SprueOne

That metal gun track hammered into shape around a nickel. Next level s right there. 

Thanks SprueOne,

 now stand back whilst I take it up several more notches.

That metal gun track hammered into shape around a nickel. Next level s right there. 

Gamera

Ohhhhhhh, you make me feel guilty just building 'em straight outta the box... 

 Well, a lot of people like to build 'em "outt'a the box".
 Personally I find it extremely rewarding to get "outt'a the rut", be creative and push my limits in all ways - not to mention getting more bang for my buck.

                                                            
                                                                                                              

tigerman

What a cool trick with the nickle. Keep up the great work.

That was just my five cents worth.

Don't use one of these.  Might not work.                                                       

 It's good to see another one of the 'ol timers here.....
 ......looks like most everyone else has moved on.

                                                                                        

Ohhhhhhh, you make me feel guilty just building 'em straight outta the box... 

Gamera

Oh gee, I had no idea all those little hatches should have been deleted or altered. Again, nice work!

Hey Gamera,
just wait 'til I get to the listing for the hull.
I'm mixing a lot of good in with this project.
                  
             Stay tuned...
                                   

What a cool trick with the nickle. Keep up the great work.

Oh gee, I had no idea all those little hatches should have been deleted or altered. Again, nice work! 

                              
     Next up is a little bit of information about the special turret for this particular vehicle.                          




The kit turret was the standard Porsche turret, but incorrect in many ways for the VK version of the Tiger II.
Unless I've missed it, I haven't seen a built plastic kit of this model anywhere with the proper turret modifications added.
                
                             The turret mods

1  This turret was specifically designed by Krupp for this vehicle (actually, all the Tiger II turrets were built by Krupp while the HULLS were built by Henschel).

2  The kit front and aft turret roof plates are the production series Tiger II 40mm plates. The turrets were originally built with 25mm thick front and aft roof plates as found on the V1 - V3 Tiger II prototypes and the three VK45.02 (P) vehicles. With the exception of a cut out on the front edge of the armor plate creating a splash guard these plates sat flush with the turret front and side armor plates and left a 15mm step up to the 40mm center turret roof plate.

3  There is a thin square deflector bar that sits across on top edge of the turrets front armor plate splash guard I removed.

4  The forward blade sight mounted on the front left side of the turret roof was deleted.

5  The cover for the spent cartridge rounds ejection port along with the curved rain guard welded to the rear turret roof was removed and the hole filled.

6  The center 40mm turret roof plate that houses both the commander's cupola, loaders hatch and ventilation fan housing needs to have the close defense weapon removed and the hole filled as well as the drain channel to the right of the loader's hatch. I made the armored cover for the ventilator as the kit only supplies you with the water tight ventilator cover.

7  The commander's cupola was not welded to the turret roof. It was bolted down to the roof and sat in a shallow farrow cut out on the 40mm center turret roof.

8  Use the commander's cupola without the drain channels.

9  Removed the 4 large rivets on the hinges of the loader's hatch cover as these were not present on any of these vehicles. Only when used on the Tiger I.

10 Deleted the 3 sockets for the jig boom on the turret roof.

11 The rain guards over both the binocular gun sight and machine gun opening on the turret front plate were removed.

12 The handle on the outside of the rear turret hatch is not used.

13 Added two conical bolts just in front of the hole for the commander's viewing port on the left side of the turret. Also added a flat circular plug and welding around the plug for the commander's viewing port in the curved area of the turret. A decision had been made to plug this hatch.
                            
                         
                                            
Here is the primered turret with the corrections completed and a gloss overcoat (the gloss will promote better results with the hairspray/chipping).





.....and a frontal view.



                    
Here's what you can do witha piece of aluminum wire and a nickel to form it around.


The metal gun track looks more realistic when the paint is worn/chipped away.


 Yeah, I put the track on wrong the first time...had to move it over two blocks ccw to make it right.


     

That doof'll never show anyway.



Added a few small arms impact damage and shrapnel scratches.......  I'm going to tone 'em all down a bit 'mo later on.



More  of the same.





Can't find no seams here......all turned out well, primer coming up next..........   
Muzzle, primer red...... barrel, dark grayish black.


               

                     Time to go to bed....... 
                                                         
                     
                                                                                                                                                                               

Save

Save

Save

Your wheel turning is a useful technique.

Hey DM, Quite a production, both report and project, big fun, carry on! I'm following this one!

Max

Aw Geezze.....

Watching TV will never be the same.

     
Thanks guys

DM,

Great idea, I have used shish kabob skewers then cut the wood down and placed it in a dremel which worked to a point. It would not work on all road wheels.

This is something I will try. Thanks for the inspiration!  

Since When ?

  You know that is a good idea . I think I will try it the next time i do an armor piece. P.S.It works well on the layered hard plastic wheels on softskins too .Like the autos in 1/35.   T.B.

