ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build

Carib:

If you are really interested in making a Tamiya tank that was battle-capable, we could direct you to one of the local RCACN clubs. Where are you? Your profile has no data.

The only requirement for battle that you ~need~ if you build the kit 'out of the box' is the geardown. Bob at www.ETOArmor.com and Willy at www.CustomRCModels.com both sell reduction sets. You can battle without it at Danville as they have diode sets to reduce the speed, but its not a permanent fix, as after a few hits, you cannot move. Plus there are motor options as well...

Then there are additions... metal tracks (buy Guaranteed Kenny Kong ones, available at www.BackyardArmor.com) and if you use 'em, you should get the better idler system or you'll break something. Daryl Turner makes 'em.

All the rest is subtle tweaking. As for the smoke launcher arms, you can do as good replacing the arms with a bit of brass strip bent in a vise to duplicate the arms (and its MUCH cheaper)

You want the real lowdown on battling, check out this group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/armornutsrcarmorhut/ When it asks why you're there, tell Justin ya want to make your tank battle-capable, and that I sent ya over. He'll let ya in.

Ahem...

Jeff Herne

CaribMar
if I were you, I would go for a metal gun barrel, metal smok launcher arms and metal tracks. this is the first tank, keep it as simple as possible.
if you found this hobyy is for you and you are good at it, you can add gear reduction, suspension, all other gooies. depends on how deep your pocket is.
Watch for bad dealers, sb always want to take advantage of biginners. do not let the bad dealer give you first sour apple. this is a wonderful hobby, but there are some bad people in it.

Markus, thank you. I am goint to get one then. I will work on my banner, so we can....
thanks,tom

QUOTE: Originally posted by tomzag http://cgi.ebay.com/TAMIYA-1-16-R-C-KingTiger-Corrected-aluminum-barrel_W0QQitemZ5993060386QQcategoryZ2588QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem what is wrong with the tamiya stock kingtiger gun barrel? just wondering.

Hi tomzag,
the Tamiya stock barrel is to short and the muzzle brake is more 1/15 than 1/16 scale. I find out that on my last measurement at Munster tank museum in Germany during measurements for the Jagdpanther. Close beside the Jagdpanther a King Tiger is displayed.

Markus

Hello,
I'm new to the 1/16 hobby and in need of some help. I never owned a R/C & I'm not mechanically inclined so a lot of the jargon is new to me. I currently own a R/C 1/16 Tamiya Tiger I. My questions are as follow:
-What upgrades are essential in making my Tiger realistic looking and durable before I begin building it? I'm concerned that small detail such as photo etch will only fly off during operation.
-I'm considering the upgrade suspension, is it worth it?
-I've read a lot about "Gear Reduction" on this forum. How important is it & what is the most efficient way to do this?
- Reading this post, there has been reference to certain websites for tips & after market products...many of these seem to be out of business or inactive...what companies are still in operation?
-Finally, if you may suggest further websites or forums to assist me.

Thanks everyone for your time!!
Sorry if I confused anyone by posting this question on the "GROUP BUILD FORUM" and not here like I wanted to...again..just a ROOKIE!

what is wrong with the tamiya stock kingtiger gun barrel?

just wondering.

Thanks for the info,Wlad!!
Always great to find something new &unusual on a topic as well
"chewed on" & researched as our Tigers.
Another one to ponder,& sorry I have no means of posting the photo:
"Tiger at War",by Trojca & Munch,new release I just received from
Fedorowicz in Canada, Pg.152, a late production Tiger I with a VERY
unusual mounting for supplementary side armor. The captioning
states that a Panther hull was found in Poland a few years ago that
featured the same mounts,apparently for a type of "multilayer,add-on
active armour"......Anybody have info on this ?
Mike

Hi Guys,

Following a discussion on one of the UK forums about one of the guys wanting to do a "different" 1/16 Tiger 1, I thought I'd share these pics with you. They show early tigers with zimmerit applied and in non-standard patterns. Quite unusual.

http://www.btinternet.com/~wladyslaw/tiger/waffle.jpg

http://www.btinternet.com/~wladyslaw/tiger/waffle2.jpg

These are respectively from TIC 1 page 139 (hardback) page 109 (softback) attributed to 502nd, and the second pic is from Panzer Tracts No.6 by Jentz and Doyle, no unit assigned.

