Winter White Wash guide

Following on from my Warlord Games new plastic Tiger tank review, I have produced a step by step guide to doing simple yet effective winter paint schemes on your models.

You can read the guide on Warlords webpage by following the link here How to apply winter white wash

As ever, you can see more of my work and contact me through Facebook here at the Volley Fire Painting Services page

Warlord Games Plastic Tiger Review

The rush of new 1/56 scale plastic vehicles continues at a cracking pace, with another of kit of the Tiger. Being easily one of mine (And many other peoples) Favourite tanks I was eager to get my grubby mitts on this.

The kit I was working with was a pre-release review sample, and as such came without instructions or decals, so it is a testament to how simple the model is that I was able to knock it together in less than one episode of Arrow! 

Warlords model represents a late production vehicle of the steel wheeled type produced from February 1944. (closer examination and consulting with my trusty New Vanguard book on the Tiger shows its a vehicle produced in June 1944 anal retentive fact fans!).

The kit comes on 2 sprues, and stand out features for me are the crispness of the detail on the tools, and the sheer fit of parts.  The zimmerit is also nicely handled. Worth of note too is the 88mm gun's barrel is pre-drilled at the end, I suspect through the use of fancy slide molds. Very little flash is present and the kit also has a nice commander figure, though I've not used him here as I'll eventually convert one up wearing winter clothing. 

I decided to model my vehicle as belonging to schwere panzer abteilung 505 in the winter of 1944. 
The 505th used an unusual numbering system and had a fantastic charging knight symbol on their turrets, with the knight having a yellow tabard denoting the 3rd company. ( different companies used different colours on the tabard, White was first, second company red and Green was staff). I'm not sure where I got the transfer for the knight from, it came out of my decal cage, but the numbers on the hull came from Warlords SDKFZ 251 kit. I won't dwell too much on the painting techniques as I'm in the process of doing a detailed write up with a step by step guide. 

In terms of size Warlords Tigerfits well with those of Die Waffenkammer (with the flag) and with Rubicons (The one that isn't Die Waffenkammer's or Warlords...). The screaming question though is which is better, Warlords or Rubicons? and my answer is both. I'm tempted to leave it there but I suppose I should elaborate. Rubicons kit provides more options and version straight from the box, however if your going to do mid or late production vehicles you will need to sculpt Zimmerit on. A fairly simple task but one that's daunting and time consuming.

 





Warlords Kit has the better detailed tracks, especially for a late vehicle, however Rubicons are simpler to assemble.Both models are fantastically detailed and fit very well, and are generally pretty accurate. I should also point out that the Rubicon tank shown in the pictures had Zimmerit added by myself. 

In Summary, Warlords Tiger is a fantastic model. If you like Tiger tanks buy one. If you really like Tiger tanks buy the discounted platoon bundle box that I'm sure will be along soon. Warlord have announced some more exciting armour as well...


As always you can see more of my work here at Volley Fire Painting Services

Warlords Tiger can be purchased here Tiger 4 U!

Pt3 Tiger Review! Late War Tiger review, featuring Warlord and Rubicon Models

 As promised, here's my comparison of both Warlord Games existing 28mm 1/56 resin and metal Tiger one, and also Rubicon Models new plastic Tiger. The Warlord model has the large patches of green and brown, whilst Rubicons is the lighter coloured vehicle. Rubicon's model wasn't finished at the time these pictures were take, so is still WIP.


As you can see from the photo's in terms of dimensions both are near perfectly compatible with one another. Rubicons model requires you to add Zimmerit, and being a plastic kit takes a little longer to assemble, however it does come with a large amount of optional parts to enable any Tiger variant to be built, and careful building would allow you to interchange the variants as well. 

Warlords Tiger comes in far less pieces and can be assembled quickly, however being resin requires a little more prep work, and some of the joints needed a touch of filler as well. Detail is fairly similar across both kits, however I think Rubicons has the slight edge as it has more relief in terms of detail in the running gear, and a more complete set of pioneer tools as well.

