Dragon Tiger 1 mid w\zimmeritt: Retreat!

[Quax]

Sorry I’m late to the party and I forgot the beer… I intend to bite off more than I can chew but here goes!



This is actually the Sw.Pz.A 506 boxing but I don’t intend to build it as a 506 member rather as a non specific mid in Normandy in 1944 post D-Day. I’m not aware of a specific mid production vehicle that survived to retreat either to Falaise or towards Rouen or the Seine, however I am happy to revisit that plan if someone can give me a number….
Inside the box…













I have started on the diorama, based again on a Range picture frame and using a Fields of Glory plaster building. The base is built on a polystyrene block with a large stone pattern rolled into it and I’ve used the same but added to it for the walls.









To this I’m going to add (minus the Russian)




I’m going to do more to this when I’ve got on with the Tiger and then the men.
So to the Tiger, Its actually gone together surprisingly easily so far (a remark I’m sure to regret….) apart from having to do soooo many wheels, not made easier by Dragons insistence on them having 4 connection points to the sprue, this is where I’m at







Thanks for looking
Paul

[Quax]

Bit more done tonight, wheels finished and the rear of the hull added. The only temporary confusion was caused by the Dragon instructions which didnt make it clear that it was either part Q1 or Q11.... I assume this is so as you can model it on transport tracks but if I've stuffed up please let me know!



the wheels are all mounted now ready for spraying, the suspension is still working so it should be ok to get them back on but time will tell



then it was the rear of the hull added, I started by gluing at the bottom first and then up each side to make the joint as tight as I could. The zim detail is superb.



having watched Andy's Hobby Lobby build of a Dragon Tiger 1 late I can only agree that 12 connection points for a strip of zim for the sides is ridiculous even if they do look nice...



thats it for now, thanks for looking

[Tomcat64]

Nice start mate - looking forward to seeing how you put the dio together.

There's a couple of sets of figures there that I've added to my stash-list too

[SergioSolo]

The molded Zimmerit looks amazing! Good luck with your project

[Quax]

Thanks Neil, the idea is to have the artillery crew along with a tank crew on the tank with the others trudging along the road either towards somewhere like Falaise or Rouen. I don't know if that's how it'll work out but that's the plan....

Thanks too Sergio, the zim is amazing and saves me gluing the thing to the desk with no nails whilst trying to fabricate it

[Quax]

well its been a weekend of progress but struggles, the hull is now finished and progress has been made on the turret.



this is the rear and it all went together well. I had read a tip online regarding the jack and leaving the handle off until its glued into place rather than during initial construction, this allows you to get the angle correct because the jack handle is clamped on and saves trauma. The instructions aren't clear regarding the position of the brackets the jack sits on but here are holes in the rear plate for them so dont stick them to the jack as again suggested.



The deck goes together without major issue, obviously make sure the grills go on before the cables and I put the cables on before the tools. If I was doing this again I would also put te PE grills on before the large plastic screw heads as it will make aligning easier.






my deck was slightly warped front to back and that the rear right lower grill blocked the fit in the corner but a slight hack on the bottom cured that...



if my wife sees how dirty that mug is she'll kill me...

the gun goes together ok although the fit of the muzzle against the barrel is a bit 'dickey' but I think extra thin cured that. there isnt a whole lot of detail at the turret end which is fine by me as it wont be seen, all holes will have a man in.....



finally a mock up of the turret so far, neither the roof or gun are attached but getting there.

as ever thanks for looking
Paul

[xSCAR45]

Looking good so far. Soon comes the paint. What pattern will you be using? Hopefully not just a base coat, Tigers are too nice for just a base coat.

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress mate - that rear hull plate is really busy!

[Quax]

so the product of the weekends work, turret completed and then primed with ISM Ultimate Red oxide, this seems very orange to me rather than the pinky red that it should be to my way of thinking. Anyway see what you think...

track changing cable is being done seperately but thats what the holes are for






the big orange bus..








