King Tigers

Initially, I was not too enthused with Devil's Charge.  I had already settled on my new American force, and the German lists seemed to give me little to work with, at least without having to expand my model collection.  However, when I got the book I was intrigued at the possibility of using FT King Tigers.  I eventually realized that I still wasn't enthused with the German lists, but the pictures of the big cats thundering down the battlefield sparked my imagination.  I love Battlefront's King Tiger models, and mine don't see the table as often as I wish they would.  So I decided that they would be next on my re-painting queue (those who have read my earlier posts know that I'm re-painting all of my German armor).

I hadn't laid eyes on these King Tigers in over a year, and I had assembled them about 3 years ago! My painting/modelling skills have come a long way since then.  I started by airbrushing the basecoat (Vallejo Air Dark Yellow) over the existing paint scheme (see the earlier posts on the Panthers and Desert Tiger for an idea of what the old scheme was like).

Then I applied the blue-tac in the general camo patterns that I felt would be interesting.  I also use the blue-tac to hold the turrets to the pieces of wood while I'm painting them.

Also have a couple of StuGs thrown in the lot

Be careful not to press the blue-tac too firmly onto parts of the model that have deep indentations, such as exhaust vents or stowage.  Also, once the blue-tac is applied, take one last look at the models side-by-side to make sure that the camo patterns won't be too similar.

Next I airbrushed the models with Vallejo Air Medium Brown, covering the model (I try to avoid the tracks as much as I can, but I err on the side of getting complete hull coverage).

The paint is only shiny because it's still wet.

Next, I used Vallejo Air Tank Green for the final camo color.  The green was applied sparingly to certain parts of each model.  Although it won't seem like there is a lot of green on the model, the green will become more prominent after the "dots" are applied.

Now the fun part, peel away (gently...) the blue-tac!

Next I added the "dots".  I used the same yellow and green airbrush paints for the dots as I did for the camo.  I applied the dots using a sewing pin.

True, the dots are a little big for historical accuracy, but I think they look fine for the tabletop. Also, just in my opinion, I think that for a tabletop piece less-is-more when it comes to the dots.

Much like with the Panthers I am excited with the results, now I just need to do the tracks and the detailing.