My goodness. I can't imagine anyone else having the tools or know-how to replace parts with such precision! I'm (once again) flabbergasted by the things that people on this site are up to...

This is going to be one impressive piece of metalworking art when you are finished with it.

Stephen

Hi Guys,I have built the Tamyia 1/16 th stactic King Tiger,about and it is AWESOME Mine was built about 5 yrs ago and after I played with it for a while I did a dioarma around it based on a winter landscape in La Gleize,Belguim,12-22-44.I had a lot of fun with it,because it is so big ,I used REAL MUD to make it look just rite{dragging it threw real mud 1 ft. deep to get the affect of splashing mud rite},I even threw a track dragging it around to get it rite,you should have seen my neighbors lookin at me.I found some after market goodies to inhance the model with ,added a few 1/16 figures,and took it to a few showes.I am proud to say that it got best of show 3 times, Then I took a few picts. of it in the local state park against a winter woods backdrop,lookin good ,now I use it for a screen saver too.By the way,it cost $300 and change when I bought it Tabledancer

Fantastic build you have going there Cody!

I have a 80% complete Tamiya M-26 and the time it has taken me to do that out of the box is quite something. Just need to finish it off and start on the King TIger!

I cant imagine how long your project will take!

The Tiger 1 is a nice tank but seeing as it was a series 2 model it is lagging behind the newer kits as Tamiya have learned as they progressed. Still like I said a cracking kit!

Still saying that anytime you want to come over here to Sunny Scotland and challenge my M-26 to a fight let me know!

Made a bunch mo' barrel stuff this weekend...it'll get assembled this week. Thus far the barrel represents about 12 hours machining time plus whatever 'modeling' time is in the mantlet and muzzle brake.

Cody

Very mipressive work Cody. Excellent job on the barrel, I might have though you would have done the muzzel brake in metal.

Will this model be static or will you be adding any R/C gear to it?

T-Link,

This will be a static model and since the kit muzzle brake is sufficiently accurate no additional realism would be achieved with a metal muzzle brake plus the barrel is getting heavy and the additional weight from a metal muzzle wouldn't help matters. The turret race is to be reinforced as there is a counterweight in the back of the barrel extending into the turret to help balance the entire barrel assembly.

Cody

All barrel hardware has been machined and am waiting for a shipment of primer from Monsters in Motion(still waiting ) in order to very slightly texture the brake. In the meantime here are some before and after shots of the muzzle brake.

Cody

More before and after...

Just realized(after seeing these pics) the starter attachment needs to have the diameter behind the plate reduced a bit - when the flange 'wall thickness' was machined down for scale fidelity the step behind the flange was evidently eliminated. Hmmm...better go rectify that now.

Cody

Cody

The cast-lookin' whoop-te-do's which protect the exhaust may receive casting numbers and will be heavily textured once the primer arrives. Anyway, more before and after...

Cody

Man Cody, all I have to say is WOW....and would you mind building parts for my Tiger I (hehe, just kidding ) wish I had the machinery and the know-how to build that kind of stuff! I, too, have the Tiger I, Tiger II, Pershing and Sherman in this scale. Wish I had the time and money, to go to town like that. But since mine are for fun (Full R/C) no since going over board. Can't wait to see the finished product! Keep the pics coming!!

The AM die-cast tracks from Backyard Armor arrived a few days ago. They are an improvement over the Tamiya tracks which suffer from an exposed hinge pin and being molded from vinyl. While neither set has open guide horns that situation can be corrected with the AM tracks since they are made of metal and not vinyl. A drill jig will be produced to align and open-up the guide horns after the AM tracks are 'deburred' of any casting flash. These images compare the kit and AM tracks.

Cody

It's been a little slow over here due to a customer job but I'm back at it. Made the zerk fittings for the drive sproket hubs and a 'knob' for some rear deck fitting/cover. While the Tamiya pieces are probably fine I can't help myself and am desperately compelled to super-detail. It's a sickness...

