Hero of the Soviet Union Tiger 212 1943

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:25 am

I see that a few fellas have already picked out their kits and started planning their builds for this, so I thought that maybe I should too.
A couple of weeks ago I had no idea what I would build, I'd just finished building a DAK Tiger during the summer, then a 1/16th scale monster Tiger in the fall. So I wasn't really in Tiger idea mode.
I was cruising the net looking for pictures of panther tanks and I came across a Bergepanther that someone had done a fair job building and thought maybe I'd do a dio of a stuck Tiger.
At first I was going to do feldwebel Hermann's (Hero of the Soviet Union) Tiger of 1943. He was jokingly called that by members of his unit in the 502nd because he got his tank stuck more often than any other commander. The problem with that is that the Bergepanther wasn't in service when Hermann commanded the tank that I had a kit of. (This one...)

I also couldn't find a solid reference that said when he changed out of that tank and if the 502nd had and Bergpanthers even issued to them.
Eventually I decided on a semi-fictional scene.
One in which Feldwebel Hermann (a squad mate of Otto Carius), still in command of tiger 212, got stuck in the fall of 1943 (after the bergpanther was in production) and had to be rescued once again by the recovery units.
Here are the kits that I'll be using to try to build this...

Cyber Hobby # 6763 Tiger I Mid Otto Carius Battle of Malinovka

And then this kit ...

Italeri's 6472 Bergepanther

I haven't decided on what figures to use as yet. That won't be an easy thing to do, most likely I'll have to modify a few to make it work.
We'll see.

[youtube]SE1H3LrPw0E[/youtube]

rsrdevon · Post by **rsrdevon** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:37 am

You are going to be a busy fella with this one. Looks like you might get a little dirty LOL. Thanks for joining in to support Mike. Wait... LOL

chief5437 · Post by **chief5437** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:56 am

Great idea Coen! You'll make it looks the dogs, as well as shaming me for not putting my Bergepanther together with my kt earlier in the year!

I think this GB is gonna be massive!!

ForbesHutton · Post by **ForbesHutton** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:13 am

If all we were to model is reality as already documented, what's the point? Just stare at the photo of what's already happened.

The joy of modelling, for me, is more about combining equal parts of reality and "what-if". What did happen is fascinating (explaining all the books, movies and documentaries) but what might have happened (and wasn't documented) and what could have happened allow us far more creativity in what we do.

The model that got me back into modelling almost 2 years ago, after a 20 year break, was the Dicker Max. Only two were made and there's no mention of either being camouflaged, they were typical early war German grey. What made me want a model of one was it was (and still is) one of my favorites in World of Tanks. But my Dicker Max in WoT wears a 3 color camo, so history got pushed to the side and I built what I wanted.

Nige99 · Post by **Nige99** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:15 am

Nice Tiger Mike.

it will look nice being recovered from a muddy swamp

MarkVerploeg · Post by **MarkVerploeg** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:47 am

Nice kit
I will be building the very same
but i will do Otto's tank
Good luck with your build
Cheers Mark

Schoof · Post by **Schoof** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:34 am

oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh and aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and ya aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:41 pm

Nice entry Mike

Art17847 · Post by **Art17847** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:23 pm

luv the choice of kits and the idea....gonna be a cool project cant wait to see the final result....have fun and good luck with it!!

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:04 pm

"Hero of the Soviet Union".....makes me chuckle every time I read a book that has that in it

This ought to be an awesome build

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 12:51 am

I hope so Steve.

NAMBiohazard · Post by **NAMBiohazard** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:39 am

That is a great idea for a dio and a good choice of kits.
Can wait to see this build come alive

WirbelwindModelling · Sat Dec 20, 2014 11:39 am

I just know this is going to be great, love the choice of the scene as well and I look forward to it coming together.

felisbarcinonensis · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:31 pm

Looking forward to the development of this ambitious project!!

Love the sarcastic title too!

