Flames Of War 4th Edition Boot Camp: Day Three
Building With John - Afrika Korps Tiger Heavy Tank
We stop in for another build video for today with John as he paints up the Tiger Heavy Tank for the Germans and the Afrika Korps.
This is one of the sets that is going to be coming out in platoon for later on down the line from Flames Of War. So, if you're liking the look of it this should be a good build guide for you to get stuck into.
Have you ever seen tiger 131 John I saw it at tankfest it’s amazing
Ah I have just seen further on in the video 🙂
What renactment group were you in John
I am in the Wartime Living History Association 🙂 http://www.wartimeliving.co.uk
gonna be building one of these i think , it ll be my first attempt at a plastic kit since i was a child. which was a long long time ago but after watching beasts of war ive become hooked
It hard to believe that the tiger, for such an advanced design was in service in 1942.
Thanks for putting out this videa, It really makes me want to make anew afrika korps army
Truly shows how great german engineering was
I had the Tunisian Tiger list from v3 sitting on the side of my table for a while, which I never got around to. This might give me the incentive.
The problem with the Tiger ,(and Panther,) was the fact they were so advanced and over engineered.
Reliability and servicing issues made the few available vehicles, less effective than the much easier to maintain and produce Allied tanks.
I believe the reason British and American tanks were slow to react to the ‘Big Cats’.
Was simply down to the original tank hulls designed on mid war concepts.Were unable to take bigger main guns without serious modification.(Tank destroyers with compromised armour, or overloaded chassis with reduced mobility.)
Were there tank destroyers in the desert campaign? I don’t recall seeing them, but I’m hardly an expert.
The US brought thier “TD’s” which at the time were halftracks with 76mm guns mounted on them.
Ah ha! Thanks, John.
Thank you! That helps me decide whether and how many models I want to buy and assemble BEFORE I purchase a whole bunch. Thanks. As for your political rant, that’s cool. I’m not educated enough in the relationship between the military and political/financial people of the period to know whether you’re right, but I have friends and relations who have been tankers. When their lives are put in danger in part because they don’t have proper equipment, that’s unconscionable! So, your rant is justified, as far as I know. Thank you!
You need a hi-vis jacket for the next one John if H&S is an issue.
Great kit.
you will love bovington, don’t forget a hanky to wipe the drool away
I quite agree with John. Germans never really had the numbers with Tigers, but there was no way the allies could have known or anticipated that. What if they would have been able to produce more or they would have sorted out the issues with the Panther faster?
Also it’s curious how long it took for the Americans to get through their internal politics and to accept the 76mm gun for the Sherman. And it still was no match to the big cats.
Bit of a shame with the cupola on an otherwise great kit.
Having your commander proudly sticking his head out (esp. with their pink arms of service colour!) always adds a nice bit of flair.
John: read Otto Carius’s book ‘Tigers in the Mud’. He covers his time in 38T, Tiger 1 and Jagdtiger as a unit commander. The Germans reckoned AT guns were the greater threat than any tank as they were harder to spot but that was where the 88 L56’s decent HE round came into play. The whole world knows what the AP rounds did to tanks all the way out to 3000m.
I am currently reading through it. Fascinating view from Mr Carius.
This example is why WW2 games really do need a hidden movement and spotting rules
The Tiger on a catwalk eh?, also very nice kit & bit of history. Nice showcase John.
Nice touch with the damaged mudguards on the sprue.
It can be a bit troublesome that you have to put it together on camera because you can’t wait until it is completely dry.
4 hands would even be better.
Didn’t the earlier Tigers had a lot of engine trouble?
Looks like a nicely detailed yet simple kit, perfect for gamers. If I was building these I’d keep the tracks off until after painting. I hate trying to paint in those gaps and the tracks look like they would just slip in at the end with no problem. I’d have more time than John though and not be trying to film it.
That is precisely what I did with the old metal track resin tiger kits. Sprayed the hull, turret and tracks separately. Did fine detail with a brush. Scored join points with a hobby knife, tours ne then washed and weathered after final assembly.
Tired or too long in the pub last night? Awesome vid, it’s a minor ambition to get to the bovington show to combine a bit of tread worship with wargaming but can’t convince the missus on the 8hr drive with a little one…
It looks very simple to assembly, thank god for that. I were a bit worried about the new plastic stuff I must admit (I have only tried plastic once before, and it took me forever to get the two part tracks from the PSC-tanks together, and it looked pretty bad when I were done, so I ordered new tanks from BF. I havn´t tried any more plastic since then.. but now I have to try again). Thanks alot for your instructive videos 🙂
A tank that small shouldn’t look so cool.
After seeing the Tunisia Tigers supplement available for download on the FOW site, I was hoping for see plastic Tigers today. Thanks John!
Nice build John, I’ve made a few in 20mm for Kursk before now
Great video as always. It does however highlight my difficulty with historical gaming, especially something like WW2 and that is getting tied to a particular period or campaign.
Nice model, not sure what was going on with the back corner. Seemed like it just needed a push to get it to sit properly.
Pink Floyd’s “When the Tigers Broke Free” springs to mind… criminal indeed.
(Note – not on the original Wall album, but added for the movie) Roger Waters song about his father’s death in Italy 1944…
“It was dark all around.
there was frost in the ground
when the tigers broke free.
…and no one survived
from the Royal Fusiliers Company Z.
They were all left behind,
most of them dead.
the rest of them dying;
and that’s how the High Command
took my daddy from me.”
Thanks for the song suggestion, I have the normal album and sadly never heard of this song.
It is on their “Echoes:Best of…” album