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The king is dead, long live the king


Hewy

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OK, time to  start my thread, I'm snowed under at present with models, work, and my garden, but I've been so looking forward to this, 

I'm building a 1/35 zvezda king tiger henschel turret, no zimmerit, when I bought the kit, probably 2 years ago I found on opening the box the Hull bottom was horribly warped, twisted , I actually started work on attempting to straighten it during the panzer gb, using boiling water a hair dryer and a razor saw around some of the suspension arm inserts, to relieve some of the twist, on the inside of the hull, I can report its a 95% fix, the other 5% I'm hoping will be sorted upon bonding the upper and lower hulls together, the kit is actually  dragon molds  originally, early, granted, and basic, Scalemates helped to identify it so I Could spruce the old banger up  with a couple of pe sets,  I'm unsure of the scheme, I'll be doing  I like the ambush camo and I did notice the knight on the horse, that's  already being built in the gb, progress is expected in fits and starts at first, some pictures

Cheers 

zTReFKk.jpg

zv5uDn6.jpg

 

CLtxalO.jpg

 

6schGHS.jpg

 

BrucSru.jpg

 

aFriTzl.jpg

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Hi Glynn,

Rather than rely on the hull being straightened further by gluing it to the upper hull, I'd brace the hull more by gluing/fixing 'girders' across it, and if needs be, along it. I would even consider metal brackets being used - they won't be seen.

 

I'm really looking forward to your ambush camo btw.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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1 minute ago, Badder said:

Hi Glynn,

Rather than rely on the hull being straightened further by gluing it to the upper hull, I'd brace the hull more by gluing/fixing 'girders' across it, and if needs be, along it. I would even consider metal brackets being used - they won't be seen.

 

I'm really looking forward to your ambush camo btw.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

Cheers pal

I agree badder, there will be internal firewall type braces, I should have mentioned this, during the straightening job I actually made two braces, but I didn't want to glue them in and  the Hull top on then incase it was deemed over 25% built and I felt it all had to be done together, I'm sure with those measures it'll be fine, I reckon konigstiger 332, it is in the decals, amush camo, some pictures on the tinternet  captured, some missing fenders, just the ingredients that are needed, but I'll reserve the definite choice till later 

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Hi Glynn. Great to see you here with what should be another superb project! Very annoying about the lower hull tub - I can't offer any further suggestions to those provided above - not come across this issue with any kits....yet.

Looking forward to seeing it in progress.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Welcome to the GB Glynn, hopefully the 5% remaining will be sorted. Looking forward to seeing your build come together.

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8 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Looks like a challenging project Hewy.

Picking up on your and Badder's bracing idea - would diagonal X braces help control some of your twisting?

 

Good luck, whatever your solution

Yes it is a good idea robert, I will go a bit "heath robinson" when I join up the halves

 

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Turns out the king is very much alive, I can report the straightening out has worked a treat I did it over four  days, bonding one side at a time, and using strips of thick card stock as cross strengtheners

I've also assembled the wheels and cleaned most of them up and got some of the parts on the Hull, the suspension arms are also glued in place, a little lower than the bump stops more in keeping with a fully laden tank

 

8Y33D1R.jpg

 

dXt5vQX.jpg

 

zFeDc1w.jpg

 

AIv6DpG.jpg

 

SFx8z7G.jpg

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Hi Hewy, it's definitely early Dragon, I remember cutting all the track links off the sprue and cleaning them up years ago, are you using them or going for AM tracks?  As you have shown the plans under your KT I must point out that they are wrong with the domed ventilators on the rear engine cover, the flattened one they show at the rear of the panel should be at the front, it is flattened to go under the turret overhang, you might be able to swop them over but if not just check it does not foul the turret.  Here is the rear panel on mine.

IMG_0856

Regards.  Bob

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42 minutes ago, Retired Bob said:

Hi Hewy, it's definitely early Dragon, I remember cutting all the track links off the sprue and cleaning them up years ago, are you using them or going for AM tracks?  As you have shown the plans under your KT I must point out that they are wrong with the domed ventilators on the rear engine cover, the flattened one they show at the rear of the panel should be at the front, it is flattened to go under the turret overhang, you might be able to swop them over but if not just check it does not foul the turret.  Here is the rear panel on mine.