MikeyKb · Post by **MikeyKb** » Wed Dec 31, 2014 2:11 pm

This is going to be very, very awesome!
looking forward to this

ScaleArmorBuilder · Post by **ScaleArmorBuilder** » Wed Dec 31, 2014 4:37 pm

Really looking forward to this build.

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:16 am

I started of building on New years day in the wee hours while watching some Space 1999. I went with the Tiger I for the first vehicle to build.
Mostly because I wanted to but also because I need to wait for parts for the bergepanther. The tracks in the berge are total poo and I've had to order new ones. I may also have to replace the winch in the kit as it may also have a strong element of pooness.

Most of the work was done on the New Years day... with these yahoos...

Gotta love those purrdy faces.

I started by making the sprockets workable. They are almost workable out of the box but they will fall off with any manipulation if left the way that they are. So I modify them to aid in track installation and removal during test fits and weathering.
I'll drill out the stem of the "axle" on the final drive and add a styrene rod. I'll add the inside part of the sprocket and cap it with a styrene washer. Then I'll complete the sprocket to hold it all together.

I did the same with the idler wheels.
After the sprocket and idler I built all the main road wheels. I managed to lose one and had to snag a spare from another kit. ANNOYING!
I number them with a sharpie so I don't mix them up.

I built up the lower hull a bit as well by installing the torsion bars, sidewall detail plates and the rear engine plate.
I will also be adding an engine to the kit. I had an old tamiya one kicking around for ages and I decided to use the thing and free up the drawer it's been sitting in.

I then moved ahead to the turret. The interior will be very visible with this build as all of the hatches will be open so I thiefed the interior parts from that nasty zvezda tiger I that I have and decided to install it in this build. Most of the parts are total shyte and I'll toss out. I have parts in my spares that look much better. Like the ammo bags for the MGs, the water canteens, the gas mask canisters etc. I also had to scratch build the mounting frame inside the turret.

I mocked up the diorama as well. I drew the lay out of the diorama on some cardboard then picked some material to use as the base for the dio.
Hopefully it will look something like this when it's done.

I've also decided to add a couple of new bits to the build to fill a couple of voids.
One of these...

and this ol'fella... that I'll make up as a CO of some type.

Onnnwaaardd!!!

[youtube]EOo0j64ByBQ[/youtube]

Schoof · Post by **Schoof** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:11 pm

You`re gonna include Wes` crack in your dio ??????

mannloon · Post by **mannloon** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:13 pm

Mike, am I correct in assuming those Zvezda interior parts are closer to scale and more detailed than the Academy parts? They sure seem so.

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 4:19 pm

What's a dio without a little ass right?..........Looks great so far

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 5:34 pm

mannloon wrote:Mike, am I correct in assuming those Zvezda interior parts are closer to scale and more detailed than the Academy parts? They sure seem so.

Sadly no. Theyre mostly poorly detailed and under scale. Blah. I've had to raid my spares box to replace a bunch of them.

The "ass" is for a donkey. Sheesh.

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:58 pm

Coen wrote:The "ass" is for a donkey. Sheesh.

Sorry couldn't resist

felisbarcinonensis · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:44 pm

Your two Tiger dio projects are amazing mate! To define you as a Tiger guy is a ridiculous understatement

Your plans for this one look really cool; this poor heroic guy is going to have his sorry "ass" properly stuck!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 7:55 pm

Today I finished the detail of the turret interior and the rear of the lower hull.

And after all that I went and primed it.

And a wee video on what this is all about and a product test of the new badger primer

[youtube]F8-qPuqJQGg[/youtube]

felisbarcinonensis · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:35 pm

Great progress Michael!! How do you do it?! I need to find time and space in another dimension to keep up with my workbench load

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 10:41 am

I'm retired Felis. I have a kinds of time to spend on my hobby bud.

Yesterday I spent more time on research and than building.
I built up the wheels into their final assembly, installed the sprockets, and test fitted the tracks so I could mark out the locations for the track pins.
By track pins I don't mean the one that hold them together; I'll be using the pin method to add the sag to these DS tracks. So I need to install them and then mark off the shape for the sag on the hull so I can drill holes for pins.
More on that later though.

