Markings

[Graham Hough]

Hi
Advice please. As a new owner of a Tiger 1 Early production I would like to know about what type of markings people use, ie. transfers? hand painted? vinyl? and a supplier? Thanks.

[Peter Silcock]

Graham I think you will find most hand paint or airbrush either freehand or use some form of stencil . Armorpax do a great range of stencils well worth a look. Some of the more prolific builders on here will no doubt be able to give you more detailed info.

[Stephen White]

Graham, if you look in the Knowledge Base, I've put a topic there which you might find useful. Regards. Stephen

[John Fitzsimons]

I made my own stencils. paint is more long lasting than decals.

[Tim Page]

i used a set of the Armorpax stencils which worked fine on my Panther.

Cheers
Tim

[Derek Attree]

Hi Graham
The Armorpax stencils are the way to go they work really
well with an air brush.

Derek

[Dave Boller]

Hi. Here's my take on this, based on decades worth of research and building models. Here's some good rules of thumb, since I don't know any particulars about your Tiger. Early War vehicles tended to be meticulously hand-painted with stencils so that's as genuine as you can do it. This can still require a good deal of skill however, if you plan on outlining the numerals/crosses with say white or black, or maybe red. A fine, square-edged brush of about 3 to 5mm should help. (Particular units had a particular way of marking their vehicles, so in an historical context, you may not have any options in terms of how to mark them.) But, decals will work okay if you don't have such skills. Those are the 2 options that are fine for your particular Tiger. (FYI) "Good news/bad news" for later versions though. The bad news is, stencils and decals will not work well on later, "Zimmerited" surfaces. The good news is, crude hand-painted, single-colored markings started to become more common in the field, and for the same reason. Remember, the occupants of these vehicles were no "Rembrandts" themselves, and historical photos bare this out. So here, you wouldn't be afraid to just take a brush and go for it. Additionally, unit insignia became less common on vehicles, especially towards the end of the War; not bothering with it is a realistic option. There were more reasons for all these changes, which I won't get into since they're not relevant to your vehicle. Good luck, and hope this helps.

[Graham Hough]

Thank you all for these very helpful replies. I take totally Dave's comments about the hand application of markings 'in the field' but my experience of other media is that hand applied full scale can look very different when 1/6th the size. For example cartoonists making their original drawings large knowing that when it is reduced for printing the drawing will look more precise.
Anyway thanks to you all.