discussion Paint advice for production turret tiger tank

[Guest]

hi guys my 2nd build is complete and sitting with a coat of German green all over! Looking for advice on colour schemes or camo patterns used on the tiger so I can get it painted tomorrow! Also any tips for some easy paint related weathering would be great

 

[Guest]

Which Tiger is it Stuart? From the thread title, it sounds like a Henschel turret King Tiger?

 

[Alan 45]

All German armour after 43 was a yellow sand colour and the camo was painted on in the field , no two tanks had the same camo , colours used were dark green , medium green and reddish brown

Depending on your kit if say it's a tamiya it will give you several options depending on what markings you have I find it easier if you follow those instructions for what ever markings you choose , it saves all the looking on the web for illustrations

I hope this helps

 

[Guest]

That's not entirely true Alan! From about August 1944, King Tigers began receiving the Ambush scheme from the factory, first with a soft-edged pattern & later with a hard-edged one, often without the dots.

Hence my question!

 

[Alan 45]

Really I wasn't aware they came from the factory like that , you learn something new everyday

but my colours are correct

 

[Guest]

Really I wasn't aware they came from the factory like that , you learn something new everydaybut my colours are correct

Indeed they are ! Actually, some Tiger I's had a very unique camo pattern although I can't remember the particular Abteilung right now. Its one I hope to do in the near future

 

[Alan 45]

Indeed they are ! Actually, some Tiger I's had a very unique camo pattern although I can't remember the particular Abteilung right now. Its one I hope to do in the near future

Was the KT the only one with production markings or were they all ?

I have the tamiya KT and Im hopping to get some add ons for it at Telford

 

[Guest]

Hi guys it's the production turret Konigs tiger by tamiya

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[Guest]

I was thinking of leaving the base colour green and doing alternating camo stripes in red-brown and sand yellow! looking to try some rusting aswell if there's an easy way to do it

 

[Guest]

Was the KT the only one with production markings or were they all ?I have the tamiya KT and Im hopping to get some add ons for it at Telford

The Ambush pattern became the standard camo scheme into late 44 & 45, with KTs, Jagdpanzers, Jagdtigers, Hetzers all wearing it or a variation depending which factory produced them.

Jagdpanthers, Panthers & MK 4 variants wore different camo (although some still had Ambush)

 

[Guest]

I was thinking of leaving the base colour green and doing alternating camo stripes in red-brown and sand yellow! looking to try some rusting aswell if there's an easy way to do it

Your idea for alternating stripes is more of a Jagdpanther camo scheme Stuart. Obviously it's your build, but I'd stick to the box art scheme as that's pretty accurate, especially for a later production KT without zimmerit.

Here's a couple of pics of one I did a couple of years ago

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Rust ... if you go with that, don't overdo it, tanks were usually kept free of anything that might damage them.

Cheers

Patrick

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[tr1ckey66]

Hi Stuart

Both Patrick and Ian are correct in their assessment of the camouflage colours. If you're keen to be accurate then following the box art for an Ardennes (battle of the bulge) KIng Tiger would be a good call. In doing this you needn't worry about Zimmerit (an anti magnetic-mine paste applied to the vertical surfaces of the hull, which was discontinued in the summer of '44) and just concentrate on the camo.

The base colour would be dark yellow really but you can still get the effect you're after. This scheme (on the box art) is known as the ambush scheme and you'll notice the application of small contrasting dots of the same 3 colours over the tri colour background.

The other option is to go for a late war KT when green was the base colour and have the hard edged camo. At this stage paint was becoming short on supply and you frequently see vehicles with only 2 colours applied, also mismatched hulls and turrets but getting reference will require some research.

For accuracy it's always best to model with a particular vehicle in mind so the box art is a good way to go. There's also loads of info, photographs and even film footage of this particular King Tiger and is a popular choice for modellers.

I hope this helps and good luck with your KT I look forward to seeing it.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the info guys, I'm getting organised for painting as we speak! Really like the ambush scheme as you call it so that's the decision made, scrapped the rust idea aswell! Think we'll go for the "straight off the production line" look ;-)

Watch this space

 

[Guest]

Well it seems camo is still a bit advanced for a newbie like me so I recovered the whole thing in a green and then concentrated on the tools, tow ropes etc before adding the decals! Not what I intended but I like it!

Looks really fresh and like it's just rolled off the production line

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[Guest]

Looks good to me

Don't be scared about camo. I'd suggest adding a few german yellow lines, hard edged as mentioned above jsu because it's easier to mask. A simple mask would help to mark out the pattern (masking tape) and then add the second colour. Start simple and build up.

Ive tried to give an idea using photoshop.



Hope this helps and well done.

 

[Guest]

I quite like it all in green! The King Tiger is my favorite tank & this one looks mean & ready to roll!

Cheers

Patrick