Italeri 1:35 Tiger in Tunisia

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 6:42 am

Not building this one as 131. But inspired by "Catch That Tiger".

Cheers.

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:40 am

This is gonna be good! *rubs hands together*

MarkVerploeg · Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:31 pm

I see more then enough research and goodies here
It should make for a nice tunisian tiger
Good luck with build

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 10:04 pm

SyntaxModels wrote:This is gonna be good! *rubs hands together*

Let's hope so Leo.

MarkVerploeg wrote:I see more then enough research and goodies here
It should make for a nice tunisian tiger
Good luck with build

You know what they say about a little bit of knowledge in the hands of a fool. So far it is going to be a green tiger.

Russ

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 1:02 pm

Oh boy! You'll have your hands full with that kit Russ. Looks like you made sure that you were armed to the teeth to do battle with her. I expect she'll lose haha.
Should be a cool build.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:10 am

Coen wrote:Oh boy! You'll have your hands full with that kit Russ. Looks like you made sure that you were armed to the teeth to do battle with her. I expect she'll lose haha.
Should be a cool build.

Cheers Mate. Started building and have come across some of the known issues, hoping to get an update up this weekend.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 2:09 am

Just a few formalities, sprue shots etc. to get things under way.

And marking instructions.

According to the good people at Osprey, Tigers shipped to Tunisia were initially given a very thin coat of Olive Green paint sprayed over the base Panzer Grey.

Cheers for now Russ.

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 4:46 am

Can't wait to follow this one. I have the same kit in the stash, and am considering joining in the fun with this SIG build. I noticed my kit is molded in light tan plastic, and dated 2007 on the box, while your kit is molded in gray, otherwise the sprues look to be identical.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 11:03 pm

OliveDrab wrote:Can't wait to follow this one. I have the same kit in the stash, and am considering joining in the fun with this SIG build. I noticed my kit is molded in light tan plastic, and dated 2007 on the box, while your kit is molded in gray, otherwise the sprues look to be identical.

Hey OliveDrab, mine's a 1995 boxing, made in Italy. The 2007 boxing might have been made in Korea. I have a Korean made Italeri M3A1 in the stash that has matching sprues to the Academy kit of the same subject. They might have cleaned up the moulds, or updated them for the 2007.

As far as joining in, "The more, the merrier" is the go I think.

Russ

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 11:25 pm

Update 1

Started with the tub. There were some Ejector Pin Marks to deal with, not to tricky, and a little bit of shaving mould lines to aid in fit.

Slight warping and miss fit so take the time to make sure every thing is square.

Hull sides go on, check best alignment and clamp. Top on to test fit only.

While the glue's setting move on to the many, many road wheels.

2.5 to 3 Hrs later all mould lines sanded off and de-burring done.

Front sprockets needed some minor modification. Central nut was missing on the hub and a mysterious " What the hell is that there for ?" hole was present. So fill the hole and make a new one in the centre than drop in some nut detail (ooo-err).

Back to the hull.

And finally for this update, started playing with the link and length tracks. Tracks are glued together here, but not to the sprocket.

Thanks for looking in. Any advice or feedback welcome.

Cheers, Russ.

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:04 am

Looking great! Good catch on the drive sprocket hubs.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:57 pm

Looks good so far Russ. It's a totally different method for some of the construction than I'm used to. But it looks good.

I loved this shot though haha.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 8:55 am

Coen wrote:Looks good so far Russ. It's a totally different method for some of the construction than I'm used to. But it looks good.

I loved this shot though haha.

Cheers mate, it felt like quite an achievement.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:12 am

Update 2

Had a look at the Turret. The KIRIN update set I have was given to me with this kit when I bought it, it is actually for a/the Tamiya kit. The Kirin turret is the same shape as the kit turret and the way the top goes on was not going to sit all that well without a bit of work that would probably send me over the edge. In short I decided to stick with the kit's turret. It comes with some basic detail which is pretty crap.

Used some of the kit parts, some stretched sprue for wiring, and stuff from the bits box. Its not 100% accurate, but when I look through the open hatch I can see a bit of stuff.

Used some Mr Surfacer 1000 applied with a cotton bud to the mantlet for a bit of texture and to the barrel which was a bit of a ...... The barrel's since been sanded back and seems a bit better.

Got a bit carried away with the Mr Surfacer and slapped it about in a few other places. Added some etch grills as well.

Off now to glue some more bits on.

Cheers, Russ.

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:23 am

Looking good mate

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:27 am

Too bad about the turret Russ, it would have been cool to see it built up. Ah well, your fix is very well done so it's no great loss. Well done.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:05 pm

SyntaxModels wrote:Looking good mate

Cheers Leo.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:12 pm

Coen wrote:Too bad about the turret Russ, it would have been cool to see it built up. Ah well, your fix is very well done so it's no great loss. Well done.

