Building a Mid-Production Normandy Tiger 1

[PainlessWolf]

Tanks,
Good afternoon! Very nicely done with the plasticard. Following along as always.
regards,
Painless

[tanks_for_the_memory]

Once you do away with the Heng Long plastic exhaust shrouds then another problem presents itself. The plastic parts are cleverly arranged so that the whole thing is held together by two plastic rods that project forward from the back of the shields onto the rear plate of the Tiger - passing through the exhaust stacks and their armoured guards at the same time. I did away with the upper rod a long time ago because it's quite visible when looking down into the exhausts themselves - and, of course, it shouldn't be there. The exhaust assembly held together just fine with just the lower ones in place. Of course I also filled in the surplus holes in the rear plate.

With the Voyager photo-etch shields, however, I no longer had anywhere to hide the lower one. I could have just glued my exhaust stacks to the rear plate just like the armoured guards, but I want them to remain removable until later in the painting process so that I can paint and weather them more easily. The solution was simply to substitute my own plastic rod. By using a longer piece and enlarging the screw holes in the rear plate this allows them simply to slide through the whole assembly from the rear. I can thus remove the exhaust stacks at will until such time as I decide to fix this rod permanently in place.

By the way in the picture below the larger holes are my own new ones made to take the smoke tubes. The idea is that these will project the smoke into the hollow exhausts - but at the same time they are kept hidden.

A piece of plastic tube is used to keep the exhausts in place now that the HL plastic shields have been done away with.jpg (36.09 KiB) Viewed 4347 times

Note that although I filled in the holes on the exhaust stacks I didn't bother doing the same with the armoured shields - or even add texture to the whole of them - because this part simply cannot be seen once the outer shields are in place.

The original lower screw holes for the exhausts were enlarged to take the same plastic rod from the inside - the larger ones are for the smoke tubes.jpg (32.6 KiB) Viewed 4347 times

Meanwhile I have started to prime some of the rear bits and pieces ready for the next stage - yes its my favourite bit (again): the zimmerit!

My handy hands-free thingumyjig keeps everything aloft waiting for a spray of primer.jpg (31.03 KiB) Viewed 4347 times

And what a difference a coat of paint makes!.jpg (38.29 KiB) Viewed 4347 times

[tanks_for_the_memory]

I have now decided that because the outer exhaust shields are so flimsy they need to be fixed permanently in place before I prime the whole rear plate and add zimmerit...

Because it will be almost impossible to reach the area behind them (even with the exhaust stacks removed) I primed this first - using a darker shade to take account of the fact that this is going to be a very dirty, sooty and rusty part of the tank.

Citadel spray cans are renowned amongst modellers of all kinds (not just the fantasy boys and girls) for their excellent colours and covering qualities. I recently ventured into a branch of Warhammer (formerly Games Workshop) in Kingston with much trepidation (look, I was a 47 year old guy in a three-piece suit OK?) but found a very warm reception. I came out with a bunch of spray cans including one called Rhinoxide. Unlike the name it's a beautiful product.

Here's how it went on...

The exhaust and the part of the rear plate behind the exhaust shields now primed with a darker colour.jpg (37.96 KiB) Viewed 4346 times

The darker shade used to prime the exhausts and the part of the rear plate within the outer shields.jpg (36.68 KiB) Viewed 4346 times

The starboard exhaust in its darker shade.jpg (34.06 KiB) Viewed 4346 times

The starboard exhaust shield is now ready to be fixed permanently in place before I add a general coat of primer to the rear plate.jpg (37.42 KiB) Viewed 4346 times

[philipat]

Awesome work!

[tanks_for_the_memory]

Finishing the rear panel

The exhaust shields are finally fixed in place.jpg (38.07 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Well, this has taken a lot longer than I expected, but the rear panel is almost finished - complete with my last-but-one layer of zimmerit!

