1/35 Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche Turret)

M_Brindos · July 15, 2023, 1:24pm

It has been a while. Life has brought me some dramatic changes and I’m adapting, but thats another story. Good news is, I’m back.

So this kit has a production date from 1993 and its clean as a whistle with no flash anywhere. Its been easy to work with so far and I’m loving it. I picked it up years ago and I have the Tamiya mesh screen PE and the sticker Zimmerit. Unfortunately I didnt get the Indy link tracks yet, but I will. I did find out there is a learning curve to that sticker Zim and I didnt use every piece of it. Just the large sections and hatch sections. A bit of LC helped in some spots where it curved, especially over the MG blister.

I started by building up the turret per the instructions and then started the upper hull before I had to see how the TC fit in that turret hatch. The kit does provide the spare tracks and track hangers, but gives no reference or measurements as to how they fit and I just winged it to get the first ones on there and took measurements for the other three sets.

IMG_20230709_145104 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

IMG_20230709_145038 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

That of course led me to painting him up.

King Tiger TC by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

IMG_20230710_150133 by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

I took this last picture before I finished all of his tiny devices, but he’s ready to go now.

I used Rustoleum red oxide primer for the turret and I love the dark brick red on it so far, but a word of caution would be to not spray it on too thick. It took days to dry and it was still a bit tacky. I had to spray it with some Tamiya TS-80 before i could seriously handle it again.

Im going to start assembling the wheels today and see how far I can get.

1/35 Tamiya King Tiger TC by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

Rob_Gronovius · July 15, 2023, 7:47pm

He looks good. I wish I was better at figure painting.

M_Brindos · July 15, 2023, 8:58pm

Thanks, Rob.

I’m a bit rusty right now. But I’ll get back into practice.

I’ve noted that, with myself, that if I’m not really invested in what I’m doing, I’m usually not that good at it. Perhaps it just doesn’t interest you?

Rob_Gronovius · July 15, 2023, 10:53pm

Yes, you are likely correct. I usually omitted the figures when I was younger. As an adult, I hastily put them together and let my boys play with them like green army men.

I actually enjoy building much more than painting.

M_Brindos · July 15, 2023, 11:44pm

I understand. Some of the processes we use are not as enjoyable as others. I don’t know what clicked for me, but eventually I found that I love how figures give you a feel of scale as a small human reference you can relate to. Now it’s one of my favorite steps to do. I can’t really explain it.

However, todays progress was good enough for now. I painted the inside of all of these dang road wheels with German Armor Brown for deep shadows later. There’s nothing worse then being able to see spots I’ve missed between the road wheels later after I think I’ve got them all covered so I did this before assembly and sanding. I super glued some paper in the hull under the engine vents so they’re not just gaping holes into the interior of the model. I should’ve found something black, but white is all I have access to right now so I drown the engine deck in thinned black paint for later. Hopefully the thin paint will soak into the paper and spread around some.

1/35 Tamiya King Tiger by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

These deck screens were not too difficult to do except for the rounded parts around the turret circumference. Scisors and an exacto blade just kept pushing the screen around so I couldn’t get it precise. I had to trim after I glued it and sand it down from there. I also sprayed those with the German Armor Brown to see how bad they are and they didnt turn out as bad as they first looked.

1/35 Tamiya King Tiger by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

The tracks responded very well to super glue and I’ll keep them on there temporarily until I can replace them with indy links later. I can see why the fenders are important if you have the rubber band tracks on. These looks terrible lol.

1/35 Tamiya King Tiger by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

So that’s enough for today. So now that all of the hard stuff is done it’s just a matter of adding the rest of the little bits and then it’s prime time.

Thanks for tagging along!

M_Brindos · July 16, 2023, 4:58pm

Today has been a good day. I’ve got all of the small bits and assemblies either attached or left off for painting now. I’ve added a few small omitted details such as the wire for the headlamp, the retaining bolt shafts for the jack, and an antannae. Not much scratch building going on with this build because i don’t have access to all of my supplies yet.

I trimmed the front and rear mud guards because i really want to show off the tracks later… and I glued the hull halves together so I wouldnt be able to properly add them later without a ton of problems anyways. Besides, I like the fenderless look on these monsters.

so, again I give you lousy phone pictures to view, but its better than nothing.

1/35 Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche) by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

It’s prime time, baby!

JoeSMG · July 16, 2023, 5:57pm

It’s coming along nicely, your just getting to the fun parts.
Your figures came out beautifully

M_Brindos · July 16, 2023, 6:26pm

Thank you. I’ve been out of it for a while. I’m priming now, so the fun(er) parts are coming up very soon.

Gamera · July 16, 2023, 8:01pm

Yeah, she’s coming along really well! [Y]

And love the commander figure. I’m a decent figure painter but not that good!

TigerII · July 16, 2023, 8:56pm

Hey Mike, this KT is coming along very nicely. I hope you get your indy tracks soon and I like the look of the zimmerit. BTW your figure came out great. Good job all around.

M_Brindos · July 17, 2023, 9:48am

Thanks guys! Figures have become my favorite part. The TC for my Panther turned out well after a lot of work as well. But I had to repaint his face several times. This one was just a wash for the face and a little trickery with the pallette.

There are no washes or dry brushing on this TC’s uniform at all. Just three colors (Black Grey on the jacket and hat, Black on the headphones and boots, and Granite coveralls) for the uniform.

Painting the tank itself will have to wait for next weekend. That will give my primer plenty of time to cure up.

Tojo72 · July 19, 2023, 9:01pm

That’s coming along nicely,and the figure looks great.

BrandonK · July 20, 2023, 10:01am

Great work on a great subject. That figure looks amazing, Mike. Glad to have you back.

M_Brindos · July 22, 2023, 2:13pm

Thanks guys. I’ll have an update later this afternoon. I’ve got pictures of the paint I’ve got on it now.

Those stupid poly screens turned out horrible though. They looked better before paint and I ripped them off after I glued them on before I painted. All blemishes have been adapted as chipped paint or flaked off Zimerit using red oxide. It’s kinda stark right now, but it will look better after some weathering effects.

Armour is so forgiving in that way lol.

M_Brindos · July 22, 2023, 3:31pm

Pictures!

Tamiya King Tiger (Porsche) by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

I’m not sure what I’ll work on later today, but I’ll post progress at the end of the night.

Gamera · July 23, 2023, 7:33pm

Oh cool! You’re on a Tiger obsession Mike! [;)]

Camo looks terrific!

M_Brindos · July 28, 2023, 2:24pm

Thanks, Gam!

I haven’t made any progress in days, but I should be doing more this weekend maybe. I’m not sure if I should toss the decals on already or not.

Tojo72 · July 29, 2023, 6:30am

Camo went down well

M_Brindos · July 29, 2023, 10:51am

Thank you, Tojo. I guess I just have a eye for it. I didn’t use any references or patterns.

and last weekend I did get distracted by dusting off my old Panther Ausf. A, the one I call “The Veteran” and added some yard finds to it. It doesnt look any worse, but I’m seeing all sorts of mistakes I didn’t address before. Oh well, it still looks good from a distance.

Tamiya Panther Ausf. A by Mike Brindos, on Flickr

I’m off to do some yard work. Hopefully I’ll feel like getting some bench time in later.

Gamera · July 29, 2023, 7:48pm

The Panther looks good, the foliage looks just right!