RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

So your going for "243"
Ok here is a list of what is different from what you get in the box.
The rear fenders are one piece and carry a curve from the base to halfway up the outside edge,
The front fenders are a sheet of plate with a slight downward curve without a hinged side panel, they do not reach the side fenders.
The front Turret Mantlet is flat except for the side bars, ( when flattening the mantlet you will find that the area around the gunners vision ports is so thin that you will need to use filler),
There were two vision ports above the drivers vision slit,
Some people put a grab handle and a step on the front but it is unclear whether this was a one off or a field modification.
The back panel has different shaped Exhaust Shrouds, Instead of being semi-circular they consist of three flat panels with three ventilation ribs on the left and right side of each exhaust shroud,
The Feifal air cleaners are not as you usually see them, instead they are four "pots" mounted onto the base of the later model air cleaner, you can make them or buy them, The early static TAMIYA Tiger 1 was modelled with them and a sprue with them on is still out there.
Off hand I cannot think of anything else
Good luck. shaun

If you really want it, this is the list of changes for 243. Nobody's saying you have to make them, but they exist. It's maybe a bigger conversion than you thought.
The turret bin is a completely different one. It's wider, it has parallel sides, and it has a gap between itself and the turret. Also, the crews in the 2nd company were fond of attaching wooden ammunition boxes to it.

There are two pistol ports, instead of that big hatch on the side.

The mantlet is flat. After all your work on your own mantlet, you might prefer Tiger 223, the only one in the battalion with a "thick" mantlet.



(You can see an ammunition box attached to the turret bin, in that photo.)
The little pairs of strip mounts for the S-mine system are not on these Tunisian tanks.

The long rectangular thing behind the driver's hatch is not there.

The tow cable is slightly different; the outer end is not positioned behind the inner end, it's forward instead, because of not having the strips there. There is less cable on the engine deck as a result, and the clips there are moved forward a little.

The cable holders (on either side of the turret) are different. The wooden rod is broken into 5 rather than 6 pieces, so the left ones are shorter. They are also farther apart.

The antenna tube at rear right corner is the other way around (wide end at the back) and the wide part of it actually hangs out over the edge of the hull.



The front mudguards are completely different; narrow, no folding portion, and with a diamond pattern surface and different hinges.

Two open holes are located above the driver's visor.

Spare tracks are stored in brackets on the front upper wall, including some track from a Pz.3.

The front edges of the hull sides are shorter, Kslanting forward, and the tow shackles in them are higher up.



The side mudguards are very different. The front ones are shorter than the rear ones, they are attached in a bent line rather than an exact straight line, and they have no end panels.



The rear mudguards are very different. Narrow, with no folding portion. Three ribs with built-in handles.

The toolbox is not sitting in a special shaped tray, it's just resting on 3 metal bars with a single strap.

The exhaust shields are a different shape and have ventilation slots cut in them.

The exhaust pipes don't have that cover standing over the top valve.

The adaptor plate between the exhausts is attached at an angle, not vertical.

The Feifels have two cylinders on top, not a single compartment. The rear cap is in a different place.

There is no tool stored at the bottom right of the hull wall.

That's all!

David

Jeeeeez, welcome to the world of Tiger modelling.
First off, thank you both for taking your time to explain the differences between this tank and other ones in the company.
David, I think I will take your advice and base mine on number 223, anything else I need to know about this one or is it a fairly standard model ( said loosely).

Once again thank you both for your advice and info.

Regards
Martyn.

If you want to go ahead with this, good luck to you!
I can provide photos of the various details. Just ask for them one by one; I don't want to post everything at once.

David

Martyn, And you thought they all looked the same?
David is the Forums recognised expert on Armour of the WW2 period and I suggest that he could probably fill three or more pages on the different locations of Tiger 1 Headlights,
I can think of at least three places they were to be found,
Yes Tiger 1s were amazingly varied in there fixtures and fittings, This actually works to your advantage because these changes were happening all the time, it gives a modeller more leeway than a more fixed design. And you have one big advantage, You are not having to learn the hard way unlike me and too many others,
I have lost count of the number of stripdowns of a Tunisian Tiger 1 I have had to do to try to get it right .
shaun

Shaun, I know, its silly, but yep I really thought they was all basically the same. I mean for gods sake they where all built in the same factory, to the same plans ------- still, that's what makes this hobby fun -------- you learn something new all the time.

David,
Thank you for your kind offer of posting photos of various details, I have started to make mounting boards inside the tank for the R/C installation and the other bits and pieces needed to make her a runner, but then I intend to start and get the rear end sorted out, so if you have some pics of 223's backside I would be very gratefull.

Regards
Martyn.

Martyn Hi, Can I make a suggestion that has made my Tanks interiors more manageable?
I unscrew the plastic floor and cut a sheet of "VELCRO" to size and glue that to the floor,
Every thing that fits on the floor such as the Control board, the smoker, the Battery, and the receiver, I glue a Male/female "VELCRO" strip to.
You are then able to move/remove anything in the Hull and yet guarantee it is securely positioned.
"VELCRO" is readily available on E-BAY in all sizes and colours, And it is CHEAP!!!
shaun

Shaun,
Me like, I am all in favour of simple and effective, why over engineer something ?. E Bay here I come.

Thanks
Martyn

Evening,
Belief it or not this build is still slowly crawling forward, just not had the time to do much on her as I would like.
Made up a internal tub with some 1mm plastic card ready for all the control boards and other gubbins.



Ripped all the fittings of the rear end



And filled holes and slots etc, with filler (though I have a sneeky feeling that the air filters are gonna be the wrong type and I might have to try and make some of the earlier ones ??) any advice ??

The exhaust pipes have a dirty great big slot in them, and as I have no intention of fitting a smoking device in her, they were filled in and sanded down.



Then there's the exhausts rear guards, which off course have to be different to the curved type which were normally fitted, so I got some 0.5 mm brass sheet, marked out a design which looks ok to my eye's, cut em out and bent them to shape (from what I can gather these were made in the field anyway so there's going to be a fair bit of artistic licence involved)



More later

Martyn.