ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build - FineScale Modeler - Essential magazine for scale model builders, model kit reviews, how-to scale modeling, and scale modeling products

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 15, 2004 6:35 PM

Belly Plates: The LAST Order... ?

I'll be placing my order with the shop Friday, and hopefully picking it up a week later. I know I'll have extra $ at the end of the month) so anyone wishing plates should tell me now. These are NOT countersunk, but will include hardware/bevelling as usual.

I already have 'orders' for another Sherman, another KT & ~three~ more Tiger 1's (by far the most popular) but due to waning interest, I won't be ordering very many 'spares'. I suspect this may well be my last order, unless I let the spares go on eBay and there is more interest there.

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roowalker

Member since
April 2004
From: S.C. Beach

Posted by roowalker on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 6:08 PM

Just received package from Axels,some beautiful stuff for my
KT restoration,ie.track link hangers, & the Schumo antenna for
my TI... The antenna is Fantastic!!! Highly recommend for any
TI build,static or RC. BTW, their service was great..fast e-mail
replies,& got my order in only 9 days...
Roowalker

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erush

Member since
May 2003
From: USA, GA

Posted by erush on Sunday, November 21, 2004 9:04 PM

Here's my latest progress y'all. Pretty much done except for the S&T resin tracks...

Hi, I'm Eric and I'm a Modelholic too. I think I have PE poisioning.

"Friendly fire...isn't"

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roowalker

Member since
April 2004
From: S.C. Beach

Posted by roowalker on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 5:43 AM

Hey erush!!
Almost too nice to paint ! Makes me think of a brass model
steam locomotive where you want to show off the worksmanship
rather than just the finished piece...BTW,got my trax order from
Kenny; great service, & a fantastic product...hard to appreciate
the quality until you have 'em in your hands!!
Roowalker

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J-Hulk

Member since
February 2003
From: Tochigi, Japan

Posted by J-Hulk on Monday, November 29, 2004 10:49 AM

Eric!
It's coming together!
Looking real good!

~Brian

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 29, 2004 10:59 PM

Hi all,

Ive had my 1/16 Tiger for almost a year and I am just now starting on it. I am ashamed to say that I do quite well with the mechanics and molding but have never yet painted a model. The delema I am at right now is with the front spare track mount. The instruction guide says to mount them before the gearbox, but something tells me it will not be easy to remove once I have everything in place. Can you guys share with me what you did at this point? Did you mount it and tape it off while you painted? Did you remove many items to paint it?

Thanks for the experience and I hope I don’t annoy you guys too much with the newbish questions.

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erush

Member since
May 2003
From: USA, GA

Posted by erush on Monday, November 29, 2004 11:36 PM

Welcome aboard Drew. What I did on mine was fill the screw holes and mount the tranny. I'm going to mount the frame on the front and just place the spare tracks in it like a real one would be....wouldn't recommend if you have the RC version..won't be real strong. For painting I will be removing most everything that's loose and detail paint it seperate. But some people like to paint it all on the tank and detail paint it after on the tank. It just depends on your preference and if you've never painted one before..pick one way and try it, then try another next time and see what you like.

Hi, I'm Eric and I'm a Modelholic too. I think I have PE poisioning.

"Friendly fire...isn't"

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 29, 2004 11:38 PM

Gearbox Warning: Different shafts, and other items!

This from the battlefield guys, yet another tidbit that was 'withheld' from the general users:

The gearbox output shafts are NOT the same length. It seems that the Sherman ones are shorter than the KT & T1 shafts, which might account for that sprocket-rub problem some of us have experienced. The Sherman's are 66mm, the KT/T1's are 67.25mm. That may be why we needed that shim inside the sprocket... (No mention was made of the Pershing boxes... I'll measure mine when they arrive)

Another interesting note is that the Type 4's are ~identical~ to Type 2's (and Type 3's) apart from the 'switchable' gear having been replaced with a metal one. So keep those damaged gearboxes handy for parts.

Whatever you do, DON'T pull the spacers to make your box shiftable, as its the fastest way to ruin a gearbox (short of pouring sand into it) Some tried it, and burned the boxes in no time flat. Thats probably why Tamiya put the spacers there instead of leaving 'em shiftable... right?

I'm just wondering if the fina gear shaft can be gently pressed to adapt one to the other. Anyone willing to try it on a damaged shaft?

