Sorry the updates are farther apart, just haven't had as much want to work on the Tiger due to work and life getting in the way.
First up, i've painted the interior of the commanders cupola. I know it was an off-white colour, but I just used Tamiya XF-2 Flat White and XF-1 Flat Black. I feel it came out quite well even despite my poorly used painting skill, lol. I just need to add the ballistic glass, the it can be fixed in place and added to the turret roof. I also painted the inside of the commanders hatch in XF-63 German Grey, and painted the foam pad in the XF-1. It needs a bit of a touch up, but I like the way It came out. I'll add the 13 waterproofing number later when I apply the decals.
Next we have the major weld seams on the upper hull and turret roof. I was dreading doing these as they hide the gaps in the hull & turret roof, and are much larger so need to be more detailed. Im pleased with how they came out though. The curved welds were created with a home made tool, made from a piece of brass tube.
Moving along is the turret bin. This was a pain. A tip here, anyone who uses the Aber kit,
DONT use their template for the rivets. Firstly it doesn't follow the slight curve of the top of the bin, and secondly it puts the rivets way to close together and too far down the bin. I ended up remomving all the rivets i'd done and re-doing them. I used 0.8mm brass rivets, again from Scale Hardware, and just clued them in with a dab of CA into holes drilled earlier.
The lids I had planned on them being opening, but sadly (and to much swearing :-[) I broke one of the hinges. I then decided to glue them shut. Once i've got the detailling done, i'll add some nice battle damage to the brass sheet on the outside.
The last pictures are the schumo S-mine launcher bases. It may not be 100% accurate for an Ardennes Tiger, but I like them.
For the front 3 mounts, I added a strip of styrene to raise them up a little. The Tamiya molded brackets were just too flatt. Then a little weld seam, and glue on the base. The actual tubes though, I need to add the electrical firing wire and sleve to the back, and some details from the Aber set, like the retaining strip, then I can attach them.
I'm happy details are finally being added, and she's a beast to run with the speed regulator. Coming soon though will be; rusted exhausts (with real rust!), Some hatches, hopefully with working locking mechanisms, and lots more tiny brass parts!
Cheers,
Rik
I have developed a small problem with the air intake though. It appears, schumo didnt measure the clearance needed for the turret to go over it, and as such, the bolt heads on top impead the turret rotation. Seeing as I hid the nuts on the inside with milliput quite a bit ago, I dont really fancy demiloishing the engine bay door to remove the intake. It'll just have to be one of those things i'll live with. After all she'll sit on a shelf most of the time.
