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Train Spotting
Introduction
The Schwere Panzerabteilung 506 was
created in August 1943 and was the first of
these units to be equipped only with Tiger I
tanks from its creation. The 506. was sent
to the Eastern front were it fought in the
Tscherkassy region until it lost all of its
tanks. The unit was rebuilt with a new
allocation of 45 Tiger I in March and April
1944 and fought during the withdrawal
from central Russia in late spring and early
summer 1944, eventually being sent to
Germany for refitting in August. The 506.
was issued a full complement of 45 Tiger II
that were used against the Western allies
until the dissolution of the battalion in April
1945.
The diorama represents one of the rarequiet periods for a Tiger I of the s.Pz.Abt.
506. during March 1944. At this moment,
the Tiger Is belonging to the unit still were
of the ‘mid’ type, with rubber tyred wheels.
The crews have received orders to
assemble the vehicles in Mankowzy, and
prepare the tanks for railway
transportation. The 506. handed its 7
remaining Tigers over to the s.Pz.Abt. 503
and travelled to Lemberg to receive their 45 brand new Tiger I. For these veterans, it
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by Antonio Martín Tello
was time to say farewell to their old Tiger
that had kept them alive during the last
hard winter.
Building the little Tiger
Like many of us, I started in AFV modelling
by building and painting 1/72 kits. Soon, I
moved to 1/35 because these “big” tanks
were more impressive, better detailed and
I thought that they allowed my modelling
skills more scope to develop. Thus, I
relegated the 1/72 scale and saw it as a
“starting point” and the models in this
scale as toy like. Recently I discovered
some of the newer 1/72 kits and was
astonished. All the finesse and quality of
the best 1/35 kits is there, but in a tiny sizeand they are fun and quick to build. Out of
the box they give excellent representations
of the “real thing” but they also leave
plenty of room for the addition of details
and improvements. The limit is just set by
the builder and his/her sanity. Also, for the
painting aspect, all the techniques used for
bigger models can be applied to these
little gems.
Probably, the current leader in 1/72
injected plastic kits is Revell. The quality of
their most recent releases is astounding
and small-scale modellers await each new
one with great expectation. Anyway, one
has to be cautious, since among these
“state of the art” kits are re-editions of
older Esci or Hasegawa moulds which are
not up to the same standards.
The Tiger I depicted in this article(reference 03516) is an example of one of
these new generation Revell kits. This
brand has in it’s 1/72 catalogue two Tiger I
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kits. This one represents a mid/late vehicle while the other
(ref. 03508) allows you to build an “African” early Tiger I.
Both kits share most of their parts, with one sprue specific
for each type of tank, and their overall quality is excellent.
I decided to build my model as a mid Tiger I with rubber
tyred wheels. This type is provided in the box (they are
common to the “African” version) along with the all steel
type, but curiously enough, they are marked as “not for
use” in the instruction sheet and thus no advice for their
placement is given. Photographs and literature have to be
checked for their correct installation, a minor task. A
shortcut taken by Revell in this area is that the double
wheels are represented by a single, thicker one, much in
the same way as Tamiya did with its seventies 1/35 Tiger I.
This apparent shortcoming is barely noticeable when all
the running gear and tracks are installed.
As I have already mentioned, I decided to finish my Tiger
as one belonging to the s.Pz.Abt. 506. in Russia duringspring 1944. The most remarkable feature of this unit’s
markings at this period was the large unit symbol on the
rear of the turret bin, consisting of a “W” (after its former
commander, Major Will ing) with the shield and the tiger.
The colour of the “W” and the turret numbers denoted the
company (Stabs-green, 1. Kp.- white, 2. Kp.-red and 3.
Kp.-yellow). I chose this unit because the 506. crest is
included on the decal sheet.The construction work
progressed with no problems. There are plenty of
aftermarket products available for 1/72 models including
the Tiger I, but I decided to follow the “homemade way”.
