ARMOR - Tamiya 1/16 Tiger 1 Group Build

Okay,

I get off work in one hour.... I have the next THREE WHOLE DAYS OFF! There will be some major building going on!!!!
It's been killing me that I haven't been able to do much this whole week, so now it's time to get down to "bidnessI". Hopefully some of my packages will arrive soon: Aber grill set, Aluminum barrel, air brush, transmitter and now a new Type 4 gearbox...Ugh!I'll have the wife send pictures next week. Talk to you all on Tuesday!

Roy

ANYONE :

If you have Type 1 boxes in your Tiger , and want to upgrade , let me know , I'll make an offer on your 1's . I've got two sets of HPC's looking for boxes to go in , one set for my static Tiger 1 , and one in another kit . Dave Haddad ( dave4What.com ) has them in stock , and is a really nice guy .

Also :

I have both Tamiya and Aber grilles , so one set will become spare . Anyone need a set ?

ERush :

I thought of that method too , but you waste at ~least~ one bolt . I aint counted to see if they supply any spares . you buy a set , count me in for one tap .

Now filing a notch into a nut to make a die , thats worth saving the $24 !

I'll ask my people for a supplier , and we'll co-ordinate on the 1mm nuts ( will need a few spare for 'dies' ) and the bolts for hacking up . I'll check the kit to see what the optimal length for them would be .

Problem : Watch Out !

Anyone else encountered this yet ? I snapped one of the smoke discharger arms off the roof during one mounting , and I'm pondering replacing 'em with metal . Also snapped one of the rear hold-down tabs by the stowage bins . gonna have to build 'em out of metal too .

Highly Recommended :

If you have not started gluing yet , and unsteady with a tube , try using one of the liquid-solvent glues ( Like Tenax-R ) and the Touch-n-Flow , which is a super-fine needle-tube attached to a glass tube reservoir . You can add solvent glue a ~small~ drop at a time , or run a bead along a seam ! ( perfect for those do-it-yourself weld seams ! )

I had a glue-problem with my old Sherman ( RT1601 ) and suspect it had absorbed some of the mold-release from sitting almost 30 years . No tube-glue would hold ! Even CA refused . Bought some of Canadian/generic version of Tenax , and it did the trick !

And the kicker ? It even bonds Lexan/polycarbonate , ABS and that funky stuff in the German kits ( Robbe & Graupner)

WhiteWolf

ERROR :

I have to apologise . I just looked back through the Aber instruction manual , and see that all the tapping is either ~through~ the wingnuts , or into the plastic hull . I'm sure a notched bolt would be enough for the hull , but who knows for the wingnuts . I'd still feel safer with a tap .

As for bolt-chopping ... I looked at what needs threading , and the only part I can see are the tiedowns , and they are 3 pieces of brass soldered ( or CA'd ) together to make a ring-bolt . You only have B1 ( makes 12 ) , C9 ( makes 17 ) & L16 ( makes 4 ) for a total of 33 ring-bolts .

To add a loop to a chopped bolt is impractical , right ? Not to mention a pain in the *ss unless you're good at fine soldering/CA'ing , right ?

My best opinion , get a packed of 1mm nuts , and notch 'em .

Additional :

How many are gonna chop the fenders and stowage bin to make them operable ?

And most if not all of my Hatch Detailing is surplus ( for all 4 hatches, including the metal hinges ! ) Anyone need it for a Multi Function kit ?

WhiteWolf

Erock I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw an add for a 1/16 Tiger turret and Whittman figure by ? Dragon? I think. If I'm remembering right it's advertised in the latest Tamiya Model magazine. You might be able to get the figure alone?! Anyway I wanted to give you a heads up and I'll try to find it tonight and let you know.

Eric

erush,

Yeah, I saw it on eBay. It comes on a plaque type base with Wittman sitting on a destroyed turret. It also has information on him inscribed on the base itself.

Hi, guys!
Yup, it's Dragon, 1/18, and he's sitting on a Cromwell turret. The piece is titled "Battle at Villers Bocage" (sp?). It's pre-assembled and pre-painted, from the "Action 18 Plus Series" (I know of no other pieces!). The ad in Armour Modelling makes no mention of the figure being sold separately.
It's 4,800 ($41 US) yen here. If I see anything more about it in Japanese here, I'll let ya know!

