1:6 tiger, info needed

[streetfighterjeff]

right , not done any scratch building, but i fancy having a go. so in that vein, i'm thinking about a 1:6 tiger. going to do the lower hull in steel and the upper in wood. the way i see it, it should be a fairly easy build as it is all flat planes with on the curve round the back of the turret. before i start though i'm going to need to know where i can get things like tracks and wheels, a barrel and the pioneer tools. also where would i find plans? can get them blown up if not at 1:6 , just need to know the ratio. any help, advice or general micky taking is welcome. cheers guys
jeff

[Saracen]

I'm surprised no-one has answered this yet, given the number of Tigers on the forum

For tracks and wheels, you could contact either Mark-1-Tanks or Armortek. I know Armortek were selling complete sets of tracks a while ago but I have a feeling that was for existing owners only.

For plans, probably the best site on the web is David Byrden's tiger1.info site:

http://tiger1.info/vehicle.html

The Bovington Tank Museum sell a plans pack, though these are usually photocopies of items from their archives, which can be of varying quality in both the original material and the copying process. Don't expect CAD drawings giving all the dimensions

If you can find a copy, "Tiger! - The Tiger Tank: A British View" is a hardback book written around the original examination of Bovington's Tiger 131 and has a lot of interesting drawings, photographs and test results.

Adrian.

[streetfighterjeff]

cheers bud, just looking at getting info and prices before i start. dont want to build it and find it costs an arm and a leg for daft stuff. i'll check out those site. cheers again, jeff

[jdflute]

Tracks and sprockets are the real killer for any scratch built project, I was fortunate enough to be able to deal with Alex in Russia directly, and whilst they were still expensive, (but cheaper than getting them through a re-seller/distributor such as Mark 1), they were weren't right for my project (1/8th scale Modern MBT). I ended up using Kenny Kong in China which was still about $550 and that was five years ago, but I played around with different ideas before then.
Have a look at this how to article for cheap alternatives
http://www.rctankcombat.com/articles/track-systems/
You could also try Intralox http://www.intralox.com/ they were more than happy to supply small quantities of their belt systems as long as you sent them photos of your completed project. Their site can be a bit tricky to navigate around but here is a sample of what they produce. http://www.intralox.com/hLaunch_nd-nag-eu3.aspx?id=2014
RC Armory were alsovery helpful so you might try them as well
http://www.rcarmory.com/links.html

Remember that most scratchbuilt projects that fail, do so because of the tracks and sprockets, getting that right is the most important and difficult hurdle you are going to face.
Jd