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FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:40 pm
by HERMAN BIX
Well fellas, had some time away to get things in order here, and regain my 'social skills'..............
One thing that can be a bad idea is being in a negative frame of mind & unintentionally take that out on an unsuspecting person that pushes the big-red-button !

Ive had a few "renovators dream" tanks fall out of the sky recently.
One of which is an old Tiger 1 in poor condition.
I decided to do a representation of what K.G. Shulze(Fehrmann) Tiger 05 may have looked like.
Now there are a lot of varying opinions on the unit centering around its vehicle markings, and the seemingly odd mix and condition of the machines in it.
I choose to believe that the 'F' (number) turret numbers were to designate that the unit Tigers were from the training school at Fallingbostel.
Tiger 02 did end up back there for repairs after a Piat strike, so I am going to take historic plausibility and say that the unit was not marked for Fehrmann, as Shulze was actually the one in charge, but for its origin in Fallingbostel..............only God actually knows, so hows about I just run with that & ask him if I see him eh ;)

No known pictures of Tiger 05 exist up to now, so its going to be a degree of what was likely rather than actual fact.

Its going to have Zimmerit and no stowage bin, early wheels, late tracks, no tools in the clamps, and things like that.
Makes sense that a training tank would have had all non-essential hardware removed and sent to one that needs it more.
We know they were 'earlies' with steel wheels or rubber rimmed early wheels, so another supposition for me is that the rubber rimmed machines were the actual training tanks, and the steel wheeled machines turning up there to boost the numbers were out of damaged repaired tanks later on. Early hulls, late running gear & tracks, early turrets.

This will probably have a mako 17 and piranha unit in it as a battler with no extra details to knock off................

Lets go :thumbup:

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 9:20 am
by Aussie
This should be good.

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:53 am
by HERMAN BIX
!...........a rough canvas for sure.
Gearbox mounts broken off is the biggest pain.
I will try and recover them, but at a pinch I will buy a new H/L lower for $14 and be done with it !

No one has the steel wheels in stock here now. Only the early metal rubber tyred ones, so as this can actually be considered plausibly accurate in this configuration, thats what its going to get, but with late tracks(if I can even get those here) :/
I do prefer the steel wheels though, but it is what it is.
No way Im importing anything for an 'Ersatz' build like this :eh:

Righto...............we're on.
Get the thing apart, and slice the hatches off. - check
Hack the mud guards off - check
Grind the tools off - check
Fill in the holes as required - check
Rip the exhausts off the rear plate - check

Love the hack N slash part of a project................... :shifty:

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:23 pm
by Estnische
Don'tcha just love the smell of HL dust in the morning?

The $14 for a lower hull makes you smile though and ask how much am I really saving. I'm planning on using my plastic lower hull from the Panther, but then I think about all the features I'd get with a Taigen metal hull....

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:34 pm
by HERMAN BIX
If I can make this sows ear into a silk purse........then back into a sows ear, then mission accomplished !!

The K.G. Shulze unit with its Panthers and '251's was ill fated, but there is something about it :problem:
A bit like the K.G. Nickolusi- Leck Jagdpanther unit .

I have a Taigen metal barrel & mantlet set on the way, but I need to find a Taigen elevation/recoil unit too if anyone has one stashed :D

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:45 pm
by HERMAN BIX
Estnische wrote:Don'tcha just love the smell of HL dust in the morning?

The $14 for a lower hull makes you smile though and ask how much am I really saving. I'm planning on using my plastic lower hull from the Panther, but then I think about all the features I'd get with a Taigen metal hull....

My Ryobi loves H/L plastic !!


I agree on the metal hull concept, but its still simple cost/benefit.
How much you use it, how much you are prepared to work on a standard one to keep it running V's an all metal one............
I have all metal running gear on all my tanks, but retain the plastic hulls.
Outside of wishing I had installed good quality tensioners in them, all of them are intact without fault.

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:56 pm
by Tiggr
However you get there to the finished beast is good any which way Mr B
The end result is always a pleasure to behold.

Following along.

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 1:32 am
by c.rainford73
Lovely work Mr Bix :clap: following along....

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:02 am
by Soeren
Following along. I have a Taigen "late" Tiger. That still has enough inaccuracies and metal Turret , making mods to the turret difficult. So I had imagined to by an early turret plastic mod that a bit and go the Fehrmann route as well.
The more I see of the german tanks, especially the earlier designs, seem to be modified -in field- to allow use in the "postapocalyptic" setting in the later months of the war. Fehrmann group is a prime example.

Re: FEHRMANN GRUPPE TIGER 05

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 10:52 am
by HERMAN BIX
Soeren wrote:Following along. I have a Taigen "late" Tiger. That still has enough inaccuracies and metal Turret , making mods to the turret difficult. So I had imagined to by an early turret plastic mod that a bit and go the Fehrmann route as well.
The more I see of the german tanks, especially the earlier designs, seem to be modified -in field- to allow use in the "postapocalyptic" setting in the later months of the war. Fehrmann group is a prime example.
From all accounts by experts, the Tigers in K.G. Fehrmann were unremarkable, normal earlies but some with late steel wheels & tracks, missing many accessories, and typical of machines picked over for bits needed by combat tanks.
I have seen a more confusing Tiger with late running gear, PzIV turret bin, late cupola, and Feifel cans in white wash !!! :crazy:

The need to train crews still existed regardless of the ever more desperate strategic situation, and the Fallingbostal school must have been seen as a vital institution.
Not having operated a T1, I can only guess that the principles of fighting a T1 did not differ wildly from a T2 so the products of crew training even with the minimum of time would have been worth having these older and repaired machines in the background.
Its the mysterious numbering, the folklore of the unit being 'Fehrmann' rather than Shulze, and the interesting variations of each Tiger that seems to kindle the flames in the modeling community.

I got into the exhaust mods today. I want to have the tubes exposed with no guards fitted.
As the mounting of these by H/L is not conducive to a simple clean remodel, some alterations are required.
I filled in the screw holes on the armoured shrouds and the exhausts.
Once dry, I shaped a bit of brass tube (toobe for you left hand drivers!)and secured these into the exhausts poking into the proper outlet below the covers.
Carved out a bit of scrap to fill in the gap, filled the cavity with PVA and then super glued the strips into the voids.
I will alter the rear plate to allow correct positioning of these and texture the armoured shrouds.