STURMTIGER !!

[majordisastor]

Opening Shots .....

Right then, first off a confession.

I really like the look of the Sturmtiger........Yes I know it looks like the bastard offspring of Tiger tank and a skip that happened at the back of the factory after the works Christmas party.

It has the looks only a mother could love - better looking than a KV 2 but thats a a fairly short measuring stick.





So in order to feed this dark passion I bought a Mattorro Sturmtiger from e-bay.



Fair play its not a bad effort at all. It does lack the detail of course that Tamiya provide and as we know everything can be improved ....






Other parts are on the other hand really well done ..





A brief visit to the SWAG battlefield showed up the short comings of the Mattorro drivetrain.

As a carpet warrier it wolud fit the bill perfectly. On grass it was not a happy bunny - much clicking of gearboxes showed it was not up to the task .




So I had a few options .....

1 - leave it alone -

2 - fit a modified Heng Long hull

3- fit a Asiatam/Taiegen lower hull .

4- Go completly mad and use a Tamiya lower hull ....

Hmmmmm what to do ??????????



THE DEED IS DONE ................



Well after a long protracted ponder over Helgas fate, I decided to make a few adjustments .....





With a few deft cuts with a saw , I have created, a 1/16th scale skip.......................


Goes off, holding his head in his hands ...............

Andy

[tanks_for_the_memory]

Completely agree with your assessment of the Sturmtiger's looks Major - if ever there was a blunt instrument of a weapon system this was surely it - although it's worth remembering that it was essentially a mobile rocket launcher...

Most (if not all) were built on reconditioned battle-damaged Tiger hulls returned from a pasting at the front, so this should give some scope for detailing.

I've always thought the biggest challenge in any scale would be the rifling inside the barrel...

Good luck!

[lister fiend]

yup thats definatley not a looker
just a thought, can you not glue the clutch's on the gearbox's to make it run better on grass?
oh & have you painted it or is that how it came?
well done on something different
lister

[majordisastor]

Hi lister,
The paintwork is as it comes out of the box, the gearboxes have already gone to fund heavy duty replacements.

Tanks-for -the- memory, Quite right, think 20th centuray update on a medievel seige engine. It was never built to go head to head with tank to tank or anti tank guns. Reinforced Russian bunkers were its percived prey.

I have a particular look, model in mind for this build ....stay tuned !!

Andy

[majordisastor]

So after completly putting one of Mr Mattorros finest - and rare - efforts through the shredder -

And cutting Helgas bottom half off completly,

Its time to make ammends.........



The front driver/ radio op glacis plate was a damaged sprue tree from Jasons store. It was a perfect because it was reduced and the damged portion was removed anyway, Result !!



I deciced to plump for the Tamiya Hull option. Why ? Because it was the least sensible of the options, it will be more fun, and it will fit in better for my chosen variant......





As you can see I have again reinforced the standard Tamiya hull with some alloy plates .....









Now hopefully it will look a bit less like a skip at the moment .........







Or prehaps not ...........




Andy