Late cupola cover / umbrella

[Vince Cutajar]

As I said earlier, after seeing those photos Marco has posted, I changed my plans of how to go about it. The current plan is that there is no plan. I am "winging it" as I go along. Managed to find suitable material and started with the two uprights which for now are finished.

Vince

[Timo Winterlich]

Hello Vince,
Maybe you can get some of grandma's old linen bedding, that would be perfect I think.
Or a triangular cloth from an old first aid kit.

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi Timo

I was thinking of using the same material that was used for my muzzle brake cover.

viewtopic.php?p=87716#p87716

First I have to find it then convince my wife to sew it for me.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Some more work.
Finished the slanting horizontal parts.
The verticals and horizontals are not permanently joined together for now. Will do that once the material is sewn on.
First have to find the green cloth and then start collecting some brownie points.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Today was sewing day!

The original plan to use the same green cloth that I used for the muzzle brake cover was unsuccessful as that piece of cloth was used in one of my wife's embroidery projects. So she gave me another piece of cloth so that I could experiment with it. As this was just an experiment I decided to try my hand at using a sewing machine. Never used it before so some trial runs were done. It's not as easy as it looks to keep a straight line.

Eventually I picked up some courage to sew the umbrella myself. My wife could not stop laughing when she saw me measuring it to millimetric accuracy. I guess old habits never die.

Eventually I finished it and the experiment turned out really well. I guess I surprised myself.

Now I had another crazy idea. As this was just an experiment, why not try something else. I am going to spray paint the cloth with the same base colour I used for my Tiger 1 and see what happens.

Fingers crossed.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Primed and painted with the same Dunkelgelb that I used for the tank the metal framework.
Painted the cloth umbrella with the same Dunkelgelb.

After spray painting the umbrella it shrank a little but I think still usable. I guess I half expected that to happen.

What next?
I am seriously considering applying the same camouflage as the tank. What do you think? Should I try it?

Vince

[Robert Tanzer]

It is always a pleasure to follow your fine work Vince

Robert

[Phil Woollard]

Yes same camouflage as the tank will look great Vince.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Robert and Phil for your input.
Still undecided about applying camouflage to the top surface of the umbrella.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

These last couple of days the temperature was cool due to strong winds which gave me some energy to finish the umbrella by painting on the camouflage.

After letting it dry for a couple of days will fit it to the Tiger and see how it looks.

Vince