1/6th scale Scratch built Initial Tiger I Project

Progress has been slow this week due to my hectic schedule, but some small progress has been made to the model. 

The tank's lower hull welds were completed. The lower hull support angles were also added complete with dome rivet detailing. On the tiger I only the top sponson portion of the angle had the rivet heads exposed, On the side hull portion of the angle a hole would be visible. In addition to the angle the shock absorber mounts were added to the lower hull sides.

Because this tank will not be receiving the side skirts, the support angle and other lower hull details will be visible

On the tank's front portion the resin final drive transmission hub and the final drive armor collar were mounted. 

On the tank's rear portion I have mounted the tank's idler mount system.

All of these parts have been added to the Tiger I product line. East Coast Armory -- 1/6th Scale Tiger I Detail Upgrades 

New tooling Resin Tiger I track aligner blocks.

Resin Adjustable Tiger I rear idler mount system set. This set allows you to adjust the track tension on the tiger's rear idler mount via a wrench. The mount also allows the idler to hang properly from the rear hull. 

A youtube video was made with the new progress

1/6th scale Scratch built German Tiger I Tank project video #1 (project Start) - YouTube 

With the final drives and the idler mount system out of the way I can now start on the tank's functional Torsion bar suspension. My schedule will be clearing up this week which will allow for more work time and faster build progress. More progress to follow.

Very, very cool indeed.

I am assuming from your description you are going to build her as a memeber of either the 501st, or 502nd?

Tiger II

Very, very cool indeed.

I am assuming from your description you are going to build her as a memeber of either the 501st, or 502nd?

I will be building my tank with the two side turret bins like the one from the DML Leningrad tiger I kit.

I have completed the tank's functional suspension.

The torsion bars have also been added to the product line. 

East Coast Armory -- 1/6th Scale Tiger I Detail Upgrades

To make the torsion bars functional I used a similar system that I developed on the Jadgpanther.

In addition to the suspension I also added a set of my resin bump stops. 

The suspension can hold up the tank's weight when placed on the ground. 

Note the swing arms are that are located on the left hand side swing to the front, while the arms on the right hand side swing to the rear. 

Now with the suspension out of the way I can now focus on tooling up the tanks early wheels. More progress to follow.

The tank's suspension is now complete. 

The last of the wheel components were created and the wheels have been added to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/tiger.htm

TO mount the wheels to the swing arms I used long necked bolts that were concealed in side the wheels axles. These bolts allow the wheel to spin freely, but secure them securely to the swing arm. Prior to mounting the bolts needed to have some mods made to them.

The bolt's corners were ground off. A slot was also cut into the bolt head via an angle grinder. Because of the confined space of the wheel stem a screwdriver will be used to thread the bolt onto the swing arm. A drop of epoxy was also used on each of the axles to keep them in their proper place.

Prior to the wheels being mounted the tank's lower hull and the wheels were painted in their primer and base coats. The rubber tires were also painted and weathered. Because of all the wheel layers and I airbrushed the weathering on the tank's lower hull and the inner portions of the wheels. These areas will be very restrictive when assembled / installed.

To install the tank wheels, you have to mount them in layers as you would on the real vehicle. 

Layer 1, Inner wheel sections  

Layer 2, outer wheel Hubs

Layer 3, Inner wheel end sections

Layer 4, outer wheel end sections.

The suspension rolls smoothly, and articulates over obstacles very well. 

The wheel Zerk Fittings are casted, but will be added after the tank is painted. 

A project update video which shows the suspension in action has been posted on youtube. 1/6th scale Scratch built German Tiger I Tank project video #2 (Wheels and suspension) - YouTube 

With the suspension out of the way I will now be focusing on the tank's sprockets and idlers, which I already have. Once complete I can then move on upward to the tank's upper hull detailing. More progress to follow!

Road wheels are a nightmare in 1/35...I can only imagine what they would be like in 1/6! The working suspension looks like a mechanical innovation while still supporting the weight, very effective.

I'm sure that everyone seeing this post is impressed, but it's just so far out from what we do here in terms of scale and dimension that it's hard to relate to!

Still, it's amazing work. I just would love to know what you do with these behemoths once you've finished them? I mean--do you have a garage or a barn you keep them in?

I am in absolute awe of these projects! The skill and time it takes to scratchbuild all the parts is mind blowing. I have to tell you though, I would give anything for the opportunity to paint something in that scale. Talk about being able to micro manage the paint job!... wow, One can dream! I can see this early Tiger in a scruffy white wash!

Cheers!