I have to admit that the Voyager exhaust shields have been a real struggle for me. Getting the approximate shape was easy enough, but they have to be pretty precise to ensure that each of the six brass attachment points line up. In the end I lost two of mine on the starboard shield and, rather than try and replace them, chose to go for some convenient battle damage... The shields were held in place with dress maker's pins and then the heads of these covered over with Masterclub bolt heads. I also had to fill in some sink marks in the armoured exhaust surrounds that only showed up once I had applied a layer of paint.

Here you can see the new bolt heads and the sink marks which had to be filled on the armoured exhaust mounts.jpg (31.54 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

It was satisfying to apply a couple of layers of Mr Surfacer Red Primer and see everything finally starting to come together. After all the work I had done to my rear plate it was a real mess - but luckily zimmerit was once again to come to my rescue!

Everything then received a couple of coats of Mr Surfacer Red Primer from a spray can.jpg (39.95 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Quite apart from being an authentic red primer coat the Mr Surfacer helps to provide a a uniform texture to plastic and metal parts alike. It also shows up imperfections when you still have a chance to fix them - or cover them up!.jpg (43.83 KiB) Viewed 4651 times

The zimmerit then proceeded much as before. Magic Sculp can go a little crystalline after a while in storage and so I followed the instructions by putting it in the oven for a few minutes at 50 degrees. It was soon feeling fresh again... Getting an even layer around all of the details on the rear plate was probably the most challenging application so far. But I'm pretty happy with the result.

Fun with the zimmerit then commenced with my trusty Magic Sculp - here a rough layer has been applied.jpg (41.68 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

The jack has here been temporarily pressed into place.jpg (43.15 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Fitting the zimmerit around the small details is not easy....jpg (42.25 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Here you can see the areas trimmed away for the jack, rear mud guards and divisional emblem on the left.jpg (44.19 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

The cutaway for the Divisional badge still needs tidying up and the upper tool box has yet to be fitted.jpg (38.03 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Although I applied the Magic Sculp to the rear panel whilst it was detached from the hull, I indented the zimmerit whilst it was in place. To make sure that the new zimmerit didn't stick to the old I applied vaseline to the rear of the hull sides and bottom plate.

Once everything had been left for 24 hours or so to dry the rear panel could be easily removed.jpg (42.2 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

[tanks_for_the_memory]

I should have added that I decided to apply the primer before the zimmerit following a suggestion made way, way back - and it seems to have worked just fine. If anything, the Mr Surfacer Primer gives a texture to the plastic which helps to key in the Magic Sculp to the surface...

I also brush coated the exhaust shields with Mr Surfacer Metal Primer (yep, I like this Mr Surfacer bloke) before adding the paint. We shall see if it works - especially as I forgot to do the same to the mud guards!

Finally, a couple of shots of my (mostly old) work on the jack and its mounts...

Luckily I had managed to prise away the entire jack mount assembly when I replaced the old zimmerit.jpg (39.86 KiB) Viewed 4679 times

The only tweek to the jack from my last post about it was to add a brass cog from the Voyager set.jpg (40.1 KiB) Viewed 4679 times

[maxmekker]

so much detailing , well Worth it . You are skilled

[tanks_for_the_memory]

Thanks Max - you are too kind.

I'm trying to get some work finished in time to post for Christmas - noting where I was last year and how little I have achieved since then..!

Engine crank shaft

I have been using the Tamiya parts (and photos) to guide me for the tools. Here is the crank shaft which was mounted on the lower rear plate of all Tigers. It was designed to be inserted in the centred aperture just above the rear tow hitch and attached to a crank handle (that's next!) to turn the engine over on cold days.

Although not quite complete the shaft is made from telescopic brass tubing from Albion Alloys. The beauty of this is that each tube fits snugly into each other so you can build up a tool very easily by cutting it to size in a mitre box using a razor saw, then sliding each piece into place and securing it with epoxy glue.

The crack shaft showing the Tamiya original and the replacement made from various lengths of telescopic brass tubing.jpg (35.8 KiB) Viewed 4623 times

[Uncarina]

I'm very impressed with this and all aspects of your work! Your build has been an inspiration for me. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers, Tom

[HERMAN BIX]

Mr Tanks....................I got nothin