Tiger 131 recent eye witness needed

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by Marco, Dec 9, 2011.

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  1. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    Has anyone seen the Tiger at Bovington for himself recently?

    I have a 1:16 RC Tiger which I want to paint as '131'.
    The most likely colour scheme Africa 1942-1943 is colour RAL 8020 (Gelbbraun) as basis and RAL 7027 (Sandgrau) for the camo.

    Problem with RAL 7027 is that it can best be described as a shade of darkbrown while I get from pictures the impression that with '131' it is a shade of green?

    The info from Bovington on the colour is not helpfull either. It says what they found during restoration but not what they have used now.

    Regards,

    Marco
     
    Marco, Dec 9, 2011
    #1
  2. TomTAS

    TomTAS Very Senior Member

    Hi Marco,

    Yes about 2 months ago here are some photos for you....

    Cheers
    Tom
     

    Attached Files:

    TomTAS, Dec 9, 2011
    #2
  3. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    The stripes over the Dunkelgelb are greenish looking in the flesh, though it doesn't show well in most photos.

    Don't know if you have Bovington's Haynes manual on the Tiger, but it has a section on paint.

    A 17/03/41 order states that 8000 & 7008 (graugrun) were to be used in Africa in a 2/3 camouflage ratio.
    A 25/03/42 order changes that to the 8020 (Braun) & 7027 (Grau).

    Tiger 131, & 712 (sent to the yanks) have both been found to have carried the earlier scheme , with no evidence for the latter. This has been used as the basis for the current restored scheme.
    (7008 found between roadwheels and on lower hull - 8000 beneath a stowage bin. (remember that several spurious coats of paint had been applied in the years since it's capture))

    Few 131 shots of mine here:
    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/141615-post58.html

    (Remember to be cautious with RAL numbers and differing scales of model though, they don't necessarily translate to an accurate looking finish.)

    ~A
     
    von Poop, Dec 9, 2011
    #3
  4. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    Hello Tom and von Poop,

    Thanks for the replies.

    Good images!. As others on the internet it appears to be greenish.

    I must say that with Tom's pictures for the first time I see a brown that looks like RAL 8000. Normally it appears lighter as in RAL 8020. Some of Von's outside-in-the-sun have a RAL 8020 appearance.

    Is the brown really this dark?

    Regards,

    Marco
     
    Marco, Dec 9, 2011
    #4
  5. jw021979

    jw021979 Still Learning

    Heres one taken last sunday. I hope it helps:
    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=795&pictureid=4535
     
    jw021979, Dec 9, 2011
    #5
  6. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Marco -
    it should not be forgotten that Tiger 131 - was captured in Tunisia - now I suspect it was part of 10th panzers which landed there directly from Italy and the camo was different to the Tigers in 15th & 21st Panzers - might be a point
    Cheers
     
    Tom Canning, Dec 9, 2011
    #6
  7. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    JW, thanks for the pic. The problem with pictures however is that the way they come across is for a large % dependent on if flash was used, and when not if that then has effect on the colour. At least that is my experience.

    Tom, oh dear... I bought the paint! :D

    But I also bought a ligter paint so at 11:00 we will have a board meeting to decide if it's going to be RAL 8000 and 7008 or not. I think it wil.

    And as someone kindly pointed out it isn't accurate anyway because the 1:16 RC Tiger is a late model while 131 is an early production. ;)

    But if if you look at:

    The Tiger Tank Restoration project - "Our Tiger" Journal.

    it is all very dark. Lukily this isn't a life or death descision because I then would be dead!

    Again, thanks to those who replied.

    Regards,

    Marco
     
    Marco, Dec 10, 2011
    #7
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    All I can say really, is how hard it is to get a decent assessment of colour from a monitor screen, and that this shot of mine perhaps reminds me most strongly of the shades I remember 131 being (Though it is from a few years ago, it's at least under natural light, and looking at the colour balance of other shots from the day none seem too off-beam.) :

    [​IMG]

    The Yellow is a little darker than what one conventionally thinks of (that Helmet on the Pz.III would represent standard Dunkelgelb I assume), but not greatly so.
     
    von Poop, Dec 10, 2011
    #8
  9. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    Thanks Von. Per the details you provided (with thanks, not meant to be a notification of responsibility!) I will use the RAL 8000 and see how it looks. I must add that looking at the paint in the plastic see-through bottle it appears more to be the shade in your photograph that how the colour appears on-screen at the tiger-tank.com page mentioned previously.

    I will post some pics when I am done. Also, in reality the tanks were repainted every other time so for the sake of historical accuracy I can repaint it next year and leave the 2011 job underneath.

    Also, since I have breakfast with the restoration team in March I plan to lay all my questions on colour before them :)

    Regards,

    marco
     
    Marco, Dec 10, 2011
    #9
  10. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    All I can say really, is how hard it is to get a decent assessment of colour from a monitor screen, and that this shot of mine perhaps reminds me most strongly of the shades I remember 131 being (Though it is from a few years ago, it's at least under natural light, and looking at the colour balance of other shots from the day none seem too off-beam.) :

    [​IMG]

    The Yellow is a little darker than what one conventionally thinks of (that Helmet on the Pz.III would represent standard Dunkelgelb I assume), but not greatly so.

    Adam,

    As you stated, colour in photographs varies so much and also I believe the human eye perceives colour shades differently between different pairs of eyes.
    All this makes for difficulties in painting a model accurately.

    I find it best to compare differnt books on the subject and then decide which model paint company produces the best RAL likeness.

    No one is going to be so critical as long as the overall appearance looks correct.

    Most of the Panzers were received at the front with base coats and the actual camo was left up to the Divisional crew's to apply, so there are many variations of the theme, so who is to say which was actually the most correct version.

    Food for thought.

    I am in the same predicament as I am currently researching the
    Panzer IIc B and there are also conflicts with different authors as to what Camo was used between 1938 and 1941, but that is diversing.

    Regards
    Tom
     
    Smudger Jnr, Dec 10, 2011
    #10
  11. Marco

    Marco Senior Member

    Well.... Not having laid hands on a model (in both meanings of the word :D) for 30+ years I am pleased with the result.
    A dedicated forum would probably laugh at me because it is the wrong mark of Tiger, not enough weathering etc. but it is close enough for me.

    Thanks to those who replied,

    Regards,

    Marco
     

    Attached Files:

    Marco, Dec 17, 2011
    #11

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