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WIP 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 321 .SS.Pz.Abt.101 Normandy 1944

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Dr Force, Jul 3, 2011.

  1. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Dear All

    Welcome to my next project.

    I always like to undertake ambitous and taxing projects and this will be my most ambitous yet. The scene will be a 1/16 Tiger 1 (mid) hiding inside a derelict church whilst the commander and field officer liaise with other German soldiers.

    It's big (sits on a 600mm x 500mm board and I have a target of 12 months to complete!!!

    As you know a 1/16th model from the likes of Tamiya is upwards of £300 and I may have not made use of all of the kit, So I decided to purchase a 1/16th Heng Long RC tank (which is really a toy) for the excellent sum of £70. I have done away with all the rc stuff and will now embark in converting this in to a war torn beast of a machine.

    The Church will be complete with Stained glass window to add colour and interest and will be scratch built using foam board and cork.

    There will be around 5 figures in the scene, I have not yet decided on the composition for them or which figures will be placed, but there will be plenty of interest.

    My original plan was to do a mid production in the Ardennes but this proved a step too far in respect of historical accuracy and when you are embarking on such a project, you want it to be right.

    The Tank will have the following alterations:-

    1)Removal of rear exhaust pipes
    2)New Barrel & Muzzle(extended)
    3)upgraded Copula with MG42
    4)Detailed tow cables
    5)Add Zimmerit
    6)new detailed tools
    7)replace front hatches to be hinged
    8)remove twin headlights, replace with one central light
    9)Add spare track links to each side of turret.
    10) new engine grills
    11) fasteners to be scratch built
    12) remould all weld lines
    13) replace tracks with mid to late metal versions
    14) Scratch build rear travel lock for gun barrel
    15) Scratch build air intake cover
    16) scratch build turret box lids & catches
    17)New ventilator port on turret
    18)new Early wheels (cast in metal)

    I have predicted total cost of £250 (around £80 saving) and a tank that is a decent replica of that serving in Normandy, late war.

    I am making a start this week but here are some pics to show you what we have so far and a quick sketch of what I am trying to achieve:-

    Attached Files:

    ChaosCossack, T-34/85, Tommi and 6 others like this.
  2. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    You're no slouch with a pencil either Dave.
    Ambitious to say the least, and I look forwards to following.
    Carl.
    combatartist likes this.
  3. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Wow! One huge project. Admire your determination and look forward to updates Dave.
    Good luck.
    Cheers, Ron
  4. Carlos69 Well-Known Member

    Country:
    England
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Im following Dave also...Eastern front ? : )
  5. pmfs A Fixture

    Country:
    Portugal
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Lots of work to do Dave, and I will follow your progress with pleasure.:)
  6. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Thanks Chaps.

    Yes lots to do but I want to really push the boat out on this one. I'll make a start on the Tiger as that is the centre piece and will update my amendments as when they appear.

    As usual I have dne a bit of research and it appears that there were surviving Tigers from Schwere-Panzer Kompanie "Hummel" that were all used to to form the 4 Kompanie which was only 1 of 2 units assigned to the Ardennes offensive.

    The 506th actually ended up around 15 miles east of Bastogne with the remaining Tigers being pushed back beyond the Rhine. At this point in the War and in this particular arena the Tiger spent alot of time playing cat & mouse as Germany slowly lost it's grip in Europe.

    Details and pictures around the Ardennes of Tigers are quite rare so I wanted to bring the above scenario to life and re-create the sort of scenario one might have seen at this tim. My Tiger will be 411 (4 Kompanie, 1st platoon)

    Thanks
    Dave
  7. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    I like your concept drawing of this project mate, the stain glass window will be a nice touch.
    You are going to need one hell of a display cabinet to keep all your work in :) probably a green house :p

    Steve
  8. Redcap A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Dave. This will look great if it goes ahead. I saw one of these built up (albeit the Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 with the S&T Kharkov figs) a couple of years ago and it was a spectacular piece of model making with great groundwork.

    The 1/16 Tiger 1 is an imposing model when built (ABER phot etch sets will greatly add to it) and I will follow your build with interest - great stuff!

    Gary
  9. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Thanks Guys

    Steve, the concept drawing was born out of an idea of having a strong light through the stained glass as a sort of religous message of good standing over the axis of evil (woah lokk at me getting arty)

    As for shelf space, you are right lol, although I have plenty of room in the loft where they can be stored in sealed plastic boxes.

    Gary

    Thanks for your input, trust me this is going ahead and it will be finished, so look forward to your critique as we hammer along. The Aber sets look stunning (but exspensive) so I may get it where it is needed rather than go over the top. Most of the 1/16 upgrade stuff can be had at Welshdragonmodels who have so far given excellent service.

    I have to strip the Tank down first and then get on with the amendments so pics to follow as we go.

    Thanks
    Dave
  10. JasonB Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Hi Dave,
    Interesting subject, since the Tiger I in the Ardennes is almost considered a mythical creature by some, and relative to other Tigers, little documented.
    Too late now I realize, but you could have actually saved yourself some work. On E-bay there are RC Tiger I's already in the Mid-configuration from Wasan (or WSN, a Trumpeter spin off company I believe), are are rather well done. I think they are just copies of the Tamiya kit packed with RC stuff, with mods needed to make them mid-production. I have one that I applied the Zimmerit to, and repainted, and it looks good. Here is one listed

    http://cgi.ebay.com/WSN-1-16-RC-GER...pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item5ae0c25750

    Couple of things that would still need to be done to yours make it a mid (to be 100 percent accurate) is the later version tracks (as used on late model Tiger I's), and removal of the air cleaners (all but a very few mids had these removed), these may be the exhaust pipes you refer to? If you need any help just ring, I used to model Tigers on a fairly regular basis. I'm no expert, but can help with a lot of things, depending how accurate and detailed you want to get. Cheers
    Jason
  11. Jim Patrick Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    To my knowledge (I could be wrong) the were no Tiger I's in the Ardenne. IF they were there, they certianly would have not been the early type shown here with the drum cupola. No need to worry though, simply change the title to someplace like, say....Kharkov 1943. Nothing really needs to be changed other than the title. Looking forward to seeing you complete this.

