Nice progress Alex, the engine is looking great.
It's normal procedure to wash the model prior to priming/painting it, as to remove grease, dust and what not. I normally use dish wash detergent or window cleaner spray and a soft brush followed by rinsing with warm water.

Erik

I would never be this agressive with a model as complex as this will be. The thought of washing my Tiger 1 sends a shiver down my back.

Tamyia acrylic thinner and a cotton bud will be enough to degrease most areas of the tank and then a airbrush can blow away the dust and stuff that will get into the model.

Dry and immediately prime.

Ok, thx again guys.
So cotton buds it will be. However, this will be some time in the future^^.
It is "Wave Gothik Meeting" in Leipzig this weekend ---> The city is full with interesting, strange and funny people. Nothing for me though, so I do have some time for my little tank.

It has been fairly cold these last days and since I have injoured my foot and need to rest it, I had some time to work on my Tiger.

I am still new to this whole detailed modelling and scratch building, so many things are far from super-cool and perfect, but perfect awesomeness "Endgegner-like" precision (https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/196822&ord=&page=1) needs training, so I will post my progress here nontheless.

I have continued detailing the interior, sometimes using SDavies build as a guide and sometimes adding further detail (engine bay and on the floor the of driver's compartment) based on photos, or just trying new "methods". I hope that the stuff I am building is historically accurate. I must say that this thing is ways beyond what I expected it to be, the research involved is taking up twice the building time it seems.

Here I have added the engine support posts in the rear of the engine bay. (The fly-wheel is still centered, I think it is supposed to be mounted off center, at least that is what some technical drawings suggest - I will have to fix this.)



Here is a general view of the hull (a few days ago). It includes the drain mechanism in the rear (behind the engine support posts) as provided by David's page.http://tiger1.info/EN/Rear-drain.html

I did not manage to get the lighting right, I will add another/better photo later.


This is the front of the hull, I have started adding some levers and pipes. For a perfect version of this, view SDavies page, I have spilled glue and some pipes are not straight (beginners fail). And to the right of the driver's seat the the lever is too far in the front, but I hope it is still acceptable. I added so many more details that changing this was impossible in the end when I noticed .



Here I addd a paddle and started marking other pedals, mostly based on photos like this one and my Tiger book.



I then added the thorttle and the cover for the torsion bar. I actually used multiple layers of aluminuim foil for this. It is easy to shape/cut/bend and can be used as thinly as two layers, one layer would not be strong enough.
Also notice the oil/lubrication tube I added to the shock absorber. I have not found where it leads to (all photos just show it running down the side of the hull (so I just put it down there and well none will see it anyway)


I have added some more wiring and a stowage box above the shock absorber. Sad as it is, but I had nothing with "one opening hinge", but rather had to use one with two hinges. I might find some replacement later.


I have also included a spring mechanism that will be connected to the disc breakes later on in the top right front of the driver's compartment.




This is a little floor panel behind the driver's seat. Luckyly Tiger1.info (http://tiger1.info/EN/Driver-floor-panel.html) had some nfo on this thing, as I have found no single photo of this. It is slanted downwards in the front and I might model my seat resting backwards on it and not in an upright position.

A close up view.


The shock absorber on the radio operator's side, including the metal plating protecting it, again, aluminium foil.


The gearbox is not glued so it looks really off... only put it in there to do some fitting.





Here is some photo of the engine bay... I started adding pipes and electricity cables. Looks kind of silly now - especially due to the ugly glue (I suck at using super glue), but after painting this should look better, I hope.



This is the front of it, so far.



Thanks for looking,
looking forward to help and feedback
Winter time is coming, so progress should be pretty decent in the next while. Sucks that I have no soldering rod and only very few tools in my tiny appartment at uni in Leipzig. I might need to get some more to increase details/neatness od the model.

Have a good week and cheers.

PS: Thanks for your cool build log SDavies, it helps and is really inspiring.

Your build reminds me alot of mine !

Good progress

Except that yours has a far better finishing

I have been making models far longer than you. I finished university 15 years ago !

remember to prime before you paint

hehe, true^^.

