ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build

TankMech:

I have one T1 and one Sherman kit left... say the word and they are yours.

Please use the reply PM function here or my Hotmail address, as I had a critical OS failure (98SE) and had to reload, and I'm still loading s/w in the background as I type this... (what I'd give now for cable-access!)

Anyone else wishing to contact me, please pass the word... the EISA account may not be read for a few days, perhaps as long as a week...

This stalls all my tank work too... I'm ~really~ getting to hate Bill Gates...

QUOTE: Originally posted by WhiteWolf McBride TankMech: I have one T1 and one Sherman kit left... say the word and they are yours.

WWM, I will take both off your hands. Not sure about the reply PM bit so have posted here. Hope the boss man does not mind !. When you get the e-mail going again send me the details please.

Wlad
Have tried without reply to Willy at CustomRC and as I want to get these tanks running soon I think Ill try Bob at ETO.

Tomzag
Not quite big enough to transport the tanks but, yes it would have been spectacular. Track gauge is only 32mm and scale is 16mm to the foot, 1/19th.

Thanks for the reply`s fellas.
Tankmech

do not let bill gates bother your work. focus on building. I never saw a single tank you build. please focus.
on second thought, it has been years, couple more weeks won't hurt. but really i want to see your tanks after listening to your talking for years.

The S-Mine parts and a few new King Tiger parts (PE Engine Grill Set, MG Set & 20-Ton Jack Set) are for sale at BYA. The S-Mine's go for $37.00 USD (includes shipping in the USA).

Skull,
thank you for providing the pictures:
here is the link
http://tomsrctanks.com/smine.html
thanks,tom

64condors:

I see the new KT grills (the WeCoHe ones look better) but no listing for the Tiger 1 S-mines. They even pulled the 'coming soon' reference. Perhaps they have hit a snag?

TankMech:

If you look at the bottom of my posts, there is a set of buttons there, but you only see 'em if you are logged in. S'ok, I've sent you a blip.

And best way to catch Willy is on MSN Messenger. He gets too much mail to get to it reliably. CustomRCModels@MSN.com is his ID there.

tomzag: no problem mate, i'm just glad these lot are finally finished. I got a quote of 37.50 Euro from Axel model includding shipping to the UK. Actual retail price is 29.98Euro, paypal payment incurs 3.9%.

WW: the smine launchers are there in BYA Tiger1 detail parts and it's near the bottom of the page, I just looked last night and again this morning

Hi WW,

The new KT Engine Grills on the BYA site are the same ones from Wecohe.

Thanks!

new 1/16 tamiya RC king tiger II painted full option.
here it is.
http://tomsrctanks.com/chuckkingtiger.html

enjoy and comments.

John Ackerman, pls email me I lost your email.

Hi guys,

I just noticed from Axels website that they have some new Kenny Kong metal tracks (late style) that have the holes in the... track guide teeth? (Lol, I don't know what that part is called!) http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/image/MT56010KS_max.jpg
So finally there seem to be some that are more accurate!

And more... they also have narrower transport tracks! http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/image/MT56010KKT_max.jpg
Hmmm, what will we do with those... we're going to need a train...

Details at http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/store/ look under "Ketten&Co." (no trains there... just the track details)

Regards,

Wlad

Wlad,
Ive just spotted these as well. I got a set that came from holiday 123 on E-bay for a King Tiger and they are terrible so have been looking at replacements. They do look very good but I was wondering if the early type will be upgraded to the same standard as these later ones. And perhaps the King Tiger ones to.

I have also ordered the belly plates from White Wolf and a set of gear reductions from Bob at ETO. He does the Tiger ones and King Tigers but not Shermans. Pity.
I have fitted the barrel and recoil unit to the turret and the grills to the engine deck. Theres enough fiddly bits here for me without going for P/E. After doing some investigating though I must say I would like to do a later Tiger but it will have to wait for a King Tiger to be finished.
Tankmech

Tankmech,

Yes the pitfalls of evilbay are well documentated, WW has provided several warnings in the past about various sellers, and I'm sure we all have our own bad experiences.

For all in the future who think they discover bargain metal tracks ... THE ONLY METAL TRACKS WORTH BUYING ARE MADE BY KENNY KONG!!! It doesn't matter where you buy them from axels/wecohe/backyardarmor/other just make sure they are made by Kenny Kong and look like it.

As to the earlier type tracks being upgraded... all we can do is email Kenny Kong / Axel/ etc etc and demand they be produced! You will be surprised what can be achieved by a few emails directed at manufacturers and better still their retailers! eg. I would like to buy your... but... they are not true to scale/right in their proportions... I have noticed that you have corrected this failing in your Late Tracks... I will gladly purchase a set of Earlier Style Tracks when you have addressed the problem and so will my 1,000 friends... lol!

