RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

All I would suggest is to remove the raised material from the bullet/shrapnel holes.
The sheet metal would deflect inwards, and leave a hollow rather than a burr around the penetration.
Get a sharp blade & carve them off. Then try to get the edges to depress rather than be sharp edged.
They look like exit wounds rather than entry!!
Please in no way take that as a criticism, rather an observation.
Over all, your going great guns mate, but just Im saying your going to need an airbrush

Ecam wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 6:21 am I think the exhaust covers came out amazing. Personally I would stop there. You did a great job deforming those plastic fenders. I know how hard it is to get thick plastic to go where YOU want it. I had no idea a hair dryer would give off enough heat. I've a cheap Harbor Freight heat gun (but I use open flame a bunch too).

Thank you. They are officially a Work In Progress separate from the hull now. Yes my budget is limited at this point and I don't have a heat gun but my wife used to be a cosmetologist so we have a good supply of her tools about the house and funny enough how many of them crossover to the modeling world. One of her old Professional Hairdryers has a heat setting to 11 and when you remove the intake filter (some pro models have air filters) it blows air hotter than Hades in the summer. I found heating up the plastic in one spot then using room temperature flat head pliers does a decent job. Just gotta be careful not to heat the pliers up too or they melt the plastic like a hot iron.

HERMAN BIX wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:26 am All I would suggest is to remove the raised material from the bullet/shrapnel holes.
The sheet metal would deflect inwards, and leave a hollow rather than a burr around the penetration.
Get a sharp blade & carve them off. Then try to get the edges to depress rather than be sharp edged. They look like exit wounds rather than entry!!

Thank you Mr. Bix this is confirming my thoughts. I will be on that for sure.

HERMAN BIX wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:26 am Please in no way take that as a criticism, rather an observation.

Absolutely not. I very much appreciate the input. Tis the spirit of the build.

HERMAN BIX wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:26 am Over all, your going great guns mate, but just Im saying your going to need an airbrush

Thank you and thanks for the support. I hear you loud and clear, but an airbrush isn't in the budget right now. Lotsa real world stuff in the mix. But I hope to at the very least pleasantly surprise you in the end. Again, "Run Wut Ya Brung" is the theme I'm working at right now. But I really do want one, some day.

What a fine job you are doing, Meister Chef. I haven't tried the hair drier for softening plastic, but now you have set the old bean to bouncing ideas. What's more, you have made me want to get out one of my TigerI tanks and make it look "experienced."

When you consider an airbrush, I suggest starting with a Paasche H. Here's Paasche's listing, but I would think you could find the set of your choice less expensive elsewhere, for manufacturers usually don't undercut retailers. https://www.paascheairbrush.com/airbrus ... ion?page=1

Why the Paasche H? I have used an airbrush since 1969. I started with a single action Thayer and Chandler and cans of compressed "air." I soon bought a small hobby diaphragm compressor and got by with that for decades until I had my own home and could get a full sized compressor, handy, too, for filling tires and assorted cleaning. I also kept a crude Badger airbrush for large areas. Then in retirement I bought a good quality double action airbrush, but I found it to be of no advantage to me, probably because of inexperience, but also because I found it touchy to use and finicky about the exact paint mix for each brand and color of paint.

Realizing that I had moved to 1/16 scale, I thought maybe a single-action brush might be adequate, so I tried the Paasche H. I quickly learned how to use the Paasch H to paint surprisingly small areas, create camouflage, or cover larger areas--all the while it being easier to get the right mix of paint, thinner, drying retardant (for acrylics) and pressure. Before long, I gave the double action airbrush away to another modeler, and I'd bet it just sits unused in his basement. To be sure, there are many modelers who use double action airbrushes with amazing skill. But for starters, single-action is less expensive, less hassle, and works well on big tanks.

Good grief! I did go on a bit, didn't I?

Herr Dr. Professor wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 6:19 pm What a fine job you are doing, Meister Chef. I haven't tried the hair drier for softening plastic, but now you have set the old bean to bouncing ideas. What's more, you have made me want to get out one of my TigerI tanks and make it look "experienced."

Thank you sir.

Oh Ohhhh Herr Dr. I'd be careful with that. Like these guys have said, once you start cutting and chopping, it becomes more addictive thannnnn, Well maybe more addictive than your collecting habit, to keep it "Family Friendly"...

Herr Dr. Professor wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 6:19 pm Good grief! I did go on a bit, didn't I?

No worries sir. I'm grateful for your advice and the help others give out freely here. Like I said, no airbrush yet. But your information shared is here now for when I'm ready.

Ok so Mr. Bix had some good advice I thought I'd work on. Thank you Eric I thought they looked good too but also still needed more touching up.

First I scraped off the plastic residual from the outside of the exhaust shields making the damage flush.

Then I used the rotary tool and sanded out the inside of the shroud behind the holes I had made. This cleared out the torn plastic inside and also thinned the wall so when I manipulated the holes further they would bend inward resembling shrapnel tearing into the shrouds. I used the picks, round, square and triangle mini files again.







Great suggestion and support Bix. Thank you.

Now the best way to fix those holes is take some stretched sprue, and push it in til it's tight, then some solvent to fix it in the holes. Snip off the excess sprue and sand flush. Voila, holes filled!
You're welcome,
Mike.

VIRGIN WARNING!!!

OK so here is another First for me and on this project.

Weld Seams/Beads.

I researched quite a bit for a proper product to do this since last winter actually. There are many, many, MANY 2 part epoxy putty's to choose from. I chose "Green Stuff" the original by Kneadatite and I'm thoroughly happy with it.

Feel free to ask anything you like about my experience using it.



I got this BIG 100g or 3.5oz packge thinking bigger is better right? I used so little of it I'm laughing and wondering how many tanks/projects I'll have to do to use it up.

Anyway I found how to make a weld bead impression tool out of a soda can, chopstick and electrical tape on YouTube. The cool thing is it actually friggen works. Thank you Uncle Night Shift!



So bear with me these are my first attempts at this.

Three things I did before I attempted this was:

1 Watched several videos on the process.
2 Looked at threads by members here who have done it and on other modeler groups.
3 Looked at detailed pictures of several Tiger I's.

What I've seen some stickler modelers say is the weld seams don't extend beyond the plates joined. But I have seen this to be untrue in several real examples.

What I have done is to make sure that the weld seams are as close to flush with the panels joined as possible. There are a few spots that I will sand and buff for sure. But I did attempt to put my best foot forward with this attempt. There's plenty more to do, so I hope to improve by the end of this shindig.










And the front glacis plate section was more of a challenge because it is where the upper part of the model meets the lower part and was smaller by comparison to the others. I saved it for last so I had a little practice first.



I have more to do for sure but I'm more confident now and I know I can get better.

im calling that PERFECT
Really well done that Man

Yeah, clearly cheating. Bringing in an expert to do your welds is against the rules. Where are the protest forms?