Photos 1 to 4
First of all, the version I chose for my Tiger required a
zimmerit coating. I did this by engraving with a small
screwdriver the surfaces that had been previously
softened with liquid cement. Two or three applications of
glue were given in a relatively small area and after a few
seconds, the pattern was engraved with the screwdriver. It
may be necessary to check the degree of softening of the
plastic and to apply more liquid cement before starting the
engraving work. It probably would be advisable to practice
a little bit first on non-visible surfaces, such as the interior
or the underside of the hull. When the softened area is
done, the process is repeated on the next area until the
entire surface is completed. When the glue is completely
dry and the plastic has hardened again, it may be
necessary to sand the zimmerited surface in order to
eliminate some hairs caused by the molten plastic.
Photos 5 to 10
Some other details added included new metallic towing
wires, cleaning rods and their brackets, new track
changing wire and its brackets, new exhaust protectors
made with aluminium sheet, brackets for the missing fire
extinguisher, electric wire for the headlight, periscope
protectors from aluminium sheet for the driver and co-
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driver hatch and turret roof, handles from
wire on the commander and loader
hatches and engine deck, holders for the
spare tracks, brackets for the jack and
details on the front mudguards and the
turret bin. Just few words for two additions,
the gun barrel and the engine deck grilles.
The kit gun barrel looked too thick to my
eye so I decided to replace it. The only
material I had available at the time and
was suitable was a nice pink lollipop stick. I
had to sand this to make it thinner at the
end where the muzzle brake fits. The
engine deck grilles were cut from nylon
mesh from a DML Panzer IV L70(A) kit and
the frames made with aluminium strip.
I reworked the side fenders, sanding them
down until they were more of a scale
thickness. Also, I cut them into sections as
on the real tank. These fenders were the
only parts I did not permanently glue to the
model, in order to have a better access to
paint and weather the upper portion of the
tracks.
Painting
The base colour was Tamiya matt earth
(XF-52). Onto this, I airbrushed Tamiya dark
yellow (XF-60) but allowed the base colour
to show at the edges of panels. Next coat
was a mixture of dark yellow (70%) and
matt yellow (XF-3) (30%), both from Tamiya,
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irregular shape. Since the paint is so
diluted, when dry, the effect is almost
imperceptible, but it is there, and can be
enhanced by repetition. I chose for this
task brownish colours such as chocolate
brown, flat earth, hull red, burnt umber,
dark yellow, gold brown, medium flesh and
orange brown.
Now, I applied a controlled wash of very
diluted matt black enamel on the non-
zimmerited surfaces. I let the pigment
accumulate in recesses and around the
details. When dry I drybrushed with dark
yellow (Humbrol enamel) very slightly some
details in order to bring them out.
Photo 18
I painted the towing cables and tools in
black, following by some light washes of
chocolate brown, flat earth and hull red.
Next, I painted the gun cleaning rods with
gold brown.
Photos 19 to 21
So far I had worked to achieve a degraded
and worn out look, but the tank was clean,
so my next job would be to make it dirty. I
did not want to ruin the previous work so I
decided to concentrate mainly on the
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lower areas. I tried to replicate the effect of dried mud in
the recesses of the tracks and, more sparingly, on the
wheels and lower hull. To make this mud, I mixed some
pastel powder until I got a colour that I think was good for
this purpose. Then I added to the powder a mixture of
water and white glue until I obtained a paste with the
desired consistency. Then, with a small brush I applied the
paste to the track recesses. With a cotton bud I removed
the excess paste, mainly on the outer surface of the track
links. Also, I applied some patches of the paste on the
wheels and lower areas and textured them with the brush.
When dry I worked all the tracks and wheels with the
pastel powder in order to integrate the mud. I also used
some lighter shades of pastels to get some colour
variations and a dried mud look. Next, I dry brushed very
slightly with black enamel on the outer side of the track
links to “clean” the surface where the mud should have
gone.
At this stage I glued the side skirts and applied some
pastels on them, as well as in the tools and towing cables.
I painted the periscope glass with very dark green artist’s
oil. I added the periscopes in the commander’s cupola
made with plastic strips painted in dark green.
