Re: Tiger front Track Guards.

Crispy · Post by **Crispy** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:57 am

Taking the guards off really changes the look of the Tiger, makes it even more boxy than before. Here's my Tiger with all the guards removed. It looks a little strange because I've removed the front armour plate that holds the drivers window and MG34.

The bottom pic shows the hull deck after I used the soldering iron to remove a huge chunk of it around the turret ring ready for the Sturmtiger superstructure. As it was right in the middle of the deck this would've been a right pain to cut out with a dremel cutting disc. Also they tend to catch on the plastic as it buids up and melts from the friction. With the soldering iron it only took about 10 mins.

swathdiver · Post by **swathdiver** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:17 pm

The first Tigers up till August '42 didn't have them. Then they installed the narrow ones until November '42 when the more commonly seen type was introduced. The metal underneath on the Initial Tigers was very rough, showing the cuts, the later tanks it was machined or smoothed out. Crispy you've cut away too much. These Initial tanks had numerous other detail differences that set them apart from the regular production Tigers. You can see most of the mods on my 211 Tiger build over at RCU, Jonesis's build at Hobby Havoc and Tailend Charlie's build at RCU.

Crispy · Post by **Crispy** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:26 pm

Well spotted that man

. Since these pics i've built them out again with plastic card as it seemed easier to do at the time than grinding the HL plastic down to the right amount. Also the Tiger in my pics is on its way to becoming a Sturmtiger, so most of the front area has changed drastically since these pics were taken last Nov/Dec

Andicog · Post by **Andicog** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:17 pm

Well I finally bit the bullet and cut them off,doubled up the thickness using the old track guards, also filled the front hull holes and tried some fake welds with body filler, primed and waiting for top coat once the rest is stripped off.

tiger205 · Post by **tiger205** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:35 pm

you've done a good job there andicog, i take it youre leaving the track guards off?

Tony

Andicog · Post by **Andicog** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:41 pm

Yes they are gone for good !

Ex_Pat_Tanker · Post by **Ex_Pat_Tanker** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:13 pm

Crispy wrote: As it was right in the middle of the deck this would've been a right pain to cut out with a dremel cutting disc. Also they tend to catch on the plastic as it buids up and melts from the friction. With the soldering iron it only took about 10 mins.

You need the special Dremel plastic cutting disks, not the ordinary brown ones that come with the drill sets. The surface is much rougher, so they don't catch like the others do (still make the place smell bad, tho!)

Crispy · Post by **Crispy** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:17 pm

Andicog, that looks great mate. Those welds are very convincing.

Ex Pat - Yeah i'll have to pick up some of those. Are they made from the same carbon material that if it catches or you flex them too much they shatter all over you? The times thats happened to me, its just as well I wear glasses. I must say i find melting plastic strangely therapeutic and takes me back to my childhood

Ex_Pat_Tanker · Post by **Ex_Pat_Tanker** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:23 pm

They're much thicker and more robust - they look like the kind of disk you would use for cutting tiles with.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... +90401+603

you probably should wear a dust mask as well - if it contains fibreglass there's a good chance that'll end up in your lungs.

oz · Post by oz » Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:49 pm

its not a track-guard more a track protector, has anyone put or tried this on one of their tigers....