All Heil Frankenste......Tiger ?

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
I wasn't going to join this as i have build all the Tiger kits frim my stash
But i went to a small show yesterday and found 2 Tiger kits i was still searching for
My goal is to build all well known or better known kinds of Tiger 1 tanks
I was still missing the DAK Tiger and i really wanted a Fehrmann Tiger
This thread will be for that Fehrmann as i have a Italeri Hybrid kit now
I know that the Dragon/Cyber hobby kit would crush this kit in terms of detail and all round quality but as most of us will know that kit is rare and way over priced
I had a look and they ranged from €150 up to a indane €500 for a single kit
So i decided that i wasn't even goung to try getting one of those
Instead i will be using this

This is a pretty basic kit but it will do i think
But i got this as part of a package deal
What i also got are these

And this


The Atak set is supossed to fit the Cyber Hobby kit but i will make it fit on this one
And the friul tracks should be fine to
And to imagine i got these 3 boxes for the price of the tracks as the guy selling this didn't want to make another kit bashing build with a lot of modifing
So i just went for it
And to make it look a bit better i still have this box of spare parts from my other Tigers i build this year

So i guess i have enough stuff to make this look good and hopefully the skill to back that up
But time will tell i think
I already started building it this morning so i think i can do a update soon
So thanks for stopping by
Happy modelling and untill next time
Cheers Mark

[Nige201980]

This is going to be good best of luck Mark.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much Nige
It already takes some messuring and cutting
In hindsight a dragon kit as a base would have been faster
But it will work out eventually

[Chip1942]

This looks like a great build thread im watchin'

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Chip
I guess i am joining after all
The first bit is going slow though , lots of cutting and checking
Once the basic shell of the hull is done i should be able to go a bit faster
And the turret should be fine as i have spare early production parts wich should fit on the atak shell without any modifying
I'm not sure about the gun but i may get a replacement for it
I am about to order some after market sets one of these days so i can toss in a extra barrel as they are not that expensive
But i would have to make a list first.so i don't forget anything
I will do some sprueshots and a first update once the hull is build up
Cheers, Mark

[Coen]

I have that Fehrmann kit in the stash, I didn't realise that it was worth quite that much.
Still, that means little to me as I plan on building it so what it's worth is meaningless now haha.
Watching what you do with this kit will be extremely interesting Mark.
The Fehrmann Tigers were such cool looking subjects.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Coen
I would have liked a Dragon kit as that is my prefered brand but options for such a build are limited
It is either that expensive one or 2 kits and bash them together
The zimmerit kit is a waffle type instead of the more common ridge type but it is hard to find reference on these tanks
I did find that they had zim althpugh that was discontinued 6 months before these tanks where build from the damaged Tigers they had and all the photo's i could find online where from vehicles F02 and F05 although one sote mentioned the numbers could have been different all together
So i guess accuracy is not my main goal here
I will try to get the hull build up later today so the ca gets enough time to set and i will see what i can do about the turret so far
The kit gun is not all that good comparred to a dragon gun and the lenght seems a bit too short so i am thinking about a replacement for it
But 1 of the sides is on there already and the front armor plates have all been modified to fit so it will be putting it together mostly as all the dey fitting is done by now
But i actually look forward to painting it as these tanks looked like they could fall apart at any moment with a bad paintjob rust and things like that

[MarkVerploeg]

hi guys
well it is time for a little update but first i want to say i am sorry it is taking me so long but i have a infection in several (read 8 out of 10) fingers
this causes wounds wich hurt like hell so after i am coming home from work it hurts that much that i just want do something that doesn't require me using my hands
but as there is some healing going on i tried building something as i did want to do that for some days now
so here is the little bit of progress i made so far


as the atak kit is designed for the dragon kits it didn't fit and i had to cut off the lower part of the kit rearplate
with dragon this is molded on the hull already
it doesn't fit perfectly but there is some more zimmerit to cover the seams and gaps


then i cut the sponsons to size
i did make a mistake with the mesurements and removed too much and i didn't make a straight cut but that will be fixed later


then the sides and drivers plate where added
as you can see i used a lot of styrene strips to support the sides


the upper glacis plate didn't fit either
this is because the sides of the hull are too thick and the hull is a bit longer then the dragon hull
i trimmed the sides well those tabs that are raised and used some styrene strip to fill the gap on the front


