Tamiya King Tiger Full Option Barrel Wobble Fix with photos

[John Glover]

I had heard how bad the barrel wobble was that the Tamiya King Tiger full option has and now have experienced this with the assembly of my King Tiger. A lot of this is side to side movement . This fix will get rid of 90 % of the barrels side ways movement . You need to remove the the yellow plastic push clip then the yellow insert plug that the push clip pushes into that are located in the trunnion sections. You will need a section of 3.5mm thin wall brass tube. Must be thin wall. Cut and file each brass tube section at approximately 4mm in length and test fit. The trunnion holes are 3.5mm O.D so the brass tube will go in. You have as much of the brass tube section going into the hole as possible . Some adjustment filing may be required of the brass tube because you will find that the brass tube will not go all the way through the trunnion parts as the hole is on a taper . By memory you will have something like 3mms inserted into the hole but what you want is for the brass tube to be flush with the edge of the trunnion so the yellow plugs assemble as normal There is no drilling required and you could not anyway as all the trunnion parts have been assembled so there would be no way to use a drill anyway. Once test fitted to the hole remove the brass tube section and slip this onto the yellow insert plug and you will find it is a nice snug fit on the insert plugs shaft. Then insert this into the hole then reinstall the push clip.[ Remember]You have filed the brass tube for a test fit so the yellow clips can seat as they would have been normally.. This makes for a lot smaller tolerance to get rid of that sloppy fit between the parts. If you are about to assemble a kit and have not glued every thing together you can pass a 3.5mm drill all the way through the trunnion parts which will remove the tapered section of the hole before assembly so you can have a longer brass tube run all the way through the trunnion parts for a fantastic fit with no sideways movement. In the first photo you can just make out that the hole in the trunnion part differs from one side to the other in its O.D which shows the taper. I have done both of these mods. Pretty simple but you will like it .I also found that having a solid gear instead of the slipper clutch gear in the elevation motor helped the barrel slap a lot. Regards John.

[John Glover]

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[HERMAN BIX]

Great insight Mr Glover. I reckon any idea to steady the wobbly barrel on a Tamy KT is a good one.

If you are going to turn this into a build thread, it can remain here, or, I will move it to "Things to fix" section for clarity & less places to look.

[John Glover]

Hi Herman .I will be posting a build thread on my King Tiger but I can just make mention in that that I did this mod and where to find it, so move it to Things to fix. regards John.