I forgot the turret photos. So far I started work on the breech. I must say, my Verlinden kit is absolute crap for these parts, however the CMK parts are even worse. I should have used the Dragon ones and modified them...
Progress is not very far here, just a bit.

This is a nice and detailed drawing from the turret manual.


Image source: http://www.tigertank-h-e-181.com/index.html
As it is very late, I will cut it short and add the photos. Need to sleep.

Good night.
From above:



From below:

Ok a little research and text update:

The depicted Tiger would have been produced between December 1943 and February 1944

Therefore, it should have the following features:

Internal travel lock
C-clamps at top and rear
Widened slits in turret vision ports
External travel lock for main gun
20-ton jack
No shovel on glacis
No feifel mounts
Rubber wheels
No shackle cutouts

I hope I got this right. Any help would be awesome.


Trying to match this to corresponding tanks of some Pz Division later on tomorrow.
Thanks, have a great evening.

Sources:
http://www.alanhamby.com/changes.shtml
D.W. to Tiger I
tiger.info
(I deleted some garbage I posted earlier)

I forgot:
shackle cutouts, when have they been introduced exactly? I think together with the steel rimmed road wheels?

Based on my research session and pinning of vehicle numbers with units, I came to the following conclusion:

From D.W. to Tiger I
FgStNr 250635 - Travel lock added (November 1943) until FgStNr 250876 - p.138
FgStNr 250697 - Turret 250450 - internal travel lock added (December 1943) p.137
Big graph p.140
FgStNr 250772 - discontinue Feifel and add 20 ton jack (January 1944)- p. 141
FgStNr 250822 - Steel-rimmed road wheel (February 1944) p . 144

As a result of the designs of the hulls, my Tiger would need to be Fahrgestellnummer 250772 to 250822.
s.PzAbt 505
250786 Befehlswage
250807 Befehlswagen
250829 Befehlswagen - commander's vehicle #300 (Steel rims however)

s.PzAbt 507
250822

s.PzAbt 509
250779 #795, received 2.2.1944
250794 #794, received 2.2.1944
250803 #794, received 5.2.1944

s.PzAbt 502
It saw 14 + 8 deliveries in January, I traced 10 to be before 250772 hulls (i.e. of no interest) the rest is not obvious so far. Another 13 + 17 deliveries in February, no clue about those Fahrgestellnummern.
(Same problem with other (503...) Abteilungen)

sources: tiif.de, D.W. to Tiger I, missing-lynx.com

There are plenty of Tigers meeting that spec. This kit has a sample of decals for them;



David

Yep, thanks David
just going through the tiif.de site and deciding upon one specific tank.
Alex


Merry Christmas to all, gone for the holidays now.

As a cop-out; it seems that s.Pz.Abt. 502 had a number of those Tigers for a while, with no markings but the standard crosses, and painted whitewash over Dunkelbelb.

David

Thanks David, I will stick to a marked one.

As I am continuing with the breech and surroundings (disassembled it again) as the buffers seem to be wrong... The left buffer was mounted lower than the right one (according to your page and a few photos I found).
Is the buffer also mounted lower in the front or is it mounted with a downward sloping angle?
I found no detailed drawings for this.
Thanks again.
And happy new year^^

Was working on the splinter protection for the MG ammunition on the radio operato's side. They are 1.15cm and 2.8cm long (40cm and 1m in RL), I cheated and cut the 2.86 down to 2.75. They are rounded and closed on the bottom. As far as I could see they were open on the top...
The left one marked with the 1.2 is welded onto the support for the front plate... I added this support beam. The white stuff around it are weld seams which still need to be cleaned. There are still bolts and nuts missing which I will add later. Also I will need to round this support "beam" as it was bent outwards... This will be done later just before gluing.
(I forgot to mention: source as always, David's tiger1.info)


I am trying to be more precise and detailed with this model as progress continues.

Taken apart the gun again and rebuilding...
Before:(Ammo casing bin holding structure and recoil measuring device)

After:


Not done yet and despite my [auto-censored]ty camera (hope it will be fixed soon) the added level of detail should be obvious.
My eyes are hurting when looking at the old one.
I hate soldering, cause I am not good at it, but will need to get at this soon. So many things have piled up that need soldering I wish a ferry would do this over night for me...