Thanks guys,
doog, All of the builds that I post are in my personal collection. Once finished I store them in my shop, or anywhere else I can squeeze one. typically I keep them covered with tarps to keep the dust off.  

wbill, The wheels were very challenging to design, but were also fun to create. it is a good feeling when you spend lots of hours designing, machining, and molding a component  to see it come together in the way you designed with no hick ups. 

I have made progress on the tank's upper Hull. 

The tank's sprockets and Idlers have been fitted. For the tank's idlers I modified a pair of FOA ABS plastic idlers.

For the tank's idler mods I had to delete the rear molded in hub cap, and to carefully remove the molded in front hub cap. The wheel was filled with resin to make it a solid unit. Once solid I was then able to bore out the recess for the retaining bolt system. two resin and PVC discs were added to the front portion and the rear portion of the idler. The discs give the proper protrusion of the idler hub cap.

To mount the idler wheel I used the same lock pin system that I use on my other builds. The system allows for the wheel to be mounted securely, but also allows the wheels to spin freely.       

Progress was made to the tank's front armored plate details. 

All of the plate welds have been added, and the front plate bosses were mounted

The tank's driver's retracting visor assembly have been mounted. 

A small piece of lexan was mounted on the interior to simulate the panzer glass.

The small back up vision ports were mounted. The mounts have their recessed reduction ledges machined in. On the later production tigers these vision ports were welded shut. 

The tank's bow MG ball was also mounted. the bow mg can pivot, and for the MG barrel I used the resin panzerwerk set.

Because I will be making the tank's snorkeling equipment I will be fabricating the bow MG cover. Because I will be making the cover I needed to do something special with the bow MG. Rather than making the MG barrel removable I decided to make the barrel retract instead. The barrel is spring bound and locks into tow positions. One exposed for standard display, the other in the retracted position for when the cover is added. 

progress was also made to the On the tank's rear hull details. 

The tank's exhaust stacks were completed, painted and weathered. 

Because this model is an initial production version of the tiger the exhausts don't receive the cage guards that are present on later vehicles. 

Prior to installing the stacks The tank's hull was prepped with the base coat and the weathering. 

After the prepping the stacks were added. 

Along with the exhausts the idler tension cover caps, fender mounts, rear reflector mount, engine starter cover cap and tow hitch.

a project update video was also uploaded to youtube. 

http://youtu.be/Ds0cvpCHkOM 

I will now be focusing on completing the tank's rear details like the fenders, tool boxes, tail light...etc. More progress to follow.  

I have completed the tank's rear wall detailing. 

The tank's functional tool box and Jack block mounts were added. The straps are fabricated out of brass strip. On these initial production tigers the Jack block was mounted on the rear wall as opposed to on the tank's top deck besides the front air blower which was on later production vehicles. 

The tool box was mounted vertically with two straps. With the addition of the fifel system the tool box was moved lower and was placed horizontally on a metal shelf that protruded from the hull.

The tank's functional Jack mounts were also added.

The tank's alternate antenna base has been fabricated. These mounts were never used and were replaced on later production vehicles. 

The tank's starter plate was added as well. The plate itself was back dated to the initial version from my early version. 

The differences between the two are that the initial version is missing the clutch rod and mount. 

Another difference with this component is that the plate mounts to the hull in a different angle.

The tank's mud flaps were also mounted.

The flaps are all fabricated out of sheet steel and have been added to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/tiger.htm 

The initial tigers had two versions of mud flaps. The first was this version, later when side skirts were added a small extender was added and was bolted to the mudflap and connected to the side skirt. These mudflaps are not hinged but are bolted to directly to the frame. 

Later this design was replaced by the hinge design that was common place on tigers. 

The last bit that was added was the tank's rear black out notek tail light. For this component I used a Dragon Notek light that was a spare from the schiwmmwagen kit. 

The light was modified by adding painted clear plastic lenses for the red, orange, and green lenses. After I added the lenses I decided to also throw in a spare LED that I had on hand making the light full function. 

Now with the rear wall details completed I can focus on the tank's grill work. More progress to follow.       

I focused on the tank's radiator and cooling fan cluster.

I now have 90% of the components complete and am now finishing up the last of the fittings and right hand side air breather radiator cover. Once complete this set will be added to the product line. Until then here is a sneak peak of the set.  

One unique feature that this set will have is the the fans are full function and are electrically powered. This will give the model a nice detail element, and if the tank is RC the fans will help pump cool air into the vehicle.

Along with the cooling system I fabricated the tank's rear engine compartment drain water plug. The plug is all fabricated of brass and metal.

The tank's fire wall sliding access plate was added as well.

