Detailed / upgraded Tamiya King Tiger

[vonmarshall]

Hi all

I am new to this forum but have been into RC Tanks for quite a while now. I thought this would be an ideal place to show off my Tamiya King Tiger Production Turret... I hope you all appreciate it more than my wife does!

This is a Tamiya Full Option with a host of goodies to improve the running... Impact Gearboxes with punchy motors, Impact metal tracks, Impact track tensioner (probably the most important upgrade in my opinion), and finally Wecohe metal wheels (probably the most expensive and yet futile upgrade, but they did look lovely before painting!)

I used some detailing kits to spice up the hull and turret including individual track holders on the turret, proper tow ropes, photo-etch grills and a holder for a machine gun on top.

The whole tank was given a thick coat of Mr Surfacer 500 and then stippled and sanded to give it some texture.

I actually bought an airbrush for this kit and am now a convert. This was my first ever go at advanced painting and weathering and in fact I ended up repainting and weathering it 3 times (that is the nice thing about airbrushing and armour... if you are not happy you can just start again)

Anyway, enough chat, here are the pictures. All comments / critique welcome.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning and Welcome to the Forum,
Your King Tiger is splendid in all the ways that armor should be. I commiserate on the Wife business as do many others here. We would not trade our Mates for all the world tho', even while we are being given the hairy eyeball as we try to explain why one more tank is an absolute necessity. ;o) I love the Ambush pattern and it is strikingly done here on this massive tank. The only possible criticism that I might level is that you have no bucket. How will you milk the local cattle, Sir? Get thee hence and procure a bucket forthwith. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[doc larsson]

yo

im with painless...no bucket ? ergo you haven't finished the kt yet ! seriously nice job i also like the pattern and weathering. BUT.....no mud

nice job mate !

[maxmekker]

Just super

[palepainter]

Love the paint work!!

[Red Devils]

Excellent paint job, that is mighty sharp looking...

Derek

[scalawag]

Great looking KT. Love the ambush pattern and the subtle weathering is just right to my eye.

They are right about the bucket though I like the Schumo ones, as ever they are pricey, but worth it in my opinion.

http://www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk/schu ... 1620-p.asp

[jeff1101]

Beautifully done sir. I think your subtle weathering is even "historically" correct as most of these would have been new or just months old so weathering and wear would not have been excessive.

[vonmarshall]

Thank you for your feedback. All my wife had to say is "get that f***ing thing out of my living room" which I did not feel was very constructive.

The only possible criticism that I might level is that you have no bucket. How will you milk the local cattle, Sir? Get thee hence and procure a bucket forthwith

You are of course right... what was I thinking! I will get one of those Schumo ones immediately.

BUT.....no mud

Yes... very good point! The original plan was to add mud in the most realistic way... by driving it. Then I would hope to blend it in and tone it down so over the years it would slowly get dirtier and dirtier... only problem is I have not plucked up the courage to take it out! Ridiculous I know.

Beautifully done sir. I think your subtle weathering is even "historically" correct as most of these would have been new or just months old so weathering and wear would not have been excessive.

Many thanks, that was exactly my thought too. There are however some errors that I made and will remember to address on future models. For instance, for a KT to be missing all fenders, it is likely that it would have seen some action and therefore would be more beaten up and more heavily weathered. Also, I think I should have painted the area that would have been covered by the fenders in plain yellow and not taken the ambush scheme all the way down. I should also probably have weathered this area more to account for dirt build up trapped under the fenders before they were removed.

I am however done with this tank. I like the way she looks and feels. Although there are some inconsistencies, I cannot face going back over it. A DAK Pz III is in the queue and needs my love and attention (and the one-colour scheme may even be more appropriate for the living room decor!)

[tankmad]

Very nice KT well done.
Stevie