King Tiger Sd.Kfz. 182 Production Turret (Rescue)

I was given this kit to try and rescue it from limbo. It was partially painted in flat black but I will be redoing the base coat to test out my first airbrush. 

I've watched Andy at Hobby Headquarters airbrush a few vehicles after fully assembling them. Going to try my hand at it. Might have to sand away some of what's already there though. 

Wheels. Oh so many wheels. Surprising how much faster they seem when you're not worried about painting them until later. 

The return wheel on one side was missing a piece. I don't quite have the scratchbuild skills yet to fashion a new one, but it shouldn't be missed much. This is a test kit for painting anyways.. it won't be entering any contests. 

All the parts that won't get hand-painted later have been added to the upper hull. That nylon mesh will do in place of photo-etch.  

Had to find a replacement screw around the house to mount the cannon. It's not perfect but won't really be visible once the turret is finished. Not sure why the original owner painted these parts black, when the interior will be flat white. 

All the tread hooks and grab handles made good use of my tweezers. Despite a couple of close calls, the carpet remonster remained unfed today.  

Test fitting all the parts that aren't glued down. About ready to start painting, then the treads and tools will go on afterward.  

Looks better with an even coat of NATO Black. This will serve as a shadow coat and any imperfections will be less noticeable once the camouflage is applied.  

First pass of camouflage paint on the King Tiger. It's not perfect, but not bad for my first attempt. Most of the armour I've done in the past was a solid base coat only.  

Lost a bit of time trying to fix the damage from the cleaning lady. Some tiny parts are lost forever to the vacuum. But now the turret interior is painted. Just needs some details done and then we'll start adding the tools to the exterior.