Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

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PNW Paul
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Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by PNW Paul »

Hello everyone, picked this early 80s clutch drive King Tiger at an estate sale a few days ago and have commenced stripping it down, cleaning it up and am going to attempt to update it with modern drive train and electronics. Here she is as I recieved her. Broken muzzle and some damage to the rear exhaust and rear plate, original esc looks to have caught fire at some point but its not staying anyways.ImageImage

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PNW Paul
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by PNW Paul »

After some disassembly and clean up tonight. Now its time to do some research and source some parts. Unfortunately a lot of Tamiya factory parts are marked discontinued so getting ahold of a few things may be challenging.
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Last edited by PNW Paul on Mon Jun 07, 2021 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PainlessWolf
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by PainlessWolf »

Good Evening,
I love seeing these old beasts refurbished and put back into service. There should be a few of the type here on the Forum for you to pore over and look for parts sources. The clutch drive alone on these tanks is a minor mechanical marvel.
regards and have fun!
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
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43rdRecceReg
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

The suspension looks not to have changed much, if at all, since those early days. You can probably refit all the running gear without issue. Obtaining the gearboxes, however, is likely to be a problem (and expensive, in any event). It could be that the drive sprockets are slightly different. The existing rear track tensioner can be replaced with a Henntec unit, most likely. Alternate drive units could be fitted, as well as an alternate Controller system (MFU's are overpriced and not over here).
As Painless, suggests, it's worthwhile leafing through previous Tamiya KT rebuilds here.
Oddly enough, I rather like the neatly engineered 'analogue' clockwork look of Tamiya's early KT. :D
Enjoy the journey, whatever you opt for. :thumbup:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
Jofaur86
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by Jofaur86 »

Jofaur86
Warrant Officer 1st Class
Posts: 1663
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2018 11:28 pm
Location: Centre France

Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by Jofaur86 »

Hello,
indeed, and for having done so, I confirm the price to come back to be high, without counting the concerns of adapting the current parts, for the turret, rotation, recoil, elevation, etc.
Link for info KT Porsche,vintage adaptation :)
http://www.rcgrabbag.com/tamiya-king-ti ... onversion/
Jofaur86
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by Jofaur86 »

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PNW Paul
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by PNW Paul »

Thanks! That answered quite a few questions and ideas I had.

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LK88
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by LK88 »

congratulations you got a very nice piece, I keep my fingers crossed that he will succeed in his life
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PNW Paul
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Re: Vintage King Tiger Rebuild

Post by PNW Paul »

This kitty has some blemishes to fix up. Looks like something caught fire at one point and melted a hole in the upper hull, previous owner put random piece over the area.. Had to bust out the dremel and styrene. Not a finished product yet so dont be too harsh, lol. Now to fix the periscopes..
ImageImageImageImage

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