Nenad Ilijic Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Hello everyone, This will be a bit an unusual project for me. Haven't built many Tigers. Only one so far to be precise. So it will be an exciting discovery process, and I'll need all the help I can get Anyway, I will be building Dragon kit No. 6608, "Initial Tunisian". At first look, seems like a great kit. Let's see... Even though DS tracks included look quite nice, I decided to replace them with AM T-Rex 3D printed tracks. Seeing so many disintegrated DS tracks, I have no faith in them at all. Ordered these, so please tell me that they are the right ones: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/t-rex-studio-tr85008-tiger-tracks-early-type--1361986 I'll build Tiger No. 112, of the s.Pz.Abt.501. Although, I may decide to build it as No. 724, which is the same tank, just renumbered when it was transferred to s.Pz.Abt.504. It got some new scars at that point. This tank is quite interesting, because it was one of the first three Tigers that arrived in Africa, and survived almost to the end of the Tunisian campaign (it was still in service in April 1943). Very interesting info can be found here: https://tiger1.info/tank-page/A2F There are many photos of this tank online, this is one of them: This was when it was still 112 in s.Pz.Abt.501, just before the Operation Frühlingswind, 14-18 February 1943. The kit is packed to the maximum... always surprised how Dragon manage to squeeze everything in that box! Started working on the wheels and got to my first dilemma. There are two options for the outer wheels. One with the thick rim: And the other with a shallow, welded rim: Looks to me that I should go with a first option, but not sure about it. I'm sure that many of you guys here that are Tiger experts will no better That's all for now. Cheers, Nenad 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Nice project I'll follow along if I may? With regards to the road wheels I think the top one is the one to use but I'm sure @M3talpig will be along shortly with the right answer! Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen Barett Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) I fear it should read "CONTINENTAL" not "CONTINENTAU" on the rim's rubber and the "No." (short for "Numero" / "number") should not have a cyrillic "Иo." Edited September 4, 2022 by Jochen Barett embarrassing typo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddoxx77 Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 I'll follow along if you don't mind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytautas Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 13 hours ago, Maddoxx77 said: I'll follow along if you don't mind. Me too Vytautas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Bob Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 18 hours ago, Jochen Barett said: I fear it should read "CONTINENTAL" not "CONTINENTAU" on the rim's rubber and the "No." (short for "Numero" / "number") should not have a cyrillic "Иo." Dragon always finish off CONTINENTAL with a U so they do not have to pay for using the the logo, somewhere on the plans they should mention that you are expected to change the U to an L to correct this economy measure, it's a pain but easily done with a scalpel or micro chisel. I think the reversed N is just a mistake. Cover it with some 'mud'. Looking at reference photo's of Tigers in Tunisia they appear to have the thicker rim on the wheels. Good luck with your Tiger build. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 I'll enjoy watching this one Nenad, gotta like a North African Tiger..... Good luck 👍 Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 Hello everyone, Few goodies arrived this week: Never used T-Rex or any other 3D printed tracks. Excited to try it out. Finished cleaning the roadwheels. I'll go with the thick rim option. Also, did some work, mostly with PE, on the rear. I used the following photo of Tiger 112. It's taken a bit earlier (while passing the old bridge in Jedeida, heading to Tebourba, late November 1942) and is representing this tank in the condition much better than it was few months later, the state I would like to show with this model. However, having no rear side photos of this tank, I decided to use this photo and consider that the rear was in the similar state. It was not any better for sure There is some damage visible on the fenders and exhaust covers I tried to reproduce. Cheers, Nenad 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Nice selection of goodies, interesting to see how the 3d printed tracks go. Great start with the PE too. Darryl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEscaleSHOW Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 On 04/09/2022 at 13:55, Nenad Ilijic said: Hello everyone, Few goodies arrived this week: Never used T-Rex or any other 3D printed tracks. Excited to try it out. Finished cleaning the roadwheels. I'll go with the thick rim option. Also, did some work, mostly with PE, on the rear. I used the following photo of Tiger 112. It's taken a bit earlier (while passing the old bridge in Jedeida, heading to Tebourba, late November 1942) and is representing this tank in the condition much better than it was few months later, the state I would like to show with this model. However, having no rear side photos of this tank, I decided to use this photo and consider that the rear was in the similar state. It was not any better for sure There is some damage visible on the fenders and exhaust covers I tried to reproduce. Cheers, Nenad Hi Nenad Good kit choice-the 112 is one of my favorite cats! I had gone for RFM at the time, in hindsight the Dragon kit makes less work (though not flawless)... My Voyager PE set was also good, but the exhaust sheets were difficult to bend despite lighter. So i rebuilt them in 0.2mm aluminum sheet. Keep on having fun! