Here’s a little preview of one of a series of models I’m working on at the moment. This is Revell’s 1/72 King Tiger. I spent a day ‘upgrading’ it with wire, metal sheet and plastic rods and card. The kit is very nice without those improvements, but it’s real hard to build out of the box… [V]
I’m still rather undecided about the color scheme… Because of the lack of Zimmerit, it’s got to be a post-September '44 vehicle, but I was also toying with the idea of doing it with Tiger stripes… But I have a Leopard being readiyed for such a ‘scheme’…
Oh man, is that a beautiful kit or what? It’s my favorite 1/72nd scale armor kit, hands down.
The detailing you’ve done on it looks really nice. Mine were built for wargaming, so they are straight OOB.
I haven’t done a review of the Tiger II’s usage, but it seems that quite a lot of the ones that were built and saw service would be without zimmerit. Just consider how many of the older heavy panzer battalions would lose all their tanks in some horrible battle and then need a resupply. I don’t think the 509 sPzAbt, my own favorite unit, had any with zimmerit for the fighting in Hungary in 1945, frisntance. Same goes for 501 SSs.pzAbt, which left all their Tiger II’s as nice presents for the Allies in the Bulge. [:P]
Anyways, if you pick a specific unit you want to paint, let me know and I will take a peek at Tigers in Combat I for you.
I have a pic that I like a lot. It shows a KingTiger with a 3-tone color ambush scheme, but with definite hard-edged colors. However, I can not detect any unit markings nor any German crosses either. The gun barrel is two-tone, presumably red-brown (top) and dark yellow (bottom), with a wavy demarcation running all along the gun.
The tank is in a wooden area, and is definitely a Zimmerit-free vehicle. The picture appears in Panzerwaffe at War (2) Moscow to Berlin, by R Michulec and T Anderson, published by Concord.
Unfortunately, the caption does not tell where and when the pic was taken… Anybody’s got an idea…??
Duke, for one, I could not contemplate cleaning up the mold lines on the tow cables so I made new ones out of several strands of fine wire. Once I started that, there was no escaping re-doing all the bits that ties them down onto the hull, then the handles that are all over the place, the periscopes and a few other tiny little bits. The mesh is a little extra too. The kit itself is gorgeous though. The tracks are superb and I could not resist cutting down into the skirts to show a little bit more of them. The next one I build will be skirt-less, for sure!
For those who have not yet noticed the new Smilies are made available by clicking on the “Show Entire Smilie List” found at the bottom of the pack of Smilies found at the lower left hand corner of “Post New Reply” or “Post New Topic” windows.
Revell 1/72 is definately the best. Really great job, dj. How long did it take you to do all the clips, clamps, cables, etc. I look forward to seeing it finished.
As for all the new “smilies”, someone has way too much time on their hands!! lol
Brian, the grills are cut from a piece of fairly fine metal mesh that’s been around in my scrap-box for a while. Wonder where it cam from…? More to the point, what will I do when it’s gone!?
Bill, all that work took about 5 to 6 hours I’d say, the main ‘pain’ being bending the wire to get even looking handles and hooks. I drilled little holes to insert the wire in the model and it also took a little bit of time to fill in the resulting gaps with Milliput.
[#ditto]Domi, I continue to be more impressed with this little puppy every time I look at it! You have really done a terrific job! Braille Scale, indeed!
