I’ve wanted to build a Tiger tank for a long time but didn’t want to bother with accuracy. Tigers are too well documented, and I would get bogged down trying to match a photo, so I decided to build this as a what-if s. Pz. Abt. 502 VK30.01[P] “Tiger” at Leningrad in the winter 42/43. I really like the lines on this vehicle, especially without the fenders.
The Hobby Boss is a basic kit detailed enough with a nice rolled steel surface texture. I omitted the fenders which required a bit of filling and cleanup on the hull sides. Some details were lost so I redid all the welds with epoxy putty and textured the surface with Tamiya putty thinned with liquid cement.
The tracks about killed me on this. They did not fit together so each knuckle had to be filed down to fit. It was a horrible and tedious process. I have a partially built Dragon Tiger 1 initial that I used for parts to replace some of the basic looking Hobby Boss kit pieces.
I don't normally use mud and muck to hide flaws but this time the packed snow was intentionally used to hide the gaps in the tracks from the poor fit.
I get asked about my snow often. Here is the recipe.
2-3 Parts Woodland Scenics Snow
1 Part Micro Balloons
1 Part White Marble Powder
0.5-1 part Gloss Acrylic Medium.
The Marble Powder adds opacity. The Micro Balloons add volume. The WS Snow adds texture. The Acrylic Medium is the binder. The marble powder has a tendency to dull the snow so I selectively apply a clear gloss over the snow patches.
A few images before paint.
