RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

i got my first rc tank on a saturday , a h/l s&s tiger 1 , after driving it a bit to see if it all worked the fun began, with in 2 hours all i had was a pile of bits,  then i started the mods , i removed all the molded tools plus opened up the radio operators / drivers hatches, swopped the mantle ,  moved the cupola around and opened up the drivers vision block, and removed the hull mounted mg ,i replaced it with a better looking ball mount  [ its a small measuring spoon ] then adde the wiring for the headlights.

next came the lower hull ,i added metal suspension mounts  to strenthen the sides,  metal suspension arms, and then fitted the track tensioners. the new tigers come with a different road wheel axle set up [ i think its h/ls attempt to stop chassie flex] so the axles wont fit the metal suspension mounts, they are to sloppy , to get over this i got 16 x capped bolts [the size is 40 mm x 4 mm, i then tapped the mounts with a 4mm tap [ went through with a 3.3 mm drill bit first. 

next came the turret i filled the led hole in the mantle, added some wires to the smoke launchers and fitted a recoil kit , new barrel and muzzle, then added pc connectors for easier removal.

next i added metal gearboxs, idler wheels, drive sprockets and metal tracks , then started to add more detail by adding metal hatches [ added all the inner detail using metal strip and brass sheet ] , added the jack clamps and fastners for the tool box . also added the jack block stand brackets and made he wooden jack block from balsa and brass strip

then it was time to get the airbrush out , after giving it a base coat i shot a few coats of dunkelgelb on , followed by olivgrun stripes, then added a few coats of klear floor polish to give it a gloss coat ready for the decals .

forgot to mension that i use lifecolor acrylic paints , i find them spot on for colour , they do all the ral numbers.
next it was time to blow some boards, er i mean fit the elmod , it all goes in very easy [ once youve worked out what the manuals are on about ]  bigginers luck or skill [lol] it fired up first time ,and it all worked, well apart from the recoil [ that was tracked down to be a dodgy solder joint in the recoil motor [ so not my fault ]

then it was time to put it all back together, add the metal tools , the tow ropes are the original h/l ones [ just painted],  then i gave it a wash [no not with soap] with a thin solution of muddy brown paint, followed by a pin wash with brown/grey/black, then added some paint chips, base coat grey, around the edge of the chip with a light dunkelgelb, then gave it a small highlight with a soft pencil. then a overall drybrush,
i still have lots to do [ it needs dirtying up  and there are some more details i want to add so i will keep you posted.

That really is a beauty

cheers got a few more pics , just added the mushrooms ?, and bent one of the rear track guards up

Ice monkey did you have any problems with the Elmod stuff? was it simple to install etc? i know they have manuals but