Hi all,

Its been a while since I have built anything, life and buying a house has kinda got in the way!

So, as my first (and only!) build of the year I will be tackling the Trumpeter 1/16 King Tiger once again. Some of you may remember the last time I built this kit ( here). Last time my focus was on the exterior but this time I will be focusing on the interior and hopefully correcting most of those numerous errors by Trumpeter. I plan to build it with the sides and roof cut out to show it all.

Before I begin I will just give a quick overview of the kit



Inside the large box you will find a tonne of parts (approx 1800) all packed very well.



So you get:
46 plastic spurs
2 rubber spurs
4 bags of individual track links
2 seperately boxed turrets
1 seperately boxed upper hull
1 seperately boxed lower hull
5 PE spurs
3 springs
1 bag of metal track pins
Zimmerit tools
Instructions and markings for 10 tanks



Having built this kit before I am well aware of this kits issues and errors so I know what to expect. This time I will do my best to make the corrections instead of avoiding them.

So, I look forward to getting started on this kit, and hopefully doing it the justice it deserves this time.

I hope you will all find this interesting and step 1 will be coming soon.

Cheers for now
Matt

Hi guys,

I have made a nice and easy start to the kit. As per the instructions I have started off with the road wheels. The wheel parts are spread out over 9 spurs, 5 for the outer wheels and 4 for the inner wheels



Once cut off the spurs the clean up is straight forward but you need to take care on a couple of things. Firstly you must take care cutting the wheel faces form the spures. What looks like flash or a large mould seem is infact part of the wheel and should not be removed.



Secondly each wheel body has a mould seem around the edge which needs to sanded down. I didnt worry too much about making it completely smooth as this part of the wheel would be subject to heavy wear.



So clean up is quite simple but time consuming. Once all the parts are cleaned up your left with 40 plastic parts and 10 poly caps



The fit of the parts is very tight and i found the only glue needed was for the outward facing wheel faces. A poly cap is trapped inbetween each wheel. So after a couple of hours work I have 10 completed outer wheels



Next up is the inner road wheels but as they are the same construction as the outer wheels I won't be photograpthing them. Not the most exciting start but a good way to ease into the build. The next update will be the drive sprockets and idlers.

Cheers
Matt

Hi Matt,
I'll definitely be following this one.
I have the first release Henschel kit stashed away but the thought of all that interior, and the corrections needed to it, stops me breaking it open.
I've never been into interiors even in 1/35, but it feels a waste to not try and do it correctly.
It'll be good to follow a build from the beginning and make note of all the pros and cons.

Cheers,
Grant.

Good start on a very ambitious project. After I finish my 222 I will be beginning my own build log of a Trumpter and Tamyia 16th KingTiger so I will be following this closly

S

Grant/Steven, good to have you along.

Grant, I have never been that interested in interiors either but when it comes to this kit it really captures my interest. I think for me its down to it being a) my favourite suject and b) the scale and the challenge involved. I know from just building this kit OOB last time that you need lots of patience and time to get it right. building it and making the corrections is going to be a real challenge but if I get it right, it will be worth it.

Hopefully this build log will highlight and explain the many issues with this kit. I hope it will inspire you and others to build it and be helpful along the way. Of course if you or anyone else have any questions at any time please ask, I'm sure I will be asking plenty myself!

Steven, are you going to be building them side by side or merging them together somehow? Sounds interesting..

Cheers
Matt

Hey Grant! Please, don't be angry with this comment but it's more of a waste to let an expensive kit sit and not get built than to try to make all the so called corrections. No one is going to take a clipboard and go over your build and criticize it. I would build it as is for the more you try to make it "correct", the more the purists will find something wrong with it.

I don't have one of these (I mostly build RC) but I do have the T34 kits to build and I will follow the instructions to the letter.








~ Jeff

Hi Matt

I have given the Tamyia and Trumpter a good look over and the Tamyia kit is inferior to the Trumpter offering in my opinion. I will probably steal the gun barrel from the tamyia kit for the Trumpter KT though lol

I know that people will argue that the Tamyia kit is motorised so it has to be more robust/simple but the kit cost £600 when I bought it (I paid £500)and the Trumpter model with internals costs £200. Plus the fact that the Tamyia kit is created from molds developed in 1980.

What reference books are you using?

S

Trumpeter win hands down when it comes to a static 1/16 King Tiger I think. Even the tamiya static version (if you can find one!) is more expensive and no where near as good.