The last bit of detail that was added was the tank's exhausts cooling manifold. The snorkel tube will be added very soon.

I have started on the engine and once the last parts of the cooling system are complete I can focus on the engine in full steam. More progress to come.  

Thanks guys, The last of the molds are now complete and the sets have been added to the product line East Coast Armory -- 1/6th Scale Tiger I Detail Upgrades . 

For the right hand side cluster the radiator fillet gap differs, On the right hand side the cap is in a recess, and is bolted on to the cover. The pressure release tube is also located on this cap. All of these features are built into this set.

I was able to complete the set and it ready for my model.

The coolant tubes are also included with the set.

With the clusters now complete I can now focus on the engine! Stay tuned!

It has been a while since I had any progress on the model but I have been working on the tank's engine master. Currently I have completed the master for the crank case. So here is a sneak peek of the engine. 

I was originally only going to create the HL-210 which was only used on the initial / early tigers, but after a several request emails I will also be creating the HL 230 engine which was used on most of the german tanks. Since both engine blocks are so similar both kits will use the same crank case, but will have different components (rocker arm covers, air filter manifolds, starters... etc.)

I should have the 210 engine masters complete in about 3 weeks. More to come  

Speech-less....     

Thanks,

 I have completed the molds for the crank case, lower engine plate and the carburetors. Currently I'm finishing up the rocker arm covers and I will soon be on the air cleaning system. Once the masters are ready I'll make the molds and cast up a sample set. 

Hey AG,

First off I have to say I'm glad I'm not on dial-up with all these great photos and secondly I have to admire your dedication to your work. It's great stuff. I mean, I prefer kits that can assembled on my bench and stored in a glass cabinet in my bedroom but that's just me! Each to their own! I build 1/35 and you build 1/6.

Your website is a great read btw.

Your attention to detail is brilliant and I like the fact that you have actuallt bought the Dragon Initial kit as a reference (what will you be doing with that kit on completion of this behemoth)

I've just finished building that very same same kit - I built it as Tiger '100' with the side bins. It was my first proper 1/35 Tiger build and I thought I'd start very early then mid then go onto a late build. I'm hooked on Tigers now. I loved my build and it's a personal favourite to boot!

Are you going for this version? :

Good luck with the final assembly stages and the painting/weathering and keep the updates coming!

All the best,

Ben

Thanks Ben, Most likely the 1/35 model will be built, or placed back into the stash. Believe it or not I don't build as many 1/35s anymore because I'm out of 1/35 space

It has been a while since my last post, but I have been working on lots of small engine bits and masters. Currently I completed the engine's rocker arm covers. There are many more smaller parts that are currently in molding. Once ready they will be added to the engine.   

The rocker arm cover castings are going to be used on both the 210 and the 230, but there will be different components to add on to the covers that will make them different 

Currently I have the rocker arm parts for the 230 complete and the 210 parts are currently in molding.  

with the next update I will have more parts complete that once added will distinguished the two engines from HL 210 to HL 230. More to come. 

I got some progress on the HL 210. 

The HL 210's air cleaner manifold system is also different from the 230. On the 210 all four carburetors are connected to one large air duct. On the top of the duct three smaller air filter canisters are mounted. On the 230 the single air duct and three canister system is replaced by two smaller ducts and two larger air filter canisters. 

To power the tank's cooling fan / radiator system a gear box emerges from the rear of the engine. On the end of the gear box housing is a out put wheel which wold be bolted to a drive shaft, that would power a small transmission that would spin the cooling fans when installed in the tank. On the 230 the gear box set up was altered in that rather than having there be one out put shaft that emerges from the center. Two out put shafts would emerge from the gear box sides. Each of these two output shafts would then be connected to dive shafts and each would power a transmission that would power the cooling system. 

Both engines share the same magneto, and exhausts manifold system. I'm currently working on the 230 air intake system, and gear box/magneto cluster. 

Once complete I can move downward to the exhausts, starter and oil tank. More to come!     

Amazing work, the best scratchbuilding i have ever seen. You are one very talented guy,Massive well done

Thanks Bodge, I completed more of the engine components.

The Magnetos are complete, and are used on both engines.

The magnetos were added to both engines. On the 210 the magnetoes are mounted to the magneto arms, and on the 230 they are mounted side by side on the fan drive gear box.

HL 210

HL 230

Unlike the HL 210 which has a single drive shaft to power the fans the HL 230 uses two drive shafts, one for each side. Because of the new fan gear box the air cleaners on the HL 230 use a different arrangement (2 large air filters,as opposed to three smaller ones on the 210) .

