More Airfix Tiger I (completed refurbishment) shots

They just seemed so photogenic so I kept snapping.

Two Tigers far away:

One opened-up with tank commander further away:

Another one of the tank commander opened-up coming closer:

And closer:

The other Tiger close-up:

Airfix Tiger fashion show now over (honest)! Yeah, those pesky decals still to do. In the interest of fairness I should now concentrate on making and painting a couple of Airfix Shermans ;)

The Painting Tray Update: Invasion of the German Heavy Tanks

Confession: It was not just a couple of Tigers that queue jumped the British Comets, if you look carefully you can see two JagdTigers, a SturmTiger as well as a finished Royal Tiger I used as a painting guide.

All I can say in my defence is simply that the urge took me :)

Airfix Tiger I refurbishment: Part Four "Then there was two"

One Tiger refurbishment down and so just one to go. Aiming at the target point of duplicating this below, but with a tank commander to boot:

The second Tiger I turret reconstruction was green for go. Here it is taking the basic shape and base coat colour:

Now appearing as the finished product on the left, finished to the same three tone (more stone than base yellow) Camo pattern, and crewman/commander has even been given a lick of paint too.

The only thing outstanding (but not critical IHMO) is to weather and redden the German tank tracks, which I will do across the board on the German armour in a mass production fashion. Oh, yes, of course my Achilles heel, the obligatory German decals to come :)

PS: Hmmm, A pregnant question hanging in the air is, do I return to the "Brown" and "Green" Tigers to add in another stripe of alternating colour (green and brown respectively) to make the batch be of "the same unit". I am tempted, but putting it off for a rainier day than today!

Airfix Tiger I refurbishment: Part Three

I have a problem with the basic Dark Sand Yellow look of mid-war German armour. I just don't think it is interesting enough. I like to fiddle with my painting and add different shades of paint to give a weather beaten effect. 

Hence I followed my Panzer Jagd IV, Tiger I and Royal Tiger (Tiger II) examples. I chose a late-war three part scheme. However I made it slightly more "blocky" than "stripy".

If truth be told the yellow has migrated to more of a pale stone whiter shade, which fits with a late 1944 Ardennes feel to it, but is not something I plan to universally adopt.

Which is fine by me. It breaks up the outline nicely and I don't have to work in the busy "ambush scheme" (may be at a later date).

The tracks were in a mixed up state, paint everywhere. Here I fell back on a recent trick I learn from the Airfix Chieftain that crossed my painting table. Games Workshop Chaos Black, particularly when it goes slightly chunky in the pot, seals the shiny silver Airfix track plastic really well. While the black was out I took the opportunity to blacken the gun barrel/exhausts and highlight with a shade of grey.

Next step is to consult my Flames of War (Art of War) painting tips for German tank tracks. They seem to think there should be a reddish tinge/undertone to them, but I am much happier with my Airfix Tiger I now.

Time to catch up with the second Airfix Tiger I.

Airfix Tiger I refurbishment: Part Two

Moving onto a basic Dark Yellow overcoat (XF-60 dark Yellow):

Now comparing with Old Airfix:

(New Airfix) Against the Fujimi as Comparison

(Old Airfix) Against the Fujimi as Comparison

I think it's an improvement on the original shape :)

Next a new Camo Pattern to make it pretty ...

Airfix Tiger I refurbishment: Part One

A funny thing happened to me from the Painting Table to the Model Box ...

I had just under-coated the so-called German Wonder Tanks (from Pegasus) Matt Black and had put them to one side (eyeing up the Boulton Paul defiant and Hawker Hurricane) when I thought I should really put the tanks "back in the box" (so I or small child didn't break them)!

Pandora's box of unfinished models was opened and I spied my old pair of Airfix Tigers. Hmm. The comparison (Fujimi v Airfix):

Now this annoys me, all because of the missing back stowage bins (you know the story of the Airfix designers basing their model from a reconstructed Tiger, done in haste without the ubiquitous stowage bins in place, so they never made it to the final Airfix model ). Just think of all those generations of misguided teenage Airfix modellers getting confused with their AFV recognition charts ;)

I had made these two Tigers yonks ago but they were never used as they looked a bit silly next to their Fujimi and Hasagawa cousins (with back bins). Taking inspiration from a certain Tim Marshall's web-site and his Tiger Turret conversion I decided to take the plunge and have a go myself, it looked simple enough.

The basic conversion, a new back:

Starting with glueing two small bits of squarish plasti-card sticking out from the rear turret (using the Fujimi turret as a guide), a third longer piece was bent and rolled over joining the back of the two. Getting it sufficiently curved was rather tricky, so I settled for glueing piece three in place and then sticking a forth bit of rolled/bent plasti-card over it to get the extra curve needed, Finally I carved a rough curve to fit the Tiger turret from a very thin bit of plast-icard and put that over the bin framework. This irregular shape was carved back to conform to turret/bin shape.   

A little extra detail (Two Back Flaps added):

Two small squares of plastic were added as bin flaps and a small square hole was drilled into the middle of the back stowage area (as per the Fujimi model).

A spot of Panzer Yellow (Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow): It looks rough in close-up, but it's good enough from a distance and there is a bit of camo and weathering to follow :)

The refurbishment continues ...

The Painting Tray as of May 2010

Putting aside the petty events of a UK General Election, doubtless the world (or maybe again perhaps not) will be relieved to know that sufficient clear space has been finally found for the Painting Tray 2010 to manifest itself.

The intense interest in 1/3000 and 1/1200 ship painting was partly fuelled by a restricted space issue, partly by a "Naval" whim of mine. I need to up-scale before I lose my eyesight.

Now for a bit of 20mm and 1/72 kit making action:

• Airfix: Hurricane Mk.I
• Airfix: Boulton Paul Defiant
• Airfix: Chieftain Tank
• Matchbox: Comets (x3)
• Pegasus Hobbies: WWII German Wonder Tanks (Schwerer Kliener)

The planes are quite far on and viewed as an easy (though slow) painting exercise. The Matchbox Comets as inspired by Al's  Blog, the "Cold War" Chieftain (to be done in Urban Camouflage) is inspired by the Modern British Civil War Blog. The Pegasus Hobby tanks were just easy builds that satisfied a "plastic kit construction" craving I had. That is not yet over and I am scouring my boxes for easy kits to make :)

Trying to make/get themselves noticed:

• Xyston 15mm Thracians
• Xyston 15mm Macedonians (inspired as per the excellent 15mm Paint Shack blog)
• Hat Pz III G (x2)

In reserve (on hold/rested):

• 20mm HOTT Moria Goblin Army
• 1/1200 Revell MiniShip Series
• 1/3000 Navwar WWII Ships