Airfix 1/76 Tiger Tank

The most well known of all tanks. The tiger held its fearsome reputation for the whole of its service. It was used by elite units and was a formidable opponent.

Moulded in sand yellow, this is a good starter tank. It has late style resilient wheels, and narrow tracks, but no rear stowage bin on the turret. Also missing are the front and rear fenders.

 Decals consist of national markings and tactical numbers for one version, although there is no indication what or where this is.

 I  started with the running gear, lots and lots of wheels. Care needs to be taken here to fit the correct wheels in the correct positions, following the part numbers and illustrations carefully. I then glued the tracks to the wheels in order to give authentic “sag”. A difficult operation due to their inflexibility. You can use Sewing thread to join the ends if necessary.

The upper hull and turret are next, hatches can be left in open or closed positions.

As stated above there is no turret stowage bin, or fenders. These I scratch built using cardboard and plastic sprue. Top and bottom halves fit together well, and needed no filler.

I decided to do a Tiger I from 1./s.Pz.Abt. 505 fighting in Nowe Koszary in 1944. It is a Late Production variant, with colourful markings and a typical Tiger camouflage. After priming in grey, I gave the lower hull, including running gear and tracks a wash of dark earth. I then painted the upper structure a dark yellow, matched to reference photos. This was followed by the green camouflage, and a black/brown wash. When dry a light dry brush of beige was used to highlight raised detail, and blend the upper and lower halves together.

Detail was then added such as the yellow band on the barrel, and some weathering to the engine vents.

I used the kit crosses, but had to raid the spares box for the numbers. The charging horse unit marking is hand painted.

This built into a good looking kit, I don't know if the omission of the turret bin and fenders is a mistake, or it's how this version should look. All in all I enjoyed the build though.

David Carley 

April 2009

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