With these batch of parts you can now see the differences between the HL 210 and HL 230.

Currently I'm working on the exhausts and the other lower side engine details (Oil tank, engine starter, water condenser...etc) Once complete the engines will mostly be complete! More to come.

Thanks guys, the engine kits are now about 75% complete

Once I have a few more parts, I will be releasing a "half" engine that is designed to have all of the top details so it fills in the engine bay.This set will be intended for RC tanks that have electronics and machinery in the rear portion of the hull, or for builders who don't need a whole engine but would like detailed engine insert. This set will also be much cheaper than the whole complete engine.

I completed the tank's exhausts manifolds and fuel sediment separators.

The exhausts are molded with their heat shields installed. 

The engine's oil tank was also mounted

Like many engines of the period the Mybach engines had sediment filters in the fuel lines. The way these worked was the fuel would flow into the separator from the fuel tank. If there were any rust, or other heavy fragments they would settle on the bottom of the glass jars and would not flow into the engine and possibly clog the fuel system. 

On the engine kits the glass jars are casted in clear resin to further enhance the look of the engine. The fuel lines are going to be added once the engine is painted. These lines will also come with the kits.  

Another difference between the HL 230 and the HL 210 is the number of fuel separators. The earlier HL 210 utilized 4 separators, and the HL 230 utilized two separators. 

HL210 (*note the last two separators will be added later)

HL230

Next I will have most of the side engine wall detailing complete including the starter, alternator, and cooling coil. More progress to follow.

Thanks, I have completed more parts on the engine completing the engine side details. 

On the tank's left hand side the Oil filter canister, water cooling tank, and alternator. 

On the tank's right hand side I completed the tank's manual inertia starter and electrical starter.

The next parts that are to be made are the flywheels, engine mount, and inertia starter shaft. Once made the engine will be complete and added to the product line. More to come. 

Glad I caught up on this. Wow is al I can say? How long did it take to build your other Tiger? Where do you get all your parts? And where do you display them?

tigerman

Glad I caught up on this. Wow is al I can say? How long did it take to build your other Tiger? Where do you get all your parts? And where do you display them?

My last tiger took about 3 months to complete. The model was an exterior model only which speed up construction. 

I have the build posts posted on this forum.
/forums/p/108473/1086512.aspx

 /forums/t/110656.aspx

All of the detail parts that you see on my models are made my me. I machine and scratchbuild all of the masters, I then make my own molds and resin castings in house. All of my parts are listed on my website http://www.eastcoastarmory.com

As for display / storage, I typically store the models in my work area once complete. Most of the time I keep each of the models under a plastic tarp to keep the dust off. 

The last of the parts have been tooled and were added to the engines completing them. The engine kits have now been posted to the product line http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/tiger.htm . 

On the engine's top portion the fuel primer pump, and cooling intakes were mounted. The cooling intakes differ between the two engines. Because of the 230's fan drive shaft design the air intakes need to bend and snake around the  shaft locations.

On the engine's rear the engine stand, flywheel and starter mounting bar was mounted. The starter bar equipment locations differ on the two engines. On the 210 the manual starter clutch receptacle was mounted directly to the flywheel. This was changed on the 230 where the clutch was mounted below the flywheel. 

The manual starter drive shaft was fitted and runs through the oil tank as per the real vehicle. 

Finally On the engine's front the main cover, drive shaft spindle and drive shaft were mounted. One special feature that I built into the engine is that the drive shaft is full function. By turning the drive shaft the spindle and rear flywheel spin. 

Both engines are now being painted and finished Once ready I will post pics. 

I completed the paint work, and all of the plumbing . control rod work on the engines fully completing them.

Unweathered

HL 230

HL 230

Weathered

HL 210

HL230

Now with these two display engines out of the way I can assemble the tank engine that will go inside the engine bay. More to come. 

Thanks guys, it's been awhile since I had any updates, but I have been working on the building and mounting the tank's special engine.

On the engine bay I completed the inertia starter clutch mechanism. On the real tank to engage the inertia starter this clutch would swing outward and make contact with the receiving clutch mechanism on the engine. This would then allow the manual starter crank to turn the inertia starter gears. For this component I fabricated it all out of brass.

Once the part was fabricated it was painted, weathered and installed.

Before I was able to mount the engine I gave the entire engine bay some weathering.

The engine itself was built to identical specs as the other display versions that I built in the previous post, but this engine has a special feature that I will go into detail about in my next post.

The engine is now mounted permanently into the tank's hull.

