Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Kursk in 1943. I just recently posted some photos of my completed Panther Ds and some Tiger Is from the 503rd that are in progress.
Here is a photo of a knocked out Panther D. It looks like #431? although I am not absolutely sure of the last digit. Interestingly, I had chosen #431 as one of the 7 I painted.
There are also pictures of some Tiger Is from the 503rd Schwere Abteilung that I am using as a reference for my own Tiger Is. I am painting vehicles from 2nd company of that unit. Does anyone here remember the movie, "Goldfinger" or "Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines"? Geman actor Gert Frobe was in both and played the villain Goldfinger. The German tank commander in the foreground of one of the pictures looks a lot like Gert Frobe to me.
You're right, Pete - that guy does look like Goldfinger! LOL And the more I look at him I'm getting some Hardy Krüger vibes too (the guy from Wild Geese and A Bridge Too Far).
In that bottom picture are they trying to tow the tanks out of the mud? What a nightmare!
"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of java that the thoughts acquire speed. The hands acquire the shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion." - Programmer's Mantra
Thanks very much Starcruiser for the Gert Frobe videos. At least now people can see who we are talking about here.
Hoth, no problem! I am happy to share any small bit of knowledge that I might happen to have.
Here are some WIP of my 10 GHQ early Tiger Is. These will be for 2nd Company of the 503rd Schwere Abteilung. The road wheels are all painted and the tracks on 2 of them are done. I just finished putting the initial layer of camo on the last turret yesterday. Now I have to go back and put on the second layer.
They may not look like much right now but hopefully things will come together later once more camo is added and the details are picked out and the wash is applied.
Really great work on those tigers thus far Pete! I was just checking out the wheatcroft collection and it’s amazing what they keep digging up, including Tiger parts!
Hi Gazza! It would be great to see the charging knights of the 505th in decal form. I would be very interested in seeing somebody (Dan's Flight Deck Decals or I-94) maybe do the 507th numbers which featured a large company number followed by smaller platoon and individual tank numbers. At any rate I would buy some 505th decals as well.
Thank you very much, Burt! I will post more updated pictures of the Tigers soon.
Hi Gazza! It would be great to see the charging knights of the 505th in decal form. I would be very interested in seeing somebody (Dan's Flight Deck Decals or I-94) maybe do the 507th numbers which featured a large company number followed by smaller platoon and individual tank numbers. At any rate I would buy some 505th decals as well.
Hi Pete. The 505th also did something slightly unusual with their (and similar). A 'large' company number and smaller platoon and individual tanks numbers. However they were all on the gun barrel - which I think might be too small for decals. Here's a couple of bits from an illustration that I've 'smushed' together:
<edit>Hmmm! I'm now wondering of a way to represent the zimmerit...
<edit 2> It's almost certainly not feasible - but could you tape blank decal paper onto the bed of a 3d printer and then print the zimmerit on that?
<edit 3> Or 'just' print the zimmerit with a 3d printer and glue it on?
Hi Pete, as a fellow Humbrol enamel user you may be interested to know (if you didn't already) that Humbrol have recently (in the last year or so) removed around 50 paints from their enamel range. I've just made a post about it in my (Paints/Brushes - Enamel and Acrylic Ramble) thread .
#72 Khaki Drill - My North Africa British uniform color.
#83 Ochre - My basic German vehicle color 1943-45.
#84 Midstone - My 1973 Israeli color and Russian uniform color.
#102 Army Green - British Army color.
#116 U.S. Lt. Green - Vietnam aircraft medium green
#117 U.S. Dark Green - Vietnam aircraft dark green
#119 Lt Earth
#145 Med. Gray. Good for WWII Japanese warships.
#111 Field Gray. A decent WWII German uniform color. I mix in #34 white to lighten a bit for scale.
#159 Khaki Drab. I have used this as a British vehicle color.
#224 Dark Slate. A good disruptive color for North Africa British.
Thanks for the heads up on discontinued Humbrol paints.
You're welcome. It's just a good job that they no longer kill bearers of bad news.
There is an alternative that I've got a few of - Colourcoats. They were previously produced by White Ensign Models in the UK but were sold to Sovereign Hobbies (also in the UK). You can get them in the US from White Ensign Models (I think they bought the name and some of the ranges from the old White Ensign Models in the UK) in California and H & B Hobbies in Massachusetts. They might be worth a try. I'd link in the websites but I guess they're technically competitors to GHQ so...
And now for something completely different! I painted a stag as part of a commission for a friend of mine. It is 28mm instead of my usual 6mm.
Some of the Tigers I am working on are in the background. I am also working on some other 28mm figures for my friend as well. I will post some pictures of them later.
