RFI Tamiya 1/48 Tiger 1 Diorama , "After Kursk ...."

[PanzerWomble]

Enough of all this aeroplane nonsense -  time to get back to some armour . And where better than the old Tiger 1 ...which I ignore as it is over represented IMHO ..the last one for me being 1984 ..ahem 

 

 

[PanzerWomble]

So Tammys 2004 tooling of an early one Trifle air filters and everything ..., no Zimm to muck around with ...in Russland . 

 

 

 

Only 2 options unless I fancy masking or digging through the spares box , both Wehrmacht , 503rd SchPzAbt in Russia (but could well by Ukraine by then)  in August 1943 ...or the 502 SchPzAbt also in Russia "Summer 1943".. the 502 is dunkelgelb only and the kit is missing the links around the turret as per below 

 

 

[PanzerWomble]

The other option is more interesting as 503 were pictured quite a bit at the end of the Kursk . No pix of 233 but plenty of other 503 vehicles . 

 

Looks like a nice dio opportunity ...

 

 

[PanzerWomble]

This sequent looks great .....but water dios don't shift afterwards ..that damage of the air cleaners though ....

 

 

Date: Monday, 4 October 1943
Place: Znamenka, Tambovskaya oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown
 

Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (8,8 cm L/56) Ausf. E (Sd.Kfz. 181) turmnummer 332 of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 carefully trying to make it's way out of the mud. S.Pz.Abt.503 was the only German heavy tank battalion to have two Balkenkreuz visible on each side, one on the hull and one on the turret near the identification numeral. The numbering featured black numerals with white outlines by this time. In October 1943, the battalion was in a rest area near Znamenka, where it had time to maintain and repair vehicles and conduct training. This sequence shows recovery training that was conducted on 4 October 1943.

Source:
Book "Tigers In Combat (1)" by Wolfgang Schneider 

 

Note early style mantlet , no reinforcing ribs and the rain guard. 

 

Similar looking village in background 

Below - front vehicle has more standard mantlet , 332 second in line .

Germans standardised everything ...wrong ...503 like bolting on old PzIII/IV stowage bins as per below 

 

Stuckerised ....

Jerry can , lacks of track cable,  helmets a wealth of incidental details 

Loader gets the worst job ...

 

Note missing first wheel ...might be damage ......might have been deliberated removed to help with mud clearance . 

So .......... panzers maarsch ! 

[PanzerWomble]

A good day ...look at all those wheels ...and the weights Tamiya use now instead of the metal hulls . 

 

 

Upper hull has old school grills that can be viewed though, these will be backed by black styrene card. 

 

 

Turret built in 30 minutes ...replaced the odd solid hatch handles with wire bent using my new wire bender . 

 

 

 

Lower hull and turret blasted with Vallejo german primer , and then Tamiya's "new" dunklegelb . 

 

 

Next up , to complete upper hull, and get the tracks on , then upper and lower hulls can be joined. I like these 1/48 , they are real shake and bake weekend kits , but lend themselves to all the usual armour tricks that can be done in 1/35. 

 

Laterz 

PW 

[PanzerWomble]

Found a picture of 233 , not sure when but deffo the 503rd. 

Also finished the Tigger ..sooooo cute ...sits in the lap of a hand . Only quick pic and onto a lil dio ...might need some micro Kurts . 

 

Laterz 

PW

 

 

[PanzerWomble]

Ok so the thatched roof peasant hut turned into some kinda Ukrainian Tiki bar ......not done yet . Back laterz 

 

 

 

 

[KevinM]

So that

s were the wig went !!Nice work Guy and yes I would think that those 1/48 would make great dios 2for the price of 1 in size.

[PanzerWomble]

2 hours ago, KevinM said:

So that

s were the wig went !!Nice work Guy and yes I would think that those 1/48 would make great dios 2for the price of 1 in size.

You win a prize, I've not tried it before but using fake fur for thatch . I've a few different lengths coming so we will see the results 

 

I'm enjoying working in the smaller scale after years of 1/35.

[PanzerWomble]

Ok .....Kurt's a bit more pleased with this result ....not quite there...... but looks more in scale he thinks ....but what does he know at 1 3/4 inches high ? 

Getting close to pulling it all together . ...

[PanzerWomble]

503rd post Kursk October 1943 .

Tamiya tank and figs. Scratch built everything else .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harv]

Love it !!….Harv

[KevinM]

Came out Nice Guy!I have always and probably 1/72 if that day ever comes but build a Dio from the "Band of Brothers" Carentan  the tank coming over the hill  something if done right would recognize.

[Bomber_County]

On 11/15/2023 at 3:25 PM, PanzerWomble said:

503rd post Kursk October 1943 .

Tamiya tank and figs. Scratch built everything else .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missed this completely, never built 1/48 armour do like the idea of this scale of diorama. Congrats…..