Sorry to mess up your target forum but I need help!

I have been forced, yes forced! Into building a Tiger 1 in 1/35 scale for the IPMS Kitmaker Bulldogs stand at Telford in November. I don't build targets (is that what you call them?)and, although I can recognise one AFV over another, I don't know much about them, certainly not a lot about the early compared to the late Tiger 1.

I have the Academy kit, mainly because it was cheap and didn't have them god awful individual track links (what is that all about! I have a Sherman Firefly stalled because of those things
). It is for the late version.

I would just like to know if there are any issues that I need to look out for? I aim to build it as Whittman's 212 and I aim to paint the markings, where possible.

For example, the wheels look as if they have steel rims, not rubber tyres, is that correct?

The hull is marked as "Early version" The instructions show 2 brackets/strengthening fillets? Do these make it a late hull?

I will be building it OOB so please don't recommend that I use this and that aftermarket stuff because I will not spend any more modelling tokens on it!

Thanks for your time

There are lots of Tiger kits and it would help to quote its number. But I'm guessing you have this one;

"Tiger-1 [ver. LATE]" from Academy

That page has some comments about the kit.

From photos of "212" I can see that it's an ordinary Late Tiger (not a Command Tiger) and it doesn't have the three little sockets on the turret roof. They seem to be present in the kit; you should cut them off.

Part Q6 should never be used, it's only there because kit manufacturers misunderstand the Tiger.

Part D3 can be confusing. It was welded on top of the wall, but to avoid it blocking the engine grating from opening, they had to put it at the outer edge of the wall instead of center.
Its rear end should be a little forward of the corner; check the Bovington Tiger for an example.



David

Mal,
I recently built that kit. Fit was pretty good. The only part that required work to get into place was the forward glacis plate on the hull. Some careful filing was required to get it to sit in place properly.

If you use the three-piece barrel, some care will be required to avoid barrel-droop. Despite my best efforts, I got a very miniscule muzzle droop.

It's a sweet kit except for the tracks. But I won't try to steer you towards any aftermarket.

Enjoy it!

Gaz

Here's my not-too-detailed build Blog

And the final

Result

David,
Yes, sorry, that is the kit And thanks for the heads up, very useful

Gary,
Thank you for sharing So did you just cut off the locating pins on the hull, for the axles, and leave thoem loose in their respective holes, to get the suspension to move. Sorry I re-read and still didn't see what you actually did? I had almost glued the axels, so this was very timely

A couple more points to note;

Yes, the wheels are just steel with the tyres hidden inside them. Where they rub against the tracks they should be bare metal.

The track tension is adjusted with the rearmost little wheel, so you might want to leave that unglued until the final stages.

David

Cool David, thanks

Mal,
You're correct. I just removed the middle locator pins and inserted the axles into the hull without cement. Because the wheels interleave, there isn't much chance for them to escape.

Just don't lop off the foremost and rearmost locator pins of each side. Without them your Tiger will rest on it's belly.


Gaz

Thanks Gaz

Add some 109 wings to the turret...that way u make all your friends happy...

Thanks for the idea John but on a late Tiger I do think that Fw190 wings would be more appropriate! Oh, and what makes you think that I have any friends!