Italeri Tiger I in 1/72 - Part 2

Who's up for Round Two?!?  Unfortunately I didn't find myself with enough time to finish both the Dragon King Tiger and the Italeri Tiger IE, so this article will only include the latter.  Overall, for a fast build kit this Italeri 1/72 Tiger turned out pretty good and I had fun painting it.  The tracks obviously stand out without much detail but I still like how they turned out.


After giving everything a gloss varnish coating (in Part 1 of this tutorial) I applied a Vallejo wash to all the lines and recesses.  I used Vallejo Black and Brown wash and mixed it with a little water so it wasn't quite so thick and dark.  I used a small brush and just touched it off on the lines.  I also painted the tracks using Vallejo Track Primer.


Next I used Vallejo Pale Sand to highlight some of the paint chips and then covered it in Vallejo German Camo Black Brown.  This step can be overdone so be careful not to make the chips too large and blocky.  I also used some soft foam to apply finer chipping and wear around the cupola using Vallejo Panzer Grey.  I like the look and techniques that Mig Jimenez uses on his models and a lot of these steps are based on his F.A.Q. book.

I painted the cables using the same German Camo Black Brown, then I applied the decals.  To seal everything in, I sprayed a coat of Testor's Dullcote.


These last weathering stages helped to tone down the chipping and make the vehicle look a little dirty and worn.  I applied a few thinned down coats of Vallejo Light Mud to make the vehicle look a little dustier; I thinned with water.  Next, I applied Vallejo Dark Mud using soft foam to splatter the vehicle with mud...  especially the road wheels and tracks.  Then I gently went over the Dark Mud with Light Mud (using foam again).  The lighter mud is just to give contrast and the appearance of the mud drying in spots.  You can mix the Vallejo Mud colors with a filler to give it volume if you like; I used Vallejo Plastic Putty.

Finally, I painted the tool handles with Vallejo New Wood and Old Wood; I used Vallejo Oily Steel for the metallic pieces.  I coated everything with Dullcote and then using Vallejo Black Wash applied some fresh oil stains.


One thing that I discovered once I was finished is that these Italeri Fast Assembly Kits don't hold together at all with non-toxic plastic weld (like Micro Weld from Microscale Industries).  Fortunately, I glued the model with Tamiya Plastic Cement before painting and it was just the tracks that I attempted to use the non-toxic cement on...  it had the same effect as using water...  nothing :)

That's it!  Thanks for reading.  If you missed Part 1 be sure to check it out.  Also, if you are interested, here are a few more finished pictures.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...