Meng World War Toons King Tiger

A quick post for today - this is the completed Meng "World War Toons" King Tiger. I reviewed this tank (along with the Tiger I) back in January. For a kit that cost me less than $15, I'm abundantly pleased with it. For modelers, these are either good AFVs to learn on (for beginners) or a nice change of pace (for veterans). For gamers, unlike the previous Tiger I, this model scales relatively well with 28mm and would make an interesting tank for Weird WW2, Pulp, or Retro Sci-Fi games. With the exception of the tracks being an extremely tight fit, it was quick and fun to build and allowed me to try out some new weathering effects I hadn't done before. 

I primed this with Kylon Red Oxide primer, applied a coat of hairspray for chipping, then airbrushed on Tamiya paints. Since I wanted to try a different tone of Dunkelgelb to reflect some late war paints, I did a 25/75 mix of Tamiya Dark Yellow and Wooden Deck Tan, with soft-edged splotches of Tamiya Red Brown and Tamiya Flat Green with a small amount of Vallejo Model Air Pale Green. After chipping, I painted the gun barrels in Vallejo Dark Grey, as well as any tools/tow cables/tracks, and mufflers. I painted the visors in jeweled effects consisting of blended layers of Vallejo Dark Blue and Light Turquoise, then washed with Secret Weapon Cool Grey. To mimic any metallic tones (such as on the gun barrel and tools), I applied Vallejo Oily Steel with Vallejo Shading Medium added - this tones down the harshness of the metal and blends it into the surrounding paint.

The mufflers were a challenge. I attempted to add varying shades of red, orange, and yellow with a sponge to produce a mottled effect but I didn't like it. So, after applying decals and sealing everything, I started in with successive oil washes of Burnt Umber, Black, and Cool Grey. In the final wash, I added some Vallejo Rust dry pigment (I did this to the spare tracks as well). The oil washes blend in the underlying paint and the pigment gives it an ultra-flat finish, as well as adding texture. I then applied an oil filter over the entire tank and added in some different pin washes.

Being vinyl, the tracks we simply washed with multiple coats of Vallejo European Dirt and Light Rust washes, then drybrushed with Vallejo Oil Steel, then given on final wash. I kept the wheels and tracks off to the end and added some Vallejo Thick Mud and other mud effects but, once the wheels and upper hull were attached, you really can't see it. Oh well. To finish things off, I added some oil and gas spills to the engine deck and applied some gloss over the visors and headlight.