Hi everybody!

i guess I'm sort of a newbie, since the only model I've built in the last ten years was a 1/72 T-34 which has been lost somewhere. I used to build ships when I was little, but now I want to get into armor!

I picked up a 1/76 King Tiger (Porsche turret - w/o zim) by Fujimi the other day and have been staring at it and doing research for the past week. It turns out it's got a lot of internal detail, but it's not very sharp. I haven't really decided how far I'm going to go to make this thing look perfect.

Regardless, I think, unless my eyes are messed up, that the model has the 88mm set a bit off-center (to gunner's right) in the turret... I'm pretty sure this is totally wrong (judging by images I've seen), but I wanted to make sure and ask before I perform surgery to fix it - which I'm not sure how to do.

Anybody know for sure whether this is right or wrong? I'm sure I'll come up with some other questions regarding this build, and hopefully I'll post some pictures once I get a decent connection in the new apartment...

-Tirso

Here's the offset I'm talking about:
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Rear hull plate with details glued on:
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88mm breech detail:
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Fit problems (easily remedied, but annoying):
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The kit does have a lot of detail included, and most of the extras are not molded on, which is nice, but there's a ton of flash and some fit issues that have covered the room in styrene shavings...

Did a test fit of the turret in the upper hull:


You can't see it in this photo, but it looks like the turret will actually be supported by the basket, which sits in a depression in the deck. It seems odd to me that the turret won't be connected to the upper hull at all - the ring doesn't even fit in the hole... I'll hopefully get more work done on it and post some pics.

Because it has a lot of internal detail, I want to show it off. One option I've thought of is to keep it in four main parts that I can disassemble to show off the internals. The hatches are really too small to be of use in terms of showing off the insides, so I think this is my only option. We'll see if I'm up to it...

Tirso,
First off--welcome to Armorama!

I don't know much about King Tigers, let alone the Porche turm version, but that kit does look like it has fit and alignment issues.

However, there is a group of folks who may know if the kit is correct, and if not, they'll have ideas on how to fix it. (I'm surprised none of them have commented on this thread yet)

Are you familiar with the Campaigns in the Kitmaker Network? Currently there is a Braille Battlefield campaign going on for 1/72 and smaller kits. I do believe they are still taking recruits.

Check it out and see if it something you'd be interested in:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/161859&page=17#1416971


Either way, I hope you get some replies and answers soon. I've never seen an interior in a kit that small before, it looks cool.

Keith

The offset is correctly modeled. The gun centerline was offset 30mm to the right of the turret centerline.

Welcome Tirso to Armorama and to the joys and skills required for Braille Scale modelling. After I saw your post I checked my old (1970's) Fujimi King Tigers and did a bit of research. What you have is not an original Fugimi kit. It is the Kit 38022 - King Tiger Porsche, originally produced by the Nitto company. As far as I am concerned, that is one rare beast. With the right questions and some pictures I am sure that the Braille Scale community here will be able to help.

It's late where I am so I'll get back to you with anything else I can dig up as soon as I can. Just relax, take your time and remember, this hobby should be all about FUN.

Cheers,
tread_geek

IIRC, I think I had a hard time getting all the interior to settle down inside the hull on this kit. I think mine was the Henschel turret but the kits are basically the same. I will have to take a look at it when I get home.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

I just bought nine 1/72 kits from Slimedog1 (http://armorama.com/forums/168172&page=1), so I think I'll pick one of those to submit to the BB campaign when they arrive next week and I'm going to submit this one to the Tiger campaign (my reasoning is that the Tiger campaign lasts a lot longer, so this one can stay on the bench while I take my time figuring out how to fix it).

My thinking is that I can keep it in five main pieces:
1. lower hull
2. upper hull
3. turret basket/bottom
4. 88mm assembly
5. turret top
Ideally, these will just sit right together and I can take the tank apart to show it off! Thoughts on this? Here're the instructions to give a better idea of how it'd work - if they're not too blurry:

I think it'd be fun to be able to teach friends and family about the innards of a tank by having them look at the model - although it is rather small. I could also display it separately. Other options are cutting parts away on the side to make it look like the KT display at the Patton Museum, or keeping all the hatches open. I'd appreciate some input from those who have built this regarding those options.

Thanks for taking the time to look!

-T

Joseph - Thanks for the information on the 88mm offset. I appreciate the experts chiming in.

Sabot - Could you let me know what issues you had with the interior? I test fitted all the big interior bits today and they look to fit fine, a bit loose, but nothing that can't be filled in. I'd like to hear what you have to say before I start getting it all in there though, just so I don't run into any issues down the line...

I still have plenty of parts to clean up, so it's not like I'm looking for work to do! Plus, once I have the interior stuck together I'll need to put down some cash for paints...

All your help is appreciated!

Ok. Finally got some more parts stuck on. I assembled all the road wheels and the idlers:
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I've glued all of the interior bits in the hull except the bulkhead between the engine and the fighting compartment and I started putting together the turret interior:
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Now, the reason that only the gunner's seat is installed in the turret right now is that I'm having some trouble getting what I believe to be the gun elevation and manual turret traverse in place:
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I had to seriously cut down the part as it seems to be WAY over-scale, and it's still huge. I don't know where to place it. These are the only two times it appears in the instructions (as parts D10 & D22 and in the drawing of the turret basket after completion):
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I don't know how to fit it because when I put it in place as shown in the images, it interferes with the gun breech positioning and if I try to move it to the side it seems to be right where the gunner should be sitting or it protrudes from the basket and gets in the way of the upper hull plate (due to the way the turret sits in it). Here's another photo of where it ought to go:
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And photos of a dry fit (using a partially dissolved corn starch packing peanut to adhere the part):
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Any help would be greatly appreciated. It seems too barren in there to leave it out and I can't seem to find any photos of the inside of a "Porsche" turret. Anybody have any ideas on how to make this work or any photos of the inside of an early Tiger II turret?

Though I was unable to find any photos of the interior of the Porsche turret, I decided it would be okay to fudge it. I deviated from the instructions putting together the turret interior in a couple places, but I think it looks good. The hull and turret have some odd fit issues, but most of it should be covered up after it all goes together. Still deciding if I'm going to keep it in pieces to show off the innards.