Picked up an Academy Tiger (Early)(13264) a week ago, so the AM wont go to waste. Cheers again mate.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:10 pm

Update 3

Turret internals painted up. The top goes on, and it needed a bit of sanding and filling. Looks okay.

Rest of the build is done, and sprayed with Mr Surfacer 1000.

I cut the side skirts up and gave them a bit of a bash up also.

Cheers Russ.

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:57 pm

Looking GREAT. I love the job you've done on the turret interior!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:25 pm

OliveDrab wrote:Looking GREAT. I love the job you've done on the turret interior!

Cheers mate. I was debating when I did it whether or not to do more work on the gun, in the end I left it as is.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:57 pm

That looks freaking awesome Russ!! The mr surfacer primer did the job. Must have stunk bad though?

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:41 pm

Coen wrote:That looks freaking awesome Russ!! The mr surfacer primer did the job. Must have stunk bad though?

Cheers mate. Used the expensive little aerosol version, sprayed outside, been wanting to give it a try. I really like the stuff.

AlkaSeltzer · Post by **AlkaSeltzer** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:43 pm

Looking good so far! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:02 pm

AlkaSeltzer wrote:Looking good so far! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Cheers mate. After this week I've got three weeks off work

, so i'll get into the painting then.

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:07 am

Cracking start Russ

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:20 am

Nige201980 wrote:Cracking start Russ

Cheers Nige.

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 4:20 am

Cracking job mate! How's the Queensland heat going for you?? It's killing my Melbournian body (even though I was born up here, must have gotten too acclimatized!!)

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:54 pm

SyntaxModels wrote:Cracking job mate! How's the Queensland heat going for you?? It's killing my Melbournian body (even though I was born up here, must have gotten too acclimatized!!)

Leo, every summer I threaten myself with moving to Denmark, or somewhere similar

. Having a fan on full blast while working with small parts at the bench can make life interesting

.

ps. Cheers for the comment mate.

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:24 pm

Looks great so far!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:26 pm

PaulAyrey wrote:Looks great so far!

Cheers Paul. I hope to spill some paint on it today.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:57 am

Finally motivated myself into getting some paint on to the tiger. it wasn't all smooth sailing. I broke the tip on my airbrush, it was a cheapy but it's worked well. I had bought another airbrush from ebay (unbranded) and looked the goods, but it was actually quite rubbish. Long story short, there's some paint on the model and it's ready to move on in the process.

Did some pre-shading over the Mr Surfacer undercoat.

The road wheels were knocked about a bit.

And undercoated with Vallejo Olive Drab.

Its about this time that the airbrush problems, and also some paint/colour selection issues began. Not exactly how I wanted to paint this one but not all is lost.

There's an Iwata Neo on its way to me as I type.

Cheers, Russ.

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:07 am

Looking good mate

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:17 am

Looks pretty good to me!

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 5:52 pm

Sorry to hear about the airbrush issues Russ, it really looks cool in the pics, besides, I really like a Tiger painted OliveDrab

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:29 pm

SyntaxModels wrote:Looking good mate

Cheers Leo.

PaulAyrey wrote:Looks pretty good to me!

Thanks Paul, Paint just went on a little heavy in places, and there was a bit of spitting and carry on. From the airbrush of course.

OliveDrab wrote:Sorry to hear about the airbrush issues Russ, it really looks cool in the pics, besides, I really like a Tiger painted OliveDrab

Only the road wheels were painted for your name sake OliveDrab

I started with Vallejo Olive Green, but it seemed way to bright. Then used 50/50 mix Olive Green and Field Green, preferred that colour. Tried to highlight by adding Vallejo German Yellow to the mix but didn't get to far.

Not all is lost, as I say, might of even been a blessing in disguise.

alextheblue · Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:30 am

Really liking the look of that Russ, but sorry to hear about the AB. But still, with a new Neo on its way, I guess it's not all bad!!

wappynutter · Post by **wappynutter** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 7:48 pm

Wow!! Lookin the "dogs danglies" so far Russ... Love all the interior work.... Excellent mate..

Sorry to hear you got some AB problems,

hope the new Neo sorts it out..

All the best matey, Stay safe and well...

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:05 am

alextheblue wrote:Really liking the look of that Russ, but sorry to hear about the AB. But still, with a new Neo on its way, I guess it's not all bad!!

wappynutter wrote:Wow!! Lookin the "dogs danglies" so far Russ... Love all the interior work.... Excellent mate..
Sorry to hear you got some AB problems, hope the new Neo sorts it out..
All the best matey, Stay safe and well...

Cheers Fellas. Hopefully the new AB will get here before the weekend, if not, there's plenty to go on with.

