RCU Forums - View Single Post - First HL Tiger 1 - not quite happy with the paint job..
Old 01-13-2009 | 03:47 PM
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leggeron
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From: Sofia, BULGARIA
Default RE: First HL Tiger 1 - not quite happy with the paint job..

Well, my first advice would be to take pictures at daylight and without flash, otherwise colors and shadows get distorted.
On first glance I can find the following shortcomings:
1. You have unpainted surfaces - must fix even if you need to take some stuff appart;
2. The gray seems too dark, but cant be sure without daylight pics at least;
3. Some surfaces (like the fiefel filters) need some sanding;
4. Rust seems genuine (one of those nifty rust kits, I suppose) but is applyed in blobs which are not logical;
5. The rods in the tow cable mounts should be brass colored if not gray - on the pics they at least seem the same color as the wooden handles of tools
6. Engine grills seem painted semi-gloss black - I would suggest to paint them gray as the rest of the tank and use a touch of powder pigments - black sooth perhaps - this also goes for the exhaust area and muzzle break.
7. Id suggest getting metal tracks, if only for the looks. There is nothing lasting you can do with the plastic ones thats worth while.
8. The spare tracks on the front panel would likely have an even coat of rust. (btw, fresh rust is briter, old rust is darker, you might want to give this a consideration);
9. If the gray is in fact too dark, you could either repaint it or give it a very thin white (or light gray) wash. (My own Tiger seems to be too dark, so I ll probably opt for a whitewash when Im done);
10. After the final painting of the tank, it would be good to give it a black wash to make details stand out more.
11. Drybrushing a lighter gray on lead edges is a good thing to do as well.


Cant think of anything else right now. You might want to consider beautification accessories (if you want to go that far, that is) like scraping off the tools and getting metal ones, correct metal headlights and stuff like that. One important addition no Tiger should be without is photo etched fine engine grills on the engine deck. And of course, you must add a zink bucket accessory!

Tanks did have slopy paint jobs back then, even if you make a mistake its not that bad, and if you also add dirt then everything is fine. Weathering is something you will need to read about and practice, there are quite a few techniques and materials you could use. The most important thing is that it should be logical.

Dont be afraid to experiment. At this scale, you can redo the painting and weathering as many times as necessary to feal pleased with it, so keep going at it until you like the result!

I hope Ive been helpfull