Now Another Big One.

First off the Box.


And the Zimmerit Set.

I have installed the Return Roller Mounts and the Bump Stops on both sides.


There are some holes in the Hull side where internal parts mount, you may want to fill them as they may be visible if you aren't using Zimmerit.

I have started fitting the Zimmerit on the rear armor panel .






There's a lot of test fitting but no real problems yet.
Donald

I love following your builds. Your work is excellent.

I'm glad that you like them, I don't hear from that many modelers.
There are times that I wonder if it is really worth doing them.
Donald

Now to continue applying the Zimmerit.

I am not trying to say that this is how you should do it, it's just how I do it. If it helps you Excellent if not hey I tried.

First I lightly sanded the backs of the parts.


Trim off the weld beads as shown, otherwise the Zimmerit will not sit flat.

I used the fittings on the rear hull to aid in positioning the Zimmerit.

Another piece added.

I didn't glue the fittings in place, just used them to position the Zimmerit.

Here is what is should look like after the Zimmerit is glued down.


You should fill the push pin marks as they will probably show.


The completed muffler.

Some of the fittings in place (not glued yet)

The Zimmerit on the upper rear hull.


The fit is really good, just a little trimming.


You will have to cut a little notch in the Zimmerit to let the filler cap set flush.

That's all for now.
Donald

Here is the Zimmerit test fitted on the left side, fit is pretty good.

I used thin super glue letting it flow between the Zimmerit and hull while holding the parts in place.

There was a very thin gap between the Zimmerit panels which I filled with putty.

The right side test fitted.

The right side didn't fit so good, there was a 0.5mm gap between the panels.



I wonder if I had installed the Zimmerit first and then the Return Roller Mounts & Bump stops if I could have gotten a better fit? Oh well what's done is done.
Donald

That zim looks like it will be great under a coat of paint.

I must confess I often follow builds but rarely comment. Some folk don't like the short 'Looks great!' type of replies, so I try to limit replies to ask a question or make a pertinent comment. It DOES take quite a bit of extra time do these posts and I really appreciate that extra effort to show us! Perhaps if readers bear that in mind and at least leave a note of thanks now and again?

Good to follow another 1/16 build AND with ATAK zim too.

I'm waiting for the Jagdtiger kit myself.



Jeff

I'll be working on the rear hull this section.

First off you should fill and sand all of the push pin marks before assembly.
The Towing bracket is very tricky to install, below is the extra bracket for demonstration purposes.

You should cut off the rear tabs, as it is almost impossible to get the tabs into the slots in the rear hull and the top of the brackets over the bolt heads on the rear panel.

The rear panel fit pretty good on the left side.

The Right Side , not So good.

I should have trimmed the rear panel on both sides, I forgot to do it.

After the push pin marks are filled & sanded & rear panel is installed Glue the tow mount bracket to the bottom of the hull let it set up, then push the rear panel against it and glue.

It should look like this.


That's all for now.
Donald

I'm working on the front of the hull now.
Drilling for the hinge pins.





I'm short for time right now.
I'll have more sometime tomorrow.
Donald

The center front cover is 0.5mm too large in both directions, you will need to take some off each edge.

You will also have to trim the inside lip all around for the hatch to fit.



The hatch trimmed to fit with the Zimmerit applied.

Using the lower hull as a jig I glued the lower front armor plate to the upper one and installed the small hatches.

Test fitting the Zimmerit, this is why I glued the front armor plate to the upper one. The Zimmerit on the top plate overlaps the front plate.


Then I added the Zimmerit to the front plate.

Here is what it looks like test fitted to the hull.




The Tow Brackets on the front are narrower closer to the hull and the space between gets wider as you go from the hull to the ends.

I don't think this is right, but short of making new ones I don't think there is much that can be done.
I'm going to leave them as they are.
Donald

I just finished the upper front armor plate.
The Mg. ball mount doesn't fit real good, you should trim off the front edge of the flat section of the hole so the ball mount fits flush against the plate.


There are two spots on the inside that need filling, they were not used on the H and J models.


You will need to expand the opening in the Zimmerit that goes around the Mg. ball mount. Be careful not to remove too much.

Here are the 3 different pieces for the front. I was going to use the middle one but cut the Mg. opening too big.

The Drivers visor doesn't fit, you will have to trim the ends to get it to fit.


Front view of the completed section.

and the rear view.


I'll be working on the hatches on the hull next, trying to make them operable .
Donald

Awesome work - i was pretty much done with assemble before the zim came out - which didn't make fitting it easier, so you are definitely doing it right!

I drilled and pined the Driver & other hatch to make them workable.



To make the Engine Hatches workable I removed some sections of the rear deck.

This makes it a lot easier to drill the hinges.


This is as far as I have gone so far, a little clean up and some small parts and we will see if it goes back together.

Donald

It went really good.
First with the hatches Closed


And now with them open.


There is more to add to the bottom of the right hatch, I'll install the fans after they are painted.

That's it for now.
Donald

Great build blog. Very informative and great attention to detail. Will definitely follow this one. Also must confess that I'm one of those that silent observer. 😅😅

I too like following your builds Donald. Just wish you'd post larger pics rather than thumbnails you have to click to open another window

Gary

I have been trying to get the pictures to show larger. When I take them they average over 1 megabyte in size, I reduce them in size or it would take forever to download them. My Pics. are 1024 X 786 in resolution & 189.24 Kb. in size.
If they are coming out for you in thumbnail size, you could have your computer set wrong or it's your internet service.
Donald