Hooben Tiger (P)

[Code501]

That's interesting to know, Mike. A bit difficult to envision without photo's though..... As far as I see, the turret sits on a correct/acceptable height in regards of the lower hull with my setup. It's also really smooth to rotate.

On a side note, I received missing parts through Marco and will try to see if they are indeed the correct parts this Sunday. Hopefully.......

[sassgrunt]

If you look at Hooben's picture of it on their page, you'll see how high the turret would sit if you assembled it with the parts they sent me. http://hooben.com/product_info.php?products_id=391 The photos that both you and Marco posted of yours look like it sits at the perfect height. I am going to try making a thin spacer out of a flexible cutting mat made of some kind of nylon-type material, and see if that works. (Three 12 x 15 inch sheets for less than $4, in three BRIGHT colors, which I hope are sufficiently hidden).

[sassgrunt]

In the past, I have used the clear page-divider sheets that come in a package of several colors and are made to separate sections of notebooks. Depending on manufacturer, they are either 0.005" or 0.007" thick. This flexible cutting mat material is 0.017" thick. I think that might be too thick for normal use, but might just work out for this, especially since it feels like it has a more slippery surface.

[sassgrunt]

Thank you for the tip, Mick. The day I think I know all there is about this hobby is the day I need to get out of it.
In looking at the parts today, one thing I noticed has me somewhat stumped. The upper deck sits on top of the side walls of the hull, and is meant to be removable to get at the inside workings, if need be. The 003 vehicle (which is the one I want to model) had a zimmeritt coating on the vertical sides, and the zimmeritt goes all the way to the top of the side. I can see three possible scenarios on how to deal with this.
(1) I run the zimmeritt to the top of the side, but not on the edge of the upper deck, so that I can separate it if needed. The edge of the deck without zimmeritt seems like it would really stand out.
(2) I run the zimmeritt all the way up the side, including the edge of the deck. I separate the parts before the zimmeritt has completely cured, and hope that the join line isn't real obvious, and that the edges don't chip away each time the deck is removed.
(3) I cut away the edges of the deck enough to allow it to sit inside the hull sides. That solves the chipping zimmeritt problem, but I'm concerned that the grill at the rear of the hull would then be somewhat raised higher than the rest of the upper deck....and, I really don't want to cut away that grill and try and recess it to match the new height of the deck.
I suppose a fourth option would be to cut away the sides of the hull and join them to the upper deck, so that the whole thing could lift off to expose the insides, (similar to how a Panther or King Tiger upper hull is designed to be removed from the lower hull).

[Code501]

I have been thinking about the zimmerit as well. I personally don't see any merits in overhauling the upper deck. Most of the time you wouldn't even notice it from a distance while IR battling. I don't think I'm going to run zimmerit on the sides of the upper deck, as there's a slight overhang on either side. Again, I don't think it will be a big deal, unless you're really close obviously. And I try to keep it as simple as possible.

[sassgrunt]

Yes, I did consider the no zimmeritt option too, but that would be more appropriate on all of the vehicles before the #003 one that actually saw combat. But all of those had the type of roof with that raised area down the center that allowed for gun depression....and that turret would be quite a modification to the existing turret parts in the kit.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it all and Cde501 and you have the right idea - keep it simple.

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning,
I've been following along ( especially on the lower and deck questions ), guys since I have a Hooben Elefant to build one of these fine days. As far as zimmerit goes and the chipping issue, how about using a Tiger 1 set ( or two ) of ATAK zimmerit and cut it to fit these sections?
regards,
Painless

[Code501]

If you want to use Atak zimmerit, using one for the Elefant and one for the Tiger I would work. You need to do the rear of the lower hull yourself though.

As for my idea, I might use these stamps from Imperial that I acquired some time ago.




The tank they are trying to replicate is from the schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 653 - Western Ukraine, Russia, June 1944 (Probably??)


As far as I can tell this one had zimmerit. The Befehls Tiger (P) with the raised roof, and without the extra 100mm plates bolted on and was from schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 654 - Russia, Late 1942. The artist shows it with zimmerit applied, which might be wrong for the time frame??

[Code501]

Had a bit of time today to look at the Hooben.



The way they wanted me to mount the gun to the turret is with a thin, hollow piece of PS tube with a thin piece of PS sheet glued on. You would need to secure it with an E clip on the inside. This would become the turmhebepilze on either side. I will have two new metal pieces made to make it fit a lot better and to make sure I have a means to secure it.

[c.rainford73]

Very nice. I like it