I have started tearing down and modifying the Tiger I purchased from Sownare. It runs great, so time for a bit of customization. I am modelling a Tiger of the 9th SS "Hohenstaufen" division, early 1943.

I opted to start with the turret. My research indicates a great variety of variation on how Tigers were equipped, included some without smoke dischargers. I opted to go without them on my tank and filled the mounting holes. I also rotated the commanders cupola to the proper position and added slits in the vision ports on the side of the turret. I also flipped the mantlet, removed the led lights and filled the extra hole. I decided not to lengthen the barrel as I dont want to lose the strength of the original peice, should I hit something during forays into the dirt. As long as I was on a roll, I fabricated conduits for the headlights out of brass....

In the background can be seen the painted and weathered tracks and tow cables.


I also moved the antenna mount and filled the original hole.


I am opting to model my tank with the tread cable (the one on the side of the hull) missing, so I patched the mounting holes for it and will fabricate new cable hangers from brass.

Having basically finished the modification to the turret, I decided to painted it with the base color of Tamiya xf-60 lightened with white to give it a slight sun bleached appearence and lay on my camo pattern. Better to decide I dont like it with only the turret painted, rather then the whole tank...



I am content with the result and will post more and better pictures as I progress...

Arachna