Konigstiger Review Pt 2, From Base to Board

Well hello friends! I'm back from a month of travel, and I can't tell you how happy I am about it. Posts should become more regular now and a few of the team here are going to be starting to post on own their shortly! Me boys are all grown up.

But, on to business. Today I bring you the second and final part of my step step review/tutorial on the Battlefront Kingtiger. Here I'll actually be painting the models and I'll let you know what I did and how I did it (mostly) step by step through the process. Because I'm a Luddite, I haven't started to use an air brush so I'll be going with a hand painted pea dot scheme appropriate, I think, to the Devil's Charge/Bulge period.

I always ask when I post on the boards, and I'll ask the same here, please give me any feedback that you think will help my hobby! Painting is my favorite part the better I get, the happier I am.

So... what tools do I use? For basecoating and when I brush on prime I use a citadel Large Dry Brush, it gets great coverage with a big bushy head (snicker). Seriously, GW brushes aren't good for much but I do like their dry brush line, especially the large which can do double duty as a base coat/tank brush. For all painting on the models except dry brushing I use a Raphael 8404 size 0. Simply the best detail brush in the business if you ask me.

So, with out any further ado:

First up, with the Citadel large Dry Brush I do two layers of relatively wet Vallejo/Flames of War line Middlestone #882

Then I add uneven blotches of Vallejo/Flames of War line Reflective Green #890 with the Raphael. I did this is two coats as well, both very wet. Infact, in most cases you should keep your paints wet, they'll hold on the brush better and go on the model better. 

Here I've added additional irregular blotches of Vallejo/Flames of War Cavalry Brown. It looks shiny because it's still drying.

I know! It looks really red but stay with me folks! We'll be darkening it down more later. 

I go back over the exposed Middlestone with small, varied sized spots of reflective green. 

Then do the same with the Middlestone over the Cavalry Brown and Reflective green. 

Here's a top view of the mostly finished pea dot pattern on the command tank. I'll be going over it again later to clean it up a bit. 

Next up! The Washing. Using the Raphael brush I trace the lines and shadows of the Middlestone and Cavalry Brown sections of the tank with Gryphonne Sepia, I also wash all splotches of the Cavalry brown along with the damaged zimmerite and other dings and dents in Middleston. Gryphonne Sepia if from the old Citadel line. I'm told Seraphim Sepia from the new Citadel line will get you similar effects.  You can see that this technique darkens up the Cavalry Brown quite nicely turning it into a more classic red while still retaining the highs from the original paint. The shadowing action is best seen here on tanks skirts. The engine decks get a wash of both Gryphonne Sepia and Secret Weapon Soft Body Black to give them a bit more of a worn/carbon scorched look. 

Next up I did the same thing with Citadel Thraka Green on the Reflective Green parts, including all splotches that are over the zimmerit. While this won't show up as well on the table, washing all the recesses will appease my sense of sense of symmetry. 

Next up I knocked out the gubbins. All the metal was done in old Citadel Bolt Gun Metal and then washed with Secret Weapon Soft Body Black with some mixing medium added in. The rucksack you see there was done with Vallejo Model Color German Uniform #920 and then washed in the same soft body black. The ax and tool handles were painted with Vallejo/Flames of War Chocolate Brown #872 and the tips of each barrel were given carbon scoring with a dry brush of old Citadel Chaos Black. 

Most painting on the body of the tanks is complete! Next up is the tracks.

I started on the tracks with a basecoat of old Citadel Chaos Black and then a dry brush of old Citadel Bolt Gun Metal and then the whole thing gets a wash of the Secret Weapon Soft Body Black. On the wheels, I based middle stone then did irregular splotches of the Reflective Green and Cavalry Brown although no pea dots here. Last up I washed the whole thing with old Citadel Gryphonne Sepia

Final Product on the Tracks

As much as I tried I could not get a clear shot of the commander. But here's how I did it: The flesh was based in a 1 to 1 mixture of Vallejo Panzer Aces Flesh Base #341 and Vallejo Panzer Aces Flesh Highlight #342. I find these two paints to be the best flesh paints on the market. Others may disagree but they are great to work with, mix easily and hold up really well. After that is applied to the face and hands (and once it dries of course) I do an old Citadel Ogryn Flesh wash then pick out the details in 1 to 2 Flesh Base to Flesh Highlight mix. The Tunic is Chaos Black and the Undershirt is Vallejo Model Color German Fieldgrey #830. The leather on the belt and head phones is my favorite leather ever Vallejo Panzer Aces Leather Belt #312. The metal on the headphones and belt buckle are Boltgun the German Eagle over the left breast is old Citadel Fortress Grey, the Piping on the sholders is new Citadel Tentacle Pink and red dot on the helmet is old Citadel Blood Red. PHEW!

Completed except for the decals. 

Here they are! I prep the spaces where the decals will be with a gloss varnish coat, then place the decals and once they dry up a bit but are still damp I use Microscale MicroSol (the red bottle). I gets rid of the shine and really helps the decals take a painted on look as they kind of melt into the recesses. 

Some decal closeups. Look ma! They ain't shiny at all!

Finally, once everything has dried I do a layer of of dull coat. In this case, because it's wicked humid in DC, I went for a brush on varnish. It's the Vallejo Acrylic Resin Matt Varnish (I always thought it was spelled matte, but what do I know) #520. 

We're just moving into tank porn here, here's the finished commander

And here too. 

Finished second platoon. 

Top shot

High and wide

First platoon

Top shot

High and wide. 

I hope you all enjoyed the walk through. Let me know what you think!