Build & Painting Guide: Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger(P) "Truppenübungsfahrzeug" from Amusing Hobby

Paul has already given us his first impression of the new Amusing Hobby 1/35th scale Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger(P) "Truppenübungsfahrzeug" kit. It looked ok in-box, but how did it build up and what does the kit look like when it is finished? See how he went when all was finished in his build & painting guide...

Build & Painting Guide: Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger(P) "Truppenübungsfahrzeug"
From: Amusing Hobby
Number: #35A023 
Scale: 1/35th
Type: Polystyrene, Brass Photoetch, and Resin Multimedia Kit 
Product Link on the Amusing Hobby Website
Price: ¥ 4950JP/ $46.83 USD/ AUD 64.67/ £36.25 GBP/ €41.41 EUR from Hobbylink Japan

Paul's In-Box Review of the kit is here at this link

Full interior kits seem to be all the rage at the moment but they really are a labour of love and do take up a significant amount of time, so it is a relief to get back to a “traditional” exterior model kit. Looking forward to a quick project, Amusing Hobby’s Tiger (P) looks to fit the bill so I was quite happy to get into it. 

Construction starts with the running gear, and the wheels and idlers are no issue at all. The bogies come in four halves with a length of pre-bent wire to be placed inside the inner halves, which gives the unit a bit of tension, allowing it to spring back into its neutral position when off the ground. 

A little gimmicky, but the workable suspension is always a plus. I found the fit of the wheels to the bogies to be a bit inconsistent with some fitting fine and some being a bit loose.

The lower hull comes in a tub which helps avoid any potential alignment issues, although the fit and location of the front hull plates are a bit vague, because the plates are on the thin side and do feel a bit flimsy, but then again, you’re not really supposed to press onto the kit either.  

The upper hull sides are glued to the lower hull which overhangs over the sides. For once, this gives a decent gluing area for the fenders, but I may have jammed the fenders in at a slight angle resulting in the mudguards being at an angle, most notable when viewed from the front. However, this occurred on both sides so I’m not sure if it actually is operator error, unless lightning did happen to strike twice. I sprayed the inside of the hull black to avoid see through from all the large vents at the back half of the hull. 

The turret goes together very easily with the lower half coming in a shell. The hatches are detailed on both sides, but there is no interior detail or even a gun breech, but that’s not a big problem if you pose the hatch lids open and put a figure inside the hatch. 

Strangely enough, the inside of the turret ring is serrated, but with absolutely nothing inside the turret or hull, it’s a strange bit of detail for the kit. 

Each track link comes in two pieces, the main plate and the grouser. The grouser goes over two pins at the ends of the pivot points of each track link, which made me think the tracks were workable. However, to be workable, this means that the grouser cannot be glued to the pivot points so this left a very tiny gluing area, which just wasn’t enough to keep the track pins in place so the lengths just kept falling apart. 

I didn’t think gluing each grouser was worth the effort for non-workable tracks so I decided to make the short lengths for the spares, and try out the vinyl tracks, which I thought were well moulded, and could be glued together with styrene cement. 

There are two marking options provided in the box, one in plain grey, and the second in three-tone camouflage. Neither use any decals although there is a small sheet of generic numbers provided. 

I decided to go with the grey vehicle which made painting nice and easy with Tamiya XF-63 German grey for the lower and shaded areas, and then XF-20 Medium Grey as the main hull colour and then lightened it with white to modulate the top and side surfaces. 

With the main painting done, I attached the tools and tow cables to the fenders and sides of the hull. 

Being a prototype vehicle, I chose to limit the amount of weathering to an overall wash with a raw umber and black mix, and some light dusting with oils. The tracks were painted with track primer, and then dry brushed with gunmetal, and dusted with oils as well. 

It definitely is an ungainly looking thing with the turret located towards the front of the vehicle, but it’s certainly got that Tiger look about it. After a few intensive builds, this kit definitely hit the spot and was a nice trouble free build. I took an easier route with the rubber tracks, but the individual link tracks are there for you to use if you so wish so there really isn’t anything to complain about. 

Definitely a worthwhile addition if you want to model your Tiger’s family tree. 

Highly recommended

Paul Lee

Thank you to Amusing Hobby for sending this kit to build and review