[WINTER 23-24] Tiger I #822

[MrChef]

Coming along! They always look great in one color, even primer. Great work.

Yes sir, and to my surprise I only had a few small issues to fix after the primer shoot.

Thank you Eric.

[MrChef]

Day off, Sunny 40 degrees F, time to do a base color coat.

Tamiya TS-4 German Grey-





Now I have a jumping off point-







Next will be assembly, and of course plenty more paint work. I hope it all goes back together and still works the same...

[MrChef]

Pondering more while lookin at period pics.

This shows the inside of the commanders hatch clearly white or much lighter in color.



I have read many mixed reports and discussions about what paint color was on the inside of the hatches. I have also read about the interiors of German tanks having interior paint color directives change as the war progressed.

Many people postulate the interior hatch colors would have been painted the same as the outer base color for camouflage reasons.

131 looks like the interior hatch color the same as the base color-



I am aware of the hatch pad.

Feel free to discuss.

[Jimster]

That hatch color could be altered by lighting. Seems like parts of the upper hull facing that direction are also light in appearance.
Also remember that only about the first 25 Tigers were painted grey.

[MonsieurTox]

Inside of the hatches were painted white or ivory (inside of the tank ivory as well), it was the official way to do. However sometimes the inside of the hatches were painted the same color as the camo, I've seen some pics of Panzer III and Panzer IV side turret hatches painted this way. I can't relate for the Tiger I though. I would go white or ivory.

[HERMAN BIX]

Elfenbein .............or Cremeweiss

https://www.bnamodelworld.com/ammo-of-m ... erior-17ml

Early German tanks were coated in this including hatches, but later on the issue of high visibility to marauding aircraft became an issue. They went to hatches being base coated from the factory if possible over the red oxide.

[MrChef]

Did I mention how much I hate these Heng Long plastic abominations they call wheels for this tank?

They are utter

Lets see how I can mask their failure-


I used the liquid latex mask to help when painting. Very cool stuff that I used for the first time.



I wanted worn whitewash but I'm not satisfied with it.



This is my second attempt at these buggers and I'm still not happy with them at all. But I worked them up and did lotsa of pigment and mud weathering. At the very least I can rest easy knowing I'll be replacing these down the road with some metal upgrades.

[MrChef]

Fun with tracks.



Ok 2 sets of plastic tracks. I paint and treat them both the same except one set will be muddy and the other will be snow packed.



This set just got the last coat of AK dust deposit and Russian earth pigment dried and ready for applying this Totally awesome and cool AK diorama acrylic mud. I've previously made my own mud with PVA glue, dirt, etc. But this stuff is so much easier to work with. Specifically because it dries fast like acrylic paint. PVA takes overnight.



Next, whats a winter theme without some Snow!!!

So I searched for about 3 months for a decent snow product. I found "Precision Ice & Snow" but they are out of business by all accounts. Soooooo I opted for something stupid cheap and it didn't have to be great, just good enough for show and tell. I found this Sno-tex at Michaels crafts for $5. when I made a trip with the wife there a few months back. Not nearly as much fun or easy to slap on as the AK mud but it'll do.



And there ya go. An update of the boring stuff I did during the snow storm we had this past weekend.

[Mithras]

This is coming out beautifully, Master Chef, or in Swedish-Chef speak "Di tanken is der lookin der good-oo!"
Oh...nearly forgot.

Vallejo does a decent snow paste, if you can find it.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I always rusted up tracks a bit, ran them on the concrete floor to make the cleats shine, and said "Boris Gudinov." Since these weathering products are made for static display, will the snow stay put if you run the Tiger?