Hooben Tiger (P)

[Xiaoshan_Sailor]

Hi Mick, understand the costs since I have done many plastic injection product lines in the past both in the US & here in China. Actually I was approached by Feng around 14 years ago to invest in his initial AFV offering before he brought Hooben online; tooling estimates ran $30,000 per kit which were about right since I had approached Trumpeter around the same time to develop a 1/16 Panther G kit which would have pre-dated Tamiya's release. A well-known aftermarket parts supplier was behind that project but it never got off the ground.

[Xiaoshan_Sailor]

Sounds good, now back to the build thread. Looking good so far.

[Markocaster]

Very interesting, watching along
Love this version of the tiger


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[Code501]

Just a quick comparison between different Tiger I barrels as I'm still waiting on missing parts......



Top: Hooben (Obviously lol)
Middle: Mitosal/Impact
Bottom: Schumo

[sassgrunt]

I FINALLY got my kit delivered to me this afternoon! I haven't had the chance to see if any parts are missing, but wanted to give a quick comparison with what I see in your kit. The box is still the Elefant box, and ALL of the parts are packed in smaller white cardboard boxes inside. Still has the same Elefant instruction manual, and the parts list and color drawings that you showed. From Marco's "unboxing" photos, I assumed that any of the parts in white were printed parts, (except for the upper deck, which is styrene). In my kit, I can find no parts that look printed. The "A" parts tree is white plastic; the "B" parts tree is in a medium blue; and the "C" parts tree is in black.
One difference I can see is that it no longer has the metal bearing under the turret. And, the bottom of the turret sits nearly 0.200" off the hull; giving it a distinctive up-in-the-air appearance. This is caused by a 0.100" raised area under the turret, and another 0.100" that the styrene "bearing surface" ring stands proud of the upper hull. And, it is glued so tightly to the upper hull that I don't think I can separate it to lower it. I will figure out something....
The turret is dimensionally the same height and length as a Tamiya turret, although the width at the mantlet area is about 1/8" wider. Earlier, I mentioned the lower height of the vision ports that these early turrets had, and Hooben got it spot-on. Unfortunately, this would make their turret wrong for a Henschel-built Tiger I; in case they plan to use it for a future kit (?) of a later model Tiger, (the spare track hanger markings on the sides of the turret make me wonder about this).
The other weird thing is that they include small steel balls that fit into the 8 "cups" in the top of the turret ring gear and run in a track on the underside of the "bearing surface" ring. What's strange is that the turret has no bearing provision at all (now that the metal bearing no longer comes with it). Maybe with the metal ring, the two bearing areas worked against each other, or something.
I do NOT know how to post pictures, but am happy to describe anything that isn't clear. -Mike

[c.rainford73]

Looking forward to it Mike

[Marco Peter]

...One difference I can see is that it no longer has the metal bearing under the turret...

That was the absolute most beautiful part of the whole kit!

[Code501]

Mike, do you have an actual A, B and C sprue? Or is it just individual parts in a bag? Do you see any flash on the parts?

[sassgrunt]

The A, B, and C parts do not come in bags (as Marco's pictures showed of your parts) but are molded on their individual trees. The only flash I can see is on the B parts sprue, and that is VERY minimal; just a slight cleanup of a couple of parts, and certainly nothing close to the T-55 parts-flash-fiasco that I am still dealing with! The parts are laid out on their trees as shown in the drawings on the "parts list" supplemental pages, with the exception that the battery box cover (which used to be molded in gray as a separate part) is now on the end of the B parts and molded in a medium blue.
I also forgot to mention that the upper and lower turret pieces are molded in black plastic, and also not printed. (If you didn't paint it, this would be one colorful turret, with a black base color; white mantlet and gun; and blue detail parts)!
I am not yet sure how I am going to 'lower' the turret to get the lower edge closer to the deck. Since I can't remove the white bearing ring that was attached to the upper deck by the Heng Long glue monkey; I think I am going to have to remove most of the inside of the bottom of the turret, and make a new floor to hold the turret mechanisms - which will now have much less clearance inside. For anyone who might be considering buying this kit, I would suggest that you write to Hooben beforehand and ask if they can NOT glue in the central bearing ring. That will allow you to set the height wherever you need it to be, instead of having to re-invent the wheel to get a decent turret height.

[PainlessWolf]

Mike!
Maybe some debonder? ( I am sure that you have already thought of this ) ;o)
regards,
Painless