Tiger Paint
 

I have my Tiger in pieces right now awaiting a new turret and airsoft unit. I want to repaint the entire tank in more traditional colors, but I have never painted any military model before. I need so advice on how to paint this tank. I would lile to paint some camoflage, unit markings, and weather it a tad. I have an airbrush and can paint some with a regular brush as well.

A little direction on where I can get some good color photos of true battle hardened tigers and actual Tamiya or Model Masters paint coldes would help as well.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Not sure about color codes, but here is a sight with tons of pics of other peoples WWII models. Its broken up by country and then alphabetically listed by equipment name. Pick Germany and scroll down to the Tiger section. This will at least show you some possibilities and hopefully spark some ideas.

[link]http://www.ww2modelmaker.com/models.htm[/link]

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Hallo,

it depends on the model and your taste ...

I use Tami colours with air brush ( Wittmann S21 Heng Long Tiger I ) ...

That is the SS colour of the 13. schwere Panzerdivision Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

XF 60 base colour

mid of the year like my S 21

winter: white (mostly painted with brushes ... ) over the "normal 3 colour tarn"

... ( I will take a look for the other codees and post ist ... )



Greetings,

Stern


P.S.:

If you interested in the Tiger of the LSSAH there is only one good book :

http://www.wintersonnenwende.com/scr.../1131mich.html


...

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...chael+Wittmann

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I just finished painting my panzer (Tamiya 1/16 Tiger I, early) with Model Master enamels, airbrushed on. I used their Panzer Dunkel Gelb 1943 as a base, and sprayed a camoflage pattern with Dark Green.

I like MM Panzer yellow which has a hint of olive green in it. I chose it over Humbrol's dark yellow, which I thought was too brown, and Tamiya's dark yellow (too yellow). Just my two cents...;)

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Were the panzers and Tigers painted alike?

Do you have pics of your Panzer? I would like to see how it came out.



I also need some technique on how to airbrush them. Do you just randomly spray varying width lines and curves or is there an actual set pattern to spraying them?

RE: Tiger Paint
 

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3592742/tm.htm

:)

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Real tanks (video) to compare ...


www.waffenhq.de/filme.html

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Just little update. Got the turret gear trimmed so that the turret now rotates 360, moved the antenna to the location on the real tanks, and got a bunch of the parts off for detailing, and I trimmed some plastic from around the drivers periscope so it looks like it is open now. And I also made some grease guards for the gears by cutting a water bottle apart (saved money on lexan for this one).

I managed to get the rear pistol port off the turret without breaking it too. I'm going to put it like it is supposed to be. Although now the smoke unit does not seem to work. Does anyone know if these things can be repaired? The unit itself is not getting hot, but the little flat resistor on it's small circuit board is getting hot.
The jagged hole above the periscope is from another airsoft gun when we were playing around...direct hit, and the cheap plastic shatted there.
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210007.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210008.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210011.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210012.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210013.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210014.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210015.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210027.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210028.jpg

The only other thing that I have to figure out is a mud flap hinge. The one on the left side of the tank broke off (where I don't know) and I can't seem to locate one. I anyone has any ideas please let me know.
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...I/P1210029.jpg

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Hallo Stang,

looks really good !

To the smoke generator:

a) check the battery - it has to have a lot of power - only this makes him run

b) sometimes the little cock has to be pushed a little and to be feed with oil.

c) sometimes the transistor for the smoke generator on the main platine is broken ...

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7121/bild06029tu.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9139/hprmt9co.jpg

Mostly the reason is the battery working voltage !


Greetings,

Stern

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Stang951:

Dunno which route you wanna go, but here are two ways to fix the mud-flap:

One: cut up a tin can (one with flat sides like tuna or beans, not rippled like Chef Boyardee) and cut out the shape, and fold it up using the other side assembly as a template.

Two: pop the other off to give to someone else, and get a set of the metal-cast ones from either Backyard Armor or off eBay (seller: Manheader) Modellino also sells 'em, but so far only as part of a set. You could ask him if he'll sell just the mud-flaps...

