MATORRO JAGDTIGER CONVERSION

[Glasgowtanker]

Hi
I am going to watch this with interest as I picked one of these up in the UK around a month or 2 ago but after receiving it I am unsure whether to continue with the project as it has so many basic size faults etc .

Michael

[HERMAN BIX]

Yes it does, but to have a Jagdtiger there are finite options.
- shell out for a Torro
- convert a King Tiger
- modify a Matoro

For the fun level, moding this one should deliver.
Plenty can go wrong though .
I'm leaning towards lengthening but not altering the side angle, that's way too destructive.
As for length, there are differing opinions on how much to add.
In the link above it was 21mm
Others went 15mm so I guess I will cut it and slide out to what looks right .

[jackalope]

Herman, order yourself the Torro lower hull that way you know what you need. Also the Torro hull is very nice!

[B_Man]

Thanks Mr B, that really sets the bar.
I know Mr Gra has very recently passed, so having this as a reference is very humbling.
Thank you so much for posting this link.

I certainly hope to get mine half as good

I was lucky enough to see that model in person a few times and Gra really did a fantastic job on it. The hobby lost a real talent when he left us and I'm sure he would be very pleased that his build threads are still being read and are useful to others.

Judging by the examples of your work that I have seen on this forum I don't think you will have too much trouble in turning this into a great looking jagdtiger.

[HERMAN BIX]

Got to say, this Matorro set up is 'different' !
Got all the internals striped out, pretty easy.
Gear set is encased inside a plastic housing that is set on moulded posts. The bulge in the lower glacis plate is there to accomodate this.
Normal base mounted gear boxes will not mount without a major invention to carry them.
Also, the height of the output shaft is limited by the space above the gears under the hull .

Another quirk is I have no idea how the road wheels are attached to the suspension arms. No screws, no clips only glue. The axles are glued through the arms !!

Will also need to make or buy a very good idler mount/tensioner as the idlers are set way to low.
I really want to sort out the drive and idler issues before cutting & shutting the lower hull.
Getting the datum marks will be crucial to aligning the tracks after the cut is made, so much to do before any fun stuff

[jackalope]

Get a new lower hull.

[john1970]

Don't normally post just like to watch the great builds on this forum take shape but i have 1 of these so will be watching with interest.

As for the wheels they are pressed on not glued so you need to wedge a screwdriver between the suspension arm and the wheel hub to lever them off. The lower hull will be difficult to extend due to the way the battery box opens the same way as the heng long tiger. I bought a heng long king tiger lower hull to replace mine a lot easier to extend and a lot cheaper than the torro jagdtiger lower hull.

[HERMAN BIX]

Cheers Mr John
Good call on the kt lower. I was leaning that way,
Only thing is I was trying to avoid having a "paddy s axe" - same axe my dad gave me , had 6 new heads as 10 handles, been good this old axe.
I.E nothing left of the original !

Thanks for the clarification of the road wheel mounting, that makes more sense than glue, but not by much !
I will look around for a lower and decide from there.
With the lengthening , as its really only an aesthetic thing, I will go with 15mm as the addition .
Looking at the hull fixtures and replacing the small details 15 works out best.

If I can't get a new lower, plan is to secure the H/L boxes to a plate that picks up the existing towers and add bolts , then secure the gear set to it with more screws .

[HERMAN BIX]

So, the entire wheel set is pressed into the suspension arms and secured by a friction grip around a knurled spline on each axle as it passes through the arm.
Now all out.
Got some spare parts handy & will experiment with options on arms, springs etc etc before going any further.
If the lower is a dead-duck I will look for an H/L lower to go on with.
I will even go as far as to buy a cheap Porsche KT to get one if necessary.
At least then I will have a few more spares if nothing else !

The standard idler positions are way to low, this affects the ride, and the look. Honestly, if I didnt want to replace the plastic components with metal, all I would need to do to make the gap between idler and roadwheel is fit a tensioner, set the idler at a good height and change track link numbers to get the near-enough space.

Tell ya what, I was over the shite with the Pz IV suspension, and now Ive got a main meal sized problem to replace it

[jackalope]

Hey Herman I happen to have a perfect H/L King Tiger lower hull if you want it it's yours, you just cover the shipping. Sound good? H/L KT lower PLUS metal suspension arms, springs and idler wheels all FREE!

Well its actually from my Taigen King Tiger but the hull is identical to the H/L. If you remove the Taigen sticker it is a H/L let me know if you also need a Porsche turret I got it too.