Tiger 412 - s.pz.abt 506 - Ardennes Offensive

[littletankman]

Hi Rik . Coming on nicely . I like the working hatch locks . And the periscopes are very good . Keep those picts coming mate.

all the best Andy

[grim_marmazet]

Show more of the build for everyone to see. Todays post shows the construction of the Aber driver's hatch interior. These are a beast to put together, and have taken me one step closer to loosing my eyesight, lol.

The first step is to add the supports for the locking arms and the center post.


Next up were the hinge mounts and the hatch spring assembly.


I put together the periscopes next and then painted them and added the perspex glass and foil 'mirrors'.




I got a bit carried away on the next part and forgot to take pictures, but I have one of the installed assemblies for the periscope holder and the locking mechanism.


Also a close up of the folded bolts on the hinger mount plate, they have very tiny washers underneath as well.


Once the paint and glue on the periscopes had dried I fitted those.


The only thing left to do was fix the hatch in place. Very simply done with some copper wire and CA glue. I drilled a little into the hull, glued the wire in place, the put the hinge mount on the wires, and liberally applied glue, afterall once, the roof is on, you'll never see the internal detail.


I added the recessed screws for the hinge on the upper surface as well, just drilled some holes and inserted a bit of styrene rod with a slit cut in the end. Its a tiny detail, and will be mostly unoticable when painted, but I feel the little details add to the model.


And to finish up a few pictures of the finished hatches. My Tiger can now be buttoned up!




The Aber sets are a pain to put together, and their instructions aren't the best, but they sure do look awesome when finished.

Next installment will be ammunition!

Cheers,
Rik

[Saxondog]

Looking forward to the next posting,Saxondog

[grim_marmazet]

As promised here is some ammo, the Aber 8.8cm Tiger 1 ammo and box to be precise. This set is quite expensive at £23.50 from Historex, but its worth it for detail alone!
The Shells are steel and the cartridge cases are brass, and need no cleaning up at all. The shells just pop into the cases without the need for glue, and Aber provide decals for high explosive or armour piercing shells, and you just paint the shell accordingly.



The box is made of individual planks of what appears to be balsa wood, and can simply be glued together, I just used CA glue, and it holds it fine.



In usual Aber style, they've gone massively overboard on detail, the racking in the case is there, and it has LOADS of tiny brass 'nails' (they are flat brass with a folded head, and you need to drill a hole for them. But they add the correct nails). There is a stencil for the outside of the box, and tiny, tiny decals for the shells and casings which all seem to be correct. Theres a small PE fret for the padlock latch on the front, but they dont supply the padlock, which is fine.




I still need to paint the box, i'm going for panzer grey outside and white inside, and the shells, apply the decals, and the stencilling on the top, and the 'nails' and latch, then a small part of the stowage is done.

I do have a couple of questions though. What would the shells be packed in? I was going to make something similar to hay to put around them. Also, do you think these boxes would have rope handles, or would they be too heavy for that?

Cheers,
Rik

[littletankman]

Hi Rik . OH MY GOD those front hatches are briliant mate and those periscopes . You just need a shrinking machine then you could climb into your tank . Absolultly spot on mate .

Andy

P.s. Hows your eyes O.O

[grim_marmazet]

Thanks Andy, lets just say im going to need new glasses by the time I finish this tank! lol
The hatches look amazing on the tank, and the switches for the smoke and power are hidden under them. I may add a few minor internal details, so when you look in the hatch you can see something, but there's really not much room left after installing the schumo gear reducers.

Now all the major structures are on the Tiger, its purely detail work. For some reason, I think thats going to take the longest! lol
Cheers,
Rik

[littletankman]

Hi Rik . You are doing a wonderfull job on this tank mate . I cant wait to see it finished oh and some more pictures . Keep up the good work.

Andy

[grim_marmazet]

I've decided to do a little structural reinforcement today!

I know the Tiger hull is notorious for flexing, and the weight of the aluminuim barrel and its counterweights were making the upper hull bend, so I decided the Tiger needed some added strength. Im using brass box tube to reinforce the hull, with a width of about 4mm.

On the underside of the upper hull I added one across the width of the section, just infront of the radiator grills. The front end is supported but the kit crossbeam, which is used to screw the hull down. I also added a section of tube down one side of the turret, but couldn't on the other side due to the rotation gear.
On a side note I superglued the clutch on the rotation gear, its now much stronger, and doesn't slip.



I put 2 beams across the lower hull to reduce the flex, and keep the hull stable. They have the side benefit of providing places to attach the cables too.
Do excuse the mess in there, im not a tidy electronics person really.



I also added one to the rear plate, just to keep that stable as well.



It does make the Tiger run a little bit more stable as well, especially over bumps.

Cheers,
Rik

[grim_marmazet]

I've readded all the pictures to this thread again for anyone who's interested.
Cheers,
Rik

[Matdragon]

thanks mate the pictures in this thread would be a shame to not have! an extreme build!

looking forward to future updates!

Matt