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Wlad

Member since
July 2004
From: London, UK

Posted by Wlad on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 6:06 AM

Hi all,

Nice job Erush and welcome Drew!

Well more news... Late Tiger parts!

Metal late style wheels, endcaps and smaller 600mm idler wheel from our friends at Wecohe...
http://www.wecohe.de/shop_eng/index.html

If thats not enough... mid/late sytle Commanders cupola (resin) with turret fan cover and loaders periscope cover , plus engine air intake cover (last 3 in nickel silver) from our other friends in Germany... Axel and co.
http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/store/

Fantastic!

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 3:57 PM

Belly plates: I see WhiteWolf talking about bellyplates and after doing a lot of readin, i dont know if he is still doing them or if you have another resource for them. I would like to look into a few inexpensive ways to stiffen the chassis. Any ideas?

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roowalker

Member since
April 2004
From: S.C. Beach

Posted by roowalker on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 4:53 PM

Welcome Drew!!! I'm sure if you contact WW he can advise re. plates..
As for painting the big Kitty, I would suggest Tamiya spray cans unless
you are set up to air brush.Either Dk.yellow or pzr. grey .I painted my
rims while on the sprue,& stuff like exhaust ,jack,cables,&spare trax
separately. "cut in"the areas where the spare trax attach with your base
color before you attach them. Then, when you do your final painting,
its easy to mask & still get good coverage around the part. I did this
with the spare trax, toolbox, jack,exhaust,&side mounted track cable.
The tools,etc.,I attached after all the painting was done.
Hope this helps,
Roowalker

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 9:01 PM

DrewBlue:

I've placed another order, and yes, I ~did~ order a few spare of each. What kind of plates did you want?

I stated this would probably be the last 'order' due to waning demand, but I did think ahead and allowed for spares above and beyond the wanted ones and my own supply (still aint made my own, customers first & all that)

Ask Wlad what he thinks of 'em... he's my best customer, with Lester Leong running a close second.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 5:43 PM

Drewblue:

I have installed both Tiger 1 and Sherman plates on my tanks without any problems. Approve [^]

The Sherman installation requires you to drill two additional holes in the rear of the lower hull and get four 3mm nuts (maybe he'll provide those in the future?)to secure the plate and trim a little bit of plastic off the bottom edge of the transmission cover, but that was not a big deal. WW's prices are very reasonable and the workmanship is good. I've order another set of each.

Lester Cool [8D]

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 8:01 AM

Well.. I started to paint the road wheels last night. I used some Testors (that’s all we have in this town is a Hobby Lobby with Testors) spray paint (Pnzr Grey). Since the plastic seems to already be the same color it looks strange, but good enough for rocket science.

After they dry I will (I think this is the right thing to do) do some type of a clear coat using Future floor wax (from another thread I saw) then something else…. I know.. I know, Drew’s a Newbie. I plan on this model to look as close to realistic “Out-Of-Factory” condition as I can. Its an early version so I think they still painted them grey at that time period. It wont be perfect but it will be a durable paint job that will allow lots of playing for me and my kids.

Then after I get my road wheels painted, I will put the rubber on them and continue with the build.

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roowalker

Member since
April 2004
From: S.C. Beach

Posted by roowalker on Thursday, December 2, 2004 11:14 AM

Hey Drew!!
Pzr. Grey is certainly accurate for the early version. I would recommend
you experiment W. clear coat ideas, etc. on something else before you
try it on the Big Kitty. Testors out of the can is durable & a pretty close
match to the factory finish as far as gloss,etc. is concerned.
Roo

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 2, 2004 11:34 AM

I do have an early version 1/35 Panther that i can paint and test with. I planned on doing that lastnight while i was painting the road wheels, but will get to it next chance i have. For Xmas, i will prolly buy myself a basic airbrush set and learn how to use it. I guess i will be using all my cheap models for paint testing.

Thanks for the ideas, im glad i siged up here, everyone seems to be pretty positive in providing good feedback.

