Tiger II -
Battle of the Bulge |
Tamiya, 1/35 scale |
|
by Chris Wauchop |
The full
range of MIG Pigments is available online from Mission Models
Introduction
Here is Chris Wauchop's 1/35 scale Tamiya King Tiger, kit number
35164.
The model was built to represent a
vehicle shown in Jean-Paul Pallud's book, "Battle of the Bulge, Then
and Now".
Chris
liked the contrasty black and white photo of this vehicle in the
book.
Construction
The Tamiya
kit was supplemented with many after-market items and scratchbuilt
details. The main additions were:
-
Aber photo-etched detailed set
35040 - King Tiger
-
Aber turned aluminium 88mm barrel for
King Tigers and Jagdpanther, item no. 35L-15
-
WWII Productions resin tracks for
Tiger II and Jagdtiger
-
Echelon Decal set number AXT 351001
Scratchbuilt
details included the following:
Tow cables were
cut from 6 strand picture hanging wire
The track changing
cable is fine electrical cable with the plastic insulating cover removed.
One end of the bare wire strands was clamped in a pin vise, while the other
end was twisted until the desired effect was achieved.
The headlight
cable was replicated using fine solder.
All hatch handles
were replaced with copper wire. The Commander's hatch pivot guard was added
from plastic card.
The kit spare
track links were used, with holes drilled through the interlocking teeth.
Several were pinned with brass wire for variety.
The wire joining
the six bolts at the end of the Saukopf gun mantlet is stretched sprue cut
into six appropriate lengths and carefully glued into place.
The crank handle
guide ring hanging from the bottom of the right exhaust cover was fabricated
from drilled plastic rod.
The radio antenna
is shaped brass wire. Gun cleaning rods are .035" Evergreen plastic rod.
The edges of all
the side skirts have been thinned to scale using a motor tool.
Painting, Markings and Weathering
All camouflage colours were applied with
the Testor Aztek A470 airbrush.
Tamiya paints were used:
-
XF-64 Red
Brown
-
XF-59
Desert Yellow mixed with XF-2 Flat White mixed 50:50
-
Equal parts
XF-13 JA Green, XF-65 Field Grey and Gunze-Sangyo H312 Green
The wooden handles of the tools were
painted XF-59 Desert Yellow.
Weathering
The entire model
was sprayed with Tamiya acrylic X-22 Clear Gloss. When dry, a thin wash of
Tamiya enamel X-18 Semi Gloss Black 60% to XF-64 Red Brown 40% was applied.
Mud was added
using Faber-Castell Pastel Chalk (9286-179), powdered and mixed with Mineral
Turpentine. The resulting slurry was painted onto the tracks and the wheels.
Photography
Photographs were
taken in Missing-Lynx's office, workshop and image studio (well, my basement
actually) using a Nikon Coolpix 5700 camera set to Aperture Priority
Automatic at minimum aperture (maximum f. stop) under two incandescent
lights - one 1,000 watt and one 500 watt.
The composite
title image came about when Chris asked if I could duplicate the contrast of
the photo in the "Battle of the Bulge - Then and Now" book.
I did not have a
similar background photo, so I used what I had instead. The model was
excised from the background using the magic wand and lasso tools in
Photoshop CS, then pasted onto the muddy background. The mud was brought up
to the level of the tracks using the Clone Stamp tool, and a few details
were tweaked (for example, a few overly sharp edges toned down) to blend in
more convincingly with the background.
Once the basic
composition was completed and the image was flattened, I applied a filter
called "Old Movie", which delivers an antique appearance. This software,
from Van Der Leer, has setting parameters which include fat, hair, dust,
lines, corners and more. Chris provided art direction from over my shoulder
- "More contrast. Less hairs. Even more contrast..."
The final image
was the result of about a half an hour of work. I think I will try a few
more of these "antiqued" armour images in the future!
References
Click the thumbnails below to view additional images:
Model by Chris Wauchop
Text by Chris Wauchop and Brett Green
Images by Brett Green Page Created 19 June, 2006 Page Last Updated
19 June, 2006
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