ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build

Yes we have paint ........ hey everybody ... we have paint happening here

Hi, Whitewolf!
Tamiya spray cans are only 500 yen a pop here (about $4 US), and what I've read says 3 will do the trick, so I don't reckon 12 bux is a bad deal to get good quick coverage.
I'll use the airbrush for shading and weathering and the usual.
Hey, the wooden handle idea isn't bad at all! Anybody good at whittling?

The oil stain idea sounds good too, but is it safe? No melting going on there?

I'm probably gonna have lotsa Aber parts left over as well. I'm glad I bought it, but some of that stuff just doesn't make sense! I'm going to use only the pieces that I think improve on the kit pieces or represent bits not included in the kit.

Do you like the Hold & Fold? I'm still looking to get one of those those.

Those Tamiya cans are ~so~ expensive ...

I bought some artists acrylics and airbrushed a base on my King Tiger , and it looks ok , but I'm going to see what the Krylon Car-Camo stuff looks like on the damaged KT hull I have . The green I worked up for the Sherman , on the other hand , looks ~terrible~ , and is only good for a base coat .

The olive drab Krylon I used on my Shermie looks perfect , though getting into the roadwheels is a pain in the derriere . I bought a small jar of the Testors/ModelMasters stuff ( took one of the jerrycans I'd sprayed in with me to match ) for touchups ...

Yes I have an airbrush: Paasche H-set with coarse , med & fine tips, and the gravity-feed cup . Use my Badger 180 for supply.

Ok , this is a bit off-topic , but not completely : whats the best shade for the wooden tool handles ? Anyone thought of boring them out and using real wood ? And the Sherman's ration boxes ? And whats the best shade for the metalwork ?

I stumbled into a good 'oilstain' method : use that liquid solvent ( Tenax-R or equivalent ) and apply a drop or two to the grease caps . It darkens the surrounding paint as if oil/grease has leaked .

I've also got the Aber set , and hope to duplicate selected parts to detail my KT . I may even try to hand-make parts for my Sherman ( light-guards & periscope-guards ~beg~ for PE )

Anyone need some of the Aber parts ? I'll have leftovers as I started with the Tamiya static T1 . That or swap hatch-parts , as mine are already assembled (~very~ neatly)

Yea , I blew the cash on the Hold & Fold , and I got the newer head for it (dispenses with having to buy both of the older ones) Since Kalama Precision Machine has taken over , the parts are flawless .

WhiteWolf

Sounds reasonable, Eric.
I'm gonna prime and basecoat mine with cans (Tamiya), then AB it from there. There's just too much acreage on this monster to AB the whole thing, methinks! And at this scale, the spray cans'll produce an excellent finish.
I've had a long and rewarding relationship with the spray can, and I can still appreciate it's value from time to time!

Spray can? What's a spray can??

Seriously, I "canned" the primer coats and am airbrushing the rest.

I had my compressor set at about 20 psi and sprayed 3 light coats on the roadwheels. I wanted to make sure that the center openings were painted. I don't want to go back and have to use a brush in there.

I would say that the drive sprockets were the hardest because of all the nooks and crannies.

PS.......Make sure that, if you spray, to cover the hole openings for the screws. It will be tough later on to try to get them seated with paint in the threads. I just used bits of masking tape.

Eric, you're gonna be done before I even open the box!
Are you ABing or spray-canning the base coats?

Let there be color :



I forgot just how big this kit is so, I definately have to order more paint.

Somebody mention "Battle of the Bulge?"



Heh heh heh!
Every chance I get!!!
Hessler craves the spotlight!

You guys gotta be gettin' sick of this by now!

To Erock & Okie-Boy :

The Type 1 ( what we R/C nuts call 'em ) came with the Tiger 1 ~original~ kit , both basic DMD & full Multi-Function , and is the uncovered one with the matched pair of plastic/brass gears right before the output steel gear/shaft . That one's been discontinued though www.Dave4What.com may still have a few.

The Type 2 was issued to the Sherman , and came with that odd black cover over it , as they all do now . It also altered the gearset almost completely .

The Type 3 was for the Pershing , with the output shaft in a different spot . Its only good for the Pershing , and might fit a Panther as it had similar external reduction gears like the Pershing .

