1 Kompanie PzAbt 101 Tiger 131 Walter Hahn Project Diary

[Red Devils]

Looking great buddy...

Derek

[EddyK]

Very good explanations and pictures! Done very great job!
Edmunds

[Wildboar44]

Updated 16-11-2019
Thanks for your comments , really appreciate .

Note :: Aplogies for smaller pictures. Maximum upload on attachments is 10 items,
I am having to double them up as the following sections are picture heavy

A Dremmel was used to lower the moulding down to a millimeter or so followed by using a file and then the rubbing block to finish flush. Once the Aisiatam Hatches are offered up they fit onto the stud/pegs already moulded in . Nice

Opening up the hatches

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UNTIL...... you try to open them. This is a far as they open in standard form. They should open all the way over the vertical and lay at an angle canted toward the outside edge.This is the problem area, the lid stopping on the hull and the hinge contacting the hatch opening.

The problem begins

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By closing the hatch, marking the external edge of the metal hatch with a pen, and marking where hinges are, you can cut a slot that will allow the hatch to open up to the vertical. Be carefull not to go beyond the hatch line or your slot will be seen .

Cutting away access for the hatch arm

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There is a solution to this that tanks-for-the-memory came up with in his build that i was going to use. But I could not work out why HL would go to the trouble of fitting locating studs clearly designed for Asiatam hatches and not let them work properly. After taking some measurements, I found a solution to the problem.

First take a file and cut a 45degree angle on the inside face of the slot created earlier. Then on the Hatch hinge arm file away about 1-1.5mm from its thickness.

Removing this material helps the hatch lay back when open

Then you need to file off ( and in so doing increase the width of the "flat spot " of the hatch) from the standard 12mm to something like 15mm. Then with a file chamfer the new edge to about a 60-degree bevel

Reprofile edge of Hatch with a larger flat

And now it will open up all the way and lay as it should.

Opening Hatch with corret lay back

Lastly there is still room inside the opening to add a ridge cut from 0.5mm styrene card. It had to be "reemed" out with some wet and dry for the inner ring of the hatch to close properly. The hatched were then bonded in with epoxy 2-part resin. And thats the hatches complete ..................................

view of hatch from inside with styrene liner

Complete Hatch. Periscopes will be added later

Until the next post................



.

[Wildboar44]

Updated 16-11-2019

Meanwhile .........................a small thank you

Red, your a Legend. Thanks buddy

[Red Devils]

Outstanding dude and you are very welcome. By far the best thank you I have ever received. If you need anything else, drop me line. By the way, are those two going to be the crewman for your Tiger? They look awesome. My figure, Major Schmidt is ready to mount his chariot but will still be awhile before he rolls onto the Russian steppes. Once again you are very welcome for part and bro, you are very creative

Derek

[Wildboar44]

Outstanding dude and you are very welcome. By far the best thank you I have ever received. If you need anything else, drop me line. By the way, are those two going to be the crewman for your Tiger? They look awesome. My figure, Major Schmidt is ready to mount his chariot but will still be awhile before he rolls onto the Russian steppes. Once again you are very welcome for part and bro, you are very creative

Derek

Hey Derek your welcome , I just had a mad half hour before i went on my Easter break .

Well "Dude" and "Bro" are just a couple of unemployed tankers right now , Dude rides around on the Tiger or did before the strip down Bro normally lumps about in the Jadgpanther .

I will have to find four seated 1/16th scale figures if I am to model the picture correctly , but at £25 each thats a big ouch on the wallet !
.
Take care see you soon Ace

[Wildboar44]

Updted 17-11-2019
Ok peoples , with the Easter break over and a spare day off , got some more work done on the Hull top.

First was deepening the standard weld line along the Hull here .A slim file is used to follow the seem and deepen it

Preparing the seem for a milliput "weld" line

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Here is how I added the weld line with milliput. After kneeding the mix till warm,I rolled it out into a thin string and then pressed the roll into the channel. This was then scraped back with a model knife to remove excess and wetted flat with a small section of rounded styrene dipped in washing up liquid I used a cut stick shaped from a sprue to make the impression into the putty of welded seam.
NOTE : These weld lines were removed later in the build and re applied using a finer technique using watch makers screwdrivers.