I did toy with the idea of getting the Tamiya R/C version but I just couldn't deal with the price. It would cost me atleast £450 delivered and then it still needs all the details upgraded. I do have a heng long king tiger which I started upgrading but the less said about that the better!

As for references I will be using Jentz & Doyles "VK45.02 to Tiger II" which I ordered last week. Reviews of the book I have read say its perfect for this project and should be very helpful. Plenty of interior photos and specs. I will also be using the AFV Modeller king tiger forum for references. There is a wealth of information here as well as some very special builds which should provide some inspiration.

Just a thought Steven, have you considered converting the Trumpeter kit to R/C using the Tamiya parts? That would be impressive if its possible. Either way I look forward to when you start your kit.

Cheers
Matt

So after some more work tonight I finished off the inner road wheels and then tackled the drive sprockets and idlers.

The parts come in seperate plastic bags, pre cut from the spur



The parts require a bit of clean up. The sprocket halves each have a mould seem around their edges



Once the seems were cleared up I attached the two halfs together. I have been looking at photos of the drive sprockets and noticed that there is a fine cast texture on them. To replicate this I brushed on liquid glue, waited a few moments and then started dabbing the glue with a paint brush. I painted a fine layer of grey on the sprocket to show the effect



The idlers are straight forward to build. There are some pin marks on them but they are located in positions that are hard to see once built. Therefore I didn't bother to fill these.



Well thats all for now. Next I will be building the torsion bars.

Cheers
Matt

Time for the next update.

I have completed the torsion bars. They come on 4 spurs, 2 for the swing arms and 2 for the bars





I spent a fair amount of time cleaning these up. There are plenty of mould seams and spur attachment points to be sorted out.



Once the parts were cleaned up it was a quick and easy build.



I now have all the torsion bars, wheels, drive sprockets and idlers complete. They will be stored now as I won't need them for a while.

So with the running gear more or less complete its time to take a look at the lower hull. I comes in a single large moulding like 1/35 kits. The bottom of the hull looks pretty accurate when compared to my references. The only thing to watch out for is 4 pin marks (circled).



The inside of the hull has plenty of pin marks to be filled, running front to back on the hull floor and sponson floors. Looking forward to filling those...



The last thing to take note of is the most important as it will affect the whole build later. If you look closely at the sponson floors you will notice they are warped and should be at a 90 degree angle to the hull.



I did not notice this last time and it gave me some problems! Before I attempt any corrections I would like to ask for any suggestions on how to fix this. I have a couple of ideas in mind but I bet one of you has a better idea!

Cheers
Matt

Hi guys,

Small update today. First off I filled the ejector marks on the sponson floors and some on the hull floor. Next I added the hull floor strengthening beams and 2 vents on the hull floor.





Next I took a look at the side walls of the lower hull. Next are a few photos which point to issues which need to be fixed

First the 2 parts









And how the right side looks dry fitted



So onto the issues

1. Periscope holders - Trumpeter really didn't do a good job on these. They are wrong in shape and poorly detailed. The braket to hold the periscope block is in the up position so the block would just fall out. All four will be cut off and scratch built.

2. Junction box - Again another poor moulding. The box is missing a mounting bracket behind and is lacking in any detail. The cables coming out the box are moulded to the side wall and look awful. This will be removed and scratch built.

3. Lubrication lines - Not too bad but again moulded onto the side wall. I will be replacing these

4. Idler positioning tab - This is one of the most important corrections in the kit. If left how it is and the idler mount is fixed in that position it will ruin the track tension. Make sure this tab is cut off now to avoid this and allow you to position it according to track tension later.

Now I mentioned in my last post that I need to work on the warped sponson floors. Ive decided to leave it until the side walls are in. I figure this will give me a stronger base to work with and hopefully more time for some of you to chime in with some suggestions on this

Thats all for now

Cheers
Matt

Really good progress Matt, have you considered purchasing aftermarket PE and sets to improve the weak detail on parts of the kit?

I remember seeing quite good Periscope holders during my "research"

Thanks

Steven

Nice work so far there Matt! Wish I had one of these, it looks like fun.