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panzerpilot

Member since
December 2004
From: Houston, Texas

Posted by panzerpilot on Thursday, December 2, 2004 3:30 PM

Hi all.
I am new to this board (as of today). I just recently got my 1/16 Tiger kit and 27Mhz Futaba radio.
This site looks to be invaluable to try and get this thing built nice and accurately. There are some very nice suggestions, examples, pics, etc. I only hope I can build my Tiger as nice as some of you have.
For now, my plan is to get all the things needed to start the build. I grew up an avid modeler and am now getting back into it after several years away. I am looking to get the testors complete airbrush kit with a moisture trap, numerous Tamiya paints and some other aber parts and a tamiya air intake screen. The elite armor metal tracks look very nice as well.
I plan to paint the Tiger in a camo theme represented in Normandy or the Gross Deutchland of 1944.
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and I am excited about having found this forum.

-Tom

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roowalker

Member since
April 2004
From: S.C. Beach

Posted by roowalker on Thursday, December 2, 2004 4:30 PM

Welcome aboard,Panzer Pilot !!! Tons of great info here,any questions
re. AM parts,references,etc.,somebody always seems to be able to help.
Plus some amazing photos re. construction...
Roo

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 3, 2004 11:45 PM

More S&T tracks...

JKondos has another set of these Tiger1 Early track sets up, 215 links plus spares, and seller is 99.5% feedback (higher if you counted repeat-buyers)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5940418675

Ask Erush what they are like... he snagged the first set I saw a while back.

NOTE: For display ~only~, will not stand up to RC use!

Plates...

Well, after Lester and Wlad ordered more, I got requests for another three plates. That makes the current production run close to sold out. If there is more demand after Christmas, i may do another run, but don't hold your breath.

Additional:

Due to a deal that ~appears~ to have gone sour, I will probably be doing more plate runs, as I'll need more cash to buy what was supposed to be traded. Angry [:(!]

Painting:

Check the Missing Lynx & Track Link forums for reviews of the Testors unit, but I'd say go eBay and snag a used Paasche H-kit. I did, and It has my old Badger beat (like a Mk 1 Male to a Leo 1A4...)

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 5, 2004 10:40 PM

GREAT NEWS!

Those of you that have noted that BYA doesn't carry ALL Schumo-Kits and WeCoHe's stuff, there is now an alternative. A friend has solidified his German contacts, and we now have an alternate source! And he keeps stock! Yep... the website aint live yet, but here is his e-mail addy: bob@etoarmor.com

We've dealt with this guy before, and he is A1 - straight arrow. He's the one that helped us with the DP:Thema orders!

PS: anyone wanna help me snag a Aber T1 ammo kit or two at killer prices? PM me, and we can talk.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 2:55 PM

Ok, another dumb question with painting. When painting the frontal armor of the Tiger, how do you handle the moving parts like the drivers front portal and the radio ops ball gun so they still move.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 8:40 AM

Soldering... Bad News:

For those of us that do solder PE when it needs it, I have some BAD news.

It seems as if the 9/11 activists have gotten the Carr's Solder products quietly classed as 'dangerous materials', meaning it can no longer be shipped by mail/post. This means Canadian suppliers can no longer import it from the UK (info c/o John French @ British Scale Models (Canada) Ltd.) I don't know if this has affected the US the same way (someone wanna find out?)

I've wanted to try this since someone here mentioned it, and now my hopes are trashed, unless...

Does anyone know of a source that brings it in by surface transport from the US? If you do, PLEASE let me know...

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 8:15 PM

Ok, another dumb question with painting.

When painting the frontal armor of the Tiger, how do you handle the moving parts like the drivers front portal and the radio ops ball gun so they still move.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 10:04 PM

Soldering: Why do you need the special solder? I got some solder from radioshack, the thinnest one and used it with the acid paste. This works fine. The only thing that I have to do is to keep the solder tip clean by scrapping it gently on a large steel file till the copper is showing again. I was successful using this method for most of the parts that i've finished including the grenade launchers on the turret. I used very little ca glue for the PE parts.

I'm in the process of building a top brace for the transmission, already got the bottom plate in.

Painting: I tnink that you could try to move the machine gun and the hinges a little bit right after you finish painting to keep the paint from drying hard around them.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 8, 2004 11:52 PM

Why Carrs?

Firstly - ease of use: it is a thin paste, like flux, but water-based, making clean-up easy.

Secondly - you can melt it with a cigarette lighter. Lower temps equals less chance of surrounding joints coming apart as they don't have time to heat.

