Italeri Tiger 1 1:35 scale. A first kitbashing adventure

The big problem with the Dragon has something to do with the assembly sequence of the glacis plate and the front plate (driver/bow gunner) of the upper hull. I cannot be too specific because I am not building one and do not have a Dragon Tiger in my stash, but apparently those two need to be fitted to the hull and glued during the same step  rather than in separate steps during construction. They will not fit properly if done as shown on the  kit instruction sheet. A couple of our guys, who are excellent builders in my view, have encountered the same issue already and brought it to the attention of all the others.

Thank you.
I think I can promise that something will be done about it.

Ok Kermit, any updates on your Tiger? Now that I have a few builds finished (and am due to start attending AMPS meetings again with my days off supposedly rotating to weekends off again) I have pulled out mine and resumed work. Tonite I began dry fitting the turret and with that mantlet alignment issue in mind I am approaching that in a different manner. I found that if I leave the mantlet seperate from the breech assembly, there is enough wiggle room to align it level horizontally.

Stik,

Yes, it is still on my mind... haven't updated in months due to the whole spectrum of reasons including momentary loss of guts but she has been sitting on my bench just two feet away from me all that time and i am not planning on shelving the Tiger. It has just been shoved around on my to do list...

Looking back i should have gone the way you have appearantly by not using the locating pins at all or even cutting them out. I still have an ever so slight misalignment but you really have to look closely.

Are you planning aftermarket goodies on yours too?

Richard

I am looking at some AM tracks, probably from AFV Club, as the tracks with the kit are later production with ice cleats. And maybe some PE engine deck grill screens. But no major AM add ons at this point.

Nice job so far on this Tiger! The pics make the Italeri kit not look half bad. I may have to add one to the collection...

Damon.

It actually is not half bad. The biggest downfall of it today is there are much better Tiger kits on the market at around the same price. But when first released, it was an economic alternative to the Tamiya, Academy, and Dragon Tigers. Unfortunately, unless you are finding this kit secondhand today, that no longer holds true, as Italeri kits are, for the most part, way overpriced today.

Stik,

I agree with your statement. There are way better tigers outthere today. In my case here however it was the only early Tiger my LHS had on stock and i must say that the base kit is ok enough and a good base for improvements. Hence the kitbashing and PE additions.

Italeri kits however are indeed way overpriced. One of the reasons i rarely build an italeri kit.

Richard

Yes, I picked mine up when it was a new release and the only "early" Tiger out there. At that time it was considerably less costly than it is now. And yes any additions will improve what is a good basic kit. Italeri kits were for many years a viable affordable alternative to Tamiya and Dragon, but once MRC snatched them up that went out the window. Nowadays they are mainly re issuing 20-30 year old kits, sometimes with a tweak of improvement, but usually not,  for new mold pricing. Which is too bad, because on occasion they have done some really great stuff.

Hey Kermit, where is an update here? I am back in progress with mine and would to see where your Tiger stands...

Hey stik,

I just KNEW you were going to ask me at some point... I must admit it has been standing on the shelf of doom for a year now... I think initially i got really intimidated by the amount of PE involved that got smaller and smaller as i went along and i got sort of uninterested.

I still have it standing there with all parts present and i just might finish her up sometime soon. As you know i am working on the late version of the same kit and with less PE to worry about it is far more fun.

Sucky fit and sucky tracks though.... but you knew that too.

Mine was destined to be eastern front but i am really looking forward to your afrika korps initial tiger!

Richard

Yeah, your Tiger thread elsewhere reminded me of this build of yours, so I dredged it up. I resumed work on mine two days ago and have been working on the AFV Club Indy link early tracks. As of this morning I have one side completely done and 1/3 of the other side done. Those AFV tracks are not difficult at all, and fit perfect. You'll see mine soon. It is now my primary project.

Looks like a nice kit, specially with the PE.

Im already thinking my next kit will be a Tiger or Panther.

The other day I thought, what was the biggest tank in WWII?. after some research I came across with the mouse but even bigger the rat. I cant imagine a kit based on the rat tank. That thing was bigger than a building. It had cannons of battleship, do you imagine in 1/35!!??.. WOW!

I started the original issue version of this kit, the Tiger I Ausf. E/H1 #286. Another of my purchases from the Fort Leavenworth PX in 1996. Much like you two, I never got around to finishing it. By the time I started looking at references, you realize it is a combination of variants and compromises (they used the same mold for the E/H1 and the E Late).

But, in 1996, when the price of 1/35 armor kits was over the $30 mark, these Italeri kits at the PX were only $18.95-21.95, making them quite a bargin. I think I bought almost every model the PX at Leavenworth and Redstone Arsenal that year.

Well mine is back up on the assembly line... no  more sidelining allowed for this one... or I wont be allowed to show up at AMPS...