Endless possibilities...

Regards,

Wlad

Jeff,
nice idea that, I may try it on an old King Tiger Ive got here as a test for the next Tiger 1. Never liked painting much. I think its a bit of a mind set, get it wrong once and its always a worry it will go wrong again. So far its not gone to bad but I am just using single gray on this one and thats matt so does not show up the bad bits too much. Hopefully the next one will be dark yellow and two tone camo and a mid production tank.
WWMcBride,
Some very good ideas with the pin and holes I had not thought of. And it is possible to drill some others and give them pins so when the monster is charging through the undergrowth most bits will stay on !!!.
Thanks for the ideas.
tankmech

Jeff, nice method there.

Tankmech:

If the paint is creating a bad surface for bonding, there are two methods that I can think of to maintain a decent contact area. These works for any surface to any surface.

# 1: Check all pieces for fit on the part you are about to paint. Note where contact points for the attachment are, and use small pieces of masking tape or blue-tack to cover the contact point. When done, remove the blue-tak, and presto, paint-free glue-point.

# 2: This is the more common method when painting first and attaching later. Scrape the paint off to get a clean bare surface, and then ~sparingly~ apply the glue to the part and fit. If you used the right amount, there should be enough to bond with no squish-out.

If the parts are attached by a post, consider shaving it off, drilling a hole, and making a separate post. Then the hole is masked for painting on both pieces, maintaining a clean surface there (think like dowel-pinned furniture)

A variation of this is to drill the hole ~through~ to where it won't show, and apply the glue there.

Example... the Tiger's tow cables on the deck (yea, I know most of us replace 'em or just junk 'em) The cable ends have pins that go all the way thruough at the front, so apply glue to the unside of the deck (and mask the pins with blue-tak when you paint the cables). The other attachment points are the cleaning rod racks and the aft engine deck post. Mask the middle of the racks where the rods rest (and matching point on the cables) and then drill the pin-attachment point on the engine deck right through (and mask that pin too)

A bit of forethought handles this, or if ya ~do~ paint a contact point, feel free to scrap paint off to get bare styrene... even the award-winning modellers do it!

Interesting technique.
Thanks Jeff.

Techmech,

Getting a good edge with an airbrush is relatively easy...of course, if you want a sharp, hard edge, you simply use masking tape laid over the surface.

If you're looking for a soft, feathered edge, here's my method...

Get some silly putty...and roll it into pencil-sized strands. Put your mask down like you were doing a hard-edged pattern. Lay the strands over the area that borders the mask and surface. This creates a raised ridge around the mask's edge. Then spray at an angle against the mask. The deliberate overspray creates a soft edge.

Jeff

Hello fellow 1/16th Tiger men,
Ive just been doing some of the detail work on the deck of the cat and was wondering about fitting the hinges for the two front hatches. As my model is R/C I do not have hinges and had bought some metal ones to fit. Lo and behold, these fit on the projections for the hinges that are not supplied. Dont you feel a fool when a perceived problem does not exist.
When you lads paint your tank after assembly do you use an airbrush to put the camo on or do you brush. Ive been spraying as I fit and I think this could be a bad idea. Not a strong enough bond with the paint between parts to be bonded. I think Ill assemble and then spray the next one. Just not sure about getting a good edge to the camo with an airbrush.
tankmech

Many thanks for the info Roo.

Phoot-note:
Observations re. ammo were with the 90 mm piece as mounted in
our M48A3-mod B Hogs in the early 70's.The rounds looked very
similar to the 88mm ,L56,as used in the Tiger I .
Roowalker

WW,thanks for the tip re.verlinden MG 34,I had forgotten they made one!
Jeff,although Stugs certainly are not Tiger Is,Tomzags finishing techniques
are of direct interest to those of us building the Tiger,esp his "dunklegelb"
which is the closest thing to prototype that I have seen.Likewise the MG34
question pertains to my plan to do a "sky mount " on my current Tiger.
Vlad,the fired cartridges [brass] were still shiny & looked about the
same as they did before loading,just a few scrapes on the outside.
The inside was a burnt black,but was totally confined to the inside,
ie.,there was no blackening on the outside of the cartridge.
We even had a few steel cartridges[Korea leftovers?] These
were a kind of funky color due to an antirust coating,looked
like Testors MM "Jet Exhaust ". I know Germany used steel as
well as brass & this might give you some variety in your work up.
Best to you all,
Roowalker

Roo,

As you are a former tanker, I would like to take the opportunity to ask a question of you, if you don't mind.