In conclusion, both kits are very nice, and largly come down to how much work you want to put into a model. Rubicons kit is stunning, and by sculpting Zimmerit on can result in a spectacular kit. (Or can be spectacular straight from the box if building an early version!) Warlords Tiger is also very nice with some great detail straight from the box, so ultimately pays your money and takes your choice. It's worth pointing out Warlord have announced a plastic late production Tiger as well, so it will be interesting to compare this to once it's released. As it stands Rubicons is also the cheaper of the two kits.

As always, more of my work can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/VolleyFirepainting

Rubicon Tiger Pt 2

 Well, I now have a new love of my life! Thoroughly enjoyed this kit. Now with that out the way I'll try and justify such a sweeping statement.
Apologies for the delay in getting the finished pictures of the Tiger uploaded, if you missed part one you can read it here http://volleyfirepainting.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/rubicon-tiger-review-pt1.html I've been working on a lot of commissions, and wanted to spend a bit of extra time on the Tiger as well.

 In the previous installment of this review I stated that I would be doing comparison pics with Warlords late Tiger, however to avoid filling up the article I'll save that for Pt 3, and focus on the modelling aspect of the Rubicon Tiger in this piece.  Once I had assembled the model I gave the tank a quick bath in my ultrasonic cleaner to remove any mold release agent, and also to ensure the surface of the milliput Zimmerit would accept paint.



 Once the model had air dried I used some grey automotive primer as a first layer on the model. I decided to model Michael Wittman the famed German tank ace's Tiger from the battle of Villers Bocage. According to my research it appears that Wittmans own Tiger had broken down, so he was using vehicle number 222 in the engagement, and the vehicles appear to have a stippled camo pattern, although there is evidence to suggest they also used broad patches of green and brown over the Dunkelgelb yellow base too. I liked the stipple though so went with that!

 To paint the tank I used my Iwata Eclipse airbrush, and used Vallejo paints for all the camo work. Colours used were middlestone for the dunkelgelb, red brown for the brown and yellow olive for the green. I also mixed some white into the middlestone to create some colour modulation in the camoflage of the Tiger, and once the camo pattern had been sprayed on I mixed 3 parts gloss varnish to 1 part Middlestone and sprayed this on in a weak glaze to key all the colours in, and also prepare the surface of the tank for having transfers applied.
 I used transfers from 3 different sources on the model, crosses from Rubicon, numbers from Warlord, and the crossed keys divisional symbol from my decal dungeon. To get the transfers to even think about settling down onto the surface of the zimmerit I've developed a cunning trick. I paint the surface to receive the transfer with Pledge Mutli Surface Wax, then whilst this is wet I apply the transfer, then paint more of the wax over the transfer. Through what I assume is magic as the wax dries it shrinks the transfer to the surface and the contours of the model, giving a great painted on look, without the cost of using decal softners.

Once all the potions and gubbins had dried for about 48 hours I set about weathering the Tiger. The real vehicle was fairly new in 1944, and not overly weathered or battle damaged. To start with I used some Vallejo gun metal applied with a sponge to simulate some light chipping around hatches and walk way areas, and then used some  Rowney artists Burnt Umber, painted into a weak wash into all the recesses of the model, (excepting the Zimmerit) to add depth to the paint job. After leaving the wash to dry for around half an hour, I used a cotton bud to remove any excess paint, rubbing the oils away from the surface to leave it only in the recesses. Deciding the tank needed a tad more gunkyness I mixed some black oil paint into a thin wash and applied this to the engine deck and fuel filler caps, again being careful not to over do the effect.
Using period photo's as a guide I set about weathering the track and running gear using Games Workshop Agrellan Earth special effect paint. This paint comes in a thick paste, and as it dries produces a cracked dried earth effect. I covered the entire suspension system with this fancy stuff, and whilst it was wet used my finger to wipe the paint away again, leaving it to concentrate in the recesses. Once dry, I applied more of my oily black wash to the centre of the road wheels, and picked out the areas of wear with some bright silver paint and a very small (And horribly expensive) paint brush.
At this stage the tank was nearly done, all that remained to do was add exhaust staining using some Humbrol weathering powders, and an aerial from fine fuse wire.  Deciding the model needed a bit of character, and having discovered a Warlord seated Michael Wittman figure I painted him up, and sat him inside the turret peeking out and surveying the battlefield. With him added and a coat of matt varnish the model was finished!

