1/6 Shlakhter King Tiger

[Saracen]

I've started breaking down this King Tiger, so that I can build it up around a metal lower hull.



The sprockets are held on with a piece of bent wire, threaded through the sprocket and drive shaft:



Trouble is, the wire is stronger than the thin tubing used for the centre of the sprocket, so if you get a stone stuck in the tracks, the motors do this to your sprocket:



Adrian.

[Saracen]

The other problem with the fibreglass hull is that the suspension arms can break loose.

The one closest to the sprocket has obviously had some problems, as the outer rim of the outer wheel has been chipped away, and the arm itself now has a huge amount of slop:





The arm on the other side has also been clashing with the sprocket, so that might need replacing.

Adrian.

[Saracen]

The suspension is done in a similar fashion to 1/16th models, with arms on the inside attached to coil springs:



The arms are folded around the end of the suspension shaft, clamped with a bolt, and then welded to the end of the suspension shaft

So, out with the angle grinder to remove the weld:



Then I used a screwdriver to break the fold open and then a drift to push the suspension shaft out of the lever:



As of this evening, there are three arms left to do. These didn't have enough of a gap in the fold to get the opening process started, so I may need to attack them with something stronger.

Adrian.

[Saracen]

The gearbox is also quite similar to 1/16 scale ones:



To remove the gearbox from the hull, it was necessary to remove the sprocket drive shafts from the gearbox.

This was done by removing the bolt from the inner end of the drive shaft, then tapping the shaft out until the key was exposed:



With this extracted, the shaft and various spacers and shims could be removed. One side came out easily, but the other was stuck.
Once I had one out, I could slide a steel bar back in through the opening and tap out the other side until the key was exposed.

Then, there are eight screws on each side of the hull holding the flanges to the hull sides:



With the drive shafts removed, the gear box and motors came out as a single unit.

You can also see the damage to the suspension arm from the sprocket on this side.

Adrian.

[PainlessWolf]

Saracen,
Any 1/6 scale King Tiger is a heck of a Christmas present. You are doing a lot of work to it so I know that it will be a beauty when done.
regards,
Painless

[Marc780]

Wow, that's a very ambitious project you have got there! I have to keep track of this thread, that will be one giant KT alright.

[mick e]

Looks like a lot of work, but should be an impressive tank when finished.