A tigers "tail", where should we start?

[Steve Hutchinson]

Afternoon fellow modellers

Something to distract me from my ailments of bone and brain?

I need another new knee, the left one is now worn out, and I am approaching my 60th with retirement in focus, so what do you do?

Start building more tanks LOL

The inspiration to recreate a Tigers tale/tail LOL




The first one to start the story, I thought it would be easy just to leave off the tools, silly me!

I have 2 of these!



Some progress






The wheels are all glued together as I saw on You Tube by Bayin Wu, I have also been following Night Shift, Plasmo, Steam Geezer and loads of other You Tube modelers, from OK to stunning, but time to do more and watch less!!

Still to do, scratch build the front flat mudguards, and the top hat style telescopic snorkel cover for the rear deck.

Otherwise its ready for weathering, and for me, time to start another one!

So, the next one will be the Initial Vorpanzer prototype Tiger 1 from April 1942 being converted from a Tamiya kit



Again I thought it would be mostly just leave the tools off!

Foolish fool! LOL

More soon?

Hopefully

Thank you all for your patience, I shall try to be a better blogger and join back in, though I could do with a much better image site, as Imgur is really annoying me but it is just about working for me now, said through gritted teeth LOL.

regards

Steve H

Raoul, grovelling PM Sent, sorry!

[Vincent Power]

Sorry to hear about your knee Steve, I hope it works out well. You are off to a great start with your Tiger project. Makes me want to start one of my own

Vincent

[Adam Durrant]

Nice start Steve. I saw Bayin had done that one his Tiger commission and quite liked the idea....if I ever get round to building a Tiger!

[Philipp Gross]

That's quite a project you've started there Steve!

Your best choice for the prototype Tiger would be Dragon's Leningrad kit, as it comes with most of the initial features including symmetrical tracks. In addition you need the initial type of sprockets where the the spokes are aligned with the teeth. For some reason Academy has them included in their Tiger kits, even though they are wrong for 99,9% of all Tigers made.

Philipp

[Steve Hutchinson]

Thanks chaps

Adam, the eyes aren't as good as they used to be for my favourite Pz I, so its a good choice, try one, they are very filling and you'll have fun too.

Philipp, I have an Academy Tiger in the stash and will be mix and matching, pieces, once I've filled and sanded down all the holes in the Tamiya kit!

Its like Swiss cheese LOL

The jury is out about the mirrored tracks on this one, as there isn't a clear photo anywhere.

Tiger tracks do seem to be an issue after watching Adan Mann's You Tube video on the subject, he really is a Tiger fan!

back to the sanding and research

Thanks for popping by

Steve H

[Justin Wooding]

Hi Steve,

Good to see you roaring along with some Tiger builds

I would like to build some Tigers one day, so i'll pull up a chair and watch where you go with this

That book The Modelers Guide To The Tiger Tank is a terrific publication. Hard to find, and if you do find one, it normally carries a large price tag.

[Steve Hutchinson]

Thanks chaps

The guide has been up at £200+, but I got mine for £40 on E-bay really lucky as I had missed 2 others earlier when they went past £80+ silly price

I got it with the Jagdpanzer book too, the pair for £80, high but well worth it.

I should have some more photos this weekend, as I am still sanding down all the holes I filled, after a coat of primer they all need some more polishing to smooth them out.

I have robbed the Academy Tiger of the sprockets to suit the initial Tiger, it has a pair of the correct ones which is handy.

I think I might invest in a pair of Fruil mirrored tracks but its still a research point

More soon

Regards

Steve H

[Philipp Gross]

Steve,

Masterclub has initial Tiger tracks in resin, if you're looking for an alternative. Voyager supposedly released several track sets in plastic, but I've never seen them on sale anywhere. I could also send you the DS tracks from my Leningrad Tiger since I've bought the Masterclub tracks for it.

In any case the first dozen or so of the Tigers all had them fitted and you'll definitely need some for the prototype.

Philipp

[Steve Hutchinson]

Hi Philipp

I have the Leningrad Tiger too, a snip at £40 on E-bay last year
I wanted it as much for the photographer as the tank! LOL

The Voyager tracks are on E-bay FOR £16.60 from China, but I have to admit after making up the Fruil transport tracks for the Porsche prototype KT, is worth the extra £10 for the fruil tracks.

Time to dig out my research books, though there really isn't going to be that much to find!

More soon

Steve H

[Steve Hutchinson]

Morning

I knew one day I would have to relent an succumb to Tiger fever

I bit the bullet and ordered the Fruil mirrored tracks, I'll need to order brass pins too, as I have found a super You Tube quick build video for Fruil tracks, its a real inspiration

Quick build fruil

And for good measure one of Adam Mann's many Tiger video's, it is useful and he does reviews for nearly all the Tigers on the market.
It's sometimes better to watch and listen as much as read, and because he isn't prejudiced, partisan or paid by Dragon, he says it as he sees it, and is reasonably knowledgeable too.

Tiger tracks

Dummys guide to 1:35 Tiger tank

Sadly, Bill Hazard, the Ex Military Modeller and his blog of tigers and the many variants has lost it photos and he seems to have vanished since MM went off line.

Tiger prototype

I guess I am trying to build something similar to Bill, probably a dozen tigers with clear differences as they changed through production and some with zimmerit, 5/6 KT's and probably 3/4 prototypes with the porsche/henschel variants and the lighter 30 tonne test vehicles.

Try to make each one different with camo/colour/primer and where possible link them to something real through references, such as the Haynes manual of the Bovington 131 built as it is, even though it has been rebuilt slightly wrong!

Its cold here at 7am only 5C which is an Autumnal reminder summer is over.

More soon?

Steve H