Hi David; looks like we're cooking with gas, then!

Excellent.

Well; I'm exhausted! He he...

Actually, the two-part exhausts were married & filled with the old Tipp-Ex/CT mix & sanderised down today, later roughened up a bit with skunky Mr Surfacer 500/CT mix - well skaggy.

Before;



After;



Tracks next…any advice on which way is which?

Unfortunately, Tiger 111 was different. It had two of the left-side tracks.

Hi David; that is very useful, thank you. That image shows to me that the tracks were mounted in a similar way to Panzer IV tracks; the outer slants wider at their lower aspects.

If Tiger 111 of the sPzAbt 502, Fgst 250008 had two left hand tracks - is that the same as all tigers after Fgst 250020? Or was is that after Fgst 250020 they all had right hand tracks? Pat Stansell notes in his book athat once the mirrored tracks were out of production (after Fgst 250020) the tracks were right handed, hence the ones on the left side were mounted backwards?

I speak 'anatomically' - i.e. the tank's left or right, not as you look at it.

Also; if Tiger 111 of sPzAbt 502, Autumn 1942 production was Fgst 250008 why did it not have mirror tracks?

Thanks; either way - I can find a fix as I have tracks in hand.

Finally; can you confirm that the first 20 production models had mirror tracks, including the first 10 sent to sPzAbt 501 in North Africa?

Looking at a standard production early-type Tiger 1 track I can see that is is the one that is mounted on the left hand side of the Tiger in the picture above; i.e. the standard production run became left track and right track mounted backwards after Fgst 250020.


Bill

As far as I know, the mirrored tracks never reached Africa. They were recognised as a mistake very early on, with each tank needing to carry two kinds of spares. Even within the 502, tracks were swapped around so that some Tigers would need only one kind. Tiger 111 must have been built with mirrored tracks, but it had two 'left' tracks by the time it was camouflaged in Winter 1942. I can't see the tracks it had when it was serving in grey paint, despite having several photos.

David

Hi guys!

Thanks for the feedback David. By that premise one assumes that Tiger 250008 would have has mirror-tracks at some point during the summer/autumn of 1942 and on those grounds I will use the mirrored tracks on this build, especially as I am creating a model which is a representation of 111, not a facsimile of the said AFV.





I have 110 or each left and right to my disposal. I sourced these Masterclub tracks from Hobby Easy - when they arrived I had 17 broken tracks in the tightly packed plastic bags, which took me close to the wire. I emailed Daniel Chui from Hobby Easy and within a week I had the exact number of replacement tracks. Excellent service, I say.

Each track has four track-pin holes that need drilling out with a 0.5mm (I used 0.6mm) pin vice bit, then any excess film needs removing from the lightening holes & then removal of subtle a seam from the track shoe itself. No small feat, but once done these tracks will look splendid, I am sure.

In the pack are two sorts of tiny bolted track-pins - one for inner & one for outer aspects of each track. I hope I have enough!

Finally, (to David); any more ideas on that mantlet for Tiger 323 of sPzAbt 503 during the summer of 1943? I think I can see some features on some of the reference photos, but am not quite sure as all the pictures I have seen have a chap stood infront of the binocular sighting mechanism! Many thanks.


Bill

http://panzersinscale.blogspot.com/

I'd be wise sticking around here, it's overflowing with information.

Nice work mate.

Stuart

I can't find any larger copies of those photos of 323, alas.

But I have a question about it.

Where will you get the turret stowage bin?

David

Hi Beavie; thanks buddy. I love your hat!

Hi David; I will use the Voyager Model resin 503-style turret bin for build number 3. It comes with the '5th Anniversary Edition' Tiger 1 after-market set.

I suspect the 323 mantlet was one with an atypical frontage - with the slight curvature medial to the left lateral vertical reinforcing stays and above/below the armoured/ribbed monocular sight type thing. One of its sister Tigers also had a sun visor, so I might add that as well. I have a spare out of one the the Fehrmann kits, so it should work well (as well as scratching a visor from aluminium sheet).

How many tracks per run - is it meant to be 90?


Bill

Hi Bill!
Wowee! The Tigerfest goes transatlantic! And with all that volcanic ash, what a trooper!
Always good to see another slice of Tiger 'manna' on the table!

The MasterClub tracks are an excellent addition to any Tiger... And you get closer to the link count than their 'Heavy metal' rivals! I usually go for 96 on the 700mm idler Bill, and 94 on the 600mm.

I was just having a squint at 323 of the s.Pz.Abt 503, I may be a little fatigued, (lack of sleep... long story!) but does it have a rain cover over the binocular gunsight?



You probably already have one of these, but here is the pic anyway!


Hopefully I should be near to my 'Shire' sometime tomorrow. Good on you Bill, looking foward to the rest of the Tiger tree!

Great stuff... Cheers Phil.

Yo Phil!

Thanks a bunch for the sprocket wheels, dude. I really appreciate your help.

That artisan Mori piece looks fab! This is the one I am going to use;



It is absolutely spiffing - I am sure it'll be fab when used on the third build.

Right - I'm off to assemble tracks now.


Bill

Voyager should read this.

Hmmm; some more excellent info there David, thanks. I used the Tasca upgrade for the spare track holders last time and I thought that they were super. When I use the Voyager Models 5th Anniversary Edition I will apply it to the Dragon Kurzmaul Tiger 1, which has its own track hangers, I think - so here's hoping I don't bomb, eh?

