Tiger in the Grass
This is the AFV Club/Skybow 1/48th scale Tiger I . I am not an armor expert so I cannot speak to the kits accuracy, but I do believe everyone will agree it looks like a Tiger I and will not be confused for any other tank. I would also like to sing praises for the absolute quality of this kit. This kit is 100% out of the box. The fit is excellent and detail is really quite good. There is a nice mix of molded on detail and glued on parts. The zimmerit is molded on and I believe looks convincing, I know it's better than anything I could do on my own.
When I painted the kit I tried something I had seen on line. I sprayed the kit with the base coat of the panzer yellow, but I progressively lightened it as I painted higher and further forward on the vehicle. The hatches were painted an even lighter shade. I followed the same pattern for the disruptive patterns of green and brown. It looked a bit harsh until I put on a filter and wash. The end result is pleasing to me. I seems to create a forced effect of highlighting the upper section exposed to the sun and darken the area that would be in the shadow close to the ground.
The base was a simple enough affair, I mixed Durham's Rockhard Putty with brown tempra paint and glue. I spread it out and then using bristles off of a bunch of cheap brushes from my local Harbor Freight I stuck them in the ground in clumps. Before the putty set I trampled it down with the tank and made the track so that is looks like it is moving through the tall grass.
I hope that you enjoy the end result of a very fun and enjoyable build.
That's a nice looking Tiger, Walt, and I like the grass base. I have swapped the top photo in the article, since I reckoned this was your intention? You can tap the red "Edit Article" button to see how I've done that. /M.
Thanks for changing the picture sequence for me. Yes I was hoping that one of the finished pictures would have been the lead. I will learn how to post better as I go along, thanks again.
Walt, @luftwaffe-birdman, this tank looks great ! I bought a 1/48 Tamiya Tiger today and am looking for inspiration on imodeler. I’ve never had much success building armor kits in the past. I’m going to try extra hard on this nice kit.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Thanks Jay, @ssgt, its nice to know someone is looking at this old post. I have the Tamiya kit and it is excellent also and a great choice to build. The tracks can be a little finicky but go together nicely and look good. The only thing is you will notice they have lots of ejector pin marks on the inside surface. Most of those marks are not visible once installed but some of the outer ones are. I use a drop of Tamiya Primer Surfacer. Once it dries sand it smooth and it disappears. Good luck and enjoy it is a fun kit I look forward to seeing your pictures when done.
Thank you for the hints , Walt @luftwaffe-birdman. I often look at posts on imodeler for whatever kit I’m about to start for ideas, especially paint. I never liked those rubbery flexible tracks many tank kits come with . I was hoping the type in this kit might be easier to cope with .