The final touch was to apply graphite powder on the tools,
towing cables, bow machine gun, anti aircraft MG rail and
some handles to give them a more metallic look. Also, I
painted directly on the track details and horns, and drive
sprocket teeth with a soft lead pencil to achieve this
metallic look.
The SdKfz 251
Hasegawa also has in their catalogue an extensive range
of AFV’s in 1/72 scale. Some of them are older kits that
date back to the 80’s or even the 70’s and are not at the
same level of more recent releases. Nevertheless, some
of their later kits are very close or at the same level as
Revell’s best. Some of the finest Hasegawa kits are the
three versions of the SdKfz 251 German half track.
Hasegawa produces the “normal” personal carrier SdKfz
251/1 (ref. 31144), the SdKfz 251/22 “PakWagen” (ref.
31145), armed with a 75 mm PaK 40 gun, and the SdKfz
251/9 “Stummel” (ref. 31146), armed with a short 75 mm
support gun. These last two versions are in fact the same
kit as the 251/1 with the addition of a new sprue
containing the gun and the corresponding attachments
and a new decal sheet. The version of the famous German
half-track depicted in these models is the final Ausf. D,
designed in order to save materials and simplify
production in the second half of WWII.
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Photos 26 to 29
The construction of the model progressed
with no special difficulties. I did not want to
super detail this model and only made
some small improvements. Thus, in the
interior I added some levers by the driver’s
seat made with stretched sprue. Outside I
replaced the MG shield and the rear
mudguards with aluminium sheet, since
these parts were too thick in the kit. The
MG itself was replaced by an MG34 with
armoured sleeve (used in tanks), a spare
from Revell. Also, I rebuilt the tubular
support for the rear MG with stretched
sprue. Finally I replaced the two width
indicators with stretched sprue and a drop
of superglue to simulate the ball.
It was necessary to paint the interior before the two main parts of the hull were
glued together. The painting process here
was similar to that used in the exterior and
will be described later. This was also the
moment to put the driver’s figure in his
place. This figure came from a Preiser set,
and it’s fit in the tight driving station
needed some major surgery in the seat.
Fortunately, this area was barely visible
when the model was completed.
Painting the tiny 251
Photo 31
The overall procedure was very similar to
the one described above for the Tiger, so
only the main differences will be stressed.
Again, the base colour was Tamiya matt
earth (XF-52) on which I airbrushed Tamiya
dark yellow (XF-60) allowing the previous
colour to arise on the edges and panel
separations.
Photos 32 to 36
On this base, I airbrushed thin stripes of
red brown (XF-64) as the first camouflage
colour. To obtain better results I put thenozzle of the airbrush very close to the
model (about 5 mm) and set my
compressor to low pressure (around 0.5
psi). Also, I diluted the paint more than
usual with isopropyl alcohol, at about 75%
(slide S8). The olive green (XF-58) colour
was airbrushed next in a similar way. My
first attempts were not successful as I got
wide lines, “spider legs” and so on, so I
had to retouch with dark yellow to finally
get an acceptable result. At this stage I
added the decals, the tactical numbers
and German crosses are spares from
Revell and the license plates are the ones
provided by Hasegawa in the kit. To finish
the airbrush job, I used a very dilute (95%)
mixture of brown and black to outline the
edges, separation lines and recesses.
Photo 35
Next, I applied a couple filters of cream
(103) and reddish brown (62), both
Humbrol enamels.
Photo 36
The chipped paint effect was done next.
Some chipping and scratching was made with the base colour lighten with buff
(Vallejo) and with a mixture of chocolate
brown 872 and black. A thin, very sharp
brush has to be used and the chipping
should be kept small and done moderately
in sensible areas. Also, on the sides I
painted some longer scratches, since
these parts would be more prone to this
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type of damage due to rubbing with
branches, other vehicles or obstacles.
