Tiger 1 Build Update 2

 Since the original post I have managed to build up the Tiger to the point it will receive it's base coat. The Photo Etched has been a huge learning curve that has tested me quite a lot.

The interior of the hatches have all had a big upgrade with multiple parts with up to six bends to a single piece. Front mud guards were less tricky but still full of challengers.

Less bends on the righthand turret hatch but the small catch is actually three parts! The crew will be all over the hatch areas so I felt I should add the detail and now wait to find out how much is hidden by the figures!

View of the rear of the turret, a lot of the PE requires the original details to be filed off the model to be replaced with the brass parts. I have in plenty of cases felt the added detail was not worth the extra work. Here it seemed well worth it, about 40 minutes a clasp I was not so sure.

Each clasp set has four parts, the base plate that requires two bends on a area about half a mm if that, these then allow the hasp to be fitted into the two bent arms. Then the lock has it's upper wire bent to go through hole in the clasp. Finally a upper piece fastens to the tank box and threads through the back of the clasp!

Adding the side skirts last night and today took up a chunk of my modelling time and I had a fair bit of fun bending the skirts after looking at lots of photo's of Tigers. Seems the skirts were easy to damage in Normandy due to the narrow lanes in the Bocage. This will hopefully come across on the diorama. 

Very shinny at the moment, hopefully the primer will deal with that tomorrow. The rear guards were the most challenging and I had to go back to do a few changes to get them right. 

One flaw with the kit is that you can't have the turret facing forwards if you have the hatches open as the lugs force the turret to be put on to the side and when traversed hits one of the forward hatches. Simple solution is cutting off the lugs, will be glued in place when fully painted so no problem for me.

Half the wheels awaiting priming in the base colour. I won't fit the wheels until I have added mud and other effects to the lower parts of the tank. This will allow me to work a lot of effects onto the wheels as well. Tracks will not be even looked at for awhile yet.

Still need to add the exhausts and housing but these will be done post painting the body of the tank as using the airbrush. The AA MG will also be fitted once the tank is painted and tracks added, too delicate to risk getting knocked about.

I have two tournament first prizes to start in the next three to five weeks so not sure how far I can get with this. I should get the tank done for the most part as I am off for a little over a week and we don't have many trips out planned.

Boche Fini Part 1

 Current project before going back to painting my next bust is a WWII 1/35 scale diorama depicting three German prisoners being escorted through a small French town towards a Bren Carrier. This is the first 1/35 scale vehicle I have ever built and painted so I wanted something fairly simple.

Tamiya have a reputation for producing a good balance between detail and assembly. Indeed I have noticed "they build themselves" more than a few times when reviewing others work. I have to admit it went together rather easily and the detail was good enough for me.

The kit comes with a fair amount of items to fill the carrier and many of these find their way into the model. The towing cable was a piece of string I painted grey black then used a piece of sponge to rub a mix of silver and oily steel onto the more raised parts. Quite chuffed with the finish. The decals that came with the kit gave me a fair choice and I went with the 3rd Infantry Brigade as that fits my choice of time and place.

I used a mix of pigments to create the dirt around the tracks and lower hull and splats over the whole hull. Mixing the pigments either with odourless oil paint thinner or for the thicker patches mat pigment 

binder. I wanted a dry look for the season though use of different binders can give a semi wet or wet finish.

I also used thinned oil paints to show dirt streaks gathering around and running off rivets and edged panels etc. I also added bare metal to areas than would see extra wear. I was restrained in this mostly but did a heavier effect on the interior as can be seen in the next image.

Whilst the kit comes with plenty of boxes and cans I wanted something different and found some resin additions that really fitted the on campaign look I wanted. The box of vegetables fits with the twin account details of French civilians showering troops with fruit and flowers and the trade that went off for fresh food against army chocolate and cigarettes. The rolled tarpaulin etc also are not quite drill book items.

The backpack and helmet was also part of the set I just added a strap from a bit of a pop can. Easier than I expected. The wine bottle is a Meng product, just a transparent plastic I simply added a cork/wax 

top and label.

As you can see it makes a fairly effective bottle of wine. I have three in the carrier, one as an empty. I found painting the carrier with an airbrush really helped generate different tones as I layered the different shades onto the model.

I also added a tin strap to one of the helmets that is in the carrier. The crew are all wearing berets so I needed to add the helmets. Two came in the resin set attached to packs whilst this one came from a weapons pack I bought for such use.

Crew all finished and their relaxed pose is just perfect for the scene I am trying to create. All told I think I took a little less than 30 hours from start to finish. 

I have also painted up a dead German and off camera is a French civilian, one of two the diorama will eventually have. I am now part way through painting up the two British escorts and assembled the three German prisoners and French girl. I would say I am about two thirds of the way through the project though I am not really sure the amount of time the base will require.