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 On 9/6/2022 at 4:13 PM, THEscaleSHOW said: Hi Nenad Good kit choice-the 112 is one of my favorite cats! I had gone for RFM at the time, in hindsight the Dragon kit makes less work (though not flawless)... My Voyager PE set was also good, but the exhaust sheets were difficult to bend despite lighter. So i rebuilt them in 0.2mm aluminum sheet. Keep on having fun! Great work with that one! Never built a RFM kit. Will have to try it sometime. E.T. model exhaust PE sheets were also a bit of a problem to bend. Even after burning them to make them softer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 Hello everyone, Been on a business trip for quite some time so I had to make a pause with this one. Anyway, back home and managed to do some modelling this weekend. Mostly dealing with PE. Tool clamps... a lot of them. I really like the E.T. PE set. Tool clamps, latches, etc. are not too fiddley, and everything is workable! Here's an example: jack clamps. I am a bit disappointed with the fit between lower and upper hull structure. Had to bend it on a few places in order to fit correctly. And even then, I'll have to fill some holes. Finished pioneer tools, Feifel filters, and few other subassemblies as well. As you can see, I did some shortcuts with the letches According to tiger1.info website, tow cables provided in this kit are too thick (they belong to the later version), so I replaced them with 0.6 copper wire. And some more details. Engine deck mash cover provided with the kit is too thick (at least in my opinion) so I used E.T. version. That's it for now. Cheers, Nenad 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddoxx77 Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 That's a lot of great detail! Really liking how this model is comming together! 👍👍👍 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 10 hours ago, Maddoxx77 said: That's a lot of great detail! Really liking how this model is coming together! 👍👍👍 Seconded Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 Nice work with the etched brass Nenad. I agree with you. The ET sets are very good. The tie down loops on their Sherman sets are actually usable. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 Fabulous work Nenad, I really like the detail that you are adding to this, the brass work is extremely good... Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tojo72 Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 Love me a Dragon Tiger,still the gold standard,love all your metal work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchmirth Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 I’d also like to see how this comes along!!👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted October 3, 2022 Author Share Posted October 3, 2022 Hello everyone, Some more progress. I was dealing almost exclusively with the brass. Yes, I know, I am so slow with the metalwork I decided to replace the front fenders with the PE version. Had to replace the hinges as well, and was a bit nervous how they will turn out. They are workable. Double sticking tape and 0.3mm was extremely useful for this task. And here it is how front fenders turned out: Also, I replaced the side mudguards with the PE versions. Although, I must say that plastic ones provided in the kit are great, and I was very reluctant to use them instead. Also, they come separate in 4 pieces, so you can choose which one to include based on your reference. I will probably be building this tank in it's state while it was still 112, but it already sustained some damage (received a few hits and was repaired) and at this point, they also lost one piece of side mudguards. I am not sure how it was intended to attach them, but I am quite sure that it is impossible to attach them like this. The bumps on the sides of the hull that are intended for this are too short. I added some styrene pieces that will act as attach points. And then, clamps again 😕 This time, rear tow cable. There are many of them... This is 0.6mm cable, and it fits well, but I am not sure is this the right thickness to use. Also, not sure what was the length of this cable? And what was it purpose? As I understand, two cables at the top of the hull were used to town the tank? I am talking about this cable: And here is the first batch of clamps. They are workable: There will be quite a lot of PE on this model. I'm thinking of using some metal-prep fluid before applying primer. Does anyone have any experience with it? Cheers, Nenad 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 Superb metalwork Nenad. Having done my first hinges recently I know how tricky they can be, but a great sense of achievement once done, and working. Nice one.👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Hi Nenad, Splendid job so far, great result with PEs....looks great. Cheers and TC Francis.👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted October 8, 2022 Author Share Posted October 8, 2022 Hello everyone, I managed to find some info about the cables attached to the hull side. It was the track cable. As I understand, it was used when replacing tracks, although I am not sure exactly how. More info here on Missing Lynx.. Bottom line is (and I'll quote Per Sonnervik from ML): length of cable; is measured from the inside of the eyelet´s front section to the corresponding point on the other side (according to experts). Track cable is 15 meters long and 14 mm in diameter. type of eyelet on track cable; is like todays standard type (see photo in post by Mike Peplinski). This differs from the tow cable´s eyelet which are cast and look different. the splicing; is not covered by wire or tube - it´s covered by cloth. Can be clearly seen on some photos (Tiger II driver´s manual) and other Tiger I photos. No models or after market have got this right. the bracket fastened to the eyelet; photos show a hexagon bolt on one side and weld marks on the other side i.e. a bolt welded in place - not possible to remove without grinding away welds. So I'll try to replicate that. All attachment points and clamps added to the (hopefully) right positions: Test fitting the cable. Most photos show that it was not attached in a standard way, but rather entangled, something like this: I'll use 0.4mm copper wire for the cable, which is exactly 14mm in 1:1. I'll try to simulate the cloth with some paper shaper. In the meantime, I started working on a turret. And I have few questions there. First, regarding the barrel. It is movable, so you can simulate recoil (I guess). I want it in fully extended position. But I am not sure if this is how fully extended position should look like? Also, not sure about these lines: Should it be there, or should I remove it? Cheers, Nenad 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 If I recall correctly and I'm happy to stand corrected, but I think I read somewhere that the Tiger I turret was a one-piece rolled steel horseshoe shape. So there would probably not have bee a seam anywhere. Also, if it was a seam in the armour, would it not extend across the top, bottom and inside of the plate? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEscaleSHOW Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 4 hours ago, echen said: If I recall correctly and I'm happy to stand corrected, but I think I read somewhere that the Tiger I turret was a one-piece rolled steel horseshoe shape. So there would probably not have bee a seam anywhere. Also, if it was a seam in the armour, would it not extend across the top, bottom and inside of the plate? 7 hours ago, Nenad Ilijic said: Hello everyone, I managed to find some info about the cables attached to the hull side. It was the track cable. As I understand, it was used when replacing tracks, although I am not sure exactly how. More info here on Missing Lynx.. Bottom line is (and I'll quote Per Sonnervik from ML): length of cable; is measured from the inside of the eyelet´s front section to the corresponding point on the other side (according to experts). Track cable is 15 meters long and 14 mm in diameter. type of eyelet on track cable; is like todays standard type (see photo in post by Mike Peplinski). This differs from the tow cable´s eyelet which are cast and look different. the splicing; is not covered by wire or tube - it´s covered by cloth. Can be clearly seen on some photos (Tiger II driver´s manual) and other Tiger I photos. No models or after market have got this right. the bracket fastened to the eyelet; photos show a hexagon bolt on one side and weld marks on the other side i.e. a bolt welded in place - not possible to remove without grinding away welds. So I'll try to replicate that. All attachment points and clamps added to the (hopefully) right positions: Test fitting the cable. Most photos show that it was not attached in a standard way, but rather entangled, something like this: I'll use 0.4mm copper wire for the cable, which is exactly 14mm in 1:1. I'll try to simulate the cloth with some paper shaper. In the meantime, I started working on a turret. And I have few questions there. First, regarding the barrel. It is movable, so you can simulate recoil (I guess). I want it in fully extended position. But I am not sure if this is how fully extended position should look like? Also, not sure about these lines: Should it be there, or should I remove it? Cheers, Nenad 4 hours ago, echen said: If I recall correctly and I'm happy to stand corrected, but I think I read somewhere that the Tiger I turret was a one-piece rolled steel horseshoe shape. So there would probably not have bee a seam anywhere. Also, if it was a seam in the armour, would it not extend across the top, bottom and inside of the plate? Hi Nenad 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 No seams then?☺ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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