I decided to check that this all still sits in the planned dio... This is using the Artillery Crew from MiniArt who early all have waistline issues ad require filling, it was also noticeable that the styrene didnt act as fast with Tamiya extra thin as say Dragons does but it did give the opportunity to push hard and close some other gaps. The other figures are a couple of Alpine Minatures and a Tamiya one from the Ardennes KT set







I have also started on the other sets of figures
detail of Miniart Artillery Crew





Dragon Battle of The Hedgerows





MB German captives 1944



sorry for so many pics but I hope its of use to someone

[Tomcat64]

Coming along nicely mate!

The red-oxide does look a little more salmon-like than mine which was more of a red/brown like I expected. Is it one of the newer batch of colours as I know Lee mentioned in the news show that the Ultimate team had issues with Badgers new mixes.

[Quax]

thanks Tomcat, I've had it a few months I suppose. I was going to use it as a base for chipping but its so far out I dont feel I can so I have to decide whether to spray my usual Tamiya mix on the top decks or whether to just not bother. I'm going to try out the MMP paints so didnt really want to add something else into the mix and the Badger stuff is so superbly stable (although I did get a big polyurethane snot in the nozzle mid spray which meant completely taking the airbrush apart to get rid of... )

cheers

Paul

[gaz45]

Very nice work there mate

[pourquoi61]

Looks like a master class build to me.

[Quax]

Many thanks Gents for your kind comments!

Sadly I didn’t get much major achieved on the Tiger, I did manage to get some degree of coverage over the luminous orange of the primer (I have given up on the idea of chipping)
I spent a lot of time painting black circles on wheels which I now need to follow up with tyre grey on black circles x40 or so. I apologise now for the paucity of illustrations…



Paul

[Tomcat64]

It's definitely Tiger-shaped mate

What did you use for the dunkel-gelb?

[gaz45]

Looking good so far mate

[Quax]

A little more progress was made this weekend on Tigger. This was done entirely with mission model paints mostly because I am a masochist… I was determined to use them if it killed me and it began to look like that was what was going to happen. The original application of Dunkelgelb was…. Multidirectional shall we say. I had read and watched just about every Youtube video possible and I lost a lot of time trying to get the “it works out of the bottle” to work out of the bottle… What you see now before you is a 0.4 needle 20 psi 10:1:2. (paint:thinner:additive stuff) I tried 1:1:0, 6:4:0, 10:3:2 (MMP’s website/Youtube suggestion) along with psi between 12 and 24. The main issue I had was it stuck to the needle constantly so think like a teenage boy and have plenty of tissues available. I do have a cheap Chinese compressor that is dying (my wife keeps finding ways to help me spend my money before I can but Sparmax if you’re reading please send me a 620H for Christmas, I’ve been very very nice…) I do intent once this is over to keep at it to solve it, it does self level wonderfully and is actually a very forgiving paint, the problem is at nearly £6 a bottle it’s a very expensive trial and error. As Paul said in his Trial vid, it does take Ultimate happily (still killed the needle though) and in frustration I even got it going well with Mr Colour self levelling on my now garishly painted Tamiya hack. Enough garble and on to the pictures.

So this was the final effort, I’m not 100% happy, perhaps 60% but it looks ok





I then gave it a coat of Mig Tritone Camoflage filter and set about all the metal bits with Mr Hobby Dark Iron buffable. The exhaust and spare track links are Vallejo Dark Rust. Its only when you get down to nitty gritty that you find out how many bits you’ve knocked off in the process, I seem to be missing 3 guidehorns from the spare tracks and a towcable clip has vanished so I now need to add them back in







I also gloss painted 6 bannister knobs before the new carpet is fitted this week…..
Cheers

Paul

[Tomcat64]

Between you and Kev it looks like it was the weekend for fighting the airbrush!

Nice result though mate - that looks good Did you have the same problems sorting out the bannisters??

[Quax]

Thanks Neil, at least Kev is convinced its the paint; I am too as the gloss went on the bannisters fine... I think after this I'm going to take a year out of GB's or maybe just 1/72 entries and concentrate on just getting better at this lark, I'm not good enough to put myself under a time pressure (modelling time is limited) and the frustration overtakes the enjoyment. Still, only 15 men, a dead mans chest and a dio to do (bottle of rum optional.)

Paul

[TheNordus]

I bloody well love that camouflage job, it looks very neat and tidy.