IMG_0856

Regards.  Bob

Aahhr thanks for the heads up Bob, I'll swop it out, I shall have a go at the kit  tracks, what are they like for accuracy? Do you know? There is a few small  parts that zvezda gives an option for, I've searched the net but can find no answer, and to top it all off they  all look nearly identical, yours is looking good, HATAKA 😔, can't abide the stuff Bob, strange  color match apart, I liken it to bathroom ceiling emulsion, even smells the same,. Wouldn't surprise me if dulux owns HATAKA, or it's made in the same factory

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3 hours ago, Hewy said:

 I shall have a go at the kit  tracks, what are they like for accuracy? Do you know? There is a few small  parts that zvezda gives an option for, I've searched the net but can find no answer, and to top it all off they  all look nearly identical, yours is looking good, HATAKA 😔, can't abide the stuff Bob, strange  color match apart, I liken it to bathroom ceiling emulsion, even smells the same,. Wouldn't surprise me if dulux owns HATAKA, or it's made in the same factory

Hi Hewy, those early tracks are ok, they replaced them with magic tracks which had better definition of the tread detail and they interlocked better, they still need to be glued but the big bonus was that they were all separate, so minimal cleanup.  the alternate parts are not identified on the Dragon plans either, and as they introduced different variants there were even more options with no information given.  If there is anything I can help with just ask.  I have not had any problem with Hataka paint, apart from the colour of that greyish/beige shade of dunkelgelb, the paint itself sprayed on very easily with no tip drying, and the airbrush cleaned up quickly,  I haven't tried it on the bathroom ceiling though. :whistle:

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3 minutes ago, Retired Bob said:

Hewy, those early tracks are ok, they replaced them with magic tracks which had better definition of the tread detail and they interlocked better,

That's good, They look OK to me Bob, but to be honest I don't know what to compare them too , this is my first king tiger, like you say not  super sharp, but  I'll give them a test  run later in the week, cheers, BTW I've changed the domes for flat ones, no damage

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13 minutes ago, Hewy said:

That's good, They look OK to me Bob, but to be honest I don't know what to compare them too , this is my first king tiger, like you say not  super sharp, but  I'll give them a test  run later in the week, cheers, BTW I've changed the domes for flat ones, no damage

I'm glad the domes swopped ok, only a minor thing, hidden under the turret but if someone pointed it out after it was all finished it would be annoying.  I've done 4 different types of KT track, original/ early, magic tracks, Model Kastern and Fruil.  Fruils are the most realistic but at about £30 you have to be keen or rich.  The originals are just more work, what with all the sprue attachments to clean up.

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10 hours ago, Hewy said:

 

SFx8z7G.jpg

Nice work Glynn, and great to see you lining up those gate marks prior to removal! I don't know who you learned that little trick from, but he must be a genius!  (I know, I know, people have been doing it since the invention of the sprued wheel)

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited by Badder
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57 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Great to see you are getting properly underway Glynn! :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

Thanks stix, still have a lot of juggling with builds to do, including a 32nd hurricane and spitfire for an old gents 80th birthday on the 11th of June, my fingers are tightly crossed

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  • 2 weeks later...

First of all apologies for the intermittent thread entries, I do like to move things along at a pace, but due to a couple of  unforseen commission builds I'll be back up to full steam on all my gb endeavours after Sunday, I have been doing the odd 10 mins here and there and this is where it stands atm, I'm going to apply the etch next, and spray some chipping fluid on the wheels and dunkelgelb it up, I shall be leaving the tools off due to the silly putty I'll be using to mask the camo

wieLxIk.jpg

As can be seen here, there is a bit missing that the barrel plugs into (a disc with 6 I think rivets on, well that bit has gone to who knows where, lost, gonski, scarpered eaten, this puts pay to the RB barrel, how I'll fix this will need styrene around it not ca, 

Any way the RB barrel is far too nice, and deserves a kit that's a bit more modern and detailed,  then I'll do a cable  conduit for the headlight, 

q7BONRb.jpg

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Looking good Glynn,

Shame about the mantlet ring. Some plasticard and a pair of dividers used as a scribe would be my thought......

 

ps, The 'like' button had gone missing from my pages, but I just found it about 6ft thattaway >>>>>>>>>>

 

Rearguards

Badder

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😁, cheers badder,  I've searched high and low, but some close up investigative work  on the  said parts sprue gate reveals I didn't cut it off with snips, it was broken off, and probably left in the sprue bag and binned,  doh, I've had a  modelling nightmare of late, (blasted wingy things) but as of right now I'm back to my gb's, I shall be catching up properly shortly, and being a complete sucker for punishment, stash mining (as badger calls it) for something appropriate for the D-Day GB (with road  wheels) not wings! 

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I've got my bench back😊, pe applied, dented appropriately 

eV1aIio.jpg

 

I've doused el tigre in tamiya Hull red, lovely colour, also made a cable conduit for the headlight,  I am going to put the kits track holders on the turret, unfortunately the two pe sets I've got for this kit don't supply them, 🙄, I'm now in two minds on completing the assembly before I lather it in dunkelgelb, or something like it

YSWCsaS.jpg

 

 

rAeJwAB.jpg

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Thanks ozzy it is a bit stealth cat isn't it,. But not as big or dangerous looking as a magach 6, I'm building one in the patton gb, and they've been sitting next to one another in the queue , the patton looks massive in comparison, the tiger obviously though without its fenders, still very imposing, when there  done maybe a photo comparison 

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Definitely a photo comparison once there finished please Glynn, I’m holding off on my D-Day build. As I’m terrible at multitasking on builds.

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