VK45.02(P) Porsche Tiger II

[Mig Eater]

I haven't worked on any models thus far this year and I thought it was time to get back to the bench so dug thought my stash and I dragged out this HobbyBoss VK45.02(P).

 


Before I did anything with the kit I did some research and found two different sets of drawings for the VK45.02(P), one is the original drawing by Porsche and the other was made by Hilary Doyle in the 1970's. The main difference between the two are different engine deck grills on the rear of the hull.

Top is Porsche bottom is Doyle.



The Hobby Boss kit uses the layout from Hilary Doyle's drawings but I think the grill design on the original drawing looks a lot more interesting. So I decided to replaced the kit's original grills with some new 3D printed ones based on the original drawings. I managed to print a 0.1mm zig-zag mesh inside the grills too, a bit of the mesh on the rear grill failed during printing but I might cover that up with some stowage later.   


Before and after.

[Mig Eater]

I've been so busy working on this build that I didn't stop and take any in progress photos I'm now finished with the building stage tho and thought I'd better take some pics before I apply some primer.

The build went pretty smoothly overall, however the tracks were a nightmare, they were covered in flash that blocked the connection pins and the gaps for the sprocket teeth. It took me about 5 hours to clean them all up into a usable state. If I'd have known they were going to be this bad I would have designed and 3D printed some new tracks instead.









The kit doesn't come with any side skirts and the tank looks a bit naked/incomplete without them, so I designed and 3D printed some. Each side is printed as a single part and fits snugly around the hull (I went though 4 iterations to get the fit perfect), I also tapered the ends a bit to give the illusion of a more in scale thickness. 



The tools that came with the kit had simple blobs for tool clamps, so they were removed and replaced with new 3D printed ones.


I added some stowage to the engine deck, this was mainly because a part of the engine grill was damaged and I wanted to cover it up with a tarp. The 8.8cm ammo box is from Eureka XXL, the fuel can and MG32 ammo boxes were 3D printed. The tarps were made from tissue paper soaked in a water and PVA Glue mixture. Once I've finished painting I'll add some string btween the engine deck's handles to tie the stowage down.

[Old Wombat]

Nice track guards!

[Claymore]

 Great work!   

[Buzzbomb]

Terrific, that is really going along well

[Mig Eater]

Thanks for the replies. I just finished applying primer to the model and I'm going to start painting the camo as soon as it dries.

[Frank3k]

Looks great! What are the gray parts? Did you primer those or are they from another kit?

[Mig Eater]

I used Grey Mr Surfacer to add some armour texture to the hull and turret. I also rescribed all the weld seams and added a few missing ones too, then sculpted new welds with green stuff putty.

[Mig Eater]

I had a marathon 10 hour painting session yesterday, my air-compressor struggled a bit and I had to place a fan next to it to help cool it down! I primed the model in black and then pre-shaded it with a light grey, I then used AK's dunkelgelb modulation paint set for the base colour. I'm not entirely happy with the results, it looks a bit to dark for my liking, but I still have two more camouflage colours to add and then washes and filters etc, so its probably going to look completely different by the end.

[raafif]

lookin' good but I wonder how much water that "well" around the turret will catch - guess the joints between the segments ought to be drain vents ?

[Mig Eater]

The raised edge around the hull was designed to prevent shot-trap and protect the turret ring. I presume there would have to be some sort of drainage but not sure were and what it would be tho. 

[Buzzbomb]

under paint it starts to take shape.
Modulation technique.. still cannot quite get that to work for me, mostly I get the cartoonish finish rather than the awesome 

[Mig Eater]

After an intense week of non-stop painting I've managed finished the build, I made this as part of a group build on another forum and just managed to finish it an hour before the midnight deadline

I didn't want to do the usual German three colour ambush colour scheme for this build, so I went on the hunt for some inspiration and came across a Sd.Kfz 251 painted in dunkelgelb with red and brown streaks that grabbed my attention.

The kit came with a generic set of decals with Balkenkreuz and numbers 0-9 in red. They weren't really usable tho as the black and white parts of the Balkenkreuz weren't centered correctly and the numbers were to big and in a modern looking font. I found some better Balkenkreuz decals in the spares box and after going through my stash I borrowed some numbers from a Ferdinand kit.

I bought some AMMO enamel dust and mud splashes effects paints awhile ago and was eager to give them a try on this build, out of the bottle they are thick enough to use as a mud paste and thinned down they work really well as a dusty wash. I'm really happy with the results and look forward to using them again on some other builds.

I also ordered one of AK's new real colour marker pens which arrived halfway though painting. I go the dark aluminum colour and used it to paint the steel rims on the wheels and the corresponding polished surface on the inside of tracks. It was so quick and simple to use and unlike painting with a brush there was no wasted excess pant or cleaning after necessary, will definitely be ordering a few more colours in the future. 

[Buzzbomb]

Oh, that is very, very nice.

Good move to pick a scheme that sets it apart.

[Claymore]

 Wow!   

[Old Wombat]

That is very good!

For me, the build, especially, wins; not so keen on the camo*.









[*: But that's just a matter of personal taste, as I realise that towards the end of WW2 the Germans were using such schemes, for various reasons, so the camo reflects the final days of the Third Reich.]

[Mig Eater]

Thanks for the replies 

I really like the combination of the dunkelgelb, rotbraun and schokobraun camouflage colours, it looks "German" but also different too. However I feel like I didn't do a very good job painting it tho, I should have spent some time properly planing out the pattern before I started painting but I was in a rush so I just filled up my airbrush and started painting random squiggles. I also kept getting dry tip on my airbrush, making the paint go from a fine line to splattering everywhere. If you see any parts of the camo that look thicker then the rest that's because the paint splatted and I had to cover it up with more paint

I'll probably try this colour scheme again in the future but I'll plan it out beforehand and maybe use a bush instead of an airbrush.

[Frank3k]

That came out great! Excellent saturated colors.

[finsrin]

Is first I known of VK45.02(P).  Interesting configuration.
Heck of a build & finish.  Beyond what I can do.  Looks super 

[GTX_Admin]