Going big with a Kitty Cat

[Keeff]

Greetings fellow modellers! 

After some time away from this area building things with wings and a Groupbuild, it's time to get back in my armour comfy seat, and what better subject than a Tiger. 

 

I purchased the Andy's Hobby Headquarters kit while it was on offer and it's been quietly residing in the not-a-stash stash since. 

 

So, a couple of pictures to wet the appetite: 

 

 

I have to say that this is a big box stuffed full of bits: 

 

And the scheme in mind is tank S04 - 13. SS Panzer regiment 1, Eastern front during Winter 1943/44 commanded by Michal Wittmann: 

 

According to David Byrdens writings, the kit is accurate in most detail which is good! 

 

This is going to be a build that takes as long as it takes ... and I have some groupbuilds to take part in too! 

 

So, grab a chair, a brew and some snacks and come along for the ride!! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

 

 

Edited March 2 by Keeff

[Crayons]

Comfy chair, check. Esky full of beer, check. Count me in.

[Keeff]

Greetings tank fans!  Here we go with update number 1: 

Production has started with the lower hull which has been thoroughly washed in soapy water and rinsed before any work was done. 

The suspension has been built and dry fitted ...  I intend to paint the hull and swing arms separately, so here's how it's looking from above with the rule added to show just how big this thing is: 

 

 

Disappointingly, there were several ejector pin marks that needed removing which was achieved with some careful scraping using a curved blade and sanding with different grades of sanding sponge. 

 

There's still alot of bits left in the box, so until the next update, happy modelling! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

 

 

 

[Stef N.]

Blimey Keith, the box is bigger than my flat. 

 

Good luck with this one, it will be a doozy. Following along with a massive flask of tea at the ready.

[Crayons]

1 hour ago, Stef N. said:

Blimey Keith, the box is bigger than my flat. 

 

Good luck with this one, it will be a doozy. Following along with a massive flask of tea at the ready.

Maybe he will let you have the box when he is done with the build and you could use it to put on extension.

[Keeff]

Update 2: 

After a pleasant few hours in the tank factory, things have progressed and there's alot of gaps on some sprues! 

 

I spent the time adding bits to the lower hull and finishing the axles (picture to follow) but mainly assembling wheels ..... 48 of them: 

 

 

All labelled so I know which fit where! 

These consist of two halves, so will need some cleaning up to manage the seams ..... I'm planning on wet sanding them to:

1) Keep the dust down on the table and;

2) So they get a degrease at the same time ready for paint

 

For some reason there seems to be more wheels at this scale but it really does bring home how overly complicated these tanks were! 

 

Next step in the instructions..... tracks! 

 

As always comments welcome! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[Crayons]

Sorry Keith, but the first thing that came to my mind looking at that photo was "how many doughnuts can you stack on your.........."

 

I hate running gear, too many bloody wheels. The Lowe wheels were like some distorted Dean Koontz nightmare. The R Model tracks were the Pervitin of the running gear construction.

 

Maybe if you have an old WWII German vet neighbour, he might have some left over Pervitin that will make the entire process faster and less painful.

[Bullbasket]

Oh how I hate the wheel part of a build! Good luck with it Keith. I have a couple of 1/16th scale kits in the stash, a Sherman (of course) and a Stuart. Maybe think about it one day soon.

 

John.

[echen]

 

43 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Oh how I hate the wheel part of a build!

For me it is painting the tyres that are my pet hate.

I prefer either the marks with steel wheels or Dragons' Nobel prize winning wheels where the actual wheel front slots into the middle of the tyre.

Saves shed loads of time and grief.

[Keeff]

2 hours ago, Crayons said:

the first thing that came to my mind looking at that photo was "how many doughnuts can you stack on your.........."

That made me laugh!  It seemed the best way to keep them together in respective type ..... and keep the table clear! 

 

1 hour ago, Bullbasket said:

Good luck with it Keith.

Thank you John! 

 

37 minutes ago, echen said:

For me it is painting the tyres that are my pet hate.

But these are BIG so it should be easy! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

 

 

[Crayons]

11 hours ago, Keeff said:

That made me laugh!  It seemed the best way to keep them together in respective type ..... and keep the table clear!

Definitely agree. I have these stackable plastic tubs that I use for wheels for the exact same reason.

[szeregowy]

I don't have space at home to house anything bigger than 1/35 scale, but was always curious about how the building process looks like. I'll grab a chair and will be following with interest.

 

On another note, I have a question to more experienced here.

Why would you need to wash it before work? I'm aware that it is a good thing to do with resin figures for example, but plastic kits? What's are the pros?

[Keeff]

17 minutes ago, szeregowy said:

Why would you need to wash it before work?

I washed this as I noticed fingerprints on the moulding ... (which were mine) and it appeared slightly greasy. 

