AFV Modeller - Issue 18 - 2 - Tiger F13

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

T

10:18 am

Page 56

he first time I saw the Fehrmann

set off from Fallingbostel towards the Weser and

Tiger’s was in the book “Tigers on

ended up in the sector of Wietersheim, where on

the Western front”. The pictures of

the 11th of April the last Tiger was lost. All six

F 13 caught my eye especially. The

Tiger’s were early or mid 1943 versions with the

hand painted turret numbers, the

early rubber tire road wheels replaced by late

extremely battle-damaged appearance, the

steel rimmed wheels. The tracks were also

flaked zimmerit and the half open engine vent

replaced by late tracks with ice cleats.

hatches made it an exciting challenge to make in scale 1:35.

The Kit History

early Tiger kit 35216. It is the best of Tamiya’s

This Tiger, together with five others, belonged to

Tiger kits as you get a lot of good extra parts

Companie Fehrmann (identified by the letter F in

from the spare part box. (Early and late drive

the turret number) of Kampfgruppe Schulze.

sprocket and Feifel filters, etc.). It also has the

Companie Fehrmann was established in January

correct asymmetrical turret.

1945 in Oerbke Camp in northern Germany. They

56

The most suited kit for this project was Tamiya’s

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:18 am

Page 57

Tiger F13 of Companie Fehrmann by Jens Kronvold Frederiksen

57

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:19 am

Page 58

Getting started After assembling all the major parts of the hull and turret, I filled all location holes and made the rolled steel texture. I did this by adding plastic cement to all armor steel surfaces. (Do this in a ventilated room)! When the plastic was softened, I rubbed a toothbrush on the surface. ( Do not use it for tooth brushing after this! ) After a day or so, I cleaned the model with fine

The torch cut edges of the armor plates

each pannier, which is missing in the kit.

were made with a small dentist’s drill. Next

I made these from plastic card with plastic

step was to add all the weld seams. I did

rivets, which were added from

this with a pyrogravure (actually it is a

Modelkasten.

small soldering iron with a homemade tip of copper rod and I control the heat with a dimmer). Some of the original seams on the kit are very deeply recessed, which is not correct, so I glued thin plastic strips on before ”welding”.

of copper wire were added to represent the hinges. The underside front of the panniers and the front armor plate were built of styrene strips. It is important to get it right if the Tiger is

sandpaper and I achieved a very

without fenders and side skirts. The rear

convincing rolled steel texture. If you try

fender attachment points were replaced

this, take care not to get cement on any

Lower hull details

with Aber parts glued on 0.5mm plastic card. The plastic card was for adding weld

details or panel lines etc. There is a long flange on the underside of

58

The front fenders were cut and small loops

seams around the etched brass part.

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:19 am

Page 59

Running gear

Zimmerit

I wanted to give my Tiger’s suspension a

I have never been completely satisfied with

“tired” look by lowering the rear of the hull.

my earlier zimmerit attempts with putty

I did this by removing the small location

and Milliput, so I decided to try a new

This styrene zimmerit has many

pins on the hull, except the first one on

method. An extra challenge in this instance

advantages; you can work as slowly as you

each side. So the first torsion bars could

was also to get the flaking as accurate as

want. If you are not satisfied, just melt a

be glued on as per the instructions. The

possible.

new pattern in the same styrene. When

the zimmerit pattern, just avoid touching unwanted places and details with the

last torsion bars on each side were raised about 1.5 mm. (Don’t overdo this as you might end up with too little space for the tracks)!! All the other torsion bars were glued on and aligned with the front and

you need to glue details on, just add a little I decided to try with thin styrene sheet and the pyrogravure. I used 0.3mm Evergreen styrene, drawing each panel, the zimmerit

the plastic sheet with a pencil.

are from Modelkasten - by far the best on the market but time-

the detail through the zimmerit to sit on the “steel” surface. The flaking is also easy to accurately achieve; I even got the exact amount of

The flaking was cut away and the styrene Tamiya’s late version Tiger. The tracks

cement to the area and you can squeeze

lines, and the exact flaking pattern onto

rear ones. The road wheels were taken from

pyrogravure, as it has to be really hot.

sheet was glued onto the model with small

zimmerit rows on my model according to the reference photos.

