Tiger History and paint info

[Martin Usher]

Guys, I'm hoping to get some information here regarding a Picture I found online.
I like this paint Scheme and would like to replicate as best I can.
my first question is to the names of the colours used, what are they and where would be the best source online taking current covid conditions into consideration.

second question is the History of this tank, seeing it marked 131 I know there were a few tanks with this designation other than the Famous Bovington beast.
it is noted as part of the 101st SS Panzer Abteilung, Cross Keys , during my research I found the 102nd also used the Cross keys.
would both be correct ? or has license been taken here, does anyone know where i can source more information on this tank to authenticate my build.
thank you for any help here Gents, I do appreciate it.
Martin.

[Adrian Harris]

The easy answer is the paints: Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 (dark yellow), Rotbraun RAL 8017 (red-brown) and Olivgrün RAL 6003 (olive green).

https://panzerworld.com/german-armor-camouflage

Note these are WW2 RAL colour numbers and not the ones in current swatches.

What and who to buy from is impossible to answer for anyone who isn't in Canada. I doubt you want to buy them from Europe

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Martin - how concerned are you with historical accuracy?

German camouflage colours changed throughout the war, as you'd expect, hence my question above. For example, the base colour is a form of yellow but there were four variations. The simple answer to colours is:

- base colour: RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb.
- camouflage: RAL 6003 Olivegruen and RAl 8017 Rotbraun

The German callsign system was based on the unit structure and the numbers refer to the tank's position in the organisation. It was repeated across units so 131 is far from unique.

If this is a late production Tiger, the yellow (Dunkelgelb) is probably the last of the four variants, RAL 7028 Ausgabe 1944.

The easiest way to get these colours is to use a model paint and an airbrush. There are lots of companies offering so called real colours, most of which are nothing like accurate when compared with original paint chips. The best, to my opinion, are from the MRP range. They're a Czech company who do mail order and I believe have outlets in the US. The paint is airbrush ready. They do the colours you're after. Note, don't confuse with the similarly named Mr Paint, a Japanese company.

As for research, the internet is awash with Tiger stuff. e physical tank is run by David Byrden: http://tiger1.info

For a stack of unit photos, see Tiger im ocus: http://www.tiif.de

You'll also find stuff in two books Tiger in Combat. They're expensive and hard to get but,,,,, if you look hard enough on the internet, you can find them online.....

Your print will give you a guide but it's pretty misleading and there will be a stack of documentation which will help if you look hard enough. Finally, I find the 1/35th model site Missing Lynx very useful. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on there (and also some real bonzos).

There are a lot of people on here who know a hell of a lot about German tanks so I'm sure you'll find more help.

[simon_manning]

Stephen is correct, don't get bogged down in color selection, just pick the three camo colors you like, regardless of what year, campaign, even vehicle, don't forget models need to be slightly lighter in color than the real vehicle, due to their smaller size, i use any product i like the look of, run it through the airbrush have a look, what gives the best realistic results is the base color you use, you only need a thin final color layer to finish, a bit translucent, so you don't swamp the vehicle with paint and cover all the detail, Aerosol cans just give a one dimensional finish, have a go with a cheap airbrush, regards simon manning.

[mark lawson]

The Tiger you have belongs to one of the x3 Tiger Abtelungen in Normandy all x3 Abteilungen fought against the British and Canadians.

s.SS.Pz.Abt.101 the was the Tiger Abteilung from 1st SS LAH the Abteilung used a pair of crossed keys the parent division used a single key known as a dietrich meaning skeleton key Dietrich was the surname of the divisional commander, have a search on the net information on this Tiger Abteilung is not hard to find. Tiger 131 was commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Walther Hahn.

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=68317

http://www.tiif.de/

https://www.axishistory.com/various/122 ... g-101--501

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=150437

s.SS.Pz.Abt.102 this was the Tiger Abteilung from 2nd SS DR though in Normandy it never fought with it's parent division, the Abteilung used a pink siegrune with an underscore as its divisional marking, information and pictures of this Abteilung are not as frequent as s.SS.Pz.Abt.101

https://www.google.com/search?q=s.SS.Pz ... C1CHBF_en-
GBGB791GB793&oq=s.SS.Pz.Abt.102&aqs=chrome..69i57.1782j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.axishistory.com/various/122 ... g-102--502

https://www.google.com/search?q=s.SS.Pz ... 20&bih=937

s.Pz.Abt.503

[Martin Usher]

Gentlemen, fantastic information and I thank you all for this and the many links.
I have spent many, many hours researching the correct paint and information on the 131 Tiger from Morgney in France.
some pics have smoke cans some don't, some have a rod for spare track some have flat bar....etc.

I guess I am trying to get the best result and not incur the wrath of the rivet counters if something is wrong.
the quality of builds here is absolutely superb, I can only hope to reach them.

again thank you all for the information and your time, I will do my best and hopefully not feel to bad about posting pictures when complete.

Martin.

[John Heath]

Or if you want to use easily available Tamiya paints here are the colour mixes. List was made by enthusiasts at a university with access to a proper lab in their spare time based on spectroscopic analysis of actual paint chips and on the Tamiya painted samples so pretty accurate.

Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow)
- XF-60 Dark Yellow
- XF-59 Desert Yellow
- 4 parts of XF-60 to 1 of XF-59

Olivegrun (Olive green)
- XF-58 Olive Green
- XF-65 Field Grey
- 8 parts of XF-58 to 1 part of XF-65

Rotbraun (Red Brown)
- XF-64 Red Brown
- XF-1 Black
- 6 parts XF-64 to 1 part of XF-1

German Red Oxide
- XF-64 Red Brown
- XF-9 Hull Red
- 3 parts XF-9 to 2 parts XF-64

John