Removing excess and flattening with washing up liquid.

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Weld seam added using cut and shaped sprue. Make sure it is wetted in the solution often

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While the milliput is out , I added some small weld lines to the hatch tops

Milliput rolled thin and added as weld lines with impression made with watchmakers screwdriver

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Weld line added to all hatches

Opening up the closed Driver Vision Block

Next was opening up the closed driver vision block on the standard HL glacia,it should look like this picture insert of the real thing.I was going to razor saw off the vision block and rebuild it with
styrene card to the open position,but I was surprided to see it was hollow !. I was on the net searching for decals/stencils for Tiger 131when I spotted this two part metal block from RC.TANK.DE,So I added this to the order as it was less than £4 !

Hollow Heng Long "closed" driver vision port and 2-part metal replacement from RC.TANK.DE

After dremmeling of the plastic version,I prepared a 1.5mm backing plate and a 1.0mm front plate. You will need this to mount the metal vision block back onto its original position.Create a sandwich either side of the original 1.0mm HL plastic front glacia, you end up with this.At the correct height, a slot was cut through both these panels AND the inner Hull,this will add some depth to the opening.

Create a sandwich of the 1.0mm front and 1.5mm rear backing plate
( Click for larger image)

New blanked off section and with added cut out

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Before the application of milliput zimmerit I needed to blank off the area where the metal driver vision port is to be bonded.I made a 1.5mm styrene template to the same shape so I could roll the zimmerit up to the template as doing this with the metal part in place would make roller application difficult. The template was bonded on with the smallest application of glue so it could be removed.

Dummy template for zimmerit application

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When the milliput was dry, the template was knocked off.

Completed application of zimmerit

[Red Devils]

Looking good buddy and great tips. Don't worry, the travel lock won't be that bad

Derek

[jarndice]

Wildboar, I am in the process of removing the tools on my Tiger 1 and the tip about using the stone in my Dremmel box has come in very handy ( always wondered what it was for) But now I am faced with a scarred area that was once imprinted with a tread plate pattern and I wish I knew how to reinstate it, Aber do tread plate but I have yet to see any in situ, so pattern or size are a bit of a mystery. I wish you more success with your project. great build. shaun

[Wildboar44]

Hey Shaun......

Im not sure of the cost of Aber tread plate , but scanning Ebay for spare hull tops , I would consider (for the cost of most £5-£10) purchasing a spare hull and razor sawing your damaged section out and replacing with a panel from the donar purchased hull ? . Plasticard and patience work wonders
and often dont cost much . Hope that helps Gordo


Updated 18-11-2019
Before I fitted the metal vision block in place, I needed to simulate the metal plate holder for the
single Bosch headlight, luckily again the sprue from the Taigen engine grills is the same width as the base plate from the headlight.

Single lamp plate holder made from sprue from Engine grill set

This was added to the glacia by using two part epoxy glue and wrapping it around the hull top, the vision block was then installed and bonded on.

Vision Block Bonded on with 2-part epoxy glue and brass lamp plate

A little bit of simulated weld was added to the reverse with milliput

Simulated weld lines on lamp holder

To milliput Zimmerit the front Hull lower plate, I needed to remove the original Rubber Zimmerit, It will come off easy enough (Can almost be used again!) but it does leave a lot of residue behind.

Removing the rubber imprinted zimmerit from the first build.

The only safe method I have come across is your good old thumbs to rub / roll up the glue and then peal it off. I tried several chemical spirits but nothing removed it as cleanly as a sore finger !

Removing the old glue with your thumb

Lastly for the day , a coat of Roller Zimmerit was applied to the lower Hull . This was still wet while photo was taken, after it has dried, like the glacia you can file / trim the high spots .

Milliput zimmerit applied to lower glacia

Until the next post............

Armoured fan mount
Tool box mount
Hull side Zimmerit
Fire extingusher mount
Relocation of engine decking catch
Engine access plate
Engine grills

And the dreaded Travel lock......

Until then Tankon .