    Jim Patrick
  12. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive


    Welcome aboard Jay.

    As always a great help so thanks for coming along. I know what you mean about buying off ebay but I want it to be unique to me and I want the fun (and agony) of amendng it.

    I have done the research and I am happy with what amendments I need to make it a mid tiger. Yes Air cleaners to go and also tracks to be updated and I think I have everything else covered so onward and upward.

    I do want detail but not particularly fussed about it being 100% accurate but I'll get close.

    Thanks mate
    Dave
  13. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Hi Jim

    This is an excellent site discussing the Tigers in the Ardennes:-

    http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=13721

    The general concencus is that Tigers were there but only a few!!

    As already stated this is being converted to a mid version so the cupola is going (as per pic)

    Thanks for your interest Jim and any feedback along the way is always welcome. I have stripped the Tank tonight so will post some pics later.

    Cheers
    Dave
  14. Jim Patrick Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    See? :D I was wrong.

    One question though. With the amount of work that will be involved, wouldn't it be easier to place the vehicle in Kharkov in '43? I know some of the figures you mentioned are early '43 uniforms (S&T). Just asking but in the end, it's your model and your diorama.....

    Good luck!

    Jim Patrick
  15. chaRon Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Hi Dave,
    The Tiger I was built to August 1944 and then came the Tiger 2, right name actually Panzer VI Tiger II, better known as "Königstiger". It will probably be lost a total of 20 of these tanks in the Ardennes, by shooting down seven, the rest by technical failure.

    From Tiger I were built a total of 1354 units, about 90 of them were operated in the western theater of war. He was easily confused with the Panzer IV, therefore, vary the application data or operation data. 35 Tigers 1 have participated in the battle of bulge. In March 1945 there were only 13 tigers at the west front.

    I hope this was helpful for you and best wishes for your project.

    Cheers
    ChaRon
    Dr Force likes this.
  16. Dr Force A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Thanks alot Charon

    "The Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Von Rundstedt Offensive) (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945)"

    Tigers were present and as discussed there were a number of Tiger 1's mid so I'm not far off.

    Maybe it would be easier to change the title to "1944 Eastern front" but my research has suggested the 506, 4 Kompanie served for a short time in the Ardennes.....................................decisiions decisions...anyway Tank stripped and ready to bash about.

    I will remove all the tools with a dremel as I have some decent ones on the way, along with some mid to late Tiger tracks (metal) I have marked in red the major changes to take place to start with. One of the front hatches will be open so I'll have to remove the one with an X, Im ditching the smoke cannisters and putting in new weld lines pretty much where they all should be, everything else is self explanatory.

    This was a pig to take apart and most of the stuff is moulded in to the plastic so its a case of remove and sand but once I have my blank canvas I will be alot happier (all the rc stuff is now gone)

    I have actually removed the tools with dremel and also the twin headlights and sanded down, so will post up tomorrow night:-

    Attached Files:

  17. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    It looks reasonably well detailed Dave, as you say. Once all the redundant features have gone, it will be game on. It should be a rewarding project, and going by your previous posts, a well researched one at that.
    Carl.
  18. JasonB Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Hi Dave,
    I believe the flat molded on plate behind the drivers hatch would go as well. I believe those were a feature of early Tigers only. Actually I don't recall what it is. Also the molded on (but unpainted), what appears to be a pry bar for replacing the tracks, behind/next to the flat plate.
  19. pmfs A Fixture

    Country:
    Portugal
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    Hi Dave, if you will do something about Kampfgruppe Peiper, 1st LAH, I saw Diefenthal COMMANDER (3rd Battalion, 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 1st SS LAH), somewhere, common tanks are Tiger II , Panzer IV Ausf H, PANTHERS. Jagdtigers are many BUT i DONT KNOW IF WERE IN LAH.
    The Panzer abteilung 506 4TH COMPANY Heer unit had TIGER 1 AUF.E hybrid in Ardennes offensive saw pictures in web of other Tigers I in Ardennes but are all late types, not sure if LAH used this tank.

    You can use your tank on the diorama with some modifications with no historic problem.(y)
    Dr Force likes this.
  20. tiger111 Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Re: 1/16 "Tiger In Wait" 506, 4 Kompanie, 1944 Ardennes Offensive

    This project will be awesome. You are going to have some fun. I too did all these (S&T) figures. At the time they were my favorite. However there is a new KID ON THE BLOCK. Jeff's figures are awesome. I too wanted to incorperate his figures with the S&T figures with a whole nother Diorama. Jeff's are a tad larger; however very doable. I am totaly going to be wathching your progress. I am enclosing a picture of 1st place winner at IPMS Nationals a few years back in Anaheim(2007). Still one of my favorites to date. My skills have improved vastly since then. Just need to dust off the dust on my brushes and paint something.

    Enjoy you project
    Brent

    Attached Files:

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