Hang out as long as possible (these can be the very last thing you aquire) and it might just happen before you are ready... who knows? It seems that things are moving more towards the Late Style Tiger now... with various aftermarket manufacturers all moving that way.

WW's belly plates are cool! Gear reductions from ETO are cool too! As to the Sherman ones, I dunno about the Tiger bait but maybe you can try contacting the guys on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/armornutsrcarmorhut/ for help. They are provided by Willy and if you post there I'm sure you will get sensible answers... or directly... "And best way to catch Willy is on MSN Messenger. He gets too much mail to get to it reliably. CustomRCModels@MSN.com is his ID there." Be persistent!

The Aber set is brilliant but for masochists only (like me and others here). It can bring you a great deal of enjoyment and a great deal of frustration. Such is life...

Welcome again Tankmech and don't hesitate to post even if it seems a silly question (I am sillier than you or anyone else!)

Regards,

Wlad

Guys:

Tried to access the Mettellketten at just before 03:00 GMT, and its dead in both English and German versions. Perhaps they are sorting all the tracks into respective kits like the detailing.

Oh well, I'm not gonna buy metal track anyway.

TankMech:

You can always break the cheap set up and sell it to others as 'splash' armor... A few people I know got stung with the crap tracks, and thats about the only way to get your $ back out apart from selling it to a static modeller.

new (not really) 1/16 tamiya RC tiger i 1 painted full option.

http://tomsrctanks.com/miketiger1.html


i have to touch the paint job to repair twice.

Just had another look at Axel`s shop and in the news bit at the start it says that the early Kenny Kong Tiger tracks are also new. Could this mean that he has upgraded all his tracks to a newer design. I need some bits so will have to e-mail for info.
Fitted a set of Bobs gear reductions to the Tiger 1 and what a difference. It can now be controlled down to the slowest crawl on smooth and rough surfaces, up or down. I had a bit more noise on the first try but a bit of re-adjustment sorted that. Now quiet except on tight turns. Almost purrs like a big cat should. Now stripped down for belly plate and some more of the detail work on the hull. Any hints for a good method of painting a rough rusty exhaust ?.
tankmech

TankMech:

This came up a while back on Track-Link, and though many modelers like to make nice rusty exhausts, most vehicle exhausts in regular use don't rust as most depict them. There was also a neat side-discussion about rusting tow cables too...

I'm not sure if Jeff wants me to place a link here to the relevant articles, but if you e-mail me (anything ~except~ Hotmail, I can't get to it for some reason) I can give you the relevant reference sections & dates posted.

Hope ya like the plate, did the second package arrive ok?

TankMech,

you can get a rusty surface by many ways:
-There are a lot of acrylic or enamel colors for use to imitate rust, most names of this colors have rust in it.
- some guys use those dry blocks of aquarel or oil color and pulverize it to powder and use this as rust or dust.
- my favourite is Instant Rust, a 2 component stuff. One fluid contains iron powder and is to be used first. The second fluid contains oxygen and is clear. The more of this oxy-fluid you apply over the iron fluid the stronger the rust will be. This is real life rust and its a bit dynamic so it can happen that the rusty surface will get more rusty a while after painting. But it look really realistic.

no idea whether this stuff is available in Germany only but if you guys are interested in I could check this out.
Hope my English is'nt as terrible as the state of my Tiger build - no progress :(

WhiteWolf
Both packages arrived OK. Sherman plate fitted and Tiger 1 plate is awaiting painting. With regards exhausts there will be a certain amount of rust around but what colour was the inner tube (silencer ?) painted. Was it the same as the tank or possibly silver ?. Ive seen the exhaust on a Centurian glowing red in the dark so there must be some discoloration, paint loss and rust in there. And I would like that link please.
Mathias
I should of thought about the two part rust as a railway modeller. I also think I know a supplier of this. This would be ideal for the cast fishtails on the Sherman. On the Tiger I think it will be some powder mixed with some paint to give them a not to rough surface. And your English is better than mine never mind my non existant German. As for the Tiger, its gone backwards a little to go forwards again, I hope.
Tankmech

tankmech:

The "Instant Rust" is by Modern Options.
Their website is: www.modernoptions.com
The product is sold at art stores.

TankMech:

Will send the link in a bit, catching up now that Hotmail access is open again (MSN blew up a server)

As for the inner tube with the cap... check the references. At some points there was no topper-cap (on top of those 5 posts) to the tubes, but ( if I remember right ) they were added to deflect the engine backfire flames. At the same time the outer deflector-guards were made higher, to hide that side-deflected 'flash'. You can see the shorter guards and lack of caps in some North Africa Tiger images.

