Jussek's Tiki Tiger I

[Professor]

Excellent job jussek great ideas

[Jussek]

many thanks, Professor!

[Jussek]

good morning,

this weekend was mainly devoted to reorganize the internals of my new metal edition Torro KöTi (i will open a new topic soon)

the only advances i've made on Tiki are related to solve some problems generated after swaping the HL airsoft system by an VS one.

as I said before, i purchased the vs system with the longest tube possible, the gearbox for the Leopard 2A6. Anyhow, this leo barrel was a bit short, about 15-18mm, and sometimes, if the tank was not in level terrain (ie, in an slope) , the pellets would hit the muzzle brake. Hitting it very hard. I was afraid of eventually breaking it, so i ordered a metal muzzle brake from rctank.de.

the problem was that the plastic canon of my tiger (the external part) had the muzzle brake molded. I then had to 'dremelize' it. At this point i was in some trouble, because i had to found a solution to solve the issue of the 'short' VS internal tube, and at thje same time i had to found some support for the new muzzle brake (only with glue between the rear part of the metal muzzle brake and the end part on the plastic canon would lead to nowhere solid).

i meassured the internal and external diameters of the vs gun tube, the HL external plastic tube and the new muzzle brake, and decided to try this:



it's in spanish, but i will translate quickly the text:

- black text: it refers to the internal Ø of the external (HL) gun tube and the muzzle brake
- red text: it refers to the Ø (internal and external) of the VS metal tube
- green text: it refers to the 'solution'

thsi solution finaly was a piece of brass sheet (25x25x0.12mm). It had to 'mount' over the VS metal barrel, go trough the final part of the HL plastic external tube and 8mm beyond this point, in order for: A) guide the balls outisde, and B) serve as suport for the muzzle brake.

and here you are some pics:

with the brass tube already inserted (the plastic strap is for not letting the two plastic parts of the tube to come apart while the glue made his work )



the muzzle brake beign inserted:



this is the VS tube, where the brass piece had to overlap:



and finally all was well glued together:







it's not necessary to say that i was doing test firings all along the process in oder to verify that no issues were present BEFORE i applied the glue...

best regards!

[Triton]

Absolutely a fantastic build and thread Jussek! You have much to be proud of. I look forward to the finish.
Well done.
Triton aka Stu

[Triton]

Absolutely a fantastic build and thread Jussek! You have much to be proud of. I look forward to the finish.
Well done.
Triton aka Stu

[Jussek]

hi triton,

thank you very much for your kind words!

at this moment i'm in full swing, but... i've found myself more work!

i've added to the "to do" list i write down in my first post something new:

- new working rear mudguards, made from brass sheet, like the frontal ones
- new side trackguards, made from iron can sheet

i've the side trackguards already cut and with shape done, i'm in the process of soldering que internal triangular supports, but have to wait until a new 'jet solder' arrives, the one i was using died

meanwhile, i'm glueing again the supports for the track changing cable and for the tow cables, also, i 've to redo some of them, they become damaged when i took them apart from the hull.

so the updated list of the first post is:

(not in chronological order):

- Tracks jumping off. I’ve tried a lot of ideas and tips. I’ve been only able to solve it exchanging the track tensioning system (with springs) for the HennTEC one. No more tracks off since then (I will cross my fingers…)
- Ball bearing supports for gearbox shafts
- Plastic road wheels and axles reinforced with polyester putty. ‘Double’ wheels simulated.
- Frontal ‘armor’ added, sheet of metal under the extra track links in order to protect the lower frontal hull from rock hits.
- swapped HL airsoft system for a VS Leo2A6 one. It hurts now!
- corrected canon length
- Track change cable made from cupper wire, supports from bits of metal (from a floppy disk)
- Tow cables made from steel, supports made from bits of resin
- Gun cleaning rods made from wood
- Discarded HL aerial, made a internal one from an old radio antenna (the cable type)
- Moved aerial to the correct spot, simulated it with the HL one cut to size and shrink tube.
- Corrected position of the commander cupola. Now to be exchanged with a metal one.
- Cut ‘separation’ between fenders --> plastic fenders discarded
- Added armored cover to the lower hull air intake (next to the jack wooden block)
- Added engine grills
- Added periscopes
- made the turret vision slits look as if they were actual slits
- modified exhaust, off the protecting cover
- modified Feifels to early two drums type
- modified the jack: added base, supports and crank handle
- added the Bosch lights wiring
- Added transmission armored covers
- Added cooling fan to the RX18
- Sound changed to a Beier USM-HL Soundmodul, customized sounds made by myself from internet sources.
- Speaker upgraded to a Visaton FRS7 in a bigger wooden box.
- New ‘waterproof’ container for all the electronics inside the lower hull
- Rigid gearbox covers to prevent oil splashes
- moved sound potentiometer and all switches under radio operator and driver hatches
- Two wireless mini cameras installed one on the driver visor port, the other looking via the turret MG hole.
- swapped 'metal' gears with steel ones, very noise reduction achieved
- working frontal fenders made from brass
- correct turn point for the turret
- correct shape to the Rommelkiste
- correct shape of the elevation trunnions (without hole and with mushroom shape)
- Added wiring to the smoke grenade launchers, and smoke grenades
- sanded off: molded tools, water tight cover for air intake, extra aerial tube on the left side of the hull, right convoy light.
- New jack block made from wood

And the list of things/mods/corrections I’m doing at this moment:

- New pry bar made from metal
- working rear mudguards made from brass
- metal side trackguards made from iron sheet (from some olives can)
- new tools supports made from brass
- weld lines made with milliput
- new driver and radio operator periscopes
- new cleaning rods (Tiki had 5, not 6, and they were longer)

i'm sure some new 'features' will be added to the 'to do' list

best regards

[jeff1101]

This is incredibly nice work.

[Jussek]

thanks a lot, Jeff

[Jussek]

hello again,

a little bit of advances

i've made (from an olive can, iron sheet)and installed the side fenders/trackguards, or how you name them
also the cable holders, all of then are working ones



here they are yet not glued in place:









here with the front fenders in position (not glued in place yet)





and today i started (and almost finished) working on the rear fenders:





they are made from olive can iron sheet, paper clip (for the axis), and brass for the reinforcements

best regards!

[Jussek]

just finished them







aaaaaaaaaaaaand, also, a little detail i forgot to post before:





and, some could say: why?

here you are the explanation, the real thing






best regards