Alex

With the main body of the breech block being 320mm tall (not counting small protruding parts), the left side buffer was 130mm above the base, and the right side buffer was 160mm above, i.e. in the middle. The protruding lugs for the travel lock were 275mm above the base.
The buffers were mounted horizontal within the mantlet.

David

Ok, thanks David.
Will post a detailed update tmrw...

This will be a longer update...


Ammo bins in fighting compartment:

The 2 ammo storages to the sides, each holding 4*4 rounds. Each round of the 2nd to 4th row (from bottom to top had a little switch to hold them into place. This has not been added yet. Since these parts are infinitely small, I am not sure if it is possible to add them. Each row of 4 rounds was held by 3 "planks", which again were held in place by a steel rod running from front to back of the boxes. (These brass rods were cut into correct length later, they were still too long here).

The original:
The boxes seemed to have been apart a bit with the roof support being between the space of the two ammo bins on each side.

After adding these clippers (only on one side yet)...



Roof fits perfectly.


Here are some bad drawings and vast markings about the rear shock absorbers. Neither CMK, nor Verlinden provided them.


This white round-edged-stripe below seems to be the weld seam and support for the fuel tank's floor, or at least for the metal sheet underneath?!?


I have no clue what this part to the rear wall is, could neither find it on Davids Tiger1.info nor my books. I had photos from the Munster and Bovington Tiger and on David's page about the engine heating mechanism and shock absorber page there were some useful photos, so I was able to kind of build it..

Or does this belong to the engine pre heating mechanism (with the blow torch?)


Wiring and lubrication for the shock absorbers and torsion bars had to be continued... This is getting rediculous now, as test fitting needs to be done every 10 seconds as it is getting really crowded between the fuel tanks and the shock absorbers...

(I have also started to add the electrical cables to one of the batteries. The cutout on the support for it is in the wrong side, I will fix this later. The lid had the heating wires attached to it, they will be completed later, not sure if I will make the lid from aluminum foil or styrene)
This is the rear view, it does fit if pushed down ( I tried it), to avoid complications, I will not do so till I glue it.


Radio operator's sponson...
I had to reduce the scale by about 5% as the given measures converted to 1/35 were too wide...


I layered styrene, added aluminum foil for the lid and added ABER handles to the MG ammunition boxes.
The MG tool box is maybe a bit too high, but I think it looks all right. The MP40 ammo boxes fit nicely, as supposed, behind.

And from above

I have added the support bar (aluminum sheet) and this metal rod, which seems to be the fuel primer line or sth like this, as it goes over to the driver's seat. It goes along the ammo bins and between the bins and the firewall it goes to a mini box and from there, I suppose to the fuel tanks?
Here, a mix of photos I added to show what I mean...


At the left side fuel tank, there were some debris remover levers? I tried to replicate them here. They fit in there nice and neatly.

The oil filters are included with the engine, the fuel filter however, is tot he fron o the fire wall, below the turret floor. I have scratched it and added the fuel lines.



Cheers,
have a good one

Looking good. Don't worry about all that detail below the fuel tank, you will never see it when the engine and fuel tanks are installed.

Its just a level of detail you don't need.

Oh was typing a reply to you on PM but it stopped working and would not send. The Panther is designed to get me back into the Tiger project and is exterior only

That tube contains the antenna lead.

Thanks for this information David. I knew what the rod was for but I did not know how it went through the Engine firewall.

I will have to make some modifications to mu Tiger 1 when the build re starts

Ah, cool. Thanks for this David, will see how this will be possible to modify.

True Steven, but it is good for practice^^, still lots to learn and figure out and these invisible parts are perfect territory for it.
Good luck with your Panther.

It IS the floor.

Thx again for your efforts, I appreciate that. Thought it was welded to it or so, but this shows it very well.

Hello,

Where did you get the 88mm ammo from?

Also remember to remove the pen marks from the model as you go. It may react to the paint causing you problems later on !