For extra detail I made the air filter duct removable via small pins so I can display the engine's carburetor and manifold detail.

Currently I completed all of the masters and molds for the fan clutches, and cooling system for both the HL210 and HL 230. Once ready these parts will be mounted completing the engine bay, and added to the website. More to come!

The engine compartment is all complete.

All of the HL 210 engine bay components were added. These components include the fan gearbox, the fan shut off clutches, the engine bay cut off duct, and plumbing.

These resin components and the resin engine bay components for the HL 230 have been added to the website http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/tiger.htm. The HL 230 set is different because rather than using one gearbox to power the fans with external clutches like on the HL 210, The 230 uses two smaller gearboxes for this function with a built in clutch.

lots of other small details were added like tank's throttle control cable, exhaust duct shut off cables and snorkeling shut off / venting equipment was also added.

One interesting feature that the Tiger I had built in was the feature to snorkel. To do this the tank's engine compartment and crew compartment were water tight, but the fan / fuel tank locations would free flood. Because of all of the duties the cooling fan cluster perform the tiger had an elaborate system for closing off the engine bay. The fan's drive shaft had a clutch mechanism that would interrupt the fan's power, and all of the cooling vents that would lead into the fan clusters would have a cable controlled shut off valves. Later in the production run to save time many of these features were removed or were disabled.

When I was pondering about starting this project I wanted to take advantage of the lack of a fifel system, and the lack of grenade guard grills. I wanted to do something special that I haven't done or seen before. I first started with the idea of the functional fan work, then from there the idea of the complete animated engine/ cooling gearboxes began to trickle and take shape in my head. When I was designing the Maybach engine kit I built in the spin able flywheel and spindle for this purpose.

The engine compartment animations include the main flywheel spinning,

exhaust smoke

and spinning fan cooling gearbox, universal shafts, and connecting shaft

To power the engine I hooked the engine up to a reduced geared electric motor, for the smoke system I used my standard system from harbor models. To make the smoke emerge from the stacks I casted a hollow tube in the exhaust manifolds so I can run the smoke through them direct to the exhaust stacks.

The part that required out of the box thinking was for the fan gearbox, to power the gearbox I utilized two small motors. The first motor was machined into the resin gearbox that is part of the engine. The wires were funneled through the engine crank case casting, a cover cap was then added to conceal the motor.

For the gearbox itself I actually transformed the static transmission casting into a small functional gearbox. The cavity for the gears and motor were all machined into the casting, The power wires emerge from the spot were the oil tubes would emerge from the real unit, thus concealing their purpose.

to hook up all of the drive shaft a small RC boat universal coupling shaft was mounted from the engine to the gearbox, and for the fan drives two modified small RC car drive shaft bones were utilized.

by using this format the optical illusion of the functional engine is accomplished. A sound system will also be added very soon.

A youtube video was uploaded which describes the compartment details in depth and shows the animations in action http://youtu.be/mTUjFUtSXb4

More to come enjoy :) !

As a quick update I made some progress to the tank's rear interior including permanently mounting the fans to the tank and completing the plumbing.

The fans were mounted to the tank via two countersunk bolts that were screwed into the hull side. These bolts were covered up and will be sanded smooth with the body work.

and In addition to the fans I added the tiger's prototype hydraulic grill opener.

When the designers were designing the tiger they didn't feel that enough cool air was going to be drawn out by the fans when the grills were closed, so they designed a system to open the grills remotely via two hydraulic actuators.

It was soon discovered that enough cool air was able to get into the system with the grills closed, so the idea of the actuators was dropped. However the mounts for the actuators, and the grill mounting nub were left in their place on the production vehicles. Since I am building my model as one of the first production vehicles I added this unique detail to my model.

The actuator ram will be added once the grill work is mounted, and will be fabricated out of aluminum.

The last function that was added to the tank's rear compartment was the addition of the sound system.

A frame was fabricated over the engine compartment so the grill work and the engine hatch will sit flush with the deck.

Because my model is not RC, and will only be "Idling" I didn't go with a more expensive RC sound card unit. Rather I will be using my small MP3 player that has a sound file that I created with the real maybach idling. This sound file will be set to repeat on my MP3 player. For the speakers I found a cheap pair of MP3 player portable desktop speakers from a $5.00 store.

The speakers were removed from their original frames and were mounted into the vehicle.

This system works well for a static tank, but not for an RC vehicle because I can't create the engine starting, accelerating, and shutting off. One advantage that this system has is that I can play music out of the tank when I'm working in the shop 

I'm currently working on the grill work masters. Once complete they will be added to the model along with their air duct. More to come!