S.P.R. Tiger, Inside and out.

Here are a handful of interior shots. I think the Soviet armor builders will find these especially helpful.

Question... Which code do I use in imageshack for posting pictures. It has been so long that I have forgotten!

LOL

Thanks in advance.

Great photos

666Irish

I know it has been a heck of a long time since this was updated (and quite a while since I have even been on the forums), but I thought i would offer an update on the SPR Tiger.

 

I only just discovered it--amazing info / story / pictures !! Funny, i remember a whole thread of discussion since about the nature of the SPR Tigers  & no one mentioned this thread, or your close knowledge of the subject---go figure.   Where were you?  lol

I will be the certified and only 'authorized' driver. So where the tank goes, I go. My full Panzer uniform is being tailored as we speak. I am really looking forward to getting it!

Whoa-----Nice work if you can get it!  

 Amazing---so you're a Panzer Driver now    . Congrads  ....COOL GIG!!

keep us posted

I have completely forgotten how to post pictures.

I'll get back to it eventually

Hoping to get the pictures either today or tomorrow.

Getting the owner to remember things is like trying to get an Earthworm to do backflips.

Great news glad you were able to find the ol thread and keep us up to date- thanks!

Oh, and I shot some pictures with a friends camera, and I should be getting them soon. I will post them once I have them. Some great T-34/85 interior shots with the turret off., as well as some good shots of the empty engine bay and control linkages.

Should be very useful to Soviet armor builders.

I know it has been a heck of a long time since this was updated (and quite a while since I have even been on the forums), but I thought i would offer an update on the SPR Tiger.

Because of other things going on that required quite a bit of money, the poor SPR Tiger was set to the side for a while. I am happy to say that the work is continuing and progressing again. She is having an all new (rebuilt) engine installed. A Detroit Diesel this time. Restoring and rebuilding the original Soviet V12 Diesel wasn't really an option, as it had been severely fried.

We are, hopefully, looking at about 30 - 45 days before she is back up and running. There are a couple of production companies looking to rent her for film and television work, including the possibility of a film about D-Day, set to be shot in Spain.

The plan is that when it is complete, I will be the certified and only 'authorized' driver. So where the tank goes, I go. My full Panzer uniform is being tailored as we speak. I am really looking forward to getting it!

I will have the owner of this one try to find out if the Tiger from Kelly's Heroes is even still in existance.

I read some years ago that the 3 "Tigers" were borrowed from the Yugoslavian Army and vis-modded for filming, then the "Tiger" stripped off and returned to duty as T-34s..

Oh ok I gotchya, that makes sense- that site linked above had a theory that it was because of whatever the crew had used to wire the tank to blow up for the P51 scene.

Thanks again for sharing!

666Irish wrote:

I will have the owner of this one try to find out if the Tiger from Kelly's Heroes is even still in existance. It's really only since the 80's that film production companies started either saving or selling their vehicles... before that, they were pretty much scrapped (or stripped down and rebuilt as something else). The exceptions being the vehicles that were "Hero cars" in big blockbuster films. As I said, i do have more pictures, and i will post them later in the thread. The owner has quite a nice collection, including the M2/M2A1 in my Avatar, a German 105, a Japanese 37mm, and an M-24, just to name a few. The M2/M2A1 saw action on Guadalcanal, and has bullet pock-marks from Japanese direct fire on the grill slats. I have pictures of that vehicle too.  Oh, and the second job that I referred to in the OP is restoring these vehicles. So if you have something that you are modeling, and need reference, just ask, we may have worked on one.

ya gj 9thSS for blowing up the eng. guess thats why they dont get to use to cool toys anymore :)

yeah, both of the 'Tigers' were used for both scenes (in town, and on the bridge). The drivers port was made to be removable on both so that the driver could see when there was no one hanging out of the hatch to direct their movement.

There is a complete T34/85 under that skin, which means that it's seating position is a bit farther back. With the 'Tiger' vision port installed, the driver is essentially blind, save for a small slit of vision directly in front of him.

wing_nut wrote:

Go to THIS LINK and check the screen shots.  #2 has a good view.  And the Notes section, toward the bottom, are interesting too.

I've seen this site before- but that's awesome that you've got pictures of her on here- I'm sorry I missed this post back in 08- hey, that last screenshot on that ^ link up there show Tom shooting his .45 at the front of the Tiger and the drivers port has removed- like the 4th picture down on your original post, any ideas why that was removed? And assuming this wasn't the tank prop they blew up with the P51- any idea why both Tigers were missing the part?

