"WHITE TIGER"

[doc larsson]

Herman

re the trunion on the Rommel bin ? As i advised on making the trunion heads from a plastic yoghurt tub for the turret trunions i did the same for the rommel bin except i halved one puched plastic circle, stuck it on some sprue from one of my figure sprues and stuck it in the rommel bin. That negated me from going through the bin itself ! A cheat but looks no different from what you have done except with no time wasted and very few expletives.

Very nice build there mate !

[billpe]

Making a Panzer III in winter?

[ALPHA]

HMMMMMMMMM Two sets of Ostketten.... a Panzer IV maybe ?

ALPHA

[lister fiend]

no alpha 3 & 4 = 7!

[ALPHA]

no alpha 3 & 4 = 7!

Actually lister 3 "and" 4..= 34 ...corrected thank you sir


ALPHA

[lister fiend]

touche!

[HERMAN BIX]

Oh crap...............34 projects !!????, I would be a raving alcoholic lunatic by then, and broke to boot. !!
Hmm, seems Im close to that after only 2...................
The Winterketten were new to the market from Mato in Canada & I found them purely by mistake.
I know a guy from Red Deer and he got them in for me while he holiday'd in New Mexico with beer, golf & sun !!
Yes winter Pz is the idea, one a support for the White Tiger, the other a fairly famous survivor.
Not to much progress on the 'Mighty-Whitey this weekend, was at a car show looking at how to really spend time & money.
Got the hull completed in red oxide primer though. I used to coat structural steel in the early 80's with a product called Epiglass PA10. This stuff was nasty bad for the nose and self etched into the steel. I believe its now discontinued as being to harsh for the enviroment, but the finish it left was almost identical to the XF 9 Ive used. Its dark though, but once completely covered & dry brushed off once dry, it seems very close to what I reckon one of these might have looked like in the factory before top coat.
With grey and white-wash to cover, the undercoat will not be so crucial, but after seeing a coat of citrus fly spray mist settle over it this evening (yes, life goes on while im at car shows) and more spots than a Dalmation appear, the lot may have to be sanded back & covered again before the grey can go on.

[HERMAN BIX]

The shock & awe of the fly spray dots was met with an equal retaliation of weak thinners & more patience than I thought I had.
Seemed to work. I assume that evaporation of the spray with help from the weak thinners & a soft make up brush did the trick.
Decided that the best way to provide securing points for the unditching pole was to make use of the front S-mine launcher redundant position, and to add a 'maintenance support troop supplied & fitted" tow hook type device for the rear.
Driving to do a rare but important school run today i had a thought that a 'D' shackle tipped on its side & welded to the radiator cover would have been an option, and straight after that the same shackle dropped into the grill above the radiator where the cavity is with the cover lifted up, & the shackle secured . Cover restored, the shackle would be able to be used as a tie off point for the rear of the pole without any rear echelon support to provide it.
However.................that option would mean that I would have to open him up again to secure the shackle.
HELLLLLLLLLL.............NO
The subject picture has little evidence of the method of securing the pole to the side, and the best pictorial unit histories that I can find (Tiger Im Focus for example) for this Tiger 100 from the 505 Abteilung cover everything BUT..............so its artistic licence .
'100' was apparently a survivour of Kursk, so that alone makes the subject picture even more of significance and by that time the crews would have well figured out the 'how-to's' of Tiger operations.
The chain I decided on for the front pole mount was just long enough to choke the pole & make the mount.
I found a pen that didnt work ( every house has ONLY those when you need a pen that actually works) and recovered the spring.
Gently fed the chain link into the spring end then clipped it from the rest.
Put one loop on each end.
For me it looks close to a welded loop that would have been easy for support troops to make up during maintenance.
Im assuming Tiger units at this time still had good access to supporting units being the cream of armoured developement.
Once welds are added to the mounts and the usual weathering of chains etc Im optimistic things should work out right.

[HERMAN BIX]

Not much to report Team, got the weld profile done around the pole mount hook on the rear.
Am lining up the grey paint on the road wheels and lower hull for the weekend.
Yet to test properly, but am intending on using Tamiya XF-63 German Grey and a 20% addition of XF-66 Light Grey mix.
The subject picture seems to have a very full depth coverage of the whitewash, but small visible sections of the barrel and lower running gear are less well covered. The 63 grey is very dark with a blue tinge,(at least to my eye) so I want to try a lighter mix so as to simulated weather exposure, degradation and time in field. Under the whitewash at least.
Soon will see.

[HERMAN BIX]

Been deprived of time lately with the boy getting into trials for state rep rugby and open home commitments, so no appreciable progress.
Seems im having a "Sitzkreig" of my own !
Got the extra aerial tube and the right side rear convoy light removed, this afternoon was perfect 25 degrees and clear blue sky.
Its decieving how much plastic the tube is made up of, and just how careful you need to be to avoid scalloping out the side armour. Got it close enough and will re-dress the vent plate covers with the hobby knife to regain seperation.
Took the fleeting moment to enjoy the alfresco with a Jack Daniels & the air grinder 'oh the serenity'
Missed out on a Jagdtiger today on ebay Australia, put in a bid of AUD$130, and had to leave for the trials sesion. Got home & checked . It went for AUD$270 so I was well off. It was fully dressed & actually looked really good, but ya cant win them all eh.