2022 at 11:20 AM, Bertie McBoatface said:

Yes, Very good indeed.

 

Thank you Bertie.

 

On 11/22/2022 at 12:24 AM, stevehnz said:

A really good result on that. Well done. 👍

Steve.

 

Thank you Steve.

 

23 hours ago, Phil1960 said:

Superlative Tiger! The weathering process is absolutely realistic. I'll take your work as reference for my 2^kompanie s.Pz.Abt.504 in Sicily.

Ciao

Filippo

 

Thank you Filippo. Looking forward to seeing your build.

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On 11/23/2022 at 9:26 AM, Gordon J said:

It probably took longer simply because there is so much more tank to paint and weather. A Tiger is not an M13 Fiat Ansaldo.

 

Thank you Gordon. Yeah, you are probably right. But also, too many PE parts as well. I'm very slow working with PE.

 

On 11/23/2022 at 12:12 PM, Kelscale said:

Absolutely stunning build Nenad. Your paintwork and weathering is beautifully finished. Subtle but so effective.  Very inspirational. Love it👌

 

Thank you for your kind words.

 

On 11/24/2022 at 7:36 AM, Ozzy said:

Very nice.

 

Thank you Ozzy.

 

8 hours ago, Autle said:

Lovely piece of work again Nenad, if I hadn't seen the original photos I'd say it wasn't right but you've really made it look like the real thing. Photography is excellent as well.

 

Thank you Autle.

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