No Aber set in the mail today but, my 1/16 Hussar decals arrived:



As added conformation on a question asked about Wittman, the decals also include #1311, Kursk, July 1943

Thanks Hulk It was late, I was tired, and ready for bed when I looked at that ad At least I had the Wittman part right

Erock How are the decals? I'm thinking of doing the one on the top of the page you're showing there, I think it's 311? Anyway let me know if the decals are worth the $$$ and I'll order myself a set.

Eric

Hello, Erics!
Nice looking decals.
I really gotta decode on a vehicle...
Hey, I bought the Tamiya CD-ROM, too. Haven't slapped it in yet. Just got home , and it's already 1:30am here!
Have you checked it out yet?

Hulk I got the Sherman CD a while back after they first came out but I never got the Tiger one. Let me know if it's worth it. The Sherman one was ok I guess, not quite what I expected but some good reference stuff.

Eric

I can't believe I'm still up.....
I took a quick peek at the CD-ROM, and it seems pretty cool. Lots of pix, lots of video, great sound, and the 360 virtual camera technology is great!
Certainly worth the 25 bux I paid for it!
Now I gotta get a printer ...

Who wants a ~full~ Aber set ?

I went thru the manual last night , and much to my dismay , I've realised I can't use half of it because I started with the Tamiya Static-Display kit , and can't justify using less than half of a ~full~ kit .

This kit is opened , but nothing is missing , all frets in their bags , and nothing has been removed from the frets . Its ~all~ there , and the manual is near-mint ( when I received it , I noted some ~very~ light pencil marks on page 4 by the M1 bolts )

I'll sell or partial trade it for the lowest list retail price you can find on the net .

To add incentive to that , I'll cover the first $10 USD of any shipping charges .

The prime trade item (partial) is a set of Type 1 gearboxes , and I'll discount the price by Dave4What's $99 USD list .

Anyone interested ?

The other option is disposing of the 16009 K fret ( cupola detail ) & 16010 L fret ( hull hatches detail + hinges ) I'd include copies of the manual pages ( $40 USD shipped )

Any Takers ?

New Aber Fret !

Was looking thru AirConnection's site ( & a few others ) and see there is a 16013 'German Clasps & Clamps' fret ( $12.99 USD )

Unfortunately , no-one has an image posted , but I found someone thats going to send me a scan of the fret later today ( Monday ) I'll pop the image off to Erock as soon as it arrives , so he can post it . With any luck I'll be able to ID what its fore before he posts it .

I'm wondering if its detailing for Tiger 1 , or if its more figure parts , like the 16001 helmet liners , chinstraps & decals .

WhiteWolf

Whitewolf, I'm curious...why do you think you can't use abers set on the static kit??

Eric

Good question...I ain't using half of it because I think 50% of it's ridiculous, redundant, and unnecessary! (Glad I bought it though; I can use it all somewhere, eventually!) But aside from the inner hatch detail (which you could still use, albeit with a lot of work), I reckon it'd all work just as well on the static kit (which I also have) as it would the full option kit. .

Bluntly ?

Materially :

I'm using this for RC , so interior detail in the cupola is wasted , & possibly even damaged , if I put a Battle Unit in . This makes 16010 surplus ( Air Connection - 31.99 )

The static kit came with hull hatch detail in styrene , making 16009 surplus ( Air Connection - 26.99 )

I was supplied with the Tamiya grilles , so 16003 is also surplus ( Air connection - 22.99 )

If sold , thats $81.97 USD , almost the price of the gearboxes I need . If I liquidate the whole kit , its gearboxes ~and~ DMD for it , and puts all of my tanks radio-ready .

Logically :

I've ~never~ used PE before . ~Ever~ . Would ~YOU~ recommend this kit as a sample to start on , at $200 US ?

I'd rather have an operational Tiger thats stock detail ( and the static kit is well detailed ) than have a poorly assembled PE kit on a shelf ornament that cost me over $400 USD .

Any takers ? Either the 3 frets (16003 , 16009 & 16010) or the full kit ?

Good points, WWMcB!
I'd definitely think twice about adding all that fiddly PE if I was gonna be driving that sucker all over the place! You'd be slinging PE in every direction!

And yup, this is a daunting set, to say the least.

I only asked because I thought you may have found some differences in the two kits that I may not have noticed, rendering the PE set even more useless (Really, I'm not bashing the Aber set!).

By the way, I witnessed firsthand another good reason for getting the metal trax.
At Tamiya World, they have a well-run Tiger for test driving, and the trax are just a frayed, fuzzy mess, as that kind of vinyl (or whatever it is) is prone to do.
So if you're gonna run it much at all, I'd get the metal trax.