[Kevthemodeller]

Thanks Neil, at least Kev is convinced its the paint; I am too as the gloss went on the bannisters fine... I think after this I'm going to take a year out of GB's or maybe just 1/72 entries and concentrate on just getting better at this lark, I'm not good enough to put myself under a time pressure (modelling time is limited) and the frustration overtakes the enjoyment. Still, only 15 men, a dead mans chest and a dio to do (bottle of rum optional.)

Paul

Well done Paul ammo looks great mate, even more so when you have to fight the paint I feel your pain mate

In my case it's most certainly was/is the paint I've had issues with my paint (Ammo Mig) right from the off. I put it down to me and my lack of skill and experience. Although I still have a very long way to go in regard to my skill level, I now know it's not all me. I've wrote to Ammo yesterday about my issues with some of their paint, be interesting see what reply it get if any. If I don't the Ammo will be phased out and replace with Vallejo and Tamiya, those I've had issues with will be next week replaced.

[Quax]

In my case it's most certainly was/is the paint I've had issues with my paint (Ammo Mig) right from the off. I put it down to me and my lack of skill and experience. Although I still have a very long way to go in regard to my skill level, I now know it's not all me. I've wrote to Ammo yesterday about my issues with some of their paint, be interesting see what reply it get if any. If I don't the Ammo will be phased out and replace with Vallejo and Tamiya, those I've had issues with will be next week replaced.

I think the whole world has trouble with Ammo, I know I do (Mig excepted of course) I do think its me with the MMP, once I've finished this I'm going to spend some time on my poor Tamiya Panther until I can work it out for my set up because it is very nice paint.

I bloody well love that camouflage job, it looks very neat and tidy.

Thank you Nordus, I looked at your Stug in the mud dio with admiration. I think you're going to have to do a step by step on how you did that because I felt wet and cold looking at it! (viewtopic.php?f=29&t=23432)
cheers
Paul

[TheNordus]

Thank you Nordus, I looked at your Stug in the mud dio with admiration. I think you're going to have to do a step by step on how you did that because I felt wet and cold looking at it! (viewtopic.php?f=29&t=23432)
cheers
Paul

Thanks for that, I do love adding ridiculous amounts of mud and dirt on my vehicles so I'll do a step-by-step when I do my next "wet" diorama, it shouldn't be very long until I get to that.

[Kevthemodeller]

I think the whole world has trouble with Ammo, I know I do (Mig excepted of course) I do think its me with the MMP, once I've finished this I'm going to spend some time on my poor Tamiya Panther until I can work it out for my set up because it is very nice paint.
cheers
Paul

I've had a reply from Ammo Mig, but it's worthless they just telling me to do what I've already done I've gone back to them stating the obvious lets see what they come back with, I'll move this off your thread and into reference section so as not to high jack this anymore.

Getting back to your point I would give Vallejo a go, I found the colours I've used so far to be very good and consistent. I do feel Tamiya is a better paint and much more stable while being applied/used, it's just not as easy to use/mix etc, in that it's not in dropper bottles and it smells.

I'm looking at transferring it from the 10ml glass jars into 15ml dropper bottles that will allow for thinner to be added. I watch a channel on UTube called Andy's Hobby HQ, it's been very helpful and he's stuff is straight forward without all the pointless rambling on you get with most peoples posted stuff. He like Paul and Lee stick to the points and do it so much better than most I feel.

He mixes his Tamiya paint from new in the jar and it last the life of the jar see here my plan is to do the same only into 15ml dropper bottles. I know the norm in the hobby is 17ml but there're pretty much sold out everywhere and for what they are expensive about £5 for 4, I ordered 50 15ml's for £7.50

[Tomcat64]

Thanks Neil, at least Kev is convinced its the paint; I am too as the gloss went on the bannisters fine... I think after this I'm going to take a year out of GB's or maybe just 1/72 entries and concentrate on just getting better at this lark, I'm not good enough to put myself under a time pressure (modelling time is limited) and the frustration overtakes the enjoyment. Still, only 15 men, a dead mans chest and a dio to do (bottle of rum optional.)

Paul

You're doing great mate!

