Now that all the Hull work is complete, I decided to paint before continuing construction with the Turret. Part of this was because, looking ahead at the Turret, there are some spots of correcting/scratch building, and I am growing tired of construction. Seeing something painted will help.
I started with spraying all surfaces with black automotive primer. I let this dry 24 hours, then checked for any areas that needed sanding. A few light touch-ups, and then I coated all the bottom surfaces with Vallejo 70995 German Grey. The easiest way is to turn the Hull upside-down, and get a good coat everywhere. Turn the Hull over, and concentrate on the lower parts, such as around the torsion bars, return rollers, and sprockets. At the same time, I also sprayed the roadwheels. That being said, the roadwheels that I am using are salvaged, and already fully assembled, so it takes a little more effort to spray these.
After allowing the German Grey to dry for a day, I followed with my main color, Model Master Acryl 4728 Olive Drab. The Tigers sent to Tunisia were originally German Grey, and sources indicate that these were over sprayed with captured American olive drab. I decided to go with this, and if these were sprayed in forward areas near combat, then it seems logical to me that there would be areas that couldn't be painted with the olive drab. This would include the bottom plate of the Hull, inside surfaces of the roadwheels, under the fenders and sponsons, etc.
To try to duplicate this, I kept the Tiger right-side up, and sprayed with the olive drab with this thought in mind. In other words, imagine yourself trying to paint a real one, and what you could reach. For the roadwheels, I simply set them down and sprayed them in olive drab with the outside face-up. I wanted to spray the roadwheels off of the tank, which will allow easier painting of the tires.
Painting the tires is simple, but time consuming. If these were not already assembled, I would have sprayed them through a circle template. Since they were in one piece, I used Vallejo 70862 Black Grey at a ratio of 10 parts paint to 7 parts water. Thinned like this, it will flow easily up to the wheel rim where the tire meets the rim. This lets capillary action pull the paint from the brush and flow around the rim.
Once all tires were finished, I mounted them per the instructions. Pay attention to Step 5 of the instructions, as it is easy to get confused during weaving of the roadwheels together. I did put a few nicks in spots during this assembly, which I touched-up when I was finished. This wasn't unexpected, and I also needed to paint the Polycaps (Part M7) that hold the wheels in place. Make sure, too, that these Polycaps are pushed into place and seated as deeply as they can go.
So far, so good. One other comment, and that is that any fading/shading of the olive drab will be done once the Turret is complete and on the tank. On to the Turret....
I started with spraying all surfaces with black automotive primer. I let this dry 24 hours, then checked for any areas that needed sanding. A few light touch-ups, and then I coated all the bottom surfaces with Vallejo 70995 German Grey. The easiest way is to turn the Hull upside-down, and get a good coat everywhere. Turn the Hull over, and concentrate on the lower parts, such as around the torsion bars, return rollers, and sprockets. At the same time, I also sprayed the roadwheels. That being said, the roadwheels that I am using are salvaged, and already fully assembled, so it takes a little more effort to spray these.
After allowing the German Grey to dry for a day, I followed with my main color, Model Master Acryl 4728 Olive Drab. The Tigers sent to Tunisia were originally German Grey, and sources indicate that these were over sprayed with captured American olive drab. I decided to go with this, and if these were sprayed in forward areas near combat, then it seems logical to me that there would be areas that couldn't be painted with the olive drab. This would include the bottom plate of the Hull, inside surfaces of the roadwheels, under the fenders and sponsons, etc.
To try to duplicate this, I kept the Tiger right-side up, and sprayed with the olive drab with this thought in mind. In other words, imagine yourself trying to paint a real one, and what you could reach. For the roadwheels, I simply set them down and sprayed them in olive drab with the outside face-up. I wanted to spray the roadwheels off of the tank, which will allow easier painting of the tires.
Painting the tires is simple, but time consuming. If these were not already assembled, I would have sprayed them through a circle template. Since they were in one piece, I used Vallejo 70862 Black Grey at a ratio of 10 parts paint to 7 parts water. Thinned like this, it will flow easily up to the wheel rim where the tire meets the rim. This lets capillary action pull the paint from the brush and flow around the rim.
Once all tires were finished, I mounted them per the instructions. Pay attention to Step 5 of the instructions, as it is easy to get confused during weaving of the roadwheels together. I did put a few nicks in spots during this assembly, which I touched-up when I was finished. This wasn't unexpected, and I also needed to paint the Polycaps (Part M7) that hold the wheels in place. Make sure, too, that these Polycaps are pushed into place and seated as deeply as they can go.
So far, so good. One other comment, and that is that any fading/shading of the olive drab will be done once the Turret is complete and on the tank. On to the Turret....
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