Pale's Tamiya KT

[billpe]

You can buy the underside of the sponsons which come on later versions of the Tamiya KT. They fit the older version but you'll need to drill out some holes so you can bolt them onto the hull.

[HERMAN BIX]

Thats so good on Tamiyas behalf, makes life a lot easier to have options.

[billpe]

They still need a layer of plastic card stuck on over the top if you want to fill the gap entirely. To be honest I've never found it a problem with stuff getting inside. If you're going to drive in the wet then it's better to use something like CorrosionX on the electronics or mount them in a water tight box anyway. Water will come in through the final drive holes.

[palepainter]

I do all my plate-cut marks and welds where possible by melting, or hot-scoring.
Seems to be a more controlled method for me anyway.

If I may be so bold as to suggest lowering the rear anti-aircraft armour plate height so the front set will be just cleared by the turret overhang at the same height and adding the debris mesh. Could be an optical illusion and camera angle, but the rears just seem a bit high.

The sponsons being open over the track must surely as you say be a motor-killer. The H/L version of this with the production turret is closed in, but to remove the mud guards is a hell of a mission as the top of the guard is moulded to the side of the hull. Once you cut the guard off, the hull is breached.............goods and bads on all brands I suppose

This "back-to-the -future" build is already shaping up to be an epic.................

Thanks Herman, I will look at the height of the plates. Easy fix at this point. The sponsoons are a concern. I mentioned them earlier in the thread, but got no response. I was thinking of enclosing the upper hull by adding plastic to seal it off, but if I can find Tamiya's parts, that will save me some hassle.

Pale

[palepainter]

You can buy the underside of the sponsons which come on later versions of the Tamiya KT. They fit the older version but you'll need to drill out some holes so you can bolt them onto the hull.

Thanks for that bit of information Billpe. I will look around. I would imagine that they will be a difficult piece to find.

Pale

[billpe]

No, they're a stock part. You'll be able to find them at http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/katalog/.

[palepainter]

No, they're a stock part. You'll be able to find them at http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/katalog/.

Wow, I am now like a kid in the candy store. Thank you. I was excited to see they have the later drive motors, but out of stock. I will have to keep an eye open for them. The USD is not that far off the Euro right now.

Pale

[billpe]

I think there's a fairly good Tamiya stockist in the US which is attached to one of the armour museums. The US guys on RCU seem to use it allot. Can't remember what it's called though. There's also ETO armour in the US, but they only stock aftermarket parts. The gearboxes they sell will fit your KT should you wish to use them. They are the same as the ones I used in mine and you can see them on my thread about the FO KT conversion.

[palepainter]

Messing around a bit more this evening. I lowered the rear armor plates over the engine deck. I also fabricated the spare track mounts on the sides of the turret. Then I decided to bbq my fingers by creating the weld lines with a very hot soldering iron and some styrene round stock glued in place. Was going great till I decided to try to use two hands for the project. I am blaming it on the beers.

I found a bunch of small Panther parts left over from my Ersatz build and decided they would be handy with this one as well. I changed over the rail on the commander cupola and added the MG to the mount. I took one of the lights from that Panther parts bag and modified it for the KT main light on the front.

I am not too concerned with recreating an actual documented tank. I am going to treat it like...I was the commander and I had the ability to scavenge what ever I wanted for it when I ran across it. So, with that in mind, I am considering a Vampir Infrared system on it, which I can use to hide a laser used for target acquisition in the local IR battles. Having too much fun with those lasers.

Pale

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[HERMAN BIX]

Thats looking the business Mr Pale
I also notice the glacis plate strike marks ! Nice detail......
I have had thoughts on how to recreate those in scale since doing one on my Jagdpanther a while back..............
After seeing the strikes on the Jagdtiger at Aberdeen PG, & the front of '213 in La Gleise, the only way to get the scale depth is to add material to the inside of the area and bloody near use a melon-baller to make the gouge !!
The marks are very deep and sure do take a lot of armour out.
I can only assume these are 76mm rounds, fired close in after the beast was subdued, just to see if they could get one through......nope, not one.