Tiger I

Awarded: Bronze

By: Berthold Tacke

Manufacturer(s): Dragon

Description: This mid production Tiger I with Zimmerit shows a Tank used in Courland mid march 1945 by sPzAbt. 510 Battlegroup Wise. The scene shows what might possibly be the last stand of one of the remaining tigers of the named battlegroup. The german tanks were even in Courland largely outnumbered by their russian opponents. The Tiger I is a sort kitbash of Dragon with a lot of Revell Tiger I parts, e.g. the Cannon, antiaircraft MG-mount, turretperiscope etc. The sideskirts have been heavily modified and got a good portion of battle damage. Agama Acrylics and Vallejo Colours were used to airbrush the tank. Oilcolourwash, an acrylic mircopainting and self-produced mud and a snow mixture basing on sodium bicarbonate were the last stages of finishing this WWII cat of prey.

Judge 1: It’s hard to fault the construction of this well made model the photos, although well taken, are too compressed leaving artefacts obscuring some of the lovely detail, you are also missing an in-progress photo and we prefer plain backgrounds. For a front line winter tank in Curland I would expect to see a lot more wear and tear on the white wash, it would also benefit from some more colour variation and some contrasting shadows. A darker pin wash around the smaller details would really bring them out against the white finish. The mud on the running gear is fantastic and really brings it alive but I would expect to see more of it on the sides and front etc. Some more grime and dirt creeping up from the running gear would also add to the winter effect, white gets very dirty very quickly. As a side note your base and groundwork is very good, I just turned the heater up.
Judge 2: A good build and the basic painting has been well done. The whitewash could be improved by some further weathering / shading as the running gear is very muddy (and probably the crew members' feet!). The areas around the hatches and where the crew walk / climb would look better with more wear and tear. The groundwork and backdrop is very good, but unfortunately these can't be included when judging - otherwise I would have awarded more marks.
Judge 3: The Whole scene looks really good (& would help rate it higher as dio than just as a model) the model itself is nicely built,the whitewash you can really go to town with it on Zimmerit but beside afew well done hit makes there is now wear on the whitewash & having no decals makes it look like WIP or you chickened out on putting Turret numbers on it. There is no wear on the turret bin or hatches or on the skirts (a drybrush of Dunkelgelb sand colour would make a world of diffrence here,but good darkening on the engine deck & 88 muzzlebreak. the tools & Shell look really good too.