On Accuracy and Weathering. My Opinion

A few short words on detail, accuracy, and scale effect. First, and this is my opinion, unless you are really into it, or putting your kit into a show or contest, I think that a lot of detailing is over-done. If you look at some of the kits in the previously-mentioned Guide to The Tiger Tank, these guys painfully reproduce every last nut, bolt, and fastener. Good for them, but I'm not into it. My take: remember scale-effect. In 1/25 scale, for instance, and using the normal viewing distance of an arms-length, the real life equivalent would be if you were standing 75 feet away from the real tank. I wouldn't see a wing nut on a tool fastener, and with my eyes, I might have a hard time even counting the road wheels. My feeling is that if the kit part has a close representation, then I am fine with that. That is not to say that I will overlook accuracy, though. I will try to make it as historically accurate as I can. (My next post will expose some of that, and the end-result)

Another example: On page 111 of The Guide to Tiger Tank, it has a picture of the front headlight and the etched mounting bracket they used. Apparently, the real-life bracket that they used for the example was an intricate, angle-iron based support, with miter cuts, mounting bolts, etc. It is crazy-detailed, and in scale (1/35) size, I cannot imagine what that would be like. Since I am building a Tunisian Tiger, and the headlights required the mount on the front plate, I need to use something like that. But then, since this was a field modification in real life, I just cannot imagine these field crews doing anything other than the most basic construction, which to me, would be correct, too. So on mine, it will be a representation of a simple pair of plates welded to the hull that hold the headlight up. Easier for me, and almost impossible to refute.

And weathering? Some, to me, is just completely overdone. Yes, I know that they get dirty, dusty, and muddy in real life. But unless I am putting it in a diorama, all of the caked-on mud looks silly. Plus, again in my opinion, why do you want to do all of the crazy paint detail, dry-brushing, etc., just to obscure it under mud? Again, it is about preference, but I like light weathering.

One more point is painting the thing. Take the Tunisian Tiger, for instance. These were originally in German Grey, then painted green. In the field. Which means, these crews did it using what they had. Behind the road wheels, under the fenders, hull bottom, etc., shouldn't be green, except for where over spray would hit. That is how I want to represent mine. Think Earl Scheib. And I don't get these extensive fade effects, either. Sure, it wasn't the best quality paint that was used in real life. But I see heavy sun fading being represented, with the "pre-shading, post-shading, spraying almost white in panel centers, blah-blah-blah", and I shake my head. Again, to me it is overdone, and I make a slightly lighter top than bottom, but the real ones just didn't survive that long-especially the early ones-to get that faded. Some of them are faded more than that old '34 Ford that was parked in the meadow at my Grandpa's that was still there in the mid-80's.

Time to redirect, and get back to the build.