blobs of superglue. (DON’T use plastic cement, as the styrene will act like cheese on a pizza when you use the pyrogravure)!

consuming to assemble. To add a little extra detail, I sanded away the

The Pyrogravure needed new tips as wide

ice cleats on the inside of each

as the zimmerit on the hull and a bit

track link to show wear of the

narrower on the turret. I made these

tracks. This feature can be seen

from copper tube hammered flat and

on the preserved Tiger in

filed into shape like a small

Vimoutiers, France.

screwdriver. Then it was simple to add

59

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:31 am

Page 60

Upper hull details

So I scratch built them from small pieces

apparently missing). The underside of the

of styrene strip.

hatches had to be thinned down with a

The driver’s splashguard received five recessed bolts, by adding a strip of styrene

The antenna socket was drilled to

with holes made with a punch and die set.

accommodate a small length of brass tube

Small recessed bolts were also added to

with a wing nut added. The engine fans

the driver and radio operator’s hatch

were taken from an On The Mark photo

hinges.

etched set. Their centers were made from modified Panzer IV wheel hubs. The

All the tool clips were added empty. The only tools on the model are gun cleaning

lot of work. I first cut off the hatches from

with a small piece of copper wire added

the engine deck (in the hatch hinge itself),

inside.

and scratch built a new one to fit the engine deck. The ABER engine grilles were

60

Show Modelling Stug III set and glued into drilled holes.

holding the side skirts, Feifel air cleaners

Bosch light was scratch built from styrene

not hollow and are made from thin metal.

The small keyholes were taken from a The

All the small flanges with screw holes for

The half open engine vent hatches took a

set but cannot be used. In reality they are

intake duct and feifel hose clamp bases.

with tube turned in ABS on a lathe.

believe these items are essential! The

hawser holders are included in the ABER

hatch received scratch built hatch jams;

housings were constructed from styrene

rods and the engine-starting handle. As I

The track cable retainers and towing

small recessed edge added. The engine

super glued on and rubbed down with a brush handle to simulate that the crew had walked on them (on F 13 one of them is

and exhaust shrouds are included in Modelkasten’s Tiger transport track set SK 3. But I made these myself from 1x1mm styrene strip. They were glued on a slightly larger piece of 0.1 mm styrene strip to add material for the weld seam. You can do the same with all the small brass details. It gives you the advantage of being able to glue these parts on with plastic cement

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:32 am

Page 61

(they are a lot easier to position and

The rear lifting lug was cut off and glued

align).

on a small disc for adding the weld. The

The final detail like the small tie downs and S mine discharger brackets etc. had to be scratch built. The small lifting lugs on the exhaust manifolds are included in the Modelkasten set. The casting numbers were carefully cut off a sprue frame and glued on all cast parts. The single rear fender was from an ABER set. Add the rear fender to your Tiger at the end of the build as they are very fragile. I glued mine on several times!

brackets for the storage box were made of thin brass strips and welded on. Upper track hangers were the Tamiya parts modified and detailed. The lower hangers are included in the Modelkasten track set. The smoke discharger brackets were cut off with a torch on the real Tiger, so to

and cut them off with a dentist’s drill. The Commanders cupola needed some

blocks were added, and the bracket for

The turret was assembled, welded and styrene strip details were added behind the mantel.

The gun barrel is from Fine Moulds. It fits the mantel perfectly. The muzzle brake was the Tamiya part. It is fine but benefits from a little detailing: recessed slots, screw holes and a small slotted ring were glued inside. The coaxial machine gun was taken from a Tamiya infantry equipment set.

simulate this; I glued on the Tamiya parts

extra detailing. Fine Moulds clear glass

The turret

The gun

holding the hatch in open position were replaced by a homemade part. The six drain holes were drilled with a 0.3 mm drill.

Battle damage Finally I wanted to give my Tiger a battle damaged appearance. The real F 13 had several shell impacts, especially on the turret. I made these by grinding away plastic with a dentist’s drill and/or using the pyrogravure. And then it was ready to paint!

