WIP 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 321 .SS.Pz.Abt.101 Normandy 1944

[Dr Force]

Hi Adrian busy weekend getting the Tiger painted!!

As you kow I managed to do the pre-shadowing and primary coat yesterday. This morning I added a secondary coat which was a bit lighter than the first. I sprayed this (heavily dilluted) all over very lightly which helped to add the perception of depth to the Zim. Once dried I added the Olive green (with a touch of Field grey to dull it a bit) and red brown to the wheels, lower/upper hull and turret. This was left to bake in the glorious sun (it's officially spring in Leicester ) until it was bone dry. I then added a buff & desert yellow dusty coating (more so around the whhels and lower half before leaving to dry.

The pics show the basic painting done, i will now add the scratches, dry mud and general weathering before adding all the tools, painting the tow cables and obviously bringing out all the rivet/weld detail with some dark pin washing.

I wanted to achieve a dusty look to suit July 1944 in Normandy which was no doubt very hot with lots of rubble and dust flying around and after many months traveling and fighting I beleive the camo etc would look a bit more dull. The Osprey book suggested a grey barrel and muzzle brake but there are no official colour pics of the 321 so even they were guessing and I preferred the camo to tie it all together. The next step is to add all the tiny detail (scratches, pin washing, filters, paint tow cables, add dry mud to relevent area's etc) befor weathering the tracks and fixing in to position by screwing to the base!!

 

[megroot]

Slowly it is coming together. Outstanding work.

Marc

 

[Dr Force]

Slowly it is coming together. Outstanding work.

Marc

Thank you for dropping by Marc and coming from one so talented, I appreciate your comments!

 

[Steve Ski]

Nice work Dave,

I can see I've been away a bit, coming along very well. Those figures are going to be fun Bro, but ya, lots to paint. For me, I have to keep the nose to the grinding wheel when doing the flesh tones. All my figures get painted flesh before I move on. That way the tonal variations done swing way off the chart and my pallet tells me the color mix. I've seen your work Bro, you got these boys licked, especially when it comes to painting realistic flesh tones.

I can see the camo patterns will be tedious, but who said this Sport was easy, right? If it was, there'd be no room for improvement, and that would be boring. Paint on Brother, watchin and standing by for more.


Cheers, Ski.

 

[Dr Force]

Nice work Dave,

I can see I've been away a bit, coming along very well. Those figures are going to be fun Bro, but ya, lots to paint. For me, I have to keep the nose to the grinding wheel when doing the flesh tones. All my figures get painted flesh before I move on. That way the tonal variations done swing way off the chart and my pallet tells me the color mix. I've seen your work Bro, you got these boys licked, especially when it comes to painting realistic flesh tones.

I can see the camo patterns will be tedious, but who said this Sport was easy, right? If it was, there'd be no room for improvement, and that would be boring. Paint on Brother, watchin and standing by for more.


Cheers, Ski.

Hey great to hear from you Steve. The figures are gonna be a long drawn out affair but looking forward to the challenges they bring! I always start with the head first lol, so you are right on the money with that one! I will be getting on with those flesh tones very soon once I have got the cat where I need it to be!

 

[Pops]

That's a medal winner if ever there was one. Looking forward to seeing it completed.

 

[Dr Force]

That's a medal winner if ever there was one. Looking forward to seeing it completed.

Thanks very much David it would be a goal of mine to try and win a decent competition so I'll keep aspiring to reach new heights in detail for this project and any medal would fantastic, but a fair old way to go yet.

I'm currently hand painting all the paint chips with a hull red/grey mix and the colour is spot on.

Cheers
Dave

 

[housecarl]

The Tiger looks well so far Dave, nice and subdued paint scheme.
Carl.

 

[Dr Force]

The Tiger looks well so far Dave, nice and subdued paint scheme.
Carl.

Thanks Carl

There is one thing I don't like and that is that is too bold in colour and contrast. Tanks in the field are used and abused with loads of mud in wet terrain and lots of dust in dry terrain so my first concern was to dull it down once I had the camo painted. Preshading and variable primary colour mixes should not be underestimated to help break things up and aid shadow

Love this bit of the Tiger where you add a bit here and there for scratches, damage etc, it starts to look authentic and so the photo's should add that hint of realism I like to achieve.

