Bending Abers Tiger 1 exhaust shields

[John Glover]

Hi Tankers. Just wondered if any one knows the perfect tube size to bend this photo etch around. I did see in some ones post that they had glued a piece of tube on top of a straight edge block to get the correct shape but i cant find the post. Any help appreciated. Regards John.

[FredtheFrench]

Good question. I have the same thing to do...

[jarndice]

How early is your Tiger 1 going to be ?
I ask because the early Tunisian Tigers exhaust shrouds were not semi circular but rectangular.
Of course nobody builds them like that although using ABERS Tiger 1 Photo Etch it was an easy exercise to get the shape correct as well as bending the preformed attachment tags that allowed me to bolt them onto my Tiger 813 and if you get hold of Wolfgang Schneider's "Tigers in Combat" isbn 978-0-8117-3171-3 page 52 has a detailed photograph of the rear plate of a Tunisian Tiger 1 with the twin feifal air cleaners and the rectangular exhaust shrouds,
I do recommend this book as well as Volume 2 to anyone interested in the Tiger 1 & 2.
As to pre-forming the shape either round or rectangular the first thing to do is bend the attachment tags to 45 degrees each side then using a suitable square or round form depending on the particular exhaust shroud you have chosen bend the PE to shape ensuring that after the bend the attachment tags on each side end up ready to bolt/glue to the rear plate.

[John Glover]

Thanks for the reply Jarndice. I know about the different types of shields and to bend the mounting tabs first. Just thought some one might remember what size tube they used to get a accurate bend. Building a 131 Regards John.