Marcus Wilkinson an Ebbe from the Hang outs and the ISM faceboob page gave me a hand with some research and in the process these photos came about.
Marcus says that the book he was using states that these are the 502nd Pz ABt in 1944, but it's possible that they're 508 or maybe the 506th.
I was more interested in the shots of the bergepanthers in service in winter of 1944 on the northern sector of the eastern front... and that's what these are.
Finding a photo of Feldwebel Hermann's tiger I in February/March of 1944 seems unlikely, and finding photos of the 502nds tigers during that period is also difficult to confirm. So a best guess as to what was in service according to vehicle issue lists is what I'm going to go with.
I know that the battalion was issued new tigers in December and that they were Mid-production tigers. I can see in photos what features they may have had according to what other battalions received and what modifications were being made at the factory.
So there. HA!

Here are the shots,
the first ones are of Bergepanthers working with Tigers on the northern sector of the eastern front in 1944.
The rest are of various tigers of either the 502nd or other units that were operation in the region near the same time that had the same type of vehicle.

Here's what little I got done...
Road wheels completed and temporarily installed.

They still turn and are still workable too.

We sorted out some questions about the dust cover in use on a zimmerit tiger as well.

And all of it together for now. Most of the large stuff is done. Now its on the small fiddly bits.

A big thanks to Ebbe and Marcus for their help. Books are soooo coool

Nige201980 · Post by **Nige201980** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:29 pm

Great work so far mate this is going to be good mate.

Nev · Post by **Nev** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:40 pm

Awesome!! I'm using you as the benchmark Mike

BTW I still haven't opened my box yet

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 3:43 pm

Nice and clean as usual

I agree on the use of reference,I have almost as much fun researching a subject as I do building it anymore.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:26 pm

Flying along mike, this is going to be a stunning build buddy, cant wait to see it come alive

Rodney · Post by **Rodney** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:29 pm

you tiger is moving right along and its nice to see that my tiger parts look like your tiger parts so I guess im doing something right

felisbarcinonensis · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:39 pm

Coen wrote:I'm retired Felis. I have a kinds of time to spend on my hobby bud. (...)

I know mate! Nevertheless, I'm on my Xmas hoildays and my progress looks more like this:

Great progress with this build! I'll be paying attention to the pin method you are going to use for those sagging tracks. Thorough historical research as usual! Cheers Michael!

Art17847 · Post by **Art17847** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:03 pm

Man ur flying along...lookin great so far....I got a silly question did all late productions tigers have zimm or was it like a 50/50 thing

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:20 am

Art17847 wrote:Man ur flying along...lookin great so far....I got a silly question did all late productions tigers have zimm or was it like a 50/50 thing

That's not a silly question at all Art. All Tiger I's built after August 1943 or in service after September of 1943 had zimmerit applied to them until the end of the production line. A few had replacement turrets that had no zimmerit or large pieces missing from the hulls due to damage.

Art17847 · Post by **Art17847** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:25 am

Thanks.....I will be ordering a set of zimmerit for my build then

OliveDrab · Post by **OliveDrab** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:34 am

Truly awe inspiring work here! I can certainly see another Tiger build (or two) in my future and of course, thanks for the tips on the Italeri Tiger build.

SyntaxModels · Post by **SyntaxModels** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:56 am

Truly, truly, truly you are one big kitty fan!

Hail Lord Coen!!!!!!!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:26 pm

Quite a bit of progress of late.
I've been working on this pretty much none stop since the last update. I took a day off to do a small renovation to my paint area as some new shelves arrived (the wrong ones I might add, I'd love to blame the shipper but it was my own damned fault for not reading before I hit the place order button) but it's too late now.

The build of the TIger is about 45% done now, I still have to add most of the small details, tools and such. Maybe a day more and it will be ready for paint.

I added a commander's naked-eye sight to the cupola, trying to take a picture of this was a big pain in the but.

Then I crimped all the tips of the torsion bars with a pair of toothless plyers to act as washers for the road wheels. Once I put the wheels on, they should snap into place and stay there while still being able to rotate. I can also take them off again if I need to.