more strips where used
this time to make supports for the hull roof wich needed to be extended aswell but i wanted to make sure the roof can't fall into the hull when i glue it in and to make sure it is a bit stronger when i have to pick up the model while painting


and finally a test fit of the hull roof
it seems to fit altough i should use some presure when i glue it in as the fit is very tight to say the least

and that is where this build is at right now i have done some work on parts like the engine cover but those are not done just yet
but i really want to take a collection of Tigers to the SMC and i think that this one won't be good enough because of all the cutting and trimming so i have had a look on some modelling shop websites and i have ordered some of the upcoming Tigers that dragon will be releasing some time soon
i ordered the most famous of all Tigers , 131 just as a wanna have thingy but i also ordered a Late production Tiger
and a new Atak zimmerit set but one that fits that kit as i want one with the ridged zimmerit instead of the waffle zim that i have on this one
so i think i have declared this to be my Tiger year
wich must be a mistake as the Tiger 1 is not my personal favorite tank and it only hits the 3rd place right after the King Tiger and the Panther
but anyway this is all i have for now
thank you for stopping by and hopefully i will be back with some more updates soon
happy modelling
cheers,Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

hi guys
so a new update for this build
by now the entire tank is build with 1 very important part missing
the gun is not placed yet as the kit gun was terrible (too short and thick) so i need a replacement and i ordered 1 but as the same order contains some pre order kits that will be availble at the end of the month
they are the re released Tiger 1 Late and Tiger 131 so yaaay even more Tigers but i guess these will stay in the stash for a while
but back to the order at hand , the gun is missing but i want to paint it in a dark grey as the heat resistant primer without a coat of paint over it so it doesn't matter it is not here yet
as for the rest of the build it went pretty good and i replaced all the kit tools with spare dragon parts
the same goes for some other bits and pieces

but a picture says more then a thousand words so let's go to that part


the first thing was to get a front part for the mg mantlet wich had to be removed from the italeri part


it was then cut to size so it would fit and glued on the hull


the engine cover was glued together but i changed a few bits later


the hole for the turret had to be enlarged as the dragon/atak turret is bigger
the antenna mount was cut of the hull roof and replaced with a nicer looking spare part
although it now strikes me that i didn't add a antenna yet


the engine tub and cover where placed this gives the roof plate a bit more strenght wis was needed to keep it from deforming when i try to place it on the hull


some rear plate tools where added
these are all from the basekit but look okay only the jack is missing a part but i want to make it look damaged later on by adding rust and a inregular shape where the small endcap should be


the tools where added
these are all spare parts from dragon kits


the white styrene strip was soaked with some TET and then scratched with a blade to make a weld seam
i did this before i added the tools but forgot to shoot a picture of it (not my finest hour )


the side skirts where added
these are from the italeri kit but are made by a other company
they are nice not the same quality as voyager or aber but still they are good
they where bend up and then glued on


i then decided to add more battle damage so i cut off one of the front fenders


when you lok at a photo of a real Fehrmann or hybrid Tiger you can see 2 rows of 3 tracks hanging on the front
to add these i made some small hooks with leadfoil wich where reënforced with some ca glue


the exhausts and the spare tracks for the front


the gun needed some modifying
the internal part is from italeri the zimmerit mantlet is from atak and the sleeve was cut from a spare mantlet


the turretroof needed some modifying too
these holes need to be filled


the holes where filled with some styrene scraps and then finished with a splash of molten sprue
i used it a few times now but i really like it and i think that if you have a old bottle of TET you should give it a try
just use a pencil sharpener to get small and thin scraps of sprue and toss them in
stir it and leave it for a while so the styrene can melt and then you have a cheap bottle of filler wich becomes just as strong as the kit part you use it on


the mantlet needed a bit of filling as i damaged the rim of the gunsleeve or it was that way i don't know
it just had to be fixed


the turretbin was dented
for this i used a chisel from master tools (trumpeter) wich is a nice tool to have
i then thinned the walls on the inside and simply applied presure on the outside using the top of a pair of tweezers


a nice pile of wheels that need sanding oooh no more like


a inbetween test fit of the turret


all the parts that will be painted seperate from the hull to make it easier


here you can see a last minute change
i replaced the stock airintake with the one for the feifel filter wich is also included but not used
just for that field converted look


the friul tracks where not used but instead some ds tracks wich will work aswell
the friuls will be kept for a other build








some pictures of the build up model
i think it is now ready for some paint but i don't know wich colors and wich scheme i want to use
so i will have to look for some inspiration but i do know it should be a colorfull one with a grey basecoated turret with zimmerit on top of that and a camoscheme and the same for the hull but then i will use primer red for the metal and then the camo on the zimmerit
well then that is all i have for now
i hope you like it so far happy modelling and untill next time
cheers Mark

[Nev]

Looking good mate great to have another build with us!

