The Life and Times of a Tiger 1

[DavidByrden]

the spare tracks, tools and MG42.

Tigers carried the MG34 only. The version without air holes in the sleeve.

I have seen a late Tiger with the early headlights, but deleted from the drivers side.

I find that hard to believe. Certainly the factory did not produce any Tigers in that configuration. Can you show us the photo?

David

[jarndice]

Westy Hi, The mg ball mount is really easy and CHEAP!!! You need a childs 10mm plastic bead,
Drill a hole through the middle just big enough for the mg34 barrel to pass through, if you have one I suggest you use a "PIN VISE" to drill the hole,
You will need to "DREMEL" out the plastic fake ball first before fitting the bead, BE CAREFUL, the speed of the "DREMEl" tends to melt the plastic and you could damage the glacis,
Put the bead in the space you have made,
Then push the mg 34 into the bead,
If the space behind the bead and mg is too big between it and the glacis, then make up a thick plate of plastic card with a hole for the wires,
Then reassemble the Glacis and job done.
shaun

[jarndice]

DAVID, In addition to your remarks on the headlights, as this build has a late model Cupola does that mean this model of Tiger 1 could/should have a single Headlight mounted in the centre of the Glacis?
shaun

[westyIII]

Yes one would expect the headlight in the centre on a late Tiger.

the spare tracks, tools and MG42.

Tigers carried the MG34 only. The version without air holes in the sleeve.

I have seen a late Tiger with the early headlights, but deleted from the drivers side.

I find that hard to believe. Certainly the factory did not produce any Tigers in that configuration. Can you show us the photo?

David

Hi David

I know they weren't issued the MG42, however I am claiming artistic license on this one I may replace it in the future, but not a huge priority.

Pic:


I am going to slightly amend what I said.
"however I have seen what appears to be a late Tiger with the early headlights, but deleted from the drivers side"

Is this one of the bodge jobs they did towards the end of the war?

Cheers jarndice, I was going to miliput the ball mount, I will see if I can dig out a 10mm BB!

Thanks

[jarndice]

Westy, I forgot to say that you do NOT glue the bead in place, perhaps that's obvious but my writing and grammar have always been suspect!
shaun

[DavidByrden]

That is an Early Tiger, still in use in 1945, upgraded with steel wheels.
It has both headlight stations, but the actual headlight is missing from the left socket, which is visible.
Headlights were normally stored inside the tank during combat.

David

[westyIII]

Ahhh, thanks David!

I will add the central headlight then. I thought I had found an easy fix!

[DavidByrden]

as this build has a late model Cupola does that mean this model of Tiger 1 could/should have a single Headlight mounted in the centre of the Glacis?

There is no specific "late model cupola". The cupola with 7 periscopes is common to the "mid" and "late" Tigers, although it had some detail differences at different times.

A Tiger with such a cupola could have 2 headlights, or it could have just one beside the driver, or it could have one in the middle of the front superstructure. It depends on the time when the Tiger was built.

David

[westyIII]

David you have enlightened us all on headlights !

I've been looking and I've seen 131 does not appear to have headlights or the sockets?

I'm not sure whether to remove the remaining headlight and socket completely or move one light to the centre.

[DavidByrden]

Yes, 131 at Bovington didn't have headlight sockets or wiring, even before it was captured. That is a mystery.

If you want to build headlights corresponding to a particular date of Tiger, I can tell you about that.

David