Thanks again for the pictures and good luck on that engine, too bad about the reenactment group missusing it.

Current state of the S.P.R. Tiger:

Well, after going over it and seeing what needed to be done, it was decided that the engine needed a complete rebuild. Apparently the group that was using it for reenacting didnt quite understand that the oil pump needed to be run for at least five minutes before setting the glow plugs and turning her over. The were just jumping in and firing her up. What this equals is a burned up engine.

At this point, we have the motor almost completely stripped, and are in the process of deciding what parts need to be milled, and what can be saved. After this, we still have the transmission to tackle. Here are a few pictures:

And to give you an idea of the sheer size of those pistons, that shiny spot is a U.S. Quarter:

Nice tiger!  I would love to see some more pics, or a link to an online album... :P

If anyone is interested in how they've been making conversions; check out the dvd set of band of brothers, there is an in depth feature on there about converting the APC to the STUG and a T34 into the Tiger.  Pretty neat.  

Apparently the soviet union still has some warehouses full of mint T34s lying around; periodically they sell them.  Tom Clancy also seems to think that they've got a top secret hollowed out mountain filled with T55s...would love to see that one... 

Off hand question:

Does anyone know what the number of this tank was in the film (This is the one that had the track blown off with the 'sticky bombs')? I can't quite make it out, and I don't think that the current number was the one used during filming.

Hallo Kamraden,

I am new to this group.

Just wanted to let you all know that the "433 SPR Tiger" is here in the states as well.

Our group purchased and imported it last spring and has been using it in reenactments here in the midwest.

You can see some pics of "Thor" and other equipment of our group at www.panzergruppewest.us

Danke

Volker

rios wrote:

Did SS102 have markings on left front of the hull?

That was a source of much debate on several other forums... some did, some didnt. the ones that did looked just like these, hand painted, and in the proper light pink. Overall, I think that the prop builders did quite a good job. The layman can't tell the difference, they did quite a good job with the Zimm and color scheme, and if you look at it from a 45 degree angle from the hull up, it is quite convincing. Up close, though...

666Irish wrote:

Most of the Tiger part of the tank is actually made of wood, including the engine covers. They seem to be done quite well, but are starting to show wear and tear. One of the plans dicussed for the refurbishment of this vehicle (since it is used in re-enacting) is to replace all of the wood with re-enforced sheet metal.   You can find videos of the Tank in action at various events on YouTube. You'll see that they are listed as being owned by the 9th SS re-enactment group. This is not true... and is the main reason that the actual owner may not be letting them rent it again in the future.

Most of the Tiger part of the tank is actually made of wood, including the engine covers. They seem to be done quite well, but are starting to show wear and tear. One of the plans dicussed for the refurbishment of this vehicle (since it is used in re-enacting) is to replace all of the wood with re-enforced sheet metal.

You can find videos of the Tank in action at various events on YouTube. You'll see that they are listed as being owned by the 9th SS re-enactment group. This is not true... and is the main reason that the actual owner may not be letting them rent it again in the future. 

Excellent pics. What an awesome thing to own. The engine covers look proper too. And thick. I bet they were a bu##er to make.

Thx for posting and keep us informed about the Kellys hero Tiger.

...Guy

IA Novice wrote:

I hate to be a toady, but in this case....... Great post and great pics.  I new the SPR tiger wasn't a tiger, but I didn't know it was a T34.  I wonder how hard it was to find it - seems like a they could have found something fairly modern to modify?? Thanks again!

With the break-up of the former Soviet Union, T-34s became readily available from all sorts of places. There are still some nations, even now, with them in their operational inventory. Dimensionally speaking, the T-34 is a pretty good match to the Tiger vs. more modern equipment as well, making it a better choice.

In Band-of-Brothers, they used a British tracked APC (can't recall the exact type off the top of my head) as the chassis for a mocked-up StuG III, so more modern items can and do show up in the movies/series if you look carefully enough.

I hate to be a toady, but in this case.......

Great post and great pics.  I new the SPR tiger wasn't a tiger, but I didn't know it was a T34.  I wonder how hard it was to find it - seems like a they could have found something fairly modern to modify??

Thanks again!