FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

[HERMAN BIX]

Good morning, Herman!
Beautifully done!
regards,
Painless

Thanks Mr Wolf, slow but sure-its going to get there(where ever 'there' is) and I'm looking forward to having the new system running it to offer improvement without complication.
Well hey, thats the plan anyway.

[HERMAN BIX]

So F05 is back in the game.
Cam on turret done.
The mix of MIG 715 and Tam XF 58 seems to be ok, but I have used more 715 in the mix for the hull green just to lighten it further.

Used a heavily lightened XF60 blended with XF57 Buff to give a faded base on the hull.
I can tell in real life that the turret base is darker than the hull, so its worked I think.
Barrel is still red oxide, but will be a semi-gloss or satin gray to replicate the hi-temp lacquer that the German barrels were delivered in.
All the missing Zim has been exposed & touched up where necessary.
I still have the spare track link holders to secure to the turret, and will blend these in by hairy stick to suit.

Tomorrow I will try to get the cam on the hull, but thats likely to depend on a second session of "learning to ride a bike with no trainer wheels" for the oldest-youngest daughter.

I also want to use a dummy track tow cable in the left position so I can bung the cam over it, then remove it leaving evidence of one being in place during the camo application process in-field.
Bearing in mind this tank was a refurbished early, used for quite a while in a training school before being fitted out & sent to battle, the paint would have been a bit variable, and certainly not high on the agenda to fix once the fighting reached the doors of the school.
Funny, the hardest thing about this paintwork is going to be the hastily applied turret numbers !!
Over Zimmerit, its not going to be easy.
I could have cheated & used a Panzer grey, flat surfaced turret, but somehow my minds eye cant cope with F05 being that 'Ersatz'

Next project is a Tamiys King Tiger resurrection, my first Tamiya, so lots ahead.

[c.rainford73]

Back indeed sir, looking fantastic Mr Bix

[BarryC]

Herman,

It's starting to come together and looking good!

Barry

[philipat]

Looking good.

[HERMAN BIX]

Camo finish done apart from sealing , chipping & weathering.
Its a bit 'clean' for one of mine, but that will soon be fixed.
The spare track links and other bits still to fit, along with the electronics.

Used a blend of XF24 dark grey and X 18 semi gloss black to get a dark grey which has a sheen to it for the barrel.
The lacquer used on new barrels was apparently very shiny,but I'm not having a glow-stick on one of my tanks, so a satin finish is fine !
Once its sealed and washed it should be close to right.

I also took the time to add the new smoker delivery tubes to the exhausts, and set up a fill point under the drivers hatch.

Going off what is a plausible theory behind these enigmatic machines, training schools got repaired early Tigers as King Tigers were needed for combat units.
Painting techniques, basic repairs, and the usual combat processes would surely have been drummed into the new crews a best could be given time and desperation constraints, parts in short supply meaning any of the school vehicles that broke down to the point of "thats it" would have been cannibalised for parts to keep the others going...............thats my idea for why the odd numbering system.
F02,F05, F13 etc etc and we are informed there were 6 Tigers and a few Panthers that formed the Gruppe.
I summise the missing turret numbers were donors for these ones that happened to be called up.
Bear in mind a lot of Stadgass powered tanks were also used for training due to fuel shortages, why was the school at Fallingbostel not another one of those ?
Why bother refitting the late model wheels & tracks to an early hull unless its going back to the front rather than being a training tank?
Were the tanks being repaired used to train crews until there was a way of getting them freighted to the front once completed in suficient numbers but the tide of war ebbed over them before they could be entrained ?
Of course we will never know for sure.
We know there was a machine in the Gruppe F05, but no pictures exist as yet of it.

[BarryC]

Paint looks great, your damaged Zim really stands out. Showing some alien skills there Herman?

Barry

[Aljones34]

Great paint job, a very good looking tiger

[Raminator]

Tip-top, boss. I really like the contrast of the tri-colour camo with the red oxide primer and grey lacquer barrel.

What did you have planned for the weathering? Just curious how a refurbished training tank compares to a battle-weary veteran machine.

[HERMAN BIX]

Thanks Mr Ram............I reckon as a refurbished training tank pressed into action at a very late stage for what was a very short time(one 5 day sortie if things can be believed) in the dry season at that time, I will wash it to take the edge off, dust it to reflect the dry season and usual clouding of travel on dry dirt roads, add pigments to the roadwheels for drying dirt & remnants of what I can have no doubt would have been muddy water crossings within the school training fields, tow cables at the "ready-use" position.
No rust.......ohhhh no, none at all.
I even am second guessing my use of missing Zim with exposed primer
The Zim would have been applied on the early hull & turret.
The damaged combination was recovered & returned to the rear divisional maintenance unit for repair and return to service.
The missing Zim would not have been reapplied, but the paint might have been applied over the top of the entire assembly ??..........
In fact I reckon the dark yellow later camo would have been a cover paint over a grey, or at least over an older-earlier yellow base camo scheme.
Perhaps the general interpretation of F-Gruppe tanks is of a damaged old Tiger, repaired, and sent to fight, rather than one that was recovered a while ago and returned to a depot behind the lines at great cost and logistical difficulty, repaired at great time & expense, then painted to reflect the days armaments directives for camo, and used & knocked around by inexperienced crews to learn how to manage their nations prime weapon while waiting for the opportunity to be sent where it was needed most??
Why no Stadgass like the other training units ?? Those weren't going to fight in a hurry !!
These were all early hulls & turrets, with only late running gear & tracks fitted.
Not special tanks.

Or..............I'm waaaayyyyyy overthinking it