Update 5

I had a bit of a look around the interwebs recently for examples of green Tigers. I didn't realise how controversial the idea was. I have the two sources for the green Tiger so I am going to proceed. Having not read enough about German R & D with regards to colour/camo choice, I can only guess as to the reasoning behind the colour selection. Someone sitting behind a desk stating, "The new colour for vehicles entering a tropical climate shall be olive green." or even a deception based argument for confusing the Allies by painting tanks green. I haven't looked for any evidence whether other panzer types were painted green, so that may be the decider (ie Why the Tiger and not other panzers?). So, using my version of extrapolated logic, green would be a fine choice for more verdant coastal tropical climates, but experiences in the desert would have it sticking out like a sore thumb, so my tank has not seen a whole lot of action yet, if it had, it would have adopted the desert yellow.

After that waffle, a couple of w.i.p., some detail painting and chipping, more to do yet.

What green tiger.

Thanks for stopping by.

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:28 am

I have read .. Some (?) Tigers entering the Theater in Tunisia wore Light green RAL 7008, ( Italian air force Pain/color)
Because the terrain/Climate in Northern Tunisia was more temperate ,tropical,mediterranean & more Green then the rest of the desert. . it makes sense to me.

I plan on doing My Tiger 142 in, RAL 7008

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:45 am

rwsmith14 wrote:I have read .. Some (?) Tigers entering the Theater in Tunisia wore Light green RAL 7008, ( Italian air force Pain/color)
Because the terrain/Climate in Northern Tunisia was more temperate ,tropical,mediterranean & more Green then the rest of the desert. . it makes sense to me.

I plan on doing My Tiger 142 in, RAL 7008

I also have been debating the paint scheme to use for my Tunisian Tiger. There is just something "mystical" about a green Tiger I. After much waffling on the subject, the answer became obvious...I will complete this current build in RAL 8020 Desert Brown, and then... someday build a second Tunisian Tiger in the RAL 7008 paint. Problem solved, LOL!

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:47 am

That's looking real nice Russ

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:49 pm

Looks really cool Russ. It's certainly and interesting topic choice. It should start some lively discussions down the road

I like it, I think that it looks really awesome

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:57 pm

rwsmith14 wrote:I have read .. Some (?) Tigers entering the Theater in Tunisia wore Light green RAL 7008, ( Italian air force Pain/color)
Because the terrain/Climate in Northern Tunisia was more temperate ,tropical,mediterranean & more Green then the rest of the desert. . it makes sense to me.

I plan on doing My Tiger 142 in, RAL 7008

Cheers mate. My colour choice was all wrong, I didn't do enough research and was using some misleading pictures

. RAL 7008 it will be.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:59 pm

OliveDrab wrote:
rwsmith14 wrote:I have read .. Some (?) Tigers entering the Theater in Tunisia wore Light green RAL 7008, ( Italian air force Pain/color)
Because the terrain/Climate in Northern Tunisia was more temperate ,tropical,mediterranean & more Green then the rest of the desert. . it makes sense to me.

I plan on doing My Tiger 142 in, RAL 7008
I also have been debating the paint scheme to use for my Tunisian Tiger. There is just something "mystical" about a green Tiger I. After much waffling on the subject, the answer became obvious...I will complete this current build in RAL 8020 Desert Brown, and then... someday build a second Tunisian Tiger in the RAL 7008 paint. Problem solved, LOL!

Cheers Mate. My colour choices were all wrong

. RAL 7008 is the go for me. It's time for a re-spray.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:07 pm

Coen wrote:Looks really cool Russ. It's certainly and interesting topic choice. It should start some lively discussions down the road
I like it, I think that it looks really awesome

Cheers Coen. I'm going to give it a re-spray and bring it back to RAL 7008. I read "Field Green" (Italeri) and "Olive Green"(Osprey) and jumped right in

. If all fails, this thread may become Tamiya Late

, but I'm sure it will be fine.

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 12:41 am

Russ72 wrote:
Coen wrote:Looks really cool Russ. It's certainly and interesting topic choice. It should start some lively discussions down the road
I like it, I think that it looks really awesome

It is quite mystical as Coen has stated. I've done hours of research and I came to the conclusion,,, there is no incorrect answer. You can find allot of info about paint color.. right, wrong, incorrect..?? who knows?? It's all up to what you, us builders, make of it.. I'm going with the RAL 7008 because my reasoning about Northern Tunisia being a more mediterranean, Tropical climate, make sense to me

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:35 am

Interesting web site, this page is Abteilung 501 in Tunesien. great images

http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?threadid= ... b46ac9fc0c

another interesting debate is the Colour of numbers Tigers from a sPzAbt.501

http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?threadid= ... b46ac9fc0c

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:17 am

Can't wait to see how it comes out!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 7:46 am

rwsmith14 wrote:Interesting web site, this page is Abteilung 501 in Tunesien. great images

http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?threadid= ... b46ac9fc0c

another interesting debate is the Colour of numbers Tigers from a sPzAbt.501

http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?threadid= ... b46ac9fc0c

Cheers mate, there's some nice stuff there.

PaulAyrey wrote:Can't wait to see how it comes out!

Well, wait no longer.

What it looked like.

With new paint.

Chipping and detail painting.

Cheers