Or tons of replacement stock plastic trax!

Ok Whitewolf, I can understand where you're coming from now. I didn't realize you were tryign to convert your static kit to a full RC. Are you going to be able to find all the parts to make the turret and gun move like it's supposed too?

Anyway, on the Aber, this is going to be my first "real" p/e attempt also but I figured that it should actually be easier to work with in the larger scale than say the same set Aber has for their 1/35 Tiger so I'm going to brave it.

Good luck with everything.

Eric

erush,

Here it is:



Yes, I did place a bid for it

Yep, that's it Erock!! I hope you get it. Do you think the figure will be close enough to use with your Tiger or did you just want the display?

Eric

Hi, Erics!
Hmmm...at 1/18, that'd be one little Whittman, wouldn't it? Kinda like "Whittman, age 11," or something.
I think the difference between 1/16 and 1/18 might be a little too noticeable.
On the other hand, if you used only the 1/18 Whittman figure, it sure would make the Tiger look that much bigger and imposing!

I don't know how e-bay works, but remember this piece only goes for about $40 US, brand new! Don't get horn-squiggled!

No, not going to use it for the Tiger, just a display BY the Tigers shelf.

I won the auction for $27.90 + shipping

PS....Believe me, I'm pretty much an eVil bay pro I have a list of how much kits and such usually retail for so, no over bids

Good on ya, Eric!
Great bargain!

Hey Eric i was reading some back posts and you said something about Marietta and Athens is that Ohio cause i live there. Just a question????????

Good work guys.

I live in Aurora, Ohio

Originally from Cleveland

I'm the other Eric modelkid. I grew up in Marietta...GA ...that was me and Hulk seeing if we'd crossed paths (I think that was Hulk? )

ERock I got the track links today!!! Thank you...Thank you...Thank you.

Oh, did I say...Thank you?

Eric

erush,

I'm glad they arrived. Okie should be getting his shortly also.

Now, let's get to building

Hiya gents,

Hey Erock, I got those track links today and to echo Erush: Thank you,Thank you and Thank you some more!

I accomplished a lot over the last two days. I finished applying zimmerit to the all the surfaces necessary on the Tiger and I'm happy to say that it looks awesome! (Okay, it looks awesome to me, and it looks like the photos of the real deal, but I know that Moses could do better!) I used the method described by the FRAG armor website. Basically they use the small teeth of a pocket comb and a .025 x 2 inch piece of sheet metal. I used R&J Products' "Zimm-it-rite" and thank God I did because the stuff is very forgiving and takes 5-7 hours to fully set up. Although I did have to use my fingers to apply it to the surface of the kit. (That was the only messy part.) Some people were concerned that the initial amount from R&J wouldn't be enough for a whole 1/16 tank, as was I when I first began on the turret. Well rest assured, I applied the zim thick and had to smooth it out and I still have enough resin and hardener to do another full 1/35 scale Tiger if necessary. Now it's on to the road wheels! I've ordered tow cables and some other aftermarket turret parts from Dirk in Germany, so hopefully they won't take a month to get here. (The turret parts are for the conversion over to a mid production Tiger) My grills arrived Friday and hopefully my barrel isn't far behind. I'll be sure to get pictures to the website this week for your perusal. I also ordered Type 4 gears and am looking into replacing the stock motors for Zagi 400s. Anything I miss?

Roy

Anyone seen this ?

This is the newest microchassis on the market , from Team Losi , makers of the X-series cars :

http://www.teamlosi.com/kits/mini-T.htm

Yea , it looks like a miniature XXT , but I bet it'd make a perfect start to a 1/16 Hummer , even WW2 Jeep or larger Dodge 4x4 . I doubt it'd fit under the Kubel though ... but its worth a look . It'd probably fit under the Dragon 'Extreme Detail' ones ...

Front end could be ripped to supply front end on a halftrack too ( using the 1/25 Academy Panther as the rear end )

Remembering my 1/10 XXT's , the chassis readily lent itself to a custom chassis pan , meaning you can make the wheelbase as long or as short as you like . It was also fairly easy to widen or narrow as well , if you didn't mind cutting up a set of A-arms ( the uppers are all ball-links )

All we need now is a tread to dupe the WW2 style bartreads !

WhiteWolf

Hey ya'll,

Question for you: I'm considering upgrading my Tiger with the Zagi 400 motors. Anyone have the inside scoop on them and how they work?

Roy