Sprocket wheels on;





Slightly nervous I might have put a foot wrong...here's hoping!

Tracks going well - 50 took me an hour. These Masterclub tracks have taken hours & hours of prep! They are very good, though.

Abyssinia!

Hmmm.. that exposed flange on the first road wheel... the sides were slightly flatted at specific places, to give 5mm clearance when removing the inner wheels. Is it too late to reprodice this? (It will be correctly represented in the new DML Initial Tiger).



David

Hi David

Was this always the case or just in the case of 111, or was it a modification after initial fielding of a circular piece?

It won't be too late to remedy if it is mandatory, no.


Bill

It was the same on all Tigers with the rubber-tyred roadwheels.

David

Further to that David regards the champhored hubs; would that have been correct at every wheel station (alternate, I assume) and would the flattened flanges rotate with the wheel as a hub on a car wheel whould in motion - i.e one would not necessarily see them all in the vertical position when the tank had stopped (i.e the were not free rolling, but actually rotated with the wheel on the axle)? I have used four of these & would like to correct them, but would like to make sure they look authentic - i.e. not necessarily all standing in an equal vertical & uniform position after travelling.

Cheers!

Bill:

Yes, they were on all odd-numbered stations, and they rotated with the inner double-wheel.
And, just to make things more annoying, they had a metal tab within them that locked the cover of the grease reservoir. You can see it in my diagram, it has a tongue that is fixed into one of the four slots. I got this tiny part included as photo-etch in the CH "Afrika Tiger" and the forthcoming Dragon "Initial Tiger".

David


David

Right; thanks for that David. I reckon this is the reach of my will to superdetail, unless of course if I throw myself at the mercy of the forum and ask if anybody has any spare from building Cyber Hobby DAK Tigers, which I doubt.

One last shot; do you have a photograph of that locking device as well as that super technical drawing?

If not, I think I will press on.


Bill

Hi guys!

Masterclub mirror Tiger 1 tracks on...cor! What a palaver.









Mind you, they do look rather cool don't they?

Abyssinia!


Bill

Panzers In Scale

My sources tell me that these early Tigers had two long (1800mm) crowbars on the upper hull. The kit part is way too small, so I scratched a pair;



The middle (lighter grey) wrecking bar is the kit option.

That cover thingumy on the engine deck has a starfish style screw ontop. I shaved it off, added a wahser & whopped it back on for that 3D effect;



There are two options for this in this kit; screwed down & not screwed down (like the base of the ring is either flush, or sits above the engine deck. I guess the one that sits flush is for aqua sports!)

For 3000 views it is mighty quiet around here!


Bill

Could you name these sources? As far as I know, the tanks had two 1200mm crowbars. I don't know the full tool layout of 111, but I believe the crowbars were originally at an angle, then when the cables were added, they were placed parallel to the side as in my diagram.

David

Hi David

Actually, my sources are contradictory; in some parts they say that the longer (1800mm) crowbars were fitted to the earliest Tigers of sPzAbt 502, yet later in the same publication it states the earliest Initial Tigers had two shorter (presumably 1200mm) crowbars mounted at an angle. I am confused; so would two 1200mm crowbars mounted at an angle be correct? The longer ones would be approximately 52mm in 1/35, the shorter 34mm in 1/35.

Further; can you confirm to me the length of a Tiger 1 tow rope? Is it true that the earlier versions had the longer style shanks to their eyes (the fixing apparatus at the end of each length)? Did the length of a Tiger 1 tow rope change during production?

Also; with respect to the Bosch light wire armoured hubs; can you confirm that the initial style was rounded with a conical head vs the angular style seen on this kit? If so – can you confirm that this changed to the angular hub in January 1943? If so I guess that this also needs to be corrected in this instance if I am trying to depict such an early Tiger 1.

Finally; I note you say that in the Dragon kit 6252 the two tubes that mount the crank starter should be shortened by 1mm? Can you confirm this?

Cheers!


Bill

PS I am using the Osprey Tiger books, Pat Stansell's book, Spielberger's book and some others, but I get fuddled with so much infomation, it is much easier to ask someone who has the information at their fingertips than spending hours trying to rememebr where I first read each item of data. Thanks again; I appreciate your help.

My sources are contradictory; in some parts they say that the longer (1800mm) crowbars were fitted to the earliest Tigers of sPzAbt 502, yet later in the same publication it states the earliest Initial Tigers had two shorter (presumably 1200mm) crowbars mounted at an angle. I am confused; I will use the two 1200mm crowbars mounted at an angle from the two 6252 kits I have (along with the PE brackets).

Regards the engine deck; I have deleted the aperture for the upcoming Feifel system and filled that with 2mm ABS square rod with a little filling with Tipp-Ex and then scraping down with a fresh blade & a bit of sanding. Nice job. I have also added the wading & snorkel cover & jobbies (another technical term there for you, John). Things are coming together!

I have been working on the rear plate; filling the holes for expected paraphernalia, in order to configure this tiger 1 in the same way as sPzAbt 502 Tiger 1 Initial ‘111’ in 1942. the holes were filled with styrene rod and 50/50 Tipp-Ex/CT mixture, which sands/files down really nicely once dried overnight. As you can see I have already added the exhaust stacks and their excellent pipe flappers and armoured exhaust covers (once I managed to drag them out of their tender embraces). He he…

For the Dragon kit 6252 the two tubes that mount the crank starter should be shortened by 1mm; I have done this prior to mounting.