Tiger I:
The Tamiya Tiger 1 Mid Production kit was built for a FSM group build. To add to this kit, I purchased an Eduard barrel, Eduard photo etched kit, Friulmodel transport individual track links, Modelkasten spare track links, and Tank Workshop wheel hubs.
Shown here are the excellent Friulmodel tracks and the Tank Workshop hubs. The hubs do have some bubbles molded in them and require a little cleanup, but the Tank Workshop gives you 8 extra incase you, or they make a mistake!!! Not bad for $4.
This is the muzzle of the Eduard barrel. This is the best barrel I have seen for the price!! I opened the package and put the barrel on the kit. Yes, that's all there is to it.
Here you can see I added lifting lugs to the exhaust cover, supports to the air cover on the engine access hatch, and the 7 spare track brackets that go on the turret each got a handle, and an extended bracket.
This is the rear fender. It had to be folded for transport, and the fenders supplied by Eduard were at best lacking for detail. So, I decided to fabricate my own. While my fenders are also lacking, they are better than the ones Eduard supplied.
This is a close up of the top of the turret. I added a hatch stop, and rain shield mounts to the commanders cupola, gussied up the loaders hatch, added the Eduard latches for the storage bin, and added some weld lines.
As you can see I decided not to remove the molded on brackets for my tools, and replace them with the Eduard ones. Instead I just added the PE bracket handles. We will have to see how this turns out once painted.
I had purchased the early Tiger Eduard set for the Tamiya kit. Interestingly enough the kit seems to have supplied the later cable brackets that go on the hull side. This worked out well for me, but still needed some improving. I also fabricated the welded bolts on the side of the hull. They will be showing since I plan on taking off the fenders.
I do like the look of the gun travel lock even though it is wrong. I added some fasteners, and am actually pretty impressed with its detail.
Well, here she is painted. I started with my usual Ghost Gray coat of Model Masters enamel paints and let dry for two days to let the paint get a good grip on the plastic. Next I applied Tamiya Acrylics for the camouflage pattern. I am quite please with how the Eduard stencils worked for the numbers. After letting the Tamiya acrylics dry for an hour or so, I applied a wash of paint thinner, and Model Masters Rust mixed with a little Flat Black. I would suggest applying a gloss coat before the wash, because some of the paint lifted from the model. I didn't touch it, so it settled right back to the plastic, but it could have been disastrous. Three light washes where applied before dry-brushing was done also using Model Masters Enamels. Finally, pastels were used to finish up the weathering and Polly's flat finish was applied to the model.
If you remember, I wasn't sure how the brackets for the tools would turn out since I did not replace the molded on plastic with the Eduard ones. The last photo shows the brackets quite clearly and I they turned out quite good. Check out more pictures of this Tiger I in Gallery I.