Addendum: After examining the Type 2 Sherman cases, it appears the 2's and 3's are ~identical~ apart from final shaft placement. Hence by moving the shaft, one can become the other. The standoffs for mounting are something else though...

The Type 4's , which were retrofitted to ~some~ of the Tiger 1 kits at the factory , is a further improvement (or so its claimed) as it slows the Tiger down to a more scale speed . It also focusses all the strain on the last plastic gear , as all the others are now metal . Drive carefully : they don't sell gears , just full boxes !

The R/C battle group here in North America that goes by the acronym RCACN says that after two 'BattleDays' , they can see that any tank with metal tracks needs to be driven more carefully . Why ? Because there is ~no~ give in the track , and any stone or twig that gets into the tracks will not pop the track , but jam it , and the strain is in the ~gearbox~ . The only give in the track is how tight you tension it , and if you make it too loose , you'll throw a track . This means showing off with pivot turns ( on the spot , one track forward , the other reverse ) is a BAD idea , as the track scoops the debris into the sides of the track .

As for movies , yes , ABTF is one of the best ones for Shermans ... but the Panzers ? They are Leopards ! Look at the sides , the classic exhaust on the rear 1/4 panels , the drive hubs . And if you look at the Shermans in that long string on the road as they kick off the "Garden" portion of the operation , watch it at 1/2 or 1/4 speed in the DVD ... You will see anomalies in the gun barrels . Many of the tanks were scrapped together ... ( watch the "extras" on the DVD )

In Kelly's Heroes , they are Yugoslav M4A2 76mm's ... Most think thats a 17 pounder , but post-war , the Americans managed to fit the 76 into the 75 mount , and retrofitted a bunch before selling 'em . Thats why the glacis has no travel-lock ... a 76 has it on the butt-end . The "Tigers" are a joke though ... cobbled up on T34 chassis !

And the biggest 'joke' is Battle of the Bulge' , where most of the German gear is M47 Pattons ! ( still don't have this on DVD to re-watch )

Why the fudges for the German gear ? Cause the Allies destroyed most the German war materiel so they couldn't get any ideas ... not that its stopped them from making some of the best stuff since ( the Leopard series & Gepard AA )

WhiteWolf

One of the best for realistic Allied vehicles IMO. Row after row after row of Shermies ..... what's there not to love.

Bought mine as soon as I got my DVD player.

Thanks Roy

Thanks Sherm,

If you don't already own it, the movie "A Bridge Too Far" has tons of Sherman tanks and its variants in it. You'd love it.

Roy

Here's their e-mail address Roy

sales@bentbutnotbroken.com

The owner's name is Frank, I've dealt with him before but I used money order for purchase so there was no confirmation e-mail recieved. But his service was pretty quick.

Thanks fellas,

I looked at my past e-mails and I ordered the barrel on Friday the 29th, so I suppose I'm only impatient. But go figure when you see how stoked I am about this build. I rented "A Bridge Too Far" yesterday just to see some tanks! I got to see lots of Shermans, and variants thereof. After getting the suspension put in, I'm chomping at the bit to get into the zimm and primer coat on!

I just e-mailed them and I already got a reply. Man, that's what I call service. My barrel ships out tomorrow!

So guys, my other question is this... Do metal tracks add some realism that I don't know about? I mean, once you paint tracks, what's the difference? The only thing I think I'd worry about is the extra weight and extra strain on the motors and gears. School me!

And lastly, I have pictures. I just need to get them on disk and send them to you.

Roy

bentbut notbroken is a seperate company i believe that carries his stuff. You need to try to contact them probably. If you want to contact Mike his website is http://www.brassbarrels.com/ (sorry I said barrelstore above I think that's one I've stumbled across in the past.) Anyway, his e-mail is mike@brassbarrels.com .

Eric

Same here, I got mine from eBay. I payed the same day and the barrel came in about a week. Here is the item currently on eBay.

Mike's email is there also:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3143523188&category=2588

Hi Eric,

I bought mine directly from the website at bentbutnotbroken.com and the only e-mail contact they offer is the webmaster. Is that Mike? Do you have his e-mail address? Thanks bro.

Roy

Okieboy I got an automated response from e-bay on the purchase but not from the barrelstore. I did send Mike an e-mail asking about it and he sent a reply in a day or 2 and I had my barrel a couple days later. Send him an e-mail to make sure he got the transaction and I'm sure he'll get back to you.

