tiger 1e Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

Operation Unthinkable

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year.

I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

Operation Unthinkable was the name given to two related possible future war plans developed by the British Chiefs of Staff Committee against the Soviet Union during 1945.

In the box, as well as the rules, counters, and dice, are seventeen tanks.

For the British you get

- - Two Tortoise Super Heavy Tanks
  - Four Centurion Tanks
  - Three Comet Tanks

The Germans have

- - A Maus Super Heavy Tank
  - Two King Tigers
  - Two Tiger Tanks
  - Three Panzer IV/70 Tank-hunters

This was the main reason for buying the box, I wanted some Centurions and the Tortoise. Getting the other tanks was just a bonus.

Here are the sprues from the box.

I am not sure what I will build first, but looking forward to constructing and painting these. This is from the back of the box.

Thinking I might get the USA versus Russian starter set as well.

This is the Operation Unthinkable Workbench.

Tiger 131

The Tiger was feared so much by the Allies, that most German tanks were referred to as Tiger tanks.

Tiger 131 is the world’s only running Tiger I tank. It was captured on 24th April 1943 on Point 174 on the way between Medjez el Bab and Montarnaud in Tunisia, by 142nd Battalion RAC and 2nd Sherwood Foresters.

The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both air and ground targets. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions, which proved to be quite formidable.

Movie Tiger

In one of the displays at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford is a “Tiger” tank hiding in the ruins of a building.

I say “Tiger” as this is no Tiger Tank, this is a fake Tiger Tank.

It’s one of two tanks made for the film, Saving Private Ryan. They are based on the chassis of the T-34 with a new superstructure and a new turret. The wheel arrangements are obviously not like a real Tiger tank, but as they have hidden it in a building, you could be mistaken…

SDD 15mm Tiger I

Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank used in World War II, developed in 1942. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of Operation Barbarossa, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both air and ground targets. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions, which proved to be quite formidable..

SDD Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E

I have already purchased a Flames of War blister of the German Tiger I E. This model is an SDD white metal kit that I bought in the 1990s. Unlike the Flames of War model this has just four parts.

SDD Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf. E

I am thinking that I might use it as an objective or in some kind of terrain, one of the reasons for using the image above as inspiration.

Fury

One of the displays that I really liked on my recent visit to the Tank Museum was that of the Sherman tank used in the film, Fury.

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

A M4A3E8 Sherman was used by the film makers and Bovington have kept the Sherman tank as it was in the film, complete with weathering, props and the name Fury painted on the barrel of the main weapon.

TheM4A3E8 Sherman has much wider tracks than other Shermans and this makes the tank look much taller and bigger than other Sherman tanks.

Most of the film was shot in Oxfordshire (and not Germany). The German town used in the film was built completely from scratch, which isn’t too surprising considering what happens there.

It wasn’t just the Sherman that was used in the filming, the film crew also used Bovington’s working Tiger tank too.

I really enjoyed the film and thought a powerful interpretation of the last few months of the war and the defiant last stand by the Germans despite knowing they faced eventual defeat, with the Americans wanting to finish quickly so they can go home. It has to be said that the end of the film leaves something to be desired, but remember this is Hollywood. I

Get Fury on Blu Ray from Amazon.

Download Fury from iTunes.

Not airbrushing the Tiger IE

After trying out a non-airbrush method on an old metal SDD SdKfz 251 and been happy with the end result, I decided that I would start to paint my German big cats using a similar method.

Having given the model a basecoat of Warpaint German Armour the next stage was to add the disruptive camouflage. What I did was take an old paintbrush and cut off the bristles leaving a quarter inch. This brush is then used to stipple on the camouflage pattern. I used initially Chocolate Brown (872) and will use Reflective Green (890) later.

I was quite pleased with the initial effect on my SdKfz 251, however I think I may have made the pattern too wide on the Tiger. What I will do is tidy up the camo pattern with some Middlestone (882).

Though the official German manual during the war told how the camo pattern was to be applied, it said the raw paint mixture was to be mixed with petrol and sprayed onto the vehicles. Reality and short supplies of petrol meant that more often the camo pattern was “painted” onto the vehicles, sometimes with brushes and sometimes with rags.

Basecoating the Flames of War Tiger I E (again)

Having given the Tiger a basecoat of Humbrol Dark Brown initially, I was not happy with the results.

After looking at some models online and discussions with Simon, decided that this was way too dark.

I bought some FoW Warpaint, for Late War German Armour and used that on the model.

Much happier with the result.

Here is the Tiger next to one my the Panthers.

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War Tiger 1E.

Basecoating the Flames of War Tiger I E

The next stage after building the model was a white undercoat. I then followed this with a base coat of Humbrol Dark Brown.

Alas the result was that the model was too dark.

Another view of the Tiger with its base coat of Humbrol Dark Brown.

So it needs a different basecoat colour…

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War Tiger 1E.

Undercoating the Flames of War Tiger I E

The next stage after building the model is going to be a white undercoat.

I do find the white undercoat really does show off the detail on these models.

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War Tiger 1E.

Flames of War Tiger I E

The Tiger was feared so much by the Allies, that most German tanks were referred to as Tiger tanks. Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank used in World War II, developed in 1942. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of Operation Barbarossa, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both air and ground targets. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions, which proved to be quite formidable.

This is the Flames of War German Tiger I E. I was quite surprised by how many parts were in the blister. This wasn’t going to be a quick model to put together, especially with no instructions!

I decided to model the tank with the turret hatch closed. I first though glued the main gun into position and added the two turret hatches. I then added the two side skirts. These were quite challenging to glue to the side of the model.

I wasn’t entirely clear about the front hull hatches, there appeared to be four provided in the kit. I did look at a few models online, but wasn’t entirely clear about how they were stuck. I also almost missed the hull machine gun.

The final stage was gluing the tracks into place.

The other side.

The next stage is going to be a white undercoat.

See the full workbench feature on the Flames of War Tiger 1E.