Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright

I have been on the lookout for a tiger for the bamboo grove ever since 6MilPhil and I started playing around with this mystic grass! This proud looking 'puddy tat' is produced by DeeZee Miniatures available through NorthStar Military Figures. Unfortunately there was a nasty kink in his tail when he arrived and I knew it was only a matter of time before it came off all together.  Feeling more brave these days with the taming the ubiquitous 'Green Stuff', or 'putty pushing' as I recently heard it referred to, I decided to circumvent the inevitable and remove it altogether.  After what seemed like an eternity spent with a pin vice, paperclip and a ball of green stuff 'Tigger' finally had his tail back!

Having removed the tail at the base I carefully drilled a hole into the back of the tiger; not an expression one uses on a regular occasion and potentially very bad for your health.  Part of the paperclip, shrouded in Green Stuff, was then superglued into the hole; again fill in your own punchlines!  A little bit of modelling and you should be left with a passable tail.

The painting was not as difficult as I thought and was built up in layers using the following colours.  Games Workshop 'Vermin Brown' for the base with 'Vomit Brown' for the underbelly.  The second coat was a 50/50 mixture of Foundry 'Buff Leather Shade' with Games Workshop 'Fiery Orange'.  The underbelly was given a second coat of 'Buff Leather Light'.  Final highlights around the jaws and feet were done with Vallejo 'Silver Grey'.

With regards to his stripes, the final stage of the beastie, I opted to use black ink purely to allow a smooth application to the surface.  This seemed to work pretty well the only down side being that the ink does have a slight sheen but I'm hoping that can be reduced with a layer or two of matt varnish.

Back in his natural habitat 'Tigger' is looking pretty good, definitely not something you want to come up against whilst fighting your way through the steaming jungle.

Now just for those literary minded folks out there the title to this posting is taken from the opening line of William Blake's 'The Tyger' (from Songs of Experience) written in 1794.   You do not need to be an English Literature scholar to appreciate Blake's 'Tyger' but essentially you could say it represents the question many ask when faced with the horrors of the world, "why does this happen if there is a God?"  Unfortunately like these questions 'Tyger' remains unanswered.

THE TYGER (from Songs Of Experience)

By William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And watered heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?