Photos 37 to 40
The following step was the oil washes . As
a general rule, I deposit a small fraction of
the oils (several shades of brown, ochre,
green, white and blue) on a tissue paper
and wait for 15-30 minutes . Some of the
greasy components of the oils are
absorbed by the paper-this does not affect
the pigment, but improves the final
appearance. I wet a zone of the model
with clean Humbrol thinner and then, I
apply a very small quantity of oil directly on
the model, blending it quickly . I never use
a general wash, but small washes of
several shades in small zones. In my
opinion, the trick is that the oil has to be
blended with the surroundings in order to
achieve subtle tonal variations in different
parts of the same zone.
Photos 41 to 42
As in the Tiger, the worn out look was
accentuated by an acrylic mapping (slides
S19 and S20) of chocolate brown and
orange brown.
Photos 43 to 44
It was now time to apply dirt to the model.
To do that, I applied controlled washes of
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very dilute buff enamel colour (Humbrol). I
avoided a general wash, but tried to draw
vertical lines on the sides and other vertical
surfaces simulating rain streaks, and
irregular shaped spots on the horizontal
surfaces letting the pigment accumulate
slightly where the dust would be more
apparent.
Photo 45
To enhance the details and the volume I
applied a controlled wash of very dilute
matt black enamel followed (when dry) by
drybrushing with dark yellow (Humbrol
enamel) very lightly in the same way as for
the Tiger. I painted the tools in black,
followed by some light washes of
chocolate brown, flat earth and hull red,
and graphite powder. Next, I painted the wooden handles with gold brown.
Photo 46
The tyres and the tracks were painted in
matt black, then I applied some washes of
brown and cream enamel colours. On the
tracks I drybrushed the rubber pads with
matt black and finally I applied graphite
powder to the metallic parts. Now, I
attached the tracks to the running gear
with superglue, and glued both sets of
wheels and tracks to the main body. The
machine guns were painted in matt black
and then rubbed with graphite powder.
To finish the painting process of the tiny
251, some touches were given with pastel
powder of several shades of earth colours,
mainly in the lower areas, but very
sparingly in order not to hide all the
previous painting work
The diorama
One of the advantages of 1/72 scale is that
you can build dioramas combining several
vehicles and still keep the size reasonably small. In this case, my idea was to try a
somewhat different composition, with
several levels and elements in a relatively
crowded space, which was dictated by the
circular wooden base. I have always
admired the dioramas built by Japanese
and other Asian modellers because I think
they master the art of composition and the
integration of all the elements (vehicles,
figures, vegetation…) in scenes that are
often full of life and dynamism. Bearing this
in mind, I tried to build a diorama “à la
Japonais”.
I wanted to put both vehicles on different
levels, with the SdKfz 251 climbing uphill
towards the level where the Tiger I is, and
with the tall tree emphasizing the vertical
perspective. Two secondary elements such
as the railway and the stone wall, would
create some variety.
Photos 49 to 53
The main body of the background was
done with insulating foam, a versatile and
light material that can be easily cut with a
hobby knife and sanded. The basic shape was cut with the knife (Slide D1) and then
a thin layer of modelling clay was used to
model the ground and to create some
texture. The ballast and the rail track are
items from railway modelling, cheap and
easily available in specialised shops.
Another advantage of 1/72 is that many
scenic elements conceived for train
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combine arms, legs and heads. I painted
the figures mostly with Vallejo acrylics,
using black and German green as the main
colours, and shadowing and highlighting
areas following the “light from above”
method mostly described by the “Spanish
school” of figure painters.
References
- Tigers in Combat I, by Wolfgang
Schneider & Jean Restayn, J. J.
Fedorowicz Publishing. 1994.
- Achtung Panzer No.6:
PanzerKampfWagen Tiger, by M. Bitou. Dai
Nippon Kaiga. 1999.
- Tiger I on the Eastern Front, by Jean
Restayn. Histoire & Collections. 1999.
- The SdKfz 251 Half Track, by Bruce
Culver. Osprey Vanguard no. 32. 1983.
- SdKfz 251 in action, by Charles Kliment.
Squadron Signal Publications no. 21. 1981.