WhiteWolf
- who sees that modellino has Leo MG ring-mounts [8D]

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Stern - the battery is a Venom 3000mah NimH, it was about half charged when the smoke did not work, don't think that is the issue. I will play with some of the connections to see of that helps any. If not I may just make my own smoke generator from scratch (saw that on another sight).

Wolf - thanks for the advice on the flap bracket. I was thinking of swapping to the metal components, but with the price of the shipping from Europe it's not worth it. I'll try to fab one up from a can. I may end up just ordering them though, cause I broke a smoke generator bracket and I can't seem to find any here. Seems US sources for some things arent so great.

I also checked a Tamiya Tiger manual to get the codes that they use for painting thier tigers. They only have three different paint schemes though. I may just end up painting mine similar to Stern's.

I am really disappointed with the way Heng Long paints their tanks. When I started taking the parts off the hull, as you can see, behind them is nasty. I am sure that removing everything off the hull will make it look better as well. Now I have to figure out what color to paint the tracks on the front of the hull. I thought about leaving them off, but they do add some protection to the cheap plastic that HL uses.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Got some Tamiya paints today at my LHS. They only had one bottle of XF60 (Flat Yellow). I started laying the base color this afternoon. Only problem is that I can't get the paint to lay out in even. I thinned it 3:1 with alcohol. I think I found my problem after I was finished and cleaning my airbrush. The tube for the jar I was using was hitting the bottom of the jar and may have been hindering the flow of paint. I am going to trim a little off the bottom and see if that helps. If anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it.
By the way I am using a Paasche VL with #5needle, head and nozzle.

http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...6/P1240003.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...6/P1240007.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...6/P1240011.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...6/P1240012.jpg
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/j/...6/P1240013.jpg

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Other shematics here:

http://rapidshare.de/files/8420832/T...lours.pdf.html

(click on "Free" - then wait 30 seconds - then write the code and the download starts! )

But be full of care: Only a book with original photos can verify the paint info correct !

... Excuse the delay !


Greetings,

Stern


P.S.:

Stang, use the thinner for Acryl paint from Tamiya (1 thinner - 3 colour - better slowly testing ! )

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I checked into the Tamiya thinner and it appears to be nothing more than isopropyl alcohol. A 250ml bottle of Tamiya is 7.50 here, a bottle of the alcohol is 75 cents. unless there is something really special in the thinner, I think I'm going to stick to the alcohol.
I think the major contributing factor to my spray problems was the tube sitting on the bottom of the jar. I am going to notch some "V"s into the bottom of the tube and see how it does with some cheap paint before spraying the Tamiya again.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Stern awesome Tiger color schemes. I wish I had enough ink to print that out. Might have to try and hook it up to a laser printer somewhere.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I keep looking at my tank and am starting to like the way the yellow came out. Kinda reminds me of a field painted tank. Does anyone agree on that?

I may just try and add the camo lines to it and see how it comes out. I also need some advice on cutting out one of the rear engine grates. I want to add a charging port, smoke switch and on/off switch under one of the panels. I was thinking of either making it hinged for easy opening, or so that it could come completely off. How should I cut it so that the opening is not terribly larger than the grate itself? I used an Xazto knife on the drivers port, but that took forever and several blades, and I still had to use the dremel on it afterwards to clean it up some.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I like it too, Stang. It looks like a real tank that has been through alot and gives it some character!

Tanks in the field get maintenence on the working parts only. Keeping it running is foremost and being the prettiest ride on the block is not a priority. They get slept on, eaten on, bathed on and just plain lived on. After just a few days in a harsh environment, the camo scheme is pretty much covered with the local dirt and dust, as well. The only good way to conceal the 40+ tons of any tank is to cover it with the local flora or bury it, anyway.

Looks like you might need to increase that frontal armor some! ;)

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Cap if your referring to the spot above the drivers scope, that was an airsoft accident. We were harrassing the dog in the back yard and got carried away. I am going to fix that with some epoxy. I have to put the tracsk back on teh front as well. I picked up some gunmetal, flat aluminum and red brown paint that I am going to try and mix together to get a good color for the spare tracks. I really couldn't find a specific color that I liked for them so a custom mix is in order.