Interestingly someone suggested a 1/72 GB for next year so lets hope it makes it to the vote as I kind of consider that scale to be my spiritual home somehow. And if it doesn't maybe we can look at a buddy build or something for next year if there's enough interested, something relaxed and wide open

Anyhow enough rambling - I think this is going to look pretty damned impressive once you've got it on the base and populated

[Quax]

Interestingly someone suggested a 1/72 GB for next year so lets hope it makes it to the vote as I kind of consider that scale to be my spiritual home somehow. And if it doesn't maybe we can look at a buddy build or something for next year if there's enough interested, something relaxed and wide open

I'd vote for a 1/72 armour GB or BB or any other initials for that matter, theres lots of great kits out there now in that scale

cheers

Paul

[Quax]

The weekends work, savagely interrupted by a trip with friends to the Bombay Sapphire Distillery which meant that Sunday morning was slightly blurrier than it usually is…

Some subtle chipping on the turret, normally I’m quite hamfisted about this but this looks ok and proportional. The turret was then glossed with Alclad 2 acrylic, it’s a great gloss although I do admit that after my foray into oil paints I had sprayed it with Windsor and Newton acrylic flat first just to protect it “just in case”



Decals added, these are actually Tamiya Ardennes King Tiger decals and are actually slightly too big but I do know that 3\ Sw-SS.Pz.A 101 had mids in March-April 44 so although not trying to build a specific tank I did want to stay loosely within the realms of possibility



And so to tracks: I’m using the DS tracks for the first time ever, so its proved interesting



Initially primed with Ultimate black then given a coat of Tamiya Hull Red/Nato Black mixed and then dryish brushed aluminium then a heavily thinned Tamiya flat earth



Finally European earth pigments and enamel as fixer and a going over the cleats with a 4B pencil to return the shine



Not long after this I spilt half a bottle of Artists white spirit into my lap which caused abandonment of operations!

Thanks for looking

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking goooooood

[Tomcat64]

Nice work mate - those tracks really look the business - very well done!

As for the faux pas with the white spirits it does seem to be the year of spillages across the forum - welcome to the club!

[papatika]

The tracks are looking great! Nice job!

[Quax]

Thanks chaps for your kind words

A weekend of triumphs and tragedies leads me to this point. The major tragedy was that the application of gloss on the hull gave me an outbreak of white spots (and the tank didn't look great either... ) I have got round this in part by using a heavier dose of Slimey Winter Grime to pick out the zim and partly by making sure all the photos were slightly out of focus... The issue still exists on the deck but I'm hopeful that once its matted down and a pass of something dirty and a bit of dust is added then it'll not be noticeable (or I'll go all Father Ted "No Dougal this tank is small, that tank is far away...)

The tracks are on but not compelled to sag, at the moment Im not convinced they will to any degree but we will discover that as things go on







I finally got the men onto corks and sticks, some details below. There was quite a bit of filling required in some but they've turned out ok, I shall now endeavor to ruin the sculptors art by painting them very badly.... My workbench currently looks like a miniature Anthony Gormley studio

[ElCapitan]

Looks great, well done!

[Kevthemodeller]

The major tragedy was that the application of gloss on the hull gave me an outbreak of white spots (and the tank didn't look great either... )

I'm sure it will come good mate, what gloss did you use? I've stopped using gloss as a base for weathering, I use satin now find it gives you best of both worlds. It still gives you a smoother surface for the pin wash/weathering and you can get away with not having to matt coat the whole model after weathering, covering up the gloss areas, just over the decals. This also means less coats and less risk of hiding surface details.

[Stokesy44]

The tracks are on but not compelled to sag, at the moment Im not convinced they will to any degree but we will discover that as things go on

Looking good mate, really like the colours you've used and as you say, any minor issues can be fixed with weathering.

As for the track sag, I've used CA glue on German heavies for sag with rubber tracks. I used glue to 'sit' the track down on the sprocket as it heads back towards the first road wheel then more CA on the tracks where they meet the wheels nearer the rear of the tank. By doing this, the track should rise naturally from about halfway along the road wheels going forward towards the upper rear of the sprocket without 'looping' above the sprocket's highest point. It also helps to glue the sprocket so it doesn't move, that way you can position the track how you like and the sprocket wont move and spoil what you're trying to do.

Hope this helps and keep up the good work

[Quax]

I'm sure it will come good mate, what gloss did you use?