Eric

Erock or Erush,

I ordered a replacement barrel from The Barrel Store last week, but they didn't generate an automatic response or invoice to my e-mail. Is this normal? How long does it usually take for the barrel to arrive? Zimmerit application will begin soon...

Roy

Okie,

Anything on the motor-gears was already there. They came as 2 seperate units. The only thing I added was the grease.

Hey guys,

Whew, I got the torsion bars and suspension finished last night. Today before work, I installed the gear boxes. Question for Erock: I noticed in your picture that you have some sort of covers over the gears. Did they come with the kit? I don't have anything like that in mine, nor is there anything like it in the manual. Yikes! It's stuff like this that scares me. [:0]

Roy

Capt,

That's the beauty of this build, everyone is doing something different. Some Panzer Grey, Some 3 tone camo patterns.... As for me, I will be doing the 2 tone yellow-dark brown Afrika scheme.

Cptn. Cavie :

I've got both the R/C Kubel with its trash-radio , and the DAK static version . Soon as I get a moment , I'm gonna be body-swapping , so that my R/C one can have the poseable doors (yea , the body parts are interchangable , too bad the tires/rims aint without major work)

My R/C one is being retrofitted with a TamTech unit (thing should have had a TamTech unit to start)

Anyone got a good source got gunshells ? I need German 88 shells and casings , and Allied 76mm (Easy Eight), 90mm (M36 TD) and 105mm (M4 Howie) shells and casings .

WhiteWolf

box1 ive found this shop dont know if its what your after http://www.netmodelshop.com/
to all the tiger are looking good, what colours are everyone doing, are they all going to be grey? and are anyone going to get the Kubelwagon aswel?

Woohoo, I finally shot some paint (well, primer anyway) on this bad boy! After sanding them, I headed to the hardware store

I bought wooden dowels and cut them to length to hold the roadwheels in place. I still has to use masking tape to get them snug, so they wouldn't turn. They are then pushed into blocks of styrofoam. They are snug enough that, I can turn the blocks upside-down and shoot the underside also. It doesn't look like it but, they are in lengths of 5". I placed them near the edge of the blocks to give me a clear shot at the opposite side.

This is roughly half of them, will finish the primer job later this eve:

Howdy, Whitewolf!
Thanks for all the good info.
That landing craft is insane!

Guys!!

I was hoping to find a How-To manual on the Aber 1/16 Tiger set, and I've found the next best thing: you guys! Then again, after reading the backlog, that may be a curse instead of a blessing

Someone mentioned 1mm Taps... I've got a supplier, but I need to know the ~pitch~ If someone can get me that , Perhaps we can arrange a bulk order! Oh, I'm in Canada, so your US $ is worth that much more!

I say Taps ~and~ Dies, as I hope to be able to thread the home-made wingnuts. If the dies are too expensive, its solder the wing-ends over bolts with lopped heads.

As for spares, I also have a Yahoo group with a German supplier of most of the Tiger & King Tiger parts, including track link hangers, single cast tracks, and tow cables with cast-on ends! The group name is DP-Thema: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DP-Thema/

I got the static kit , and am going to load the proper R/C gearboxes into it, and have the Aber set as well (meaning I have many duplicate parts available) No pics yet though, sorry.

I also have one of the bored aluminum barrels from eBay (Mike in Vegas) and it'll get one of the vintage flash units from the old KT.

As for my 'army', I've got 2 Shermans (1x RT & 1x 014 MF), a King Tiger - Porsche, and the Tiger 1, plus The DAK static Kubel and Euro R/C Kubel.

Want something to carry your M4's to the beach? Take a gander at this baby: http://www.jet-drive.de/database/generate.php?output=filter&generateID=142

Thats it got now. Will check back daily, and feel free to mail me if you have that thread pitch data.

Regards,
WhiteWolf McBride
up in the Great soon-to-be-White-again North

Hoezit Hoezit
Cant wait 2 c the end results of all the Tigers.
Looking good really good.

Keep well.

Man I gotta rob the quickiemart and get one of them!

I'll need a sense of humor during this assembly:



Starting on the road wheels. I usually use toothpicks to hold the road wheels in place, during painting. Now I need fireplace logs



The fun part will be finding - creating a new stand!

I am really enjoying you guy's progress reports and humor.
Keep the pics coming and the zingers flying!