That waffle zim looks really effective btw

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much Nev
It is just as it comes in the kit as it is pre damaged bit atak sets can be damaged with only a little bit of work
I was suprised that it would all fit as they are meant for a dragon kit
But for now it is on to the painting stages

[wookiee76]

Very nice bash there mark, i also think barrelless looks funky, sturm tiger stylee or captured and fitted with some oversized howitzer.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks John
It has a gun by now allthough i bought a gun for a Tamiya kit by accident
But it can be fitted if you drill out the interior of the fun sleeve
It is ready for paint but i have run out of chipping and masking fluids
So i will get back to it once i have some new supplies

[Coen]

Fun sleeve...hehehehe

[MarkVerploeg]

Fun sleeve...hehehehe

Oops
I have a good excuse for that
I was at and was typing with gloves on so i had extra chubby fingers

[MarkVerploeg]

So this forgotten shelf queen has seen some action lately
i managed to paint it but i forgot to take photo's of the proces
i will gloss coat it tomorrow and maybe decal it later the same day
but i lost the decals so i will use some spares i have left
so it won't be a Fehrmann Tiger but one of the other Hybrids that where seen in the last days of the war


it will.need some heavy weathering to blend all of this together but i haven't done a heavy weathering job for a while so it could be fun to do that

And that is all i have
i hope to finish this build soon and add it to the rest of my Tigers
Cheers , Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
so here is the final reveal thingy for this build
i finished it today
but unfortunatly i don't have any progres pics for it
i had a virus on my phone and the photo's where on there
so the entire memory bank had to cleaned out and everything was erased
and i forgot to upload those photo's
but on the bright side i did upload the pics for my other builds so those are safe
But before i really start rammbling about here is my Hybrid Tiger 1
aka FrankenTiger (by me)










So that is all for this build
i hope you like it
thanks for stopping by and having a look
cheers, Mark

[Damonkh]

Did you use cheese cloth for the texturing on it? That's what it looks like to me. Wonderful job!

[MarkVerploeg]

Did you use cheese cloth for the texturing on it? That's what it looks like to me. Wonderful job!

Thank you
if you mean the zimmerit ,then no
it is a set from Atak wich is a resin set with a turret and thin sheets of resin
but this set had the waffle zimmerit wich was a lesser known and used version
you can find it on StuG III's and the StuH III but for tanks it was pretty rare
unlike the common striped zimmerit you see on many german tanks
if i had to make it myself i would have needed a stamp with the right shape and i don't know if there is such a thing

[Noobmodeler521]

Looks great, love the concept of a hybrid tiger and also that waffle zimmerit brings the tiger a really new look. If only it happend in real life.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
The Hybrid Tigers did excist
There is not a whole known about the few that excisted though
The best known are the Tigers fron Kampsgruppe Fehrmann and even things like the turret numbers aren't clear
But what is know is that there was a F01 and F05
From photo's that are made fron these tanks you can see that they have parts from earlier production runs and later
The F05 had a mid or late hull combined with late steel wheels and tracks but it had a early turret judging by the cupola and turret bin
They basicly where a last ditch effort from the maintenence crews to get some Tigers back in the field
The zimmerit is a set from Atak and to be honest i don't know if there ever was a Tiger that had the waffle pattern but i thought that would look nice so that is why it has this pattern instead of the regular horizontal or vertical ridges

[HIghAltitudeScale]

I like the build, i think you got what you were looking for from a kit that was not as good as it could have been, so great work!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
Well the kit leaves much to be desired , mainly because all my other Tigers are Dragon kits wich in terms of quality are superior to the Italeri kit i used as a base
But at the time i started this build there was the Italeri kit and the way over priced Cyber hobby kit that is hard to find aswell
So i didn't have much choise
I have the Academy kit now so i will be building another one some time

[mick]

good progress

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Mick