King Tiger Erika

[Siggi]

What's the correct terminology..."I'm calling this finished." Before I bugger it up.

For those who are interested to do so, please say it like it is (or how you think it is), I'm not sensitive.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Siggi

[Pete 'o' probe]

For heavens sakes don't do anymore to it; its A1 how long did it take to build?

[Derbyeomanry]

Cracking build - really like the paintwork.

[Siggi]

For heavens sakes don't do anymore to it; its A1 how long did it take to build?

A1? Thanks Pete. I believe it suffers from my bang-for-buck calculation of the ratio between time/effort put in vs finished result. I do get some pleasure from the build but I'm mainly after a reasonable finished object that I and others can enjoy looking at, so I try to use techniques that are both good (vs excellent) and reasonably quick.

I started it on jan 23rd and have probably averaged two hours a day on it. A fair few of those were spent correcting screw-ups. So 18 days x 2 hours = 36 hours. Using what I've learned from this one (and many others before it) I think the next will go a lot quicker.

I'll probably do my Spitfire cockpit next though.

[gishuk]

that looks great, youve got the look of heavy rusted metal down toally

[Alan Kelley]

Love the rust- I would love to get back into doing armour, but when I see the quality of the finishes turned out by you guys

it makes me wonder if I could hope to get even close to that standard of finish.

Well done.

[FrancieT]

It certainly has that been there done that look about it. lovely paint job.

[Siggi]

Love the rust- I would love to get back into doing armour, but when I see the quality of the finishes turned out by you guys

it makes me wonder if I could hope to get even close to that standard of finish.

Well done.

You could. The same basic technique can be applied to everything bar the tracks, and they're no esoteric mystery either.

A base-coat of dark rust (I use Valjero Dark Rust).

A coat of Klear diluted 50/50 ish with water.

Stipple on a rubber mask with a sponge (I use Daler & Rowney Art Masking Fluid).

A coat of dark yellow (Valjero again) or whatever topcoat you like.

Camo pattern, if any.

Go at the rubber with a damp Q-Tip, that's a bit of a grind but go slowly.

Another coat of Klear.

A wash of Umber oil diluted with spirits/turps.

Then you can do whatever extras you like, powders, oils etc.

The tracks, do a base-coat of dark rust.

Klear.

Another coat of dark rust.

Another coat of Klear.

MiG European dust all over, getting it well into nooks and crannies.

Mix up a slurry of powders (MiG dark mud), umber oil and spirits and slosh it all over, working it in.

Let it dry...eee, magic!

That's my formula and a good simple one at that. It's a reasonable springboard for somebody who doesn't think they could do a tank. You may not hit 100% on your first go, but you'll be up in the 80s, and the one after will really hit the spot because you'll learn a shedload from the first. Give it a go and suprise yourself, being intimidated by what you imagine is a rare skill is just that, imagination. The biggest asset in this is patience, everything else is, by and large, mechanics.

[NickParker]

That really is superb , it's hard to get my head round the fact there's a plastic kit under their

[Dave Shaw]

Siggi,

Erika looks great but I gotta have a go about the glossy finish. I don’t know what you used to dull it down but it didn’t work as advertised. On the up side the amount of gloss that you have is good to show a nice "scale wet" look. I saw a lot of good things that you did that I may want to borrow to do on my next heap. Great job.

Dave Shaw

[Tedfellows]

Oh my that is just stunning, she just looks like shes made of steel!!

Absolutley fabulous build there!! Well done!!

Adam

[Siggi]

Siggi,

Erika looks great but I gotta have a go about the glossy finish. I don’t know what you used to dull it down but it didn’t work as advertised. On the up side the amount of gloss that you have is good to show a nice "scale wet" look. I saw a lot of good things that you did that I may want to borrow to do on my next heap. Great job.

Dave Shaw

I've been toing and frowing on that Dave, to leave it with a sheen or matt the hell out of it. All the Panzers I've seen in the flesh have had that sheen, though god knows what mickey-mouse paint the restorers use. But I've never seen any other military vehicle that was matt.

Having said all that, yours looks the business, and it's matt. So I'm going to go with that and matt mine too. Oh, and I've been slathering muck all over the hull deck. Gawd forgive me.

[Murdo]

Certainly looks like it's been through the war. Nice job.

[Siggi]

Thanks for the kind words chaps.

I've just done a test-swipe under the turret with an old bottle (square bottle) of Humbrol Matt Cote and re-discovered the old problem that has always plagued me with every brand of matt varnish I've ever tried, it dries slightly satin (still reflects light). I bought a pair of rattle-cans years ago that are truly matt, but they blast the stuff out like a hose. I suppose I could decant some of it but I'm not sure if it would still be matt after thinning it.