Three - see #2, and add the fact that my soldering iron is DEAD. A garbage $20 one won't cut it, and a decent Weller station runs upward of $100.

If I could get my $ back out of the Aber and the Hold & Fold, it'd be gone in a SECOND.

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 9, 2004 10:46 PM

Alternate track controllers..

I've been finding it harder and harder to find sources of DMD-T01 (simple DMD) units, and someone mentioned the SozBots micro-controllers. These were designed for the micro-robotics combat units, and fit our bill rather well, apparently...

Has anyone really given them a workout? Willy has tried one, but its not the one I'm interested in. I know willy 'torture-tests' ones he uses, but I'd like other opinions if there are any...

I was aiming at the SozBots SozDSC-MX unit at $68.95. The SozDSCR2.3-X is only 57.95, but does ~not~ have a built in mixer.

The MX units have a jumper that can set them to run separate track (like a dozer), or a single stick/mixer mode (wish the DMD did that) It also has a third channel 128-step forward-only 'weapon' throttle (no protections) with 13 amp max (anyone for a Sherman Flail?), and a 4th channel 'invert' mode for those models that can run upside down (no use to us tankers)

The R2.3 doesn't have the mixer, but its set up as two separate ESC's, so if you burn one out, you can snap off the damaged half, and use the other solo.

These are 64 step proportional forward, 64 step proportional reverse units. Both have a 5.0 amp motor limit, 5 volt BEC's, overheat, overamp and undervoltage shutdowns, plus servo wires & motor lead screw-terminals.

Anyone using the SozDSC-MX unit? Unless anyone naysay's the MX, I'm gonna go for one for my Tiger 1... with the savings I can get a 4ch GWS 'Naro' Rx as well.

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erush

Member since
May 2003
From: USA, GA

Posted by erush on Sunday, December 12, 2004 12:27 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by DrewBlue

Ok, another dumb question with painting.

When painting the frontal armor of the Tiger, how do you handle the moving parts like the drivers front portal and the radio ops ball gun so they still move.

Drew, if you're airbrushing just spray a real light coat and after it dries you should be able to move the parts and paint the areas you missed the first time. Sometimes if it's too tight a fit there's nothing you can do, it's gonna lock it up so you might have to decide where you want the parts when done. Give it a shot and see what you can do with it.

Hi, I'm Eric and I'm a Modelholic too. I think I have PE poisioning.

"Friendly fire...isn't"

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 12, 2004 9:40 PM

More S&T tracks are up.

As before, resin, for display only, Tiger 1 Early, full set plus spares.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5942706403

$44.99 to start, 54.99 to "Buy It Now".

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 18, 2004 8:13 AM

Hello group,

I need some guidance in regard to the 56010 gearboxes. I just picked up the mentioned Tiger 1 kit (have not received it yet) and was wondering before I built it if I should upgrade to the Type 4 gearboxes?

I have the Tiger 2 (56018) kit which is almost done and I'm going to build the Tiger 1 with my son.

Isn't the Type 4 gearboxes the ones that ship with the Tiger 2?

Are there any modifications that will be necesary to fit these into the 56010 kit?

We will be battling with a few local Allied tanks and don't want to breakdown in the middle of battle like the real ones did! :-)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Morgan

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Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 19, 2004 10:49 AM

Morgan:

If your two sets of gearboxes are not identical (after you carefully look under the black casings) you clearly bought one of the early-package Tiger kits, as they later ones did get Type 4 boxes (or were repacked by the distributors, we're not 100% sure which)

The Type 2's are mostly plastic with the inset brass core-gears, the 4's are mostly metals with the same core-gears, not to mention different pinion-spur ratios.

Yes, you can swap them, but you'll have to use the kit-supplied brass hex-spacer mounts in the right spots as shown in the assembly manual. No NOT attempt to make that 'switch' on the black casing work, as you'll only succeed in wrecking the gearset. Tamiya locked it for a reason (its been discussed over in the Armorhut group)

The Type 4's will be closer to scale speed, but won't be dead on, and if you want to battle within RCACN rules, you'll still probably have to add a reduction set. You may also want to use metal tracks & the new idler setup.

You could either use the Type 1's until they die, and then swap to 4's, or sell the 1's to anyone hinting for them (the HPC gear-set owners are always looking for new ones) and buy Type 4's. Either way, its your call...

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ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build