Thanks to Rubicon Models for providing the kit to review, you can find more information about their products here  http://www.rubiconmodels.com/ and as always you can find more of my work at the Volley Fire Painting Services page. More info about Michael Wittman can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wittmann

Thanks for reading, and look out for part 3 where I compare the Rubicon and Warlord Tigers!

Rubicon Tiger Review, PT1

Morning everyone (It is now anyway...)So, here's part one of my Rubicon 1/56 scale (28mm) Tiger review! In this part I'll describe how the kit goes together, how I sculpted the Zimmerit and talk a little on the kits accuracy. In Part 2 I'll talk about the painting and weathering of the model, and compare it in size with Warlords and Die Waffenkammer's Tigers. Onwards!

 For me, the most impressive thing about the kit is the option to build any production variant, with optional road wheels, gun mantlets, turret roofs, hatches, smoke launchers spare tracks and head light configurations. The instructions are also clear about which parts go with which variant too I'm pleased to add. This kit also comes with a fairly extensive transfer sheet with crosses and numbers.

Rubicon's Tiger comes packed in a box the size of small castle, and it's crammed with parts too, with each sprue packed in it's own individual bag. Parts are very well moulded, and detail is very crisp. The design of the suspension and running gear is superb with each set of tracks being made up of three layers of wheels to give a far better level of detail than can be achieved in resin or one piece tracks.





Detail is very crisp, tools are moulded with good depth and relief, and the Engine decking is handled well.  It would be utterly be fantastic if one of the aftermarket companies such as Eduard brought out a photo etched upgrade set with engine grills, but I suspect that's wishful thinking!




After much pondering I've decided on building a late production vehicle with steel road wheels, late style turret with square loaders hatch and sliding Cupola, as well as Zimmerit anti magnetic mine paste. This was applied to all mid and late production Tigers. One hurdle in this though is the kit doesn't come with Zimmerit! I think Rubicon was wise to do this, as plastic Zimmerit doesn't tend to look that good in my opinion, and is relatively simple to apply, just time consuming to apply.


To make the Zimmerit I use pretty much the same techniques as was done on the real vehicles. I apply white Miliput applied evenly approximately 1mm deep along the the entire length of the surface to textured, leave it approximately 20 minutes for the Miliput to harden, then use a razor saw to add texture, dragging the teeth of the blade along for around 2mm. I then change the position of the saw slightly to add some variety to the texture pattern. It's very tedious, however does look good. The whole model too around 2 hours to Zimmerit, but I think it was worth the effort. 

That concludes part one, and so far I'm thoroughly impressed.Come back soon for part 2, with extra coatings of Dunkelgelb and Michael Wittmans!

More info on Rubicon models can be found on their website, here http://www.rubiconmodels.com/
And as always any comments or to see more of my work check out https://www.facebook.com/VolleyFirepainting

Ruicon Models Tiger, Panzer IV, T-34/76

 Afternoon everyone!

DHL have just delivered a veritable box of treasures courtesy of those fine folks at Rubicon Models.

I have been very kindly sent a Tiger, T34 and Panzer IV to review, so drop me a message here or through Facebook letting me know which you'd like to see.  The ideas I have for finishing the models are the following,

• A Tiger 1 Late Production, with home made Zimmerit, probably painted up as a vehicle of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 505, painted in Dulkelgelb with the charging knight image painted on the turret. 

• A plain green T-34/76 for Operation Barbarossa time period, with lots of sublte weathering and dust effects. 

• Finally, as I've already reviewed the Panzer IV I'll do something a little different and kit it out with extra stowage, crew and maybe flags and foliage.

 So let me know and I'll roll the kit into the paint mines and get cracking after work over the next few days!

As ever if you'd like to see more of my work, or would like to let me know which you'd like to see please check out the Volley Fire page at;
https://www.facebook.com/VolleyFirepainting