61

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:32 am

Page 62

Painting

box may have been replaced, as it had

I started the painting process by spraying

sand yellow paint underneath it as well.

two white spots onto the sides of the

There has been a lot discussion about the • The Tiger had a coat of green color.

that it was dark gray overall with

(Green was used widely on German

red/white numbers. I find that hard to

vehicles at the end of the war).

believe. By studying the pictures, it is

• The commander’s cupola was replaced

vehicle. This was transferred to masking

clear that it has more than one color, and

as it has a different camouflage pattern.

tape and cut out, and these were added

light color. Possibly sand yellow?

• It has seen a lot of battle action, as the zimmerit is much damaged.

picture. The idea behind my colors is therefore:

• It received a coat of zimmerit and got painted sand yellow. The turret storage

on the white spots on the turret. The model was then painted Humbrol 67 Dark

• Finally, it was assigned to Companie Fehrmann and had the F 13 turret number painted on it.

The areas where the zimmerit had flaked off were masked with Maskol. Thereafter, I painted it sand yellow. (Humbrol 94 with white added). This meant that the gray

• The Tiger was originally painted dark gray.

turret numbers, they were drawn on a

gray overall.

The turret markings are not red, as red will appear black on a black and white

the turret numbers. To accurately get the

computer using a picture of the real

the area on the turret back has a very

62

turret. This was to be the white outline of

colors on the F 13. One source claims

Of course, this is all purely guesswork,

paint was visible in some areas.

but it explains why my model is painted

I then masked off the rear of the turret

like this.

and the areas that the fenders and side

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:32 am

Page 63

skirts had covered, and sprayed a final

Weathering consisted of some heavy

• Modelkasten SK 4 Late Tiger spare

coat of dark green. (Humbrol 86 with sand

washes of brown and black and some

tracks. (There are NO spare tracks in set

and white added).

gentle dry brushing with lighter colors.

SK1).

This layer was added in big soft spots so the underlying colors were visible in some areas.

Much weathering was also done,

with MIG pastel powders. These powders are really messy to work with, but the

All small details were picked out in their

result is well worth it! It can really bring

respective colors and I added a thin light

your model to life.

zimmerit.

painted with a fine brush with the same paint mix as the green for the rest of the tank. The metallic areas on the road

• Modelkasten A4 Wing nuts. • Modelkasten M7 Bosch lights (I only used

• ABER 35014 Tiger I early photo-etched

Parts used • Tamiya 35216 Tiger I Early version.

parts. (Not many parts used on my model). Next time I will only by ABER G03 engine grilles and ABER A20 German clamps and

• Tamiya 35146 Tiger I Late version (Only

clasps instead.

the steel road wheels).

wheels tracks etc. were painted with Humbrol polished steel.

• Modelkasten A2 Round head rivets.

the sockets).

grey line on the edges of the flaked

The green in the turret numbers were hand

• Modelkasten A1 Bolt & Nuts set

especially on the suspension and tracks

• ABER 35A10 Front and back mudguards • Modelkasten SK 1 Late Tiger tracks.

for Tiger.

63

AFV/18 Sept/Oct 04

16/8/04

10:32 am

Page 64

• On The Mark Models TMP-3526 Tiger

and replaced with a pair from Tamiya. The

and the huge number of books with

photo-etched parts. (Only the engine

hood on the jacket was also re-sculpted.

interesting Tiger’s, this is definitely not the

cooling fan blades).

The figure was painted with Humbrol

last one I will build!

• Fine Moulds Tiger I turned aluminum gun barrel.

enamel except for the face; it was painted with Winsor & Newton oil paints.

Reference

• Fine Moulds MG-23 Clear periscopes. • Hornet HGH8 heads SS officers. • Wolf WSH 21 Figure.

Conclusion Building and painting the F13 was really an enjoyable project. It took me a year to

Tiger’s on the Western front. By jean Restayn Tamiya’s steel wheeled Tiger I. By Angus Creighton

complete! The actual build took me about

The figure

three months, but the model stood on my shelf for quite some time before I decided

The figure is from Wolf (WSH 21 Officer of

re-sculpted to fit into the commander’s cupola. The binoculars were ground away

64

Tiger. By Feist and Culver.

how to paint it. www.missing-lynx.com

the LSSAH Kegichevka 1943). It was heavily modified. The legs were cut off and

Tigers at the front. By Thomas L. Jentz

I find it very interesting to build an exact vehicle from photographic references, and with the excellent Tiger kits from Tamiya