Cheers
Dave

 

[kagemusha]

Hi Dave, can really tell you are enjoying yourself now you have picked up the brushes/AB. Tigger has begun to come alive and has that imposing air. Will be watching closely and taking notes for future reference mate. Keep it coming.

Regards,

Ron

 

[Dr Force]

Hi Dave, can really tell you are enjoying yourself now you have picked up the brushes/AB. Tigger has begun to come alive and has that imposing air. Will be watching closely and taking notes for future reference mate. Keep it coming.

Regards,

Ron

Hi Ron

Thanks for keeping an eye out matey. Have you picked up the glue yet?

This is the bit I love, just pottering adding those tiny bits of detail! It's taken about 4 hours adding the paint chips to half the lower hull lol so you can tell how intricate it all is.

Hope to see you on the bench soon fella!

 

[kagemusha]

Not picked up glue for a while, but have pointed the brushes at a bust, just playing with colours at the moment and trying to find a level again. Inspiration is thin on the ground at the moment, but the Porsche is whispering to me again.

Cheers for encouragement tho mate.

Ron

 

[Dr Force]

Hi All

The Tiger is about 90% complete, I just need to do the following:-

-Hand paint 321 numbers to both sides and rear box
-Add dry mud to the underneath of the mud guards and lower front hull
-Pin wash weld lines and bolts etc
-Paint rust and exhaust fumes on rear exhaust stacks
-Add smoke damage to muzzle Brake
-Add dry mud to parts of the wheels

I have uploaded the very latest pictures with most of the detail painted and tooling added. The paint chips were done with a tiny brush and a mixture of dark grey and hull red. For the surface scratches a dilluted hull red was used.

The tow cables were first painted dark grey, allowed to dry and the I added a thin wash of mig light rust followed by a light brush of a 2B pencil.

The Tracks were very easy as they are metal so simply add a dusty airbrush coat of flat earth and buff, allow to dry and then run sand paper over the raised area's that would get most contact with rubble etc.

I then gave a thin wash of Mig rubble dust, allowed to dry and then used a tooth brush to give the dust a more natural effect.

The 321 had lovely sky blue numbering which will add a great splash of colour, and (of course) there will have to be a bucket in here somewhere!!!

There are other touches here and there to tidy things up, but I am so far pleased with the result. I can certainly see the chequered flag and all 7 figures are cleaned, filled and primed, awaiting the first coats. I'll obviously add all the rubble,, broken slate and wood to the internal groundwork and this will be the last update until completion, which I predict to be 2 more months!

Thank you to everyone for your support to date and I hope you have so far found the thread useful!

Dave

 

[housecarl]

Superb work Dave. I don't know if you've done with the spare track links, only there's some casting flaws on them.
Hope you don't mind,
Carl.

 

[megroot]

Stunning work. Forget to weather to tools???? Are these FruilModel tracks.....they look so great.
Now I have to wait two months???????

 

[Dr Force]

Thanks Carl & Marc

Yeah you are right Carl I had noticed but thought I'd deal with it at tidy up stage along with some touches of paint etc.

Marc the tools have yet to be weathered as they have only just been painted and placed today so is on the above list. The Tracks are Asatiam ( I think that is how you spell it!) and they should be good at £75 a throw lol.

Thanks for your interest and back to the bench.

Dave

 

[housecarl]

You can call me a dick tomorrow Dave.
Carl.

 

[ryall]

Really like it
Could the Tiger be up on an angle with the back or front raised a bit?

 

[Dr Force]

You can call me a dick tomorrow Dave.
Carl.

Lol I appreciate your input mate there is no point in cutting any corners having spent nearly 9 months getting here! I may not be going tomorrow mate it's dependant upon Mrs pressure!

Carl any sugestions for painting the numbers on the side of the tank in a neat and tidy fashion? I have some decals but I'm crap at putting them on and it's a bloody work of art getting it to hold on the zim.

Cheers matey
Dave

 

[Dr Force]

Really like it
Could the Tiger be up on an angle with the back or front raised a bit?

Hi Gans

Good suggestion that, I may put it up slightly on some rubble at the end on one side to give it a tilt. I am still playing around with final composition so I'll see how it goes.

Cheers
Dave