Aww!

 C'mon Modelcrazy . You know the only difference between ships and armor , is ours float and shoot . Besides grey is easier to look at rather than trying to find a tank in the trees ! LOL LOL T.B.

Ohhhhh, I've heard of people sanding down road wheels like that. Thanks for the photos showing how it's done. Normally I just turn on the TV and just sand while watching... 

I'm really liking this WIP and the history lesson! 

Gamera

Hey DM, your usual fine work on that mutant Tiger! And interesting note there on shell ejection hatch- I'd built a Porshe Tiger II a few years ago and didn't even know about that.

Hey Gamera,

Thanks for your comments.

Here's a little more background.

 A Tale of Two Kitties will be interesting to all

in the Tiger realm. The production Tiger II used

the 50 Porsche styled turrets that were already manufactured for the prototype VK45. After that project was cancelled all Tiger II's used the Henschell turret.
 The Dragon VK kit did not have the original ejection port installed as it should have been for the VK.45. After the VK project was terminated the Porsche styled turrets were modified for the production Tiger II. One of the many mods included welding that port shut.

 There'll be more on that subject as we go along here

                                                                                                                                                                                 

Modelrob

Great project you have going here DM. The primer looks very good and a great suggestion on the tin foil. Can't wait for the next update.

Robert

 

Thank you for the appreciation there Robert.
Next update soon...... taking a day or two off.
                                                                                                                                                                                              

Hey DM, your usual fine work on that mutant Tiger! And interesting note there on shell ejection hatch- I'd built a Porshe Tiger II a few years ago and didn't even know about that.

Looking good DM,

I don't know enough about armor to know what you may be missing. 

Now if it was a ship....

 Well, I've popped up again tonight.
The bad news is that I spent most of Saturday & Sunday hunting for my SD card with the pics I was going to display from Tuesdays  doings...... alas, no duck... er  luck.
 
But the good news is that I have today's picture updates, guess that'll have to do.

Exhaust (not adjusted yet) pipes peeking up through the exhaust vents and some of the surface texture showing on the armor surfaces.


Here is the rear deck with a more detailed look at the exhaust area (dark & dusty) and the grill support partition installed between the arrow symbols going from left to right.



Now without the SD card I have to move on past some work already completed.


The ventilator (white) was incorrect for this version so, (not having a spare) I did what any red primered modeler would do.......   made my own.

More about the work on this turret later on.


Goofin' around with the green putty.



The turret was specifically designed by Krupp for this vehicle. The ejecting port for spent shell casings was welded shut for the Porsche styled turret that was used on the production Tiger II. Dragon totally left this detail out (along with some other details I'll be correcting later on).

Did some measuring and marking worked out a  satisfactory result on that port.



Before I put that nice dark red primer finish on the hull with dollar tree paint, I slid a piece of aluminum foil in from the turret area beneath the grills and exhaust area.....that way any overspray or washes will be contained since the foil will not turn to mush like tape or paper and will slide right out.  I really like how the primer looks.


There's some  vague engine details beneath those grills but I had no references to really put anything accurate
in there. So, just some general shapes, at least it's not just an empty looking blank space.
For now you're just seeing tinfoil under that screening.

Just basic stuff here.........
The exhaust area has been taped shut.





 Lots of hull detail under that thar primer.

1. Flame cuts and texturing.
2. Headlight conduits and conduit bracing.
3. Handles added left & right for securing the rear hatch cover.
4. Spare track hangers on the rear.
5. Eh, probably forgot some stuff, look it over.









The  dragon kit (again) didn't have the track bumpers beneath the sponsons so I had to cut some out from some leftover bogie wheels I had and "weld" them in place.

I modified the cable and tool fittings on both sides of the hull too. Got those headlights and fittings nice and even, maybe too even.

And yeah, I know what you're thinking; that texture is too rough looking. Same for the turret.
But after several layers of paint it'll even out just fine.




Here's the view from the other side of the primer can lid.





Below:
That "stepped" area inside the turret ring area is a compartment I added for some lead weight.
Yeah I know, not necessary-but well, I even took the time to balance it.
So I can honestly say this going to be a well balanced project..... eh?





And a view of whats going on back there




and   (not sure when) with plenty more updates.........  

  now, where did I put that SD card...........

                                                            

Save

SprueOne

I'll be checkin this out 

                Thank you!
   

 Hope you'll like it.
                

I'll be checkin this out 

tigerman

Good to see you back at the bench buddy. 

 I've been putting things off too much    

but then again a lot has happened since   

my last offering.                                      

Sure appreciate hearing from you            

 Tigerman.                                          

Good to see you back at the bench buddy. 

modelcrazy

This will be intresting to watch DM.

Tanks Modelcrazy,

  oh, I can guarantee you'll like how this turns out.......
 BIG plans here.
                                              

                                                         

This will be intresting to watch DM.