HL Tiger build.

[mickyb]

Hi Guys, 
well the Tiger is coming along slowly. I have half the Zimmerit done, lengthened the barrel, swiveled the pistol port, mantle and turret hatch, filled in the red LED hole, and fitted a small tube for ther turret m/c gun.

My observations so far:
1.When I stripped the tank down I found that it came apart very easily.... the person who put it together used hardly and glue. I will have to take it completely apart and re glue it cos it will cartainly fall apart during play time.

2.The zimmerit looks good, but it is a pig to do. I used the Milliput putty as you recommended. It is very stiff when mixed, and a bugger to spread thinly and evenly across a panel, if you wet your thumb slightly you can push it out, it works easier just like clay. Milliput is resin based so you mustnt get the water into its surface...just enough to allow your thumb to slide across it and work it across a panel... 1mm thickness is about rite for marking in the zimmerit pattern with a tool. It has a long working time (depending on ambient temperature), sticks well to the plastic, dries hard in 4 - 6 hours, and doesnt shrink. After using the white coloured stuff I discovered that they make red as well. It is the same colour as terracotta pottery.....if you chip your cammo paint it will look like rust or red lead underneath so red is better than the white I used..... and its a quid cheaper for some strange reason. Got mine from Hobbycraft for £4 a tube. They also sell plastic putty knives 1 cm wide for 60p...perfect for marking the zimmerit patern and it wont stick to the putty if you keep it slightly dampened at the working end.

3.When I cut the barrel to add the extra piece in order to lengthen it, the barrel fell in half......no glue to speak of here either.
When I make my boats I use an epoxy called DEVCON. It comes in 2 squeezy bottles, each are graduated in ml, it is relatively quick setting and totally oil and waterproof. I build all my boats with it.......Trouble is it costs about £15.....but you get about 1/3rd of a pint of glue. It states that the glued joint will hold up to 2 ton shear.

4. When I took the motors off the gearboxes, 1 gearbox was nice and loose, the other tight. I took the tight one apart and found a gear off centre, a thin copper washer drilled out to fit the shaft centered it nicely onto its following gear, but it deffinately needs running in cos its stiff. Toofpaste for the gears and a large Peroni or two for me  tomorrow.

5. 1 motor ran fine and was pretty torquey, but the other stalled and needed physically spinning to get it going again.... they are both on their second hour running on a 4 volt battery as I type this. I was going to replace them both with German motors but I cant get cogs the same as the HL ones. Pulling the cogs off the existing motor shafts is easy, but according to Howes models, they are prone to splitting......guess they can stay on where they are so I hope the dodgy one runs in ok.

6. All the metal upgrade parts arived from Tankzone within 2 days of ordering them, and the cheque is on the way to Germany for the LOUD stuff from messrs EL and Mod.

well thats it so far...cant afford any grub this week, so if anyone is going to the chippy...............

[Norse]

Mike be warned the metal upgrades make it ALOT heavier so DO NOT drop it on ya toes.....it hurts alot

Also grats on the tank and cant wait to see lotsa piccies!

[mickyb]

Hi Norse, this is taking up a lot of time...its getting in the way of the other project I am sposed to be working on.

Still, I can do the Tiger in the lounge.....I cant get the other project in here and its cold in the garage!

[adin]

I like the "other" project , lots of metal add-ons there lol. Any plans to add Zimmerit?

Seriously it sounds like you're going to have a great Tiger when its finished and I for one can't wait to see the photo's

P.S. Love the sig

[Matdragon]

hey hey nice project, not nagging but really this should be in the HL builds section LOL

but nice going, once finished im sure you will be pround of that zimmerit!!

cheers,

Matt

[[ICE]monkey]

hi there, great build so far, i told you it was addictive, keep the posts comming , i will add my build when ive got the time,  just to keep you on your toes lol
all the best,cliff

[adin]

Mickyb,

Now I'm home from work and looked at that photo properly - where was it taken matey?

I can see 2 Hunters, 2 Jet Provosts , 3 Buccaneers , a Victor and a Canbera , a Guppy and 1 other aircraft in the background that I should know lol. Looks like my kind of airfield

[BREL]

my guess is lasham airfield

[adin]

I've been to Lasham this year and they had nothing like those planes at SWAAPS. I used to live in Basingstoke a few years ago and still visit occasionally