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Writer's pictureBlaxkleric

"The Tiger Was A German Heavy Tank Of World War Two..."


"...That operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions."

This 10mm metal German Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H tank is one of two models bought together as a pair within a single clamshell from “Pendraken Miniatures” at Salute 50, and was simply labelled as a Tiger I. Intended for my current Battle of the Bulge campaign, the hefty model consisted of a separate hull, turret, gun and pair of tracks, as well as a curiously unlabelled piece which eventually turned out to be the "over-engineered" vehicle's air filters.


Due to wanting the tank to fit in with the rest of my Third Reich forces, all of which had been pigmented a good decade ago, I managed to locate an old pot of "Citadel" Adeptus Battlegrey from my dust-covered collection of Out of Production (OOP) paints, and applied a double layer over the entire Tiger. I then gave it a healthy splash of Nuln Oil, before dry-brushing it with more "Citadel" Adeptus Battlegrey.

"Pendraken Miniatures" WIPs - Three Vickers VI C tanks awaiting some final 'touch-ups' and decals

The armoured vehicle's tracks were later 'picked out' with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, base-coated using "Vallejo" Gunmetal, and finally shaded in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I'm still impatiently waiting for some WWII German Insignia and Swastika transfers by "Decal Details" to arrive through the post so I can add a couple of Balkenkreuz to the sides of the tank. But I have managed to apply some red turret digits to it from an old sheet of RU-108 Russian 10/12mm armour numbers.


Alongside my Tiger I have also managed to make some progress on three metal 10mm Vickers VI C models I also picked up from "Pendraken Miniatures" whilst at "Europe’s largest independent wargaming event." These rather tiny British light tanks, withdrawn from service by mid-1942, are now destined for my Early Second World War tabletop, having originally been erroneously bought by myself as Allied reinforcements for the much later Ardennes Offensive in wintry Belgium/Luxemburg.

"Big Mr Tong" WIPs - These Aquaphibians just need to have their fins and weapons 'picked out'

Lastly, I've been working on some more 28mm scale Aquaphibians sculpted by "Big Mr Tong" as something of a palate cleanser, having almost lost all my enthusiasm for 10mm tank combat due to my latest order with the Middlesbrough-based manufacturer being delayed. Now this 'hold up' has been entirely due to UK Customs taking an eternity to process a decal restock as opposed to anything the company has created, with Leon providing me with some first-rate updates as to the situation.


But perhaps due to my own impatience or restlessness, my inability to properly 'finish' a number of German tanks and armour-hunters as planned has definitely caused a noticeable drop in productivity. Thus, I figured a sudden sojourn back to 1964 and the science-fiction television show "Stingray" might help galvanise me whilst I testily await the arrival of my transfers, extra tanks and their crew...

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undercoat2670
18 juin 2023

Great looking Tiger tank. What an iconic vehicle that is.

Sorry to hear about your problems in getting decals etc, but it appears to be an issue with most things these days.

I think those Aquaphibians are so characterful, great to see more.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
18 juin 2023
En réponse à

Cheers Undercoat. Despite only being 10mm scale, the Tiger I is a beast of a model. Luckily, the decals and extra bitz from Pendraken have now arrived, and are being put to good use. Tbf the delay was nothing to do with them but Customs, and Leon kept me in the loop with some great communications.


I have so many Aquaphibians to paint, including their Devil fish ship, that I need to set aside some serious hobby time to get them done. But I'm sorta obsessed with 10mm WW2 tank currently. LOL!! 😁

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planetmut
13 juin 2023

Ugh, postal delays are the worst. I ordered three large minis back in April to paint for Monster May(hem); two finally showed up in the past couple of days. I cancelled the third one because it hasn't even been printed yet.


The Tiger looks great, and even at that small scale it's still a chunk of a tank. I really like the Vickers too, and the aquaphibians are coming along nicely!

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
13 juin 2023
En réponse à

Yeah. None of it is Pendraken's fault - as Leon kept me in the loop with some excellent communications, but it did badly dent my enthusiasm for the project. Still, the decals and crew figures have arrived now, and many have already been placed. 😀


It's not until you own a 3D printer that you genuinely realise just how long some of the minis take to make - and that's with a 100% successful print. Some of my bigger ones are 7+ hours, so I can see a popular fig causing some small Etsy stores real problems. Good comms and managing expectations is the best solution I suppose.


The Tiger is huge, and will truly dominant the battlefield - at…

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Dai Dead
Dai Dead
12 juin 2023

Haven't seen a Tiger in early war grey before, but I like it. Can we get a scale shot next to say a sherman?


I love those Vickers tanks and have one planned to purchase for my WW2 Greeks this Summer. Just cool looking little things, though little more than gnats in a tank war setting sadly. lol

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
12 juin 2023
En réponse à

Cheers Dai. I've got a second Tiger which should be finished soon, and then these'll feature in the third instalment of my Battle of the Bulge batrep campaign, so there should be plenty of comparison shots in that. They are big, though not the size of the two King Tigers I'm currently assembling. LOL!!!


All my German forces will be grey, as I like sticking to just one main colour for all my 10mm stuff so you can easily identify which vehicle belongs to which force on the tabletop. It might not be historically correct, especially for some of my desert war tanks, but I can easily live with it.


The Vickers are very cute, aren't they..? I may well…

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wargamesterrainworkshop
wargamesterrainworkshop
12 juin 2023

Great work and progress on the tanks Simon, sorry to hear about the delay, post in and out of the UK is an absolute pain at the moment, to be honest your lucky if it gets there within 3 months ! great work on the Aquaphibians, and with so many projects you must have more than enough to keep you busy while waiting for the transfers.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
12 juin 2023
En réponse à

Thanks Dave. The Tiger is incredibly heavy tbh - a real chunk of metal, LOL!!. Spookily, as if by magic my Pendraken order has arrived, so I'll be busy putting decals on a fair few German reinforcements this evening.


Big Mr Tong's Patreon alone would keep any hobbyist super-busy, and I've just joined Wargames Atlantic's one, which is simply packed full of STLs already. LOL!! 😁

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