yama86

I've wanted to build a tank for a long long time. There were so many different ones that I liked I honestly just couldn't decide which to buy. I weighed pros and cons to different options for years, literally. Ultimately I ended up going with a Tamiya Tiger I. I've built plenty of other RC cars and trucks before, but this was my first tank. I found the mechanics of the build to be very easy and straight forward. Where I really hit a harsh learning curve was on painting. I really struggled with the "how much is too much" on weathering, .etc.
I am reading Tigers in the Mud, by Otto Carius, so I based the build on his tank #213. I didn't go total hardcore "this is exactly how it looked on this day in 1943....." but I used his book as a general guide.

So far the upgrades I've added are:
Kenny Kong metal tracks
Metal barrel
Tapered antenna
Photo etched grills over the radiators

I'm actually pretty nervous to post pics and a video here because I've seen you guys post some really impressive builds, but I figured "what the hell....."

So here's a video I made for some of my friends to see (since they can't come see it in person for now)
[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNaYwv2z1M]Yama's Tank Build Video[/link]

....and I'm posting a few pics too.

Oh and BTW thanks to all of you for posting such good info. I've been avidly reading and taking notes, and it helped me enormously with my build.

112040025

it look realy nice, another nice detail you can add is a rain protector, which i have done,

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10350448/tm.htm

but otherwise, it look great

Pah co chu puk

Add some flat black to the inside of the smoke launchers on the turret to make them look used.  Weathering is just right.

CapnCrunch43

That is a stunning tank, Yama! Especially for a 'first' try!

The really cool thing about your build is it really shows you have an eye for detail. I don't have the book "Tigers in the Mud", but rather "Tigers in Combat" by Wolfgang Schneider, and immediately recognized the tank's unit (2./ schwere Panzer-Albeitlung 502, I believe). The weathering is very nicely done, as well.

Again, what an amazing job!

sevoblast

Excellent work. Hard to believe it is your first tank. Well done!

candycab

No worries about posting regardless of your skill level.

Mine isn't great as modeling goes and all I have gotten from Members is great support and encouragement to improve

Great Forum with Great members

That said ... Your Tiger looks very nice. ]

rivetcounter

I’m very fussy and picky about models I like them to be correct I only complement tanks that are worthy yours however is worthy of the highest praise you have achieved something few other have you should be proud of this build the only area I would correct is the commanders uniform Otto Carrious is known to have worn the mouse grey green tunic with standard grey shirt white shirts and black uniforms where only worn by Hollywood and the Algerminen SS, Otto belonged to the Army.

yama86

Thanks for such nice comments guys!!
And thanks for the tips too. I'm definately still doing "updates".

Pah co chu puk, haha yeah, I keep meaning to paint those inner surfaces on the smoke launchers and I get distracted by some other detail and forget to go back and do it. I need to get that detail trimmed up.

rivetcounter, thanks for the tip on the uniform. I really debated between grey and black. It was really hard to tell in the pictures I have. Sometimes it looked grey, and others looked black. I thought I remembered one point in his book he mentioned wearing black, but then I couldn't find it when I went back and looked again. That is a repaint that will be easy to do.

danlrc

Yama,
Really a great job - very subtle and great looking paint work and weathering.
Can you post a bit more about how you weathered, etc and post more pics?
Thanks,
Dan

rivetcounter

Yama, there is a picture of him looking at a map in his turret with a few other commanders also looking at the map in this picture he is wearing a grey green panzer wrap the colour is closer to green than grey, the black panzer wraps though worn were more for parade than general use also if they had to abandon their tank the black stood out marking them as Panzer crew and instant targets incidentally collar badges should be lined with pink along with the piping on the cap

manchu9inf

Great Tank and great effort!!!

yama86

Hey Dan, Sorry but while I was building, I neglected to take pictures of the various stages of the weathering. Sometimes I would spend the whole week on a specific detail and the change was so subtle, I figured it wouldn't show up in the pictures.

