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Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 5:13 pm
by Tiggr
I wanted to give my late production Tiger 1 an identity, and opted to go for the tank which Michael Wittman (aledgedly) carried out his attack at Villiers Bocage.
There is some debate as to which Tiger he used as after the 240 km road march from the training facility, many of the Tigers needed TLC to get them to be battle worthy.
Some accounts say he used "212" others, "231".
Any road up, I plumbed for "222" as stencils were readily available from rctank.de
So what have I done to the standard Taigen metal model ?
Not a lot, but obviously stenciled on the numbers - quite tricky on zimmerit and vision ports, but easy on the rear stowage box.
The battalion badge was just too small to do effectively (for me anyway) so I used the stencil itself as the badge as the colour is good enough.
I also bought the spare track for the hull front as per the historical photos.
The other minor detail I attempted was the sculpted vertical plates above each shackle on the hull. (My Dremel bit grinder is now b*ggered).
So, here, complete with real mud is the result of my efforts :
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 5:18 pm
by Jake79
I haven't tried using stencils they look the part, nicely done

Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 5:34 pm
by jeman
Excellent work sir ! Looks fab

Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 5:44 pm
by Tiggr
Thanks Gents.
I'm happier now that the Tiger now has a proper ID

Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:17 pm
by doc larsson
wasn't it 007 that was knocked out by the canadians ? or did that one get wasted by the anti-tank gun dunno.
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:34 pm
by Tiggr
doc larsson wrote:wasn't it 007 that was knocked out by the canadians ? or did that one get wasted by the anti-tank gun dunno.
Yes 007 was the one that Wittman and his crew died in but his previous tank was 205 - that broke down after the road march to Normandy, hence he commandeered "222" at Villiers Bocage. That was disabled by an anti tank gun in the village, so he and his crew legged it back to the German lines to man "205" again after repairs.
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:22 pm
by aikmanmosquito
Weren't all the Normandy Tigers tri camo? why I'm asking isn't to be negative as I was wanting to depict the same tiger as one which fought in Normandy, however nearly all the reference material I find they have tri colour camo and not the two colour as this tank is? surely if tanks were transferred from one theatre to another then there wouldn't be a lot of time to paint them
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:45 pm
by 43rdRecceReg
Nicely done, Tiggr.

Applying transfers to zimmerit and, or, bulging features is never going to be easy.

I'd also consider using stencils, for this reason.. and even making my own; but you've convinced me that the rctank ones are worth a punt.
They are reusable, I assume (?), and this should make them value for money.
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 9:20 pm
by Tiggr
43rdRecceReg wrote:Nicely done, Tiggr.

Applying transfers to zimmerit and, or, bulging features is never going to be easy.

I'd also consider using stencils, for this reason.. and even making my own; but you've convinced me that the rctank ones are worth a punt.
They are reusable, I assume (?), and this should make them value for money.
Thank you.
The stencils could be used again, if you were very careful removing them, but they may lose some adhesion, as they are basically "sticky back plastic".
Re: Tiger "222" Normandy 1944
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 9:27 pm
by Tiggr
aikmanmosquito wrote:Weren't all the Normandy Tigers tri camo? why I'm asking isn't to be negative as I was wanting to depict the same tiger as one which fought in Normandy, however nearly all the reference material I find they have tri colour camo and not the two colour as this tank is? surely if tanks were transferred from one theatre to another then there wouldn't be a lot of time to paint them
They probably were, but being colourblind, I have to wait for my daughter or my girlfriend to be home with me to get colour advice.
I also need to get a spraygun (I used rattlecans to do the numbers and I can see red and white, plus it says the colour on the tin)
I will add the missing colour in due course.