This is my first time trying to paint a military model to look similar to the real thing so it's alot of trial and error for me right now.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Stang951:

It looks good despite your problem, like a field-applied job! Yea, thinning Tamiya with water is BAD... You need to use their thinner or near-pure isopropyl alcohol. Found that one out myself with my own Paache H-series. Ugh, had to strip and re-do it.

As for cutting, get a jewelers saw. The blades are super-thin, and you can drill a hole, insert the blade, then attach the handle (looks like a small jigsaw but with finer blades) Don't use too much pressure, or you'll snap blades (though fragments are usable when placed in an X-acto handle)

Another way is simply scoring the styrene in the groove with the back of the #11 blades (good use for an old dull one) I usually use a fine drill bit and pit score-stopper holes at the corners first. Then score, pop out, clean the edges, and back the inner hatch edge with a strip of styrene. For hinges, You can use thicker food can tin, or for easier bending, soda can aluminum. Many of the guys have done that on their Tamiya Pershing tanks... really very easy.

I don't know how thick the back deck is, so the saw may be faster, but you have to be careful to get a straight cut (the blades can flex and skew the cut line)

And as Capn said... if you make it a bit too messy, you can always put a camo net over the back deck...

WhiteWolf

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Stang,

Was it another tank that made that hole? [X(] If so how close were the two?

As far as thinning the paint with water, I realize why my paint looks the way it does! Ooops! Oh well....

Aluminum can? Wow! I wonder if you can solder or weld the stuff? If I was to do all the skirts on mine again, I would really like to use some kind of metal. I can't seem to get plastic to stay the shape I want it, without it bending back the way it was or completely snapping.

Oh yeah, another tip, and one that I thought I had heard enough times. Be very carefull with those small jewelers saws. One pass over skin with even just slight preasure is enough to lay a finger open to the bone! Ouch

RE: Tiger Paint
 

CapnCrunch43:

Naw, it doesn't solder well, and the good gear you'd need would melt thru the thin pop-can aluminum. And for bends, todays pop cans are OKl for gentle bends, but sharp ones tend to crack the aluminum. Ever dropped a can and had it explode on ya? That never used to happen in the old days.

For track guards, the best material these days is the aluminum foil trays for pie plates and the like. Go to a dollar store, and you can get a huge cookie sheet (mebbe 2 or 3) for a buck or two. The stuff takes sharp bends well, and dings up like a proper track guard. To paint it you want to pre-sand it with flint-paper (150 grit or higher) first one way and then again crosswise. Then do your bends, prime it (if you prime first, you may crack the paint at the bends) and paint it. then ding it away... best way is straight pins for heavy MG rounds, small and medium nails for bazooka and main gun rounds.

You can even use it for the rear exhaust guards, and if your skillful, replace parts of the turret bin with pieces ( or even rebuild it with the stuff) and then puncture or crumple that.

WhiteWolf
- who used pop-cans on his original KT back in the late 80's... [>:]

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Thanks for the warning on the jewelers saw...have to find one now.

I would think that you can solder the aluminum. You can solder aluminum wire so why not small pieces of aluminum. You would probably have to do it like brazing a brass water fitting though. Especially if it's a small sheet of aluminum.

I thinned mine with isopropyl alcohol. I think it was 70%, not sure though. I may try to get some 90 or 99% next time I go to Wally world.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I would never have thought of pie tray material. Great tip!

Got me thinking about making hinges, too. Leave some tabs on the fender where the hinge is, then bending them over the wire and connecting two pieces. Should work, I hope.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

I agree, that is a great idea. Seems like less hassle than heating your fragile plastic fenders to a desired shape.

RE: Tiger Paint
 

Hey, no sweat guys:

The 1/35 guys swear by the material that used to be used in metal tooth-paste and other 'paste' tubes (like ointment for injuries for one) but the problem is everyone is switching to plastic tubes! That and too many roll up their tubes to get the last drop, and by the time ya roll it back out, a lot of the structural integrity is gone.

I was daydreaming one day, and the tin plates came to mind, so I tested it out, but my mom got PO'd when she went to make some pies and the plates were gone. I had to cycle up to the store and get some more out of my own pocket. Ah, the joys of testing...

I've got to remember to add these 'insider secrets' to my web-page, along with some pics of how do make things like hinges and battle damage from them.

WhiteWolf
- the advice is always free.