Matorro Jagdtiger
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:33 pm
Hi,
Here is a Matorro Jagdtiger that was transformed to make it more accurate without breaking the bank or taking too long.
- The Jagdtiter model was completely disassembled. It's easy because all the pieces were badly glued and falling apart when model was taken out of the box.
- The whole upper hull was cut in pieces along the joint lines for rework, creating individual armor sections.
- The lower hull section (which is a King Tiger hull) was extended before the idler wheel to create the extension specific to the Jagdtiger.
- A corresponding extension was made to the central section of the upper hull.
- The side armor plates that were wrongly angled in the middle were corrected by making them strait and reinforced from the inside. Having strait side armor was important to me...
- The front hatch section was lowered by a few millimeters, according to references.
- The wrongly applied zimmerit on the back section and lower front sections was sanded smooth.
- The matorro mantlet was reworked with added plasticard parts and given a dremel treatment to simulate rough metal casting.
- Putting the upper hull armored plates back together at the proper angle was challenging and needed quite a bit of engineering. I had to manage quite a few issues, gaps and trimming during this process. But it worked out. Weld areas were redone.
- Tamiya side skirts were purchased on ebay, extended and added.
- Added metal engine grills.
- The matorro gear was put back (and never used much anyway). The Matorro plastic is structurally quite weak and I would not use the model much. But the Matorro Jagdtiger looks better now and the rework saved my investment in this tank.
Now that the Trumpeter Jagdtiger is out, purchasing it is likely a better alternative than the above steps, but probably not as fun.
Regards,
Louis
Here is a Matorro Jagdtiger that was transformed to make it more accurate without breaking the bank or taking too long.
- The Jagdtiter model was completely disassembled. It's easy because all the pieces were badly glued and falling apart when model was taken out of the box.
- The whole upper hull was cut in pieces along the joint lines for rework, creating individual armor sections.
- The lower hull section (which is a King Tiger hull) was extended before the idler wheel to create the extension specific to the Jagdtiger.
- A corresponding extension was made to the central section of the upper hull.
- The side armor plates that were wrongly angled in the middle were corrected by making them strait and reinforced from the inside. Having strait side armor was important to me...
- The front hatch section was lowered by a few millimeters, according to references.
- The wrongly applied zimmerit on the back section and lower front sections was sanded smooth.
- The matorro mantlet was reworked with added plasticard parts and given a dremel treatment to simulate rough metal casting.
- Putting the upper hull armored plates back together at the proper angle was challenging and needed quite a bit of engineering. I had to manage quite a few issues, gaps and trimming during this process. But it worked out. Weld areas were redone.
- Tamiya side skirts were purchased on ebay, extended and added.
- Added metal engine grills.
- The matorro gear was put back (and never used much anyway). The Matorro plastic is structurally quite weak and I would not use the model much. But the Matorro Jagdtiger looks better now and the rework saved my investment in this tank.
Now that the Trumpeter Jagdtiger is out, purchasing it is likely a better alternative than the above steps, but probably not as fun.
Regards,
Louis