~ Jeff

Thanks Jeff, The fun has only just begun! Im rather looking forward to making the first improvements and scratch building

Steven,

I have been busy sourcing AM parts already. I did a bulk order from the AFV Modeller shop for the following

Gyro compass
Gyro Compass transformer
Drivers periscope mount
Periscope set
Protective sleeve for the gun elavation unit
Corrected ammo racks

They are good quality parts and I will be ordering more from them. I will go into more detail about these parts when I come to use them. As for the spare periscope holders on the side walls I haven't seen any AM replacements for these. Can you remember where you saw them?

Cheers

Hey Matt
You must nuts doing another!, I'm still on my first one
Fair play to you mate ,what turret are you going to use?.
I'm waiting for the radio set from AFV modeller then I'll start it up again.
I will finish the bugger one day as I've spent about £400 on extras,so this owes me big time!!
Watching with interest
Andy

Yeah, 1/16 is great to work on and look at when finished!

At least your eyes can take a break when working on these. Anxiously awaiting your next set of photos!







~ Jeff

Hi Matt,

I will have a think and I am currently going through my web links

on another topic have a look at this site:

http://www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk/index.asp

Lots of 1/16th details including equipment

S

Andy,

While I think it's perfectly sane to build this great kit again the wife thinks i'm nuts!

I'm most likey going to build the production turret because there are far more interior references available and because I just prefer the shape. I'm also waiting for the radio set as the kit parts really are awful! Wow, £400 on extras, you must have bought everything available so far! I would be very interested to see your build.

Jeff, totaly agree. It easier to work in a larger scale and its a nice change from squinting at tiny 1/35 - 1/48 pe parts! I want this to be my centre piece model so its perfect to detail up and hopefully make it very interesting to look at, even for people with little interest in models or history. I had a go at scratch building the periscope holders last night but the plasticard I was using was way too thick so I have some thinner evergreen card on order. Hoping to get these done early next week.

Thanks Steve, the more AM the better! I've ordered a fair amount from WDM lately for my Heng Long KT. Very good service. They have plenty of parts I will be using for this build.


Matt

oh, I like seeing people build these beasts (no pun intended)!
I always wanted to build one, but the size of it is kinda scary

please keep on sharing

Hi guys,

I've been busy detailing the drivers side wall. I've pretty much done all I can to this area as I need to glue it into the hull before I can go any further.







Ok, so a little more detail on what i've done

1. I removed the moulded on lubrication line and replaced it with a scratch built item. The line was made for 1mm solder, the bracket from left over pe fret, the bolt from an aber set and the cap on the end from plastic rod.

2. The perisope holders were completely rebuilt from plastic card. I used David Bryden's plans from his website as a guide. The periscope blocks are from AFV modeller.

3. I replaced the mounting brackets for this part as Trumpeter moulded it with only 1 bracket. Built from plastic card and aber bolts. I'm not entirely sure what this tube is, any ideas?

4. This is the magnetic lamp and it's bracket. It is completely missing from the kit. Again it was scratch built using plastic card, tube, pe fret and solder wire.

5. This is the oil can and it's bracket. Again this is another part missing from the kit. It was scratch built like the magnetic lamp.

6. I built the kit brake drum and it's cover straight from the kit parts as they are decent enough.

I also built up the shock absorber and added the cable from the switch on the side wall to a box behind the drivers seat (yet to be fitted)

This was really my first serious attempt at scratch building and i'm quite happy with the results. I sure some of the parts are not entirely accurate but I think I will get better as the build goes on.

Next up is the radio operators side wall and some more scratch building


Matt

Very impressive Matt, looking great

S

Whoa ... what a list! You're doing more than correcting, you're adding to it also, huh?

Very nice and a dream of a build.

Did I mention I want one of these now? I'd have to sell one of my RC kits to do it though but it looks like it would be worth it. I couldn't work on anything else then.








~ Jeff

Wow, impressive tuning youre doing here! keep it up.

Very well done I might add.

Phil.

Cool stuff

Can I ask for a small thing? Would you make some kind of a referens to size please? The pictures with your hand gives good reference, a match stick would be nice for the "smaller" pices

Thanks for the positive comments guys

Think i'm starting to get the hang of this scratch building business. Jeff, thats just the start of things to add. Trumpeter forgot to include so many details i'm begining to wonder if they ever had a look at a real tiger II!

Kenneth, in my next post I will include a photo that will give a sense of scale.

My next post will most likely be in a couple of weeks as i've decided to do a quick build for the 1/48 campaign. I thought it would be a good idea to get a complete model under my belt to really get me going again. And to get to know my airbrush again!


Matt