New arrival

[SgtMalarky]

Cheers Alwyn, Dremel it is then. What filler do you reckon is the best i have used Milliput in the past but to be honest not really found it that easy to use.

[jarndice]

Hi, I never use the Dremel because it is just so easy to do damage,
You will need patience and I would suggest a selection of "EXACTO" blades with of course an Exacto handle,
Work with the blade as flat as you can get it to the part you are trying to remove as possible,
If instead of trying to cut through the piece, you instead work the blade along the whole edge back and forwards and repeat that with the blade between the Tank body and the piece you are removing you will usually find it simply lifts off in one piece with no damage in sight, To minimise any damage to the surrounding area I always cut strips of "DUCT" tape NOT masking tape and apply it to the immediate area, One of the places that should be removed is the Redundant radio aerial stowage tube which is alongside the engine bay on the drivers side of the Tiger 1,
Every Heng Long/Taigen/and Torro Tiger 1 since the first example right up till today carries two tubes when the Tiger only had one, the only Tiger 1 that carried extra aerial stowage tubes was the Command Tiger and that was across the rear panel beside the Exhaust system.
Shaun.

[SgtMalarky]

It sounds as if you have great patience and i need to be also. Thanks for the aerial stowage tip.
I also really dont go much on the cable stuck on the side of the hull.

With regard to installing the supplied cables, would it be better to connect one end the the front shackles?. The other option is to make the clamps as we discussed in the earlier feifel pipe post.

[jarndice]

There are two kinds of Cable, There are the "TOW" cables on the Tank body and the Tank track cables on the side, these are much thinner than the Tow cables and are on the Drivers side of the body,
You will need to make the loops yourself on the track cables, I slide a length of heat shrink along the cable and make the loop by pushing an end into the Heat shrink then heat it up.
To mount the track cables correctly you will have to know the history of your Tigers service, A perfectionist will point out that there are a multitude of different ways the track cables were mounted on the side dependant upon what period between 1942 and 1944 your particular Tank was operating,
"ABER" makes Both cables and "Forgebear" has them for sale,
The "ABER" Track cables include a diagram of how they should be mounted and then you make your own adjustments.
The Tow cables on the very early Tigers had them mounted in the reverse of what you usually see with the loops over the engine rather than near to the front Mantlet.
Have a look at HENG LONG BUILDS to see how others lay out the cables and where the clamps are best located, You will also need Clamps, there is a choice,
I use the large Tow cable clamps and the Small ones, these are also available from Forgebear, You cannot have too many of them, I always tap a thread on the ends so that I can bolt them into place instead of Glueing them,
You are getting very close to the point where you will want to fit Wing/Butterfly nuts around various parts of your Tiger. They used in excess of 30 on each Tank, There are two makers of Metal Wing nuts "MITOSAL" and "SCHUMO" that I use but the thing to know is that they come as an imitation of the real thing, to make them work you have to run a 1mm "Die" up the imitation thread that then makes the thread usable.
There are no working 1 or 2 or 3mm working wing nuts, that is something you have to do yourself.
Shaun.

[SgtMalarky]

I have spent the last fews days trying to find the information you have give me in the last couple of reokies. This is great stuff!
I think before i put blade to hull i am going to get kitted out with all the bits i am going to use.
Just one more thing - for now! Early tiger pictures i have looked at dont have spare track links on the side of the turret. What is your opinion on this, please.

Pete

[jarndice]

Spare Tracks on Tiger 1 turrets are very date dependant, here follows the detail with the relevant date, They were not fitted before April 1943, 3 spare track holders were added to the turret on one side and 2 spare track holders on the other side,
When the Late model Tiger came into service in February 1944 (Different Cupola and different wheels without rubber tyres)From that date additional track holders were added but many Tiger 1s never carried spare tracks,
And you must ensure that they do not obscure the Escape hatch or the Pistol port.
The usual maximum on the Drivers side of the turret is 5 the other side usually carried 1 less to avoid the escape hatch,
Shaun.