In your experience do spent shells (fired) exhibit "scorch marks" or any blackening on the inside of the casing? Or the outside? Any visible difference on the spent casings as opposed to the casings of the live ammo? I would like to know in order to accurately represent spent and ejected 88mm casings on the back deck of one of my Tigers. I'm not sure that casing is the right term but I mean the long brass part of the 88mm ammo that holds the explosive material.

Regards,

Wlad

No, it's Wlad... lol

Jeff,

the MG34 from rcpanzer is the copy of Bandai one which came with the bandai kit. If the details of original is rough, then copy will be...........

Just a reminder fellas, this is a Tiger I thread...let's keep it on topic please.

Thanks,

Jeff

Roo:

You might look at Verlinden's kits for MG34's & MG42's. I have their MG42's, not bad... have other of their kits too (and the guys know how I hate bad castings)

One seller on eBay has 'em in metal (Verlinden copies like the other gear) and Markus at http://www.rcpanzer-shop.de/ have good metal-cast ones, and at decent prices too.

I've dealt with Markus, had a MG-42 arrive missing the flash surpressor cone, he replaced it VERY fast. Looking to get some more bits from him. Very polite, and understands English.

thank you guys for the kindest words.
roowalker, the machine gun came with the kit, but no good. the details on it is very rough.

Thanks for the info,Skrull,this is what I wanted to hear,& I'll be
waiting for my set to arrive next, & get started building again.
Nice Stugs,Tomzag.Where did you get the M.G.34 for the
remote mount ? Please post some photos when your'e done.
I like your finish technique so far.
Roowalker

Hi Tom.

Always enjoyed the pics of your tanks, especially the Tigers. I have been following this thread from the beginning (as alurker) with the hope that I'll be getting one 1/16 Tiger in the near future. Pictures are really very helpful although I am surprised that these are hard to come by even in a very long thread such as this. Erock's and Erush's Tigers (see early part of this thread) are really good inspirations. The other GB's that I have joined or have followed are usually full of pictures as progress pictures are an integral part of the GB concept. I am glad that you are always ready to share the pictures of your work which basically back or prove everything you have said here so far. I am still eagerly waiting to see the works of the others of whose works I have read too many good things about here. But for now I can only leave it to my imagination and just hope that they would be kind enough to share them with the rest of us.

another couple of average painted Stugs:
http://tomsrctanks.com/brentstugs.html
not done yet. they need further weathering.
hope they draw some full packages from fellow tankers.
comments and enjoy.

I have the s-mine launchers, one of the first ones to be sold but since my build is at a standstill I haven't really had the chance to work with it.

As with most things, there are still some cleaning required but nothing a light sanding won't fix. They seem to be well molded and dimensions accurate. My only gripe is it did not come with instructions but that is something that will be included in future orders and that they are working on it. In the mean time, I'm happy with them and can't wait to finally install them.

Hey folks!!
Haven't posted in a while,but I review this thread daily..Jeff,PLEASE don't
lock it down,cause its the best source of info re. large Armor bar none!!!
I believe that part of the trouble may have been the good ole English
language& translating into&out of...Its easy to incorrectly gauge an
attitude in these cases & I think this has happened here more than
once!!
Tankmaster,you can have a great R.C. tank right out of the box
from Tamiya.I have enjoyed my Tiger I since 2000 with no mechanical
or structural upgrades,just a bit of maintenance.
Full size Tanks,[ I am a former USMC Tanker ],require a bit of skill &
common sense to operate or you will tear something up....
1:16 is no different.There are fantastic upgrades available re. performance
if you want to "Drive it like you stole it "but they're a choice,not a necessity.
Re. finishing techniques,1:16 scale will naturally show highlights &
shadows wihout painting techniques to enhance them like smaller scales.
It's very easy to overdo a 1:16 Hog & end up with a disaster !!
Advise is to lok at a full size item & make your own approach.
BTW,has anybody got "hands on" with the S-mine launchers yet ?
I'm real curious for some accurate feedback.
Best to you all !!
Mike[Roowalker]