The deck and turret have also been thoroughly cleaned. 

 

Washing can also help with paint adhesion too .... a cleaner surface for it to grab on to. 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[Keeff]

Update 3: 

 

Welcome from the Tank factory, where production has mostly been somewhat round in nature. 

I've been working on the wheels, finessing the joints.  I started using wet sanding due to the dust which gave a really smooth finish but was incredibly time consuming .... 10 to 15 minutes per wheel! 

 

So, a change of approach .... out with the metal files and a tack cloth to catch the dust which proved a better and less time consuming job .... around 5 minutes per wheel. 

I considered that, although a hard rubber tyre, with contact and debris between them and the tracks, they wouldn't remain smooth, so left some with a 'rougher' finish.  The main thing here was to get rid of the joint seam. 

 

Needing to check fit, each completed wheel was added to the hull: 

 

 

I'm planning to paint and weather the lower hull and wheels before fully assembling them ....  a lesson learnt from the Tamiya Mid-production build.

 

As for the tracks, there's alot of work to do here as each link has 4 ejector pin marks:

 

and there's 98 links per side ..... 

 

These are the pins and horns .... which are nicely put in blocks of 10 ... 

 

And out of curiosity, I assembled a few links: 

 

Being Takom, the plastic needs careful sanding to clean the sprue attachment points .... but these are really well detailed and have the forge marks moulded in too .... nice! 

 

Comments welcome as always! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

 

 

 

[TeaWeasel]

As much as I would hate assembling those tracks, got to admit they do look pretty stellar. Exciting work, at first I was confused as to why the hull was so big, didn't see the 1/16 at first.

[Keeff]

1 hour ago, TeaWeasel said:

Exciting work, at first I was confused as to why the hull was so big, didn't see the 1/16 at first.

 

It's a big thing .... I'm merrily building it with no plan of where to put it!  

 

Keith ☺️ 

[Stef N.]

Good work Keith. Pretty poor with the ejector marks but otherwise the tracks do look impressive. 👍👍

[TeaWeasel]

16 minutes ago, Keeff said:

 

It's a big thing .... I'm merrily building it with no plan of where to put it!  

 

Keith ☺️ 

 

That's Future-Keefs problem!

[Crayons]

Those ejector pin marks remind of the Lowe tracks, however, the Lowe tracks had the ejector pin marks in the recess of the joiner track making them near impossible to clean up, at least the tiger tracks have them in an area that is accessible.

 

If I recall from a friends build of the same model, you assemble the track in sections of ten links and then the guide horn sprues are a spaced jig so you can glue the ten guide horn run on in one go and then clip the sprue off of the guide horns.

[Keeff]

Good morning tank fans!  Luckily, I've been able to squeeze some time in on the production line ... 

So Update 4: 

 

After final sanding and smoothing seams on wheels, they are all done 

 

Work is now focusing on the tracks ..... 

There's alot of preparation: 

Guide horns removed from main sprues

Track pins removed (and placed in a tub)

Track links being cleaned up in batches of 10 which is how they are moulded and packaged

 

9 hours ago, Crayons said:

you assemble the track in sections of ten links and then the guide horn sprues are a spaced jig so you can glue the ten guide horn run on in one go and then clip the sprue off of the guide horns.

 

Absolutely right! 

I spent some time making up two lengths: 

Cleaned and assembled: 

 

Guide horns added.  I think a small jig will help here to keep them vertical while TET is applied to each: 

 

And a view of the treads: 

 

As always, your comments are welcome. 

 

Happy modelling! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[Crayons]

Looking good Keith, I am glad my memory hasn't failed me. Especially at my dotage. Now, where am I?.................

[Bullbasket]

Good work on the tracks Keith.  They look excellent.

 

John.

[Keeff]

Greetings tank fans! It's been a while so time for update 5: 

 

Time since my last post has been spent on the Gamma Goat for the Vietnam GB, and tracks for this big cat.... all 210 links have needed ejector pin marks removing and the holes for the teeth drilling for a secure fit.  The first few links I added the teeth to needed some attention as the small lug on the base of the teeth hadn't located correctly. 

So .... out with the tiny drill: 

 

And this evening, I made it to this point: 

 

And here's what 20 links looks like: 

 

As you might be able to see, the teeth are held by a sprue that needs carefully removing ....  which doing so leaves 2 nibs per tooth to clean ..... 

 

I've worked it out that to the point I'm at on the tracks, there's around 20 hours of work .... so currently I'm around 30 hours in total so far with a long way to go!

 

As always, thanks for stopping by and comments are welcome! 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[Crayons]

Solid progress Keith. Tracks and running gear I find to be the most tedious and time consuming part of an armour build. And the most unpleasant.

[mick]

great progress