[SgtMalarky]

Thank you Shaun, mine is definitely pre April 1943. I will criss 'spare tracks' off my shopping list.

Pete

[jarndice]

Hi Pete, Do you have any further detail about the operational history of your Tiger 1 (early) Where it served etc? If you have the Month/s I can bring you up to date on when different modifications appeared on them depending on the TOW (Theatre of War),
Shaun.

[SgtMalarky]

Hi Shaun, all i have at the moment is from the Taigen description Early Tiger 1. My aim is a 1942 Tiger is Russia. I am basing my research on this period. I have a book German Tanks of WW2 (von Snger und Etterlin), with actual photos of Ausf. E which it looks like mine is. This should tie in with what i am teying to achieve.
I have also found a hull without tools at rc panzer-shop.de it is very basic, but might be better working on that and replacing the one i currently have. It is a Heng Long and mine is a Taigen. I may need to 'make it fit' but it is almost a blank canvas.
I am struggling to find wing nuts at the moment and am considering making my own, the only hesitation is that will they be close enough to the Schumo ones. I could make from M1 nuts by adding home made wings. The cleaning rods, i am thinking sleeving some M1 threaded rod with thread protruding one end and tapping the sleeve the other so that they can screw together, but in reality they will be fixed to the hull.
What filler would you recommend?
Pete

[jarndice]

Hi, Pete, Wing nuts can be found at ----
http://www.mitosal.com
on that page roll down to "TANKS" Click and Click on Hex nuts, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you have a choice of 1mm or 3mm wing nuts I would select 1mm in a quantity of 100,
If you then go to ----
http://www.heng-long-panzer.de
Click on the German flag and the Union flag appears with an English language translation.
if you go to Tiger 1 spare parts/accessories you will find a HENG LONG BODY Semi Stripped at 12.95 Euros, the Heng Long Body has its tools POP off not moulded on.
Also on this site can be found the Large at 11.95 Euros and the Small Cable Clamps At 11.95 Euros They are labelled as Metal cable brackets.
The Cleaning rods can be bought from here also,
I have made my own in the past but in truth with very little extra work these on this site are better!,
The careful painting of the product to include the brass screw ends of the rods and the pin vise drilling holes in the simulated clamps holding the rods will allow you to tap a 1mm thread in the clamps so that you can screw in the wing nuts,
The cleaning rod assembly is priced at 6.95 EUROs each (You will need two),
I use MMD GREEN PUTTY as a filler, It is easy to use and drys to a state that both fills and is readily smoothed with a modelling file or an abrasive,
Talking about abrasives you may already be familier with this tip but here it is anyway,
Beg Borrow or Steal the finger nail boards from your partners dressing table, because they are cardboard this allows you to cut them into a shape that a metal file cannot match.
As to the Tiger 1 in Russia in 1942, From August when the Tank was first issued it came with a full tool set except the Snow Shovel,
Smoke candle dischargers were also added to the Turret sides,
In September the Track Cables were added to the Body side,
The snow shovel was added in October and the direction of the Tow cables were changed with the Loops now facing to the front of the Tank Body and resting immediately behind the Mantlet with the headlamps in front of them.
If you look at the area behind the Headlights you will see a pair of simulated pads where the loops are placed,,
In November of that year the FEIFAL Air Cleaner System was fitted, the Side Fenders and the hinged front and rear fenders were also fitted,
Before that there were no side fenders and the front fenders were a flat piece of reduced plate covering the tracks and the rear fenders were a completely different shape,(Trust me I know, I had to scratch build a pair because nobody makes them!!) and finally the drivers vision port had above it Two holes for him to see ahead when it was in battle,
The emergency escape hatch was fitted to the Turret in December,
Prior to the escape hatch there had been a pistol port that was the twin of the pistol port on the other side of the Turret, It was removed to allow the Escape hatch to be fitted.
That is It I think.
Shaun.