Whats a good way to make sure all the axles are lined up so all the wheels are straight on these new Dragon Tiger kits? The instructions reflect your only supposed to glue the torsion bars on the inside of the hull, but they seem a little sloppy to me...any advice would be appreciated
Thanks Juggler

Juggler:

I've no direct experience with Dragon Tiger nor Panther torsion-bar suspensions - BUT I AM way interested in your question, as I have a couple of those Dragons on my build pile!

I DO have experience with the torsion-bar question... Many years back (30+), I built that Tamiya 1/25 Tiger I kit with the fully-operating torsion-bar suspension. And, as I recall, some bars fit into their sockets snugly, others a little bit looser, and, when the tank hull was put up on blocks, some hung a little lower than did others. This latter outcome is the actual concern you have, I'll bet!

But - bear with - when I placed my Tiger hull on the table, the lowest-hangers simply twisted (did their torsion-thing) up until all the bars, and later the road-wheels, settled into a nice even line. I did have one "too high", which needed to be firmly twisted later to bring its wheels down into line with the rest of them.

But this kit is pretty massive and actually the bars did work quite well as real torsion-bars and did lower the beast firmly onto its operating link tracks.

Just like the real thing!

Now, I am assuming that your kit has the entire torsion-bar across the inner floor of the hull- an "operating" suspension, as it were. IF you are dealing with faux nubbies for torsion-bars- things are different...

For the "working model", my advice to you is: go ahead and plug those torsion-bars in as per the instructions, sloppy or not. You are presumably gluing only the peg end and allowing the torsion-bar to twist in its hole at the wheel-end- just like the real thing. WHILE the glue/cement is still setting; IF the wheel-ends are wildly different in their proximate alignment with each other along the hull bottom as seen from the side, nudge the highest ones down into line a little, and nudge the lowest-hangers up a little. But don't stress for getting them all into line- the lowest-hangers will be pushed up into line when you set the complete kit onto its bottom track run. To me, it's much more important to address that bar which is trying to hold its wheels up above the line, as the (minor) weight of the wheels might not pull it down later..

While STILL setting up, set the nudged hull on a level surface and let it settle down. Check all the bar ends to see that they are pretty much in line and resting on the flat surface - again, I focus on those which are conspicuously high, as they might raise a road wheel above the line, whereas the lowest ones will be pushed up into line.

NOTE: those lowest ones will be twisted up in their soft glue sockets during this set-up, so they won't hang particularly low lafter things are dry. This approach is leveling the whole set.

Let it fully set and dry in level place and you should come out fine!

IF you are actually doing a kit with faux nubbies, you will have to line them all up pretty closely before the glue sets, because they will NOT self-adjust later!


NOW... You did not mention what tracks were going onto this beast... IF you are going to install operating link tracks (Fruils, or...) and you are going to leave them "loose", you will be FINE. Simply go ahead and mount the tracks whenever you do and when you set her down things will self-level (like the real tank). IF you are using those DS tracks, the bottom run will be flexible and will behave much like the "Fruil" link-set- it, too, will self-level. IF you are using cemented links- "Magic Tracks" or similar - this will need to be installed and set-up with the road wheels all pressing down on the bottom run to hold things in position. Once that run is fully-dry, it will be rigid and will sit beneath those torsion-bars just like real tanks tracks do... but you will have to be watching while you pull all the pieces together for final assembly. I don't know your route or approach to this stage, so...

Hang in there, and give it a whirl! Hope this helps!

Cheers!

Bob

Juggler,


I have recently went to town on this very subject. A lot of my earlier kits never sat right. One wheel was higher than the other, or an entire end sat a few thousands off the display. Paint went on well and details looked good. When my friends would look at the kit, they would say, Wow! look at all that detail. Theres even the binoculars for the commander and dust on the windshield.

All I could think about is "where is my biggest hammer!"

It drove me nuts. Some of my most favorite modellers are able to inspire the sense that the vehicle was really heavy and laddened down (esp with tigers). I get lost in the sense that I am looking at a model. This subject is inormous in making a convincing and inspiring model. It must look like a 65 ton beast.


2 things that helped me were:

1st - Purchase a 12x12 tile or other level surface. Attach wheels and torsion bars at the same time using a slower glue (ie testors, not ambriod proweld). With the wheels and axles / bars attached, place the model on the surface. Add weights (a few bottles of full paint or small weights, not enough to flex the hull) and let the model rest overnight. Also, use two rulers or books alongside the wheels to make shure they are parallel and don't bow out.

As for magic tracks, I assemble the entire run and brush a thin thin layer of ambroid proweld on the top surface of the link (the face the wheels see). I use rulers to make sure that is straight as well on the smooth tile surface. Since the proweld is thin enough, it will still be flexible the next morning to bend around sprokets. However, it will be perfectly flat where it needs to be. If your wheels are in line, but magic track is not, the vehicle will still sit crooked. It is hard to make magic track straight on the bottom of the vehicle when it is dry.

2nd - Cheat! I used to display my models on tempered glass. Zero room for any error. I now use ballast. I know my models are true, but I can never get the 38t chassis perfect, no matter what I do. I like the displaying method better as well.

Long quote too long. Sorry, I just feel strongly about this.

Bobs advice is good as well, I just was letting you know what I do. Maybe I'll post pictures of my setups.

It can look funny when you have the wheels drying over night with 8 bottles of paint and random weights stacked on the hull.

Also with the magic tracks, my method is different. Everybody seems to like to install them as they are drying with a slower glue. I like to make sure mine are flat. Also, I avoid shrinkage problems by letting them dry overnight. The proweld is still strong enough to withstand bends.

Additionally, bad news does not get better with time. If a model in the early stages does not sit right, it will be harder to true up when more items have been added or delicate photoetch is attached. If a model isnt true, fix it sooner than later. Some like to use screws in mounting to suck a model down and true it up. I would hate to have a torsion bar snap due to too much pressure.

Juggler this stuff keeps me up at night. No joke. A few nights ago, a wheel on a sdkfz 7 I built sat crooked. Everything else was fine by me on the model. I just had nightmarish visions of people seeing the wheel and getting sick from being disgusted at the inaccuracy. About 2:45 AM I had enough, got out of bed, turned on the modelling lights and I fixed the wheel. I slept contently for about 10 hours after that.

Just my thoughts.