I detailed up the engine deck as well. I added the underlayer of mesh screen to the engine intakes over the fuel cells and I made the enging hatch cover stands in the open position to act like the crew are cooling the engine during idling.

The headlight detail is added, the headlight itself is stowed as the Tiger was in combat when it became stuck and wouldn't have it's headlight in place.

I cut the locking pin off the "C" hooks and added them to the towing eyes and pintel bolts. The other ends will be attached to the Bergepanther.

Fenders were then cut apart with a small razor saw, damaged with a toothless plyer, and bullet/splinter splash damage was added with a single rivet punch.

The rear hull plate is finished.

I finished the jack and left it off as it will be in use on the diorama

I decided to use the styrene tow rope on the tank as well as all the styrene tool clamps. mostly to increase the speed of the build. Plus... I did a really good job getting the plastic rope off the sprue.

So that's all for today. I'm beat and going for a nap. Ta.

[youtube]Us9rjVFTziQ[/youtube]

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:34 pm

Coming along nicely

The damaged fenders look very realistic

Art17847 · Post by **Art17847** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:44 pm

Your attention to detail never ceases to amaze me.......have a good nap

Joesdad · Post by **Joesdad** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:56 pm

A "nap" you say? you deserve it my Lord....
A masterclass if ever there was one, fascinating......

JediBoer · Post by **JediBoer** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:34 pm

Joesdad wrote: A masterclass if ever there was one, fascinating......

Most definitely! Learning a lot! Thank you Sir!

felisbarcinonensis · Post by **felisbarcinonensis** » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:47 pm

Great progress!! I love the open hatch detail for the idling motor and the fender and zimmmerit damage! Cheers mate!

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:25 am

Thanks guys, I'm not sure we're Lee got that Lord Coen business. I'm almost certain that I've missed a joke somewhere haha.

zeekodadi · Post by **zeekodadi** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:06 am

Love the second kit

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:57 pm

So I finished my nap and I'm in need of another.
Before I do though, I managed to get all the tools on my tiger. I roughed up the track block sides with a fine toothed razor saw to simulate the wood grain. I couldn't get a good shot of it though with the contrast. Once it's primed it may show up though.

I took my dremel tool to the turret bin and thinned quite a bit of plastic, then I beat the snot out of it with a file handle and hole punch.

Tow cables installed and conformed to fit the surface as best as I can.

I temporarily added the shrouds with white glue so I could beat the crap out of them properly.

Then I added some of the extra track links to the turret. I left a couple off and sprung the holders to add interest to the tank.
I didn't use the kit tracks as they don't have the holes for the track pins drilled out. Drilling them out in the kit ones is very difficult (I know... I've done it). So I used some of the last WWII Production links that I have. and cut some styrene for the pins. I'll add end pieces to them later on.

Then I added the travel lock to the rear hull plate.

Lastly I added the track cable to the side of the hull. I changed it's shape a little to add variety. Later today I'll heat it up a tiny bit and change it some more.

Seriously though... I need a nap haha.

EasyEight96 · Post by **EasyEight96** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:14 pm

Nice job Coen the tip you gave on how to plan a diorama is awesome

Coen · Post by **Coen** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:02 pm

Glad to help Matthew

Today I finished the construction phase of the build and she's all ready for paint.
All the final bits and pieces are on and I added a bit of battle damage. I also filmed a shortish video on how to use the pin method for creating track sag on a piece of German armour.

So the battle damage was done with three different dental bits in my cheap ladies craft rotary tool. A small round bit a medium round bit (to simulate the marks made by incoming rounds, the small for the Russian 14.7mm anti-tank rifle and small arms, the medium for hits from T-34's or AT guns) and a flat router bit to clear flat patches in the zimmerit to simulate where it gets knocked off from the impact.

And the last shots of it before of muck up the paint work.

[youtube]XMdh9zovtT0[/youtube]

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:12 pm

Cool !!

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:08 pm

Nice work mike, this is going to be an epic tiger buddy, I've already nicked a couple ideas from you