Cody

Finished the starter - kool little model in itself. Milliput was used for the faux weld while an old and thick bit of decal is the final 'clamp' across the piano wire rod. After a coat of paint is applied it will strenghten both the decal 'clamp' and provide a bond at the 'fitting end' of the rod. In addition to the molded-in details being shaved off and replaced with machined goodies the wall thickness of the original Tamiya piece was reduced to more closely replicate the actual item. Another before and after...

Cody

More in progress...

I am really begining to like this scale - course it means building a custom display case to cage this monster.

On another 1/16 note - I just picked up the 1/16 Tamiya Kubelwagen and it is equally as awesome. That guy will be OOTB while this bad boy Tiger 1 is being constructed. While the Kubelwagen is very well detailed there is so much open area that super-detailing the thing would occupy years of work.

Cody

Oh yeah, and the turret side hatch hinge benefits from separate hardware.

Cody

Beautiful work Cody, your a true craftsman. TMMI should do an article on this fine build.... Can't wait to see more.

T-Link

Thanks T-Link. What's TMMI?

Here is a good reason for making individual and separate pieces(when it is called-for). The not-so-good reason would be to artificially escalate the parts count for contest oohs-n-aahs. This little fitting on the side of the air-cleaner is molded-in on the kit part and looks it as well. On the real tank this fitting allows some kinda' access to whatever is going on inside the air-cleaner. By making separate pieces you can 'pre-engineer' a visual separation after paint by gently radiusing the edge which contacts a mating surface thereby ensuring an apparent 'seam' or in this case the appearance of separate pieces. Way kool.

Cody

SteelHelmet, you are 110% certifiable. I LOVE IT!
So, when this one's complete, you gonna get 45 tonnes of steel & a Maybach V12 and maybe turn one out in 1:1 scale for us to share & enjoy?

Finished the mantlet. Finally. All machined components and kit parts have been consolidated with Milliput faux-weld applied. The weld on the mantlet of Tiger 1's was generally 'dressed' so I did not want the weld to look, well...welded, therefore the filleted area is nearly smooth with just a hint of irregularity to suggest some handwork has taken place.

Cody

Beautiful and Outstanding workmanship! We need to see more pics!

I just ran onto this post, and all I can say is....WOW!!!

Very impressive work you have done there. Your efforts machining parts to enhance your model sure are paying off, and that becomes very apparent in your side-by-side images. I must now follow this post to see how you progress. Keep up your incredible work!!!

Hi Cody,

TMMI stands for Tamiya Model Magazine International. Here's there website: http://tamiyamodelmagazine.com

Excellent job cody, love the detail on the screw heads, nice close-up.

T-Link

Absotutley awesome craftsmanship. I am very anxious to see the final result. Keep posting pics

Cody,

You have missed your calling. You should make 1/16 detail parts for models! How about a Tiger set based on your prototypes, then you could tackle the Kubelwagens and the new Trumpeter T-34's.

Heck, by the time you are done with those maybe someone will have introduced a 1/16 Panther and a 1/16 M4 Sherman!!!

Beautiful work, you are an artist.

Scott Gentry

The cupola is complete. In order to correct the shape of the cupola I had to 'trepan' or turn the outside diameter on a mill(and not a lathe) as it had some molding 'issues' plus it was also misshapen and missing drain holes and vision slits. All fasteners, flat washers, pivot-points removed and replaced with machined goodies plus I also had to 'wind' torsion springs for the hatch opening mechanism. The grey-primer lookin' deal is an Aber P/E piece which represents some kinda' hinged bumper/stop for the hatch - it had to folded-up and soldered together. Way fiddly! There are 30 machined parts, 8 kit parts, 2 hand wound torsion springs plus the Aber P/E whoop-tee-do. While it may not look like it there are at least 10 hours in the cupola alone.It's all lookin' pretty good now. My 50 year-old eyeballs are really liking this scale.

Cody