"PRODUCTION" TURRET KING TIGER

[HERMAN BIX]

Well team I got a bit peeved with things, just didnt seem to be getting into forward gear.
Put the hull back together with the turret back on.Fitted the idlers, Welded the track hangers & MG ring (cut the MG mount off though as those Shumo ones are bloody brilliant- must get one)
Made up the late model tank vents using left over brass fittings from the PzIII build for the tube bezels. Drilled holes accordingly & used fine solder as the vent tubes.
Still need to do the brackets for the rear tubes, but the effect is pretty good.
Secured the PE vent debris guards. Decided not to prime them as 2 layers of paint might flatten the detail to much.

Plan to fit anti aircraft armour to the rear deck vents and perhaps add a few hooks here & there.
Also the mudguard mounts that would be exposed due the the guards themselves being torn off need to be created.
A side line discovery is that the rear mud flaps on this H/L version cover cavities in the rear hull plate where the side armour stops short of the sponson armour.
Yes, yes...........shoulda, coulda, didnt buy a tamiya hull !!!!!! but 'cest la vie'

[billpe]

If you're doing a late one with the fuel vents, it's more than likely it's also one where the jack and jack block have been deleted. Most of these also had no track rope.

[HERMAN BIX]

Cheers mate, its the one that wheeled out of the plant on transport tracks & had the 18 tooth drive sprocket etc.
Ive fitted the jack mounts, but never intended one to be carried, that along with the normal accoutrements found on German AFV's conspicuous by absence on these late ones makes the job a little easier in some ways.
I will most probably fit recovery cables, but only in the ready-use position across the hull from front to rear on the D-shackles.

I cant fit my one out with the late running gear(tracks etc) as this thing still has to be mobile & to be honest, the wide hardware looks way better
Looking at the very limited front and left/right quarter views the Octopus King has(what are visible) all the haulmarks of the very last model of the KT produced, but it was the paint which made it the enigma that it is I reckon....................

Got a few brackets on, no way a Mr Hugill caper with bolt heads etc, but they look effective in the grand scheme of things.

[HERMAN BIX]

Do you feel it would have likely had the factory fitted anti aircraft armour Mr Bilpe ?
Im going with plausible/likely as this practice was becoming much more widespread in the field and I have seen a picture of what appears to be factory fitted plates. I will try & find the picture so I can get the feel from you old hands.

[HERMAN BIX]

Do you feel it would have likely had the factory fitted anti aircraft armour Mr Bilpe ?
Im going with plausible/likely as this practice was becoming much more widespread in the field and I have seen a picture of what appears to be factory fitted plates. I will try & find the picture so I can get the feel from you old hands.

Ok, found the pics.
What do you thinks lads ?

[billpe]

Those armour plates were almost certainly put on at the factory. It was one of the standard revisions they made to the design at the factory like the torsion bar on the rear hatch, fuel vents etc. Where the problem lies is there is no pattern to what changes were applied to which tank. Some have some of these changes but not others. So other than the factory applied camouflage there is a variety in what can be added or removed and there isn't much a rivet counter can do to challenge it.

[HERMAN BIX]

I will fit them making the assumption the latest production machines would most likely have had them IF they were completed enough to fuel & arm to go direct to the fight.
Overcame the minor glitch/oversight on the rear plate where the side armour stops short of the sponsons but the mud flap would normally cover up.
Used gap filler as its more flexible and shrinks less than the normal putty material. A quick cut with a razor blade or craft knife will allow me to open the hull if required in the future.
Cut up some left over plastic sheet & superglued them into each gap on the lower side armour next to the guards.
Once the filler is dry I will dress the ends to match the upper & see how it looks.

[HERMAN BIX]

A quick touch up of the blended rear plate & fannies ya live in Aunt.
Had a bit of a gin around with the late model reinforced front guard ribs.
Not so bad to reproduce.
The biggy is with the 3 sections of side guards on the left hull removed, how to represent the mounting blocks and bolts remaining after the guards were ripped away..................(likely by the same Soviet jack burglars that started out selling scrap jacks to the black market & now have branched out to the plain old scrap metal market, onsold through brokers to third world manufacturers that turn the material into counter-weapons & beat the embargos) I digress
The theoretical space gap left by one side would annoy the crap out of me for the other side if not similarly addressed.
Solution would be both runs of guard come off to be suitably spaced off the hull with the historical mounting blocks.

I feel an overwhelming aura of "He Shoulda bought a Tamiya hull" / "I told ya so" moment , and I agree, but "there are many others like it, but this one is mine" shall triumph

I it weren't for the historic pics then both lots of guard would be goneburgers.

[SovereignZuul]

Wowza, those cut marks and weld lines on the armor are amazing! Far better than my cartoony welds. A+ work herman! No reason you can't take this KT past Tamiya level detail.

[ALPHA]

Having fun with this one eh Herman....it kind of shows


ALPHA