Tiger Maarsch!

Good morrow fair Tiger fans!

 I knew that I would not get away with it... The Tiger tick list of shame, that is... So here are another two. These are a lot further on than the other 'pasted' hull and turret 'dry fits', and are also the subject of a comparison web build log.
 First up the original '211' of the 2./s.SS.Pz.Abt.101. This Tiger was photographed on the 101st's approach to Morgny on the 7th June 1944, climbing up the winding hill on highway 316 leading to the town . I believe that this Tiger had the broader, heavier coating of Zimmerit on the Turret, and a one piece 40mm roof, meaning that in my view the '211' Doppelganger has no relation to the original '211' other than the re-painted tactical number. See what you think!

And here is my rendition of  Obersturmfuhrer Wessel's Tiger. I am awaiting a selection of paint systems for comparative assessment, but the painting stages should not be too far away.

 

The next Tiger has been the centre of a lot of study, and discussion over the last few years. Widely believed to be 213 of Hauptschafuhrer Hans Hoflinger, not see in the marching order of the 2./s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 on the 7th June 1944, during the road march to the Normandy alert area. But recently after following the discussions of researchers Yann Youallt, Mike Kenny, Hartmut von Holtd, to name but a few, I am more in the mind to depict it as '234' another Tiger not fully identified during the Normandy conflict. This Tiger is of great interest to me as it has a few components that mark it as being a February '44' build,meaning no armoured turret protection ring and unsculpted hull front side end plates, yet it has a 40mm roof? Maybe a turret swap at some point, or perhaps what ever components were around the assembly area at the Henschel Kassel Plant.

So there you go, two more Tigers for the ever growing list of shame... Though these two should be finished in around a month or two!

Thanks again for your interest... Cheers Phil.

Tigers in the Pipeline...

A few people have been asking me recently about the 'other' Tigers that have I have been working and pondering on over the last year. Well here is the list of shame (though I am planning to get them back onto the production line very soon)

First up a 'Hybrid' Tiger '411' formally of the Schwere Kompanie Hummel, disabled 10 kilometers from Bastonge in Oberwampach. The gun sleeve has been shed from the Manlet when a winging shot that hit the muzzle brake before striking the sleeves collar.

 And here is the unlucky Tiger awaiting further building and detailing. Just not sure if a Winter or a Spring basing is the way to go?

Next up another Tiger from the s.Pz.Kmp Hummel, the infamous 'Elsdorf Tiger'! This Tiger (that I believe to be a Late Befehlspanzer variant of the Tiger Ausf E) was abandoned in the Town of Elsdorf, after knocking out a Pershing, but became firmly stuck in the debris of a house ruin. 

Some interesting features stand out upon this particular Tiger. For one it has eyelashes and a brow... Well rain guards on the Mantlets MG and Gun Sight apertures, and a Panther style Debris Guard on the forward edge of the Turret roof. Perhaps added after the recent experiences of the Panzerwaffe fighting for their very existence with the Tiger, within the debris and rubble strewn confines of towns and cities.

 

And here is my attempt at re-creating the scene, I might even add the M26 yet on a split plinth! Tiger 1-0 Pershing... Though the score was 1-1 a few days later!

Another 'stalled' Tiger is this very Early-Mid of the 9./s.SS.Pz.Rgt.Totenkopf. An interesting feature of this Tiger is it's vertical Zimmerit On the Turret, I have also been told that this Tiger currently resides in the Kubinka Tank Museum. And from the images I kindly received sometime ago, I have discovered that the Glacis plate also was pasted in the vertical fashion... So a revisit with the Epoxy is needed in that region.

Another addition to this Tiger Befehlspanzer is the wooden placards hung onto the turret, due to the very changeable condition of the Russian Winter/Spring of '43-44'.

I will dig some more out later... Yes there are more!!!

Thank you for taking the time to call by... Cheers Phil.

Damage Limitation!

Good day to one and all!

 Back at the workbench, (albeit for a very limited time) I have finally bit the AP round, and took a dremel to this poor Tiger! Using a mixture of cone and ball ended dental burrs, the impacts were then treated to a few applications of Tamiya Extra-Thin Cement to soften the indentations and remove any residual swarf on the craters edge. On the impact on the mantlet, I heated the ball burr and pressed it further into the wound, in order to create a little lip where the deformed plate formed a kind of solid corona. If that makes sense?
 The impacts on the Glacis were 'drilled' completely through... The hit on the drivers armour vision port, was  finished with the cone burr, slightly penetrating  through the styrene, then closed up with some Tamiya Extra-Thin. The crack in the cast port pillar was simply scratched in with a scalpel and pin.
 Now for the penetration that has deformed the Kugelblende... This being drilled completely through, and then a piece of stryrene tube with a smaller brass tube within the core, trying to replicate what I believe to be the AP round that caused the bow mg ball mount and housing to deform so alarmingly. As stated in Panzerwrecks 8 Normandy, the bow mg/radio operator must have taken a serious blow when the Tiger was hit... If the Tiger was still crewed and operational at that point!