Thanks Kev, it was Alclad II acrylic and this is the first time its given me grief. I suspect my own ineptitude is to blame

As for the track sag, I've used CA glue on German heavies for sag with rubber tracks. I used glue to 'sit' the track down on the sprocket as it heads back towards the first road wheel then more CA on the tracks where they meet the wheels nearer the rear of the tank. By doing this, the track should rise naturally from about halfway along the road wheels going forward towards the upper rear of the sprocket without 'looping' above the sprocket's highest point. It also helps to glue the sprocket so it doesn't move, that way you can position the track how you like and the sprocket wont move and spoil what you're trying to do.

Hope this helps and keep up the good work

Thanks Stokesy I shall try that, it seems achievable for an imbecile like me. Failing that I will threaten it with the 6” nails that I have in the shed for a “rainy day….”

cheers
Paul

[Tomcat64]

Nice work mate - Obi-Wan Stokesy is spot on with sorting out the track sag - I remember doing it with EvoStick back in the mists of time but CA will be much tidier

[Quax]

Nice work mate - Obi-Wan Stokesy is spot on with sorting out the track sag - I remember doing it with EvoStick back in the mists of time but CA will be much tidier

"thats not the glue you're looking for, move along"

Paul

[Tomcat64]

Nice work mate - Obi-Wan Stokesy is spot on with sorting out the track sag - I remember doing it with EvoStick back in the mists of time but CA will be much tidier

"thats not the glue you're looking for, move along"

Paul

Back in the day when glue only came in tubes!! It stank the place down but nothing ever came unstuck again!

[pourquoi61]

Fantastic job on the tank and the figures are coming along very nicely.
Brilliant.

[Quax]

many thanks for your kind words chaps

Many thanks Stokesy, that worked like a dream! I managed to glue myself, a small pot and 3 cocktail sticks to the bench but the tracks ended up in the right place

[Stokesy44]

Nice one mate, the beast looks superb.

And your teasing us with that figure in the hatch, looks very cool

[Quax]

The headless horseman of the apocalypse? If you thought my tank painting left something to be desired wait until you see my faces, even Picasso would struggle to see what goes where

Paul

[Tomcat64]

... I managed to glue myself, a small pot and 3 cocktail sticks to the bench but the tracks ended up in the right place...

Full marks for accurately following the correct procedure (or at least the same procedure I always end up with anyway)

Tracks look great mate - and fantastic idea to attempt the "Sleepy Hollow" Panzer Div.

[Quax]

Tracks look great mate - and fantastic idea to attempt the "Sleepy Hollow" Panzer Div.

It’s the new Vallejo Invisible….. whatever you paint just vanishes

Speaking of which my weekend consisted of painting men, mostly using the Vallejo Field Grey set which gives you several options and also comes with a useful “How to”



This was the first coat of flesh so they look even more like the undead at the moment

[url=https://flic.kr/p/21nHoGs]

I didn’t want to bore you with 13 pictures that all looked the same so I’ve just added a couple, I’ll post a few more when finished

Cheers

Paul

[demarcation]

Wow excellent work buddy!!

[TheNordus]

I guess I should buy a uniform painting set too, I hate figure painting but I wanna get good at it, and I like how your figures look so far.

[Quax]

I guess I should buy a uniform painting set too, I hate figure painting but I wanna get good at it, and I like how your figures look so far.

the Field Grey one is quite good and does give you lot of options.

many thanks Demarcation.

now for this weeks exciting episode...

I finally got fed up with tinkering with figures and managed to move on a phase. Gerhard the driver managed to get his tank stuck and in subsequent pictures he has been sent to the Eastern Front….



First lot of figures added, its going to be interesting/crowded as I have another 8 figures to add, well in my mind anyway




Mère, il y a un char allemand devant la fenêtre!*


* To all our native French speakers I apologise on behalf of Google Translate if this is rubbish….

Cheers

Paul

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking good mate and all those figures

[Tomcat64]

That's coming along really well.

Love the way that Gerhard is getting a talking to from the other side of the gun!

Nice work!

[Quax]

Looking good mate and all those figures

Thanks Kev

That's coming along really well.

Love the way that Gerhard is getting a talking to from the other side of the gun!

Nice work!

I think Gerhard could be my Bob although hes only half the man he used to be...