What do you use Dave?

[penfold]

Hey, it's your baby, but I would leave it as is; a rusty tank left out in the rain. Phenomenal finish.

[Dave Shaw]

What do you use Dave?

I use Future/Pledge/Klear Floor Wax mixed with Tamiya Flat Base. The advantage is I don’t have to gloss first if I don’t have any decals to apply.

The down side is working with Flat Base can be a little tricky. If you use too much it will fog, too little and it’ll still be glossy. I start with about a 60/40 mix and adjust it from there. You should always test your mix on a piece of scrap first before spraying it on your model.

Dave

[Mike]

That looks great Siggi... I'd agree with it needing a matt coat though as it's a battle worn vehicle that's chipped to hell. For a matt coat, you could try Vallejo matt varnish - I've recently converted to it and it's a lot more consistently matt than the Xtracrylix varnish I was using previously. I'd also add that the spare track links look a little "flat", and would benefit from a bit of tonal variation

[Skii]

Its a very realistic effect alright, you sure you have a shelf heavy enough for that chunk of iron !?

As said, I'd give it a teensie blast of matt varnish to tone down the shine a bit, but you've got a Tiger to be proud of there Sigmund

[Siggi]

Yeah, I've been comparing with Dave's Panther. My spare links are indeed rather flat and lifeless and the tank itself too shiny. Was. I went on a bit of one late last night/early morning with the powders and woke up...ooh, whatthe hell?! I have a bit of work ahead of me now to try and pull this back from the brink.

Clearly I'm a novice with these MiG powders. I've sussed how to use them for tracks but I'm still learning how they work on open panels. When I went to bed this was all wet and dark. I was hoping it'd dry this colour but I wasn't expecting such coverage and intensity. And it's not just a case of brushing it off because even dry this stuff leaves considerable amounts of colour behind. And if I try to tone it down with a wet brush it'll go to hell, no different to taking a brush loaded with paint and smearing it all over the place. I've already brushed the top of the turret with a very soft brush, using a spinning motion, and it's not too bad, but it does look like the crew indulged in a mud-wrestling party up there. Never mind, it's kind of fun; maybe because it's now a big challenge to come away with something that doesn't look like a kid's toy dropped in a muddy puddle.

[Siggi]

I've soft-brushed it all over and flooded with very dilute umber, letting it dry now with fingers crossed.

[pigsty]

please say it like it is

In that spirit, then ... it's brilliant weathering but it does, as others have said, look like it's been out in the rain for years. Given that no King Tiger could have been much more than a year old by the end of the war, it does seem a bit excessive. Although, coupled with the glossy finish, you could argue that it's been on a plinth outside a town hall somewhere for twenty years, being neglected ...

[Siggi]

It now looks like it's been up to it's deck in a bog for years. The only chipping left visible is on the inner-hull walls and the vertical faces of the turret. Anyway, I think I've saved it and actually made it look better (yes, it appears there is a god). Thanks to Dave Shaw for the inspiration and nudging.

Technically speaking I should get in at the inner-hull walls and match them to the rest of the grot, but I fear it's too late to attempt that as I reckon taking the tracks off again would not be a good idea (already did it once and they didn't like the handling. Neither did the hull). And the chipping in there is legit at least.

Re the Tiger-II only being a year old by the end of the war, I've read numerous accounts of Tiger-IIs being stranded behind enemy line as the Soviets flanked on both sides and the Tigers fighting their way back to German lines. During these day-long marches they were set upon by rifles, AT guns, tanks, aircraft, MGs and artillery. Every single deck component (and the poor buggers riding on them) was/were shot or blasted away and I doubt there was much left in the way of paint (Armored Battles of the Waffen-SS 1943-1945). Same deal in Berlin. A lot of them were, quite literally, scoured to the steel by thousands of small pieces of metal.

Any road up, more pics later.

[Skii]

Hey Sig

As far as a heavily weathered old tank goes, its amazing, really and truly one of the most realistic worn rust jobs I've ever seen, would a King Tiger look like that in the 12 months or so it saw service ? I agree with Sean - probably not, but what the hell - I'm happy to suspend belief for the visual treat

[Mike]

While it's a shame to lose all that painstakingly applied shipping, I'm glad you're managing to keep it alive... it's the first Critique thread that's turned back into a WIP

[T-Tango]

Great looking tank Siggi, superb finish to it, but as the others have said it does look as though it has been neglected for a few years.