Old Modeler, new R/C KT build

[MichaelC]

Dean, are you going to paint them red/white a la Jadgtiger ? I always wonder why the JT has these red/white cleaning rods and nobody else has it. Even on a camo tank you have these red/white sticking out which is really strange.

What about the fire extinguisher ? Should it be red also ? Just curious.

[dgsselkirk]

Red and white cleaning rods? Never heard of those. Now I have heard of red and white zeroing posts and seen pics of that. Because a lot of vehicle pics were taken in rear areas or training ranges you see these zeroing posts. Those were to calibrate the gun and sights. It would kind of be a clever idea to combine the 2 I suppose but I have never heard of that. Of course I am no expert by any means so will have to do more research! I will be leaving mine looking like Bovington except to add a little more weathering. But no rust! I laugh when I see guys put heavy weathering on the cleaning rods. You would be shot if you let that happen on a real tank. In fact I even toyed with the idea of putting fabric covers over the ends. It's what I would have done with the set up the KT's had. Grab some burlap or canvas sacks and cover those ends. Just a thought....

[dgsselkirk]

Forgot on the fire extingusher it was red out of the factory but I know if they did camo in the field everything basically got painted! What's that old army addage about if it moves something if it doesn't paint it???
In my case I like any contrast I can get so I will pretend the crew actually gave a $#@^ about the fire extingusher, cleaning rods, tools, etc... and took it off while painting. Normally you would just go right over this stuff.

[MichaelC]

This is what I was talking about:

PMarshall_Trumpeter_Jagdtiger_pic04.jpg (84.03 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

[MichaelC]

Here is another one, but funny enough they are all Porsche chassis......... Wydawnictwo #305 Tiger in Action 1944 Vol II cover even painted a KT with the Red/White cleaning rods which I have never seen before.

[dgsselkirk]

Same one as above but reverse view??? I have seen the red and whites being used in other pics with different panzers as I described but I don't think I have ever seen actual combat vehicles wth them. Like I said I have seen them in depot, on training and gunnery grounds. Interesting topic for discussion. Maybe we should put it in the general discussion forum and see what comes up? Porsche chassis? Boy I have a lot of memory catching up to do! LOL

[MichaelC]

That's what I thought since there is only handful of Porsche chassis to begin with, but it is on different side of the tank and one is staggered and one is lined up properly so I believe it is a different tank.

I figure if you like contrast this would be a pretty nice contrast !

[mustclime]

I was watching warhorse the other night....there is a line in there where the commander told a captain to let his buttons and alike go dull so they could not be seen..........The purpose of camouflage is the brake up the lines of a object. taking things off a tank and then spraying paint makes no sence to me.....It also depends on where the tank was painted.....if it was painted at the factory and then the tools were mounted....I can see that....if it was painted in the field....no way they would clear off the tank to paint it....my e100 will have the tan base colour put on....then I will mount the the tools and track links and add the next 2 colours....with everything mounted....

great work btw

[dgsselkirk]

Hey Michael,

LOL! Yea, it would be contrast all right although if you weathered them down wouldn't be so bad but I don't want a KT that would look like a road construction vehicle! LOL! It's bad enough we have to plug in our towers! HA!
Same tank one with transport set up one with field set up???
Hey there is a military show Jan. 26th I am thinking of going to, interested???

[dgsselkirk]

Hi Scott,

Having actually done camo to vehicles in the field I can tell you yes, certain items will be taken off before painting. Here are a couple of reasons: You tend to lay it on pretty thick so certain items with moving parts you DO NOT want painted. Lubricated items. Certain areas you are are careful around. Sorry but I wouldn't want more coats of paint on some of my tools! Conversely the paint doesn't tend to stick very well for very long so it would come off quickly on frequently handled, rubbed, scraped parts. I can attest to this! LOL! So yes, I would probably remove the cleaning rods sorry. Air attack was their biggest concern, for ground that is where foliage and camo nets comes in too. I know some pictures are pretty hilarious of German tanks absolutely covered in big bushy foliage but when it's life or death better to look like a bush than a sitting duck! Although with a KT you are one big moving bush! I intend to finish everything up and then review what I would have left on and what I would not and correct it then with wear. If you want a real technical example take the tow ropes. Chances are camo appled in the field would not be the dark yellow base,only the red/brown and field grey (green) so the cables would be bare metal with the 2 camo colours on them only. Second if you move the cables to a different position (more fun and creative) stretched out there will be blank spots where the cables would have been when the camo was applied. Before I do the final I have many pics to review including the ones where they are painting the KT's. Take a look at this one and see what is on the turret? Explain why the hell that is up there to be painted?
Note the text "Here a King Tiger has it's paint work touched up"
As alway appreciate the input good and bad. Makes me think more which at my age is a good thing!