Tiger 1 build

[cupoftea]

Today has mostly been a decal day. I have decided that decals are the least fun job! Tools and tow ropes have also been added.




Tomorrow when the decals are dry i am going to give them a very light overspray with dark yellow.

[cupoftea]

What a spatula i am! must have done something stupid with the decals. When i started to do the overspray this morning the transfers fell off! Seems that the 15 psi draft was enough to lift them,

Ah well - i have no clue why this happened but that has put me off waterslide decals. Going to see about some stencils instead.

[scalawag]

Hi Cuppa,

Did you apply a gloss of some kind before applying the decals?

It helps them adhere and also can stop the silvering you get with the excess decal film. If you apply them to a matt surface they will struggle to adhere to it and you will almost always get some silvering from air trapped between the surface and the decal.

I use an acrylic gloss varnish a couple of coats just in the area where the decal is to be applied. I also use Revell Decal soft when applying as this helps to shape the decals to the surface especially on Zim or any uneven surface. When the decals are dry then I use a flat varnish to take down the gloss.

[cupoftea]

Thanks for the tips scalawag. I knew I had messed up somehow (no gloss varnish).

[jeff1101]

hi cupoftea, going the stencil route is also a good idea. I did this on my panther as it is easier to "distress" stencil applied airbrushed markings than decals.

If you notice in your pictures, the decals applied look too "neat" compared to the rest of the tank which you already weathered. If you had airbrushed the markings using stencils, you can vary the intensity of the airbrush or even cover some areas so that the markings themselves look faded or chipped.

Here is how I applied the unit markings on my panther. Please follow the latter posts for details.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8956&start=340

One note of caution when airbrushing marking using the stencils is to cover as much area of the tank you do not want painted to prevent overspray as they cannot be fixed without repainting your base paint.

I bought the stencils here http://www.rctank.de/TIGER-I_6. They have a lot for the Tiger 1.

Hope it helps.

[cupoftea]

Thanks Jeff

Yep - i agree that the decals looked way too clean and new. I think stencils are the route to go.

Thanks for posting the link.

[cupoftea]

Managed to take a photo in sunlight today;

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning, cupoftea,
The sunlight really brings out the super nice detail work on the parts and paint. Going the stencil route will add even more realism and life to this Tiger. ;o) Great work!
regards,
Painless

[cannedheat]

cuppa old chap
when she is finished shall you be sending it to me personally or by post ?

[cupoftea]

Not a lot further forward really. Have made up and fitted a track pulling cable. made it from some picture hanging wire and used some heatshrink cable for the ferrules. I bottled it with the markings in the end and used some Taigen self adhesives. I am quite pleased with how they looked once oversprayed with dark yellow and then some matt clear. next step is to distress the markings slightly and then make a start on the wheels. Anyway here is a piccy of the track towing cable in situ.