I read a lot of painting "how to's" and I determined there really isn't a 100% "must do this" way to get the job done, but I did find techniques that showed up again and again (in other people's builds) so I decided to stick to those. Here's a basic run-down of how I laid down the paint (I'm a beginner, so there was a lot of experimentation).
1 - Tamiya light grey primer
2 - Airbrushed flat black preshadowing
3 - Airbrushed Tamiya Dark Yellow for base coat
4 - Airbrushed Tamiya Red Brown Shadowing over base coat
5 - Airbrushed light coat of Dark Yellow again that let Red Brown show as "shadows"
6 - Tamiya gloss coat
7 - Decals with a little MicroSol (Steps 1-7 are in the slides in the video I posted)
8 - Red Brown Wash diluted with Isopropyl Alcohol
9 - Tamiya gloss coat again
10- Black pin wash to make some smaller details pop
11- Brown (not Red Brown) pin wash
12- Smeared some Rust and Black chalks in verticle motion over hull and turret vertical areas
13- Tamiya Dull Coat
14- Drybrushed Tamiya Black, Red Brown, Metalic Grey over various edges of the tank
15- Painted paint chips on areas of wear with Brown and Black.
16- Used diluted Red Brown and Black (in layers) and painted rust streaks over random vertical surfaces.
17- Randomly repeated steps 8-16. Just layered it over and over until I liked what I saw.
18- Mixed Tamiya Buff, Neutral Grey, and White and sprayed a very light dust coat over the whole tank. Went a little heavier with dust coat on lower hull and roadwheels.

That's basically how I did mine. Hope that helps you out Dan.

Rivetcounter I think I found the picture you mentioned using Google. Here is something embarrassing to admit. I didn't know they called them "wraps". When I searched for "green grey panzer wrap", I found a ton of good examples to look over. Thanks for the heads up on that one!!!

rivetcounter

With pleasure as it will make a great model stand out even more

Green Amphibian

Excellent build!

torpedochief

First tank? You sure bout that? Looks like you've been at it awhile, unless you and Joe were both blessed by the tank God.

I've seen a lot of Carius 213 tanks, but none as well executed as this one! Very realistic weathering. Subtle and accurate. Your eye for light and tone is uncanny.

I believe you understand that you don't paint a model, you have to model your paint.

I know I speak for a lot of folks on here when I say. We sure look forward to your other projects!!

Great work my Tiger Brother!!

Don

YHR

Great Job. Thanks for sharing

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Man, that looks great! You did an excellent job on the paint work. the weathering, IMO is perfectly done. Looks incredible! Hope you make it to Danville with that beast!

StumpyBloke

Love it, love it, love it, love it! Now get it sent my way and we'll say no more about it!!

Rich

Panther G

Welcome aboard, very nice job.

yama86

I'm really floored by such nice comments. Thanks a lot everyone.

I think I've nailed down how I'm going to repaint Otto. I'm going to start with Tamiya's XF-76 Gray-Green and add just a touch of XF-65 Field Grey. I think that'll get me pretty close to where I need to be.

yellowshaker I hope to go to a Danville gathering sometime. It's not too far from where I live, the hard part is working into the crazy work schedules that my wife and I have.

thecommander

Very nice job on the Tiger I. While this may be your first 1/16 RC Tamiya tank (and I'l bet it will not be your last) you are surely no stranger to quality model building. As for your turret turning woes you are not alone. There are several remedies: Keep the turret wires nearest the center & do not bind the wires to tighly on the lower hull; allow plenty of slack for removing the upper hull/ turret; do not "lube" the turret or ring gear 9 ti will be dirt/dust magnet); remove excessive paint form the bottom of the turret and check for obstructions or binding; tighten up the rotation unit by manually pressing the inner frame outwards towards the rotation ring (some guys even wire-tie these to tighten them); replace the slipper/clutch gear with the blue solid one from Tamiya (can cause other items to break however); solder the clutch gear solid with a soldering iron (my prefered method, but last resort); remove the gear from the unit and glue it solid after cleaning. I just finished up with Herman's (Green Amphibian on RCU)Tiger I that he bought from me. The builder made is as a static and never fine tuned the rotation or recoil systems. He used a heavy hand in paintng and didn't sand the tighter fitting parts smooth to ease movement. It is 100% now. You may also want to consider adding the custom fire buttons to your radio to eliminate the trim setting adjustments for firing the guns. Here is a video which may help you some. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GznpG0rmRIQ

There are several tankers in Ohio. Perhaps you guys could join forces for a club or come to Danville as a group. The Michgan gang is heading down for the Tank Extragaganza a the end of April. I'm sure you are not alone out there.
Bob, NEAD CO

yama86

Hey guys, I thought I would give you a quick update on my Tiger.
I weathered the smoke launchers and blacked the inside surfaces like Pah co chu puk suggested. I painted the inside with flat black, drybrushed the edges with black, then drybrushed with metallic grey, the used black and gray chalk to give them a sooty look.

I also looked up a lot of info on Otto's uniform and made the changes that rivetcounter pointed out. I took a picture but noticed the green/gray looks almost black in the picture. Oh well, in person I think I got the color looking pretty darn close.

hgpilot

Very nice work Mike. Thanks again for sharing the video of the speed test with me. 

Cheers!
~A~

RodgerB

Nice job and fine choice for your first build. You are hooked now