In the Ardennes, they even put a low 'fence' around the back deck to hide that same flash from the left and right front quarters, as it gave away the tank's position.

TomZag I must say your model painting is Incredible; I use your pictures as references to help me. My next tiger I wanted to paint with the Tamiya primer like the 131 tiger, I was wondering is their several primer colors to choose from or just the standard tamiya??

Nick,

Each to their own but in my opinion if you really want truly inspirational painting of Tigers (which is what this thread is about... tiger 1's, not painting) and other vehicles too, all you need to do is look at some of those in the gallery on this website, fantastic...

Also I can recommend http://missing-lynx.com/gallery/gallery_german.htm and specially what these guys do in 1/35th scale is awesome... rather than average.

These are a true inspiration to me. Check out Andrew Dextras and Migs. They are exceptional as is Frank's at http://www.wecohe.de/cms/front_content.php?client=1?=1&idcat=31&idart=107&m=&s=

Also red oxide primer is available in many different formats with very minor colour differences between them. Any of the commercially available brands recommended for models are fine, as is the stuff probably available through your local car repair/parts place/hardware store, in spray can form (just make sure it is acrylic.)

Tankmech and others...

Rusty effects seem to be available in paint form from many different sources in many different countries. Here is one http://www.rustall.com/ and also I suggest that everyone check out local sources like the local hobby shop and also the local artist suppy shop, I have seen many that are the same.

I hope this helps all,

Regards,

Wlad

Wlad:

You're right... red primer ain't always red primer, but unless you're gonna leave it that color, hell, one is as good as another in this scale, long as it adheres well.

All the Tigers were primered underneath, and the only time it really showed was if the zimmerit chipped oddly, when the fracture-surface was between primer and base color, not between the primer and the metal.

If you are halfway decent (and in North America) Krylon makes a good variety of camo-colors, at a MUCH more affordable price, and in spray cans to boot.

Look at some of the Track-Link and Missing-Lynx gallery pics of Tigers... now THOSE are works of art... in 1/35.

Nick,
thank you for your kindest words.
Yes, there are lots of good models on the above sites metioned. also there are lots of good articles on how to paint and build.

only one thing you need watch: you can not just copy what the article say because those article are for 1/35 scale.
1/16 is much bigger. you do not want to paint your expensive tank looks like a model. you want to paint it so it looks like real one. that is what I learnt.
some people like 1/35 style, even paint their 1/6 model looks like a model. I guess that their taste.
good luck.

Painting:

Any modeler can paint a model to look like a ~model~. The articles on those sites are for painting model tanks (be they small 1/72 or even large 1/6) so that they ~look~ real. Many of those writers have won awards for their models... and its not just building the model, its ~painting~ it.

A perfectly built model can be ruined by a bad paint job, but the best paint job in the world still won't save a badly, or in many model competitions, an incorrectly built model.

Its NOT just assembly, not just painting, not just weathering... not even just detailing (add-ons like extra PE, stowage, or even a full diorama) Its about the WHOLE package.

Ok gents, this is gone on long enough. I've posted several warnings about behaving, sticking to the forum rules, and at least trying to treat each other with some respect. I've been forced yet again to delete posts from this thread (just in case folks are wondering why this appears to be coming from out of no where).

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. I hate to be the bad guy here, but enough is enough. I moderate all the forums on this website, and this thread is the single solitary thread that I have to keep coming back to because I receive complaints from other readers, not just the ones participating. Readers are acting like children, refusing to stay on topic, and a slew of other things that I'm not going to waste space mentioning.

From here on out, this thread has a zero-tolerance policy. Next infraction, it gets locked down.

Jeff Herne
FineScale Modeler

Just wondering, with the the big tigers, are they as much an excersize in mechanics assembly as painting techniques?

Yes...they are...especially if you intend to run them like some of these fellas do...there's a whole slew of aftermarket and upgrade parts available from motors to gearboxes to metal track links.

Personally, I'm building my two as semi-static models. The tracks and suspension will work, but only if I push it across the floor. I've got enough hobbies to keep me insane...err...busy.

Jeff

TankMaster:

How much detail do you want about your inquiry... the short answer is ~yes~. Even the 'brief' answer could fill quite a few paragraphs...

Out of the box, all of them are over their scale speeds. They all suffer from poor idler adjusters as well. Most of the chassis pans are thin untempered aluminum, as are the gearbox cases, though the Leo 2A6 is a major shift. And like most kits, the guys will find the flaws, make replacement parts for them, and then go further and make detail parts as well.

Bottom line is... it depends on realistically you want your tank to run, where you'll run it, and how sturdy you want it to be.

So, do they come ready to R/C out of the box? Or do you have to customize to do that?