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Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 1:56 pm
by wibblywobbly
It's now in the Tips and Tricks. :wave:

I agree about converting a Tamiya, the Torro is as good as one, and come in Early, Mid, or Late versions. They are also ready assembled, and of course are very easy to adapt to aftermarket electronics. :D

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 2:00 pm
by Ad Lav
Trouble is it gets out of hand!

You end up with three Tigers! I already have too many HVSS Sherman’s :)

I’ll keep watching your resto :D

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 2:42 pm
by wibblywobbly
Removed the front track guards, and a couple of side ones. Roughed up the area behind the side ones so that I can apply milliput and extend the zimmerit down. When it was applied at the factory they did the whole of the sides and then put the guards on, so with the guards gone the zimmerit would be exposed.

It's going to be done as battle weary late war Tiger so will need to look as though as if it has been through a few battles....but not 'too' rough.

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:40 pm
by wibblywobbly
All of the zimmerit now applied, and I managed to find a screwdriver that is the same width as the original indents, so that came out quite nicely. All of the tools and the jackblock have been sanded off and all surfaces smoothed. Used a hot gun to bend the fenders slightly as well. I also did the bit that most miss, the ends of the vertical glacis should be sloped, Tamiya is the only manufacturer that did it properly, the Heng Long original fault has been copied across all the other manufacturers who copied their mistake. :/

The ariel stowage has gone, but needs some filler to neaten it up a bit.

I'll get hold of some brass strips and make replacement brackets etc, but do them a bit mangled with no tools. Looking at pics none of those pristine tools lasted very long in the real world.

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:30 am
by Ad Lav
Hate doing zimmerit with a passion, that looks great and matches the kit applied really well!

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:12 am
by wibblywobbly
I just realised from looking at one of my own pics above that zimmerit is missing along the bottom of the rear turret, darn! Out with the milliput again. :S

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:26 am
by Son of a gun-ner
Well, I'm sure you will do it every bit as well as your other bits you did.

I have a set of the Tamiya Tiger 1 stick on zimmerit that I want to put on a Taigen Tiger. So all this is a great learning curve for me and what I have to do extra for a late version :thumbup:

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 11:44 am
by wibblywobbly
Interestingly, it seems that zim was not applied to the Tiger front sloping glacis, even though all scale models seem to have it applied? On top of this, of course is the length of the war, campaign location, Late production timescales, and zimmerit use timescales. They all overlap, so a late war T1 may not have had any zimmerit at all, and an early one in Africa likewise. Oh, how I love this hobby! :D :D :D

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/ind ... r-i-tanks/

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:01 pm
by Son of a gun-ner
Yeah, I find it funny that a mid Tiger was more likely to have zimmerit than a late, yet there seems to be an almost obsession with having zimmerit on a late Tiger.

Re: Torro Late Production Tiger 1 Restoration

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 3:32 pm
by General Jumbo01
When was it that they decided that the protection offered was not worth the time and cost of applying it. The Russian troops soon learned to toss the magnetic mines on a level top plate.

From a purely cosmetic modelling point of view l like it, and fitting it is a fun challenge too but you do need good, soft decals and plenty of liquid softening agent.