Also a few more additions to the missing/damaged stowage fixings and clamps have been added. Along with the start of the residual attachment points, where the Tigers mudguard/fenders would have been. I have decided to also model this vehicle with a destroyed exhaust muffler on the right hand side, in order to make a start, a 4mm hole was drilled through the aperture slot on the kits rear hull. Another thing I have been thinking about including upon this build is a variation on the cast armoured exhaust covers... More about this another time.

Some more Mr Surfacer has also been applied, in order to try and depict the sub layer of Zimmerit that has been exposed by the frontal impacts and the areas not totally destroyed by the fire. this once again being flowed onto the the surface (not as heavily applied this time), then after part drying the faint impression of the Zimmerit's pattern was applied with the Lion Roar Zimmerit Applicator.

Thanks for stopping by, back real soon... Cheers Phil.

Truly distressing!

Hello again friends!

I have managed to get a smidgin' of time working on the slowly deteriorating '211' Doppelganger. I have added some more weld seams and 'tag' joints, by using some bright coloured stretched sprue, softened with Tamiya Extra Thin, and given a rippled and pitted relief to represent the texture of the welding. You will notice that I have also added some 'sprue' welding joints to the spare track clamps lower lugs. This is because the area is devoid of any Zimmerit due to the fire, and it will give the possibility of adding a very bright silver weld to mix of the melted paint, charred Zimmerit and heated, rusted armour plate.

One shadowy area of Zimmerit that I have not pasted onto the Tiger yet is the Bow Glacis Apron! "BGA"? I hear you say, well do you know that unlabelled piece of plate that adjoins the Bow plate, and the Glacis plate, that also forms the roof for the transmission? ... That's the BGA, or for want of an 'official term' what I call it.

One major headache for modellers wanting to depict a Tiger 1 during it's production period that was 'covered' by Zimmerit application... Is to paste this area or not! Take a look at this collage of images that appear to show Zimmerit in place, or give a clear indication of an application of the ridged pattern. I personally believe that on the majority of Mid and Late Tiger 1's, that Zimmerit was applied here, and one of the main reasons that it can be difficult to observe, is due to the levels of overhead saturated light that would create difficulties in a period image being clear enough to discern whether, or whether not Zimmerit was applied. Allied also with acculmulated dirt and dust, and the passage of the crew over the easiest mounting point of the Tiger 1. 

Tricky eh? For this area I have experimented with a few various mediums and methods of applying the ridges. For this particular Tiger, I have dabbled with using good old 'Mr Surfacer' the modern wonder of the Armour Modelling world.
 I used the 1000' grade Mr Surfacer in a couple of coats that were 'flow' applied with a medium flat brush. This was then left to cure, for around ten-fifteen minutes, before the pattern of the smaller ridges with the indomitable Lion Roar Zimmerit Applicator tool. Surprisingly at no point did the Mr Surfacer stick to the rollers die. And in my opinion looks to be a fair representation of the Zimmerit on this much queried area of the Tiger.

So that is where we are up to on this dishevelled Tiger, the next logical step is to add the impact hits on the Mantlet and Glacis, along with the remnants of external fittings to the hull and turret.

 Thank you for taking the time to visit... Back real soon. Cheers Phil.

Good Morning Folks! Especially to my good friend Rob, and to Didier, good to hear from you both. I will post an abridged version of this Tiger over on the MIG forum shortly.
I have been having a bit of fun with the Zimmerit on '211', focusing mainly on the rear hull plate. If you look closely, you will notice that the actual Zimmerit in this area does not follow a uniform pattern. I believe this to be from stowage and confines not enabling the use of the standard (roller) applicator, and the 'spreader' at Kassel having to employ a different tool in order to imprint the ridges into the curing paste. Here is a little collage to illustrate the point.




Now by using a technical pencil to map the damage and paste areas, then by using the Lion Roar Zimmerit Applicator, and a 3mm Jewellers Flathead Screwdriver, I have applied the 'disrupted' pattern of the Zimmerit onto the flaking and scabrous rump of this once noble 'Big Cat'.
The sponson plates Zimmerit has been realised with just the Lion Roar Tool, though the pattern's most forward edge often has the 'trowelled' ridge where the Glacis plate meets the Sponson's plate.

Well the next logical step I suppose is the AP damage to the 'soft' area's on the Glacis plate and Gun Mantlet!

See you all later... Cheers for calling in. Phil.

Hello again! Sorry for the void between posts, and the slow response to comments... Not really au fait with the 'whole blog' thing yet!

There that's my grovelling apology over. And what have I been up to on the Tigers?
Well other than getting two builds going forwards (slowly) I have been spawning a wrecked Tiger of the s.SS.Pz.-Abt.101 of the 2nd Kompanie, that was originally from the 1st Kompanie, before the latters withdrawal from the Normandy theatre, in order to refit and train on the Tiger B.
This has come about due to Rob's (Scratchmods) enthusiasm for me to wreck a Tiger! So I had a look around for one that would spur me into a build and found this one...

Now this Tiger caused a lot of web traffic as it's tale began to be pieced together, by an amazing bunch of researchers over on Missing Lynx, and Forum.Axis History.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=97516&highlight=

The work of guys like Yann Jouallt, Mike Kenny, Hartmutt v Holdt, Cyprek, etc fascinate me, always liked a good detective novel... And this stuff is better than Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sleuth works.

So as a tribute to their efforts, (and Rob's patience) here we go...

I am once again using either DML #6253 or #6406! I tend to combine a lot of sprues from various DML Tigers together for space saving!!! The Zimmerit is applied with Tamiya's Smooth (white) Epoxy Putty, I use this due to it's long curing time, it's ability to be softened with gentle heat, and it has a stiffness to it that enable you to really impress the pattern into it, almost to the strenes surface, without 'splurge' between the rows, adding to the look akin to the actual Zimmerit seen on a Tiger's hide. For the pattern this was replicated using a Lion Roar Zimmerit 'roller' tool.
As you can see from the actual images of '211' it has taken a 'hell of a pasting'! I think for my first attempt at a 'Trashed Tiger' this one has got a bit of everything thrown at it! Impacts,fire damage,missing stowage,shattered Zimmerit, field repairs, and re-numbered to boot!
I have been having a good look at the rear of this unfortunate Tiger, and it appears to have possibly taken a lot of punishment to it's rear. I believe that it has the right exhaust assembly missing, except for the armoured cover. Maybe a round took it out or it was lost due to an explosion from within the engine compartment, as the fire damage is mainly to the rear right hand side portion of the Tiger. I have pasted up the flanks and bow plate of this Tiger, and will post some more later, as I want to experiment with something on the rear hull plate.

Thanks for stopping off... Back very soon. Cheers Phil.

Hello again! Well I thought that I had forgotten something, and I did... The sibling to '121'... '112' This is a straight 'OOB' build using the Gunze Sangyo paint code given in the instructions for DML #6383 Tiger 1 Late with Zimmerit. The only things of note on the build, is the removal of the moulded Zimmerit pattern behind the exhaust assemblies, the shortening of the DS Track by '3' links (though this has now been resolved with shorter tracks in the Cyber Hobby "Wittmanns last Tiger" kit #6610. Still not a great fan of the moulded Zimmerit or DS tracks, but with a little attention and patience, #6383 can give you a highly acceptable depiction of this legendary beast. Weathering was achieved using a mix of MIG Productions pigments, artists pastels, and oil washes, pin and dot filter.


The 'spattered mud' effect on the exhaust shrouds was realised by 'blasting' air from the airbrush over a heavily loaded brush, heavy with a mix of pigments, pastels and fixatives. (P.V.A. and MIG Productions)

Right then off to the others kitties in the litter!

Back soon, Cheers Phil.

Well there has been a little more work on the first kompanie Tiger '121' (this is a slightly 'modded' DML #6383 with moulded Zimmerit... Not a big fan!) a bit of subtle shifting of the pigments and a light dusting of a very heavily diluted Tamiya Buff XF57. This is applied along the lower hull, and at the intersection of the turret and hull roof. This helps 'tie in' the pigments and washes, and gives the effect of a very recent coat of 'travelling' dust... After all these Tigers road marched some 10k to get knocked out at Villers Bocage!
Now that this Tiger is nearing completion, my thoughts turn to the next Tigers upon the 'workbench horizon'! These will both be from the second kompanie, the first incarnation of '211' and either '233' or '234' using the tactical numbers of two unidentified Tigers to tie in with a 'knocked out' second kompanie Tiger, that features a few interim features of a February '44' build.

Right then "scalpel nurse"... Cheers Phil.