Cheap Tiger 1. Not so Cheap

[Meter rat]

A while back my good lady found this at a car boot. And picked it up for £15. On first impressions it was not good, so it was stuffed in the loft. On dragging it down from its abode, second impressions were even worse.

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Apparently there were three others as well, however she liked the colour of this one and she recognised it as being similar to the Hobby Boss 1/16 tiger. I think she is taking more notice of what I am up, than I think.
There are missing and damaged parts, and no radio gear.

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The main concern was the miss alignment of the back idler.
So dismantling commenced. I started on the left side with the out of alignment wheel. Nothing would move, so a certain amount of force was required, which damaged the metal chassis. This can be repaired and straightened out.

That’s why it would not come apart. Glued in at an angle, with mullered grub screws.

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So now I have a growing pile of broken plastic, wheels, nuts and bolts. The plan is to try to get it looking presentable and running. I think I may use a spare Heng Long 6.0 board I have, and some other Heng Long parts for the elevation, and turret rotation. Or I could just throw it back in the loft.
I have found the manual on line, and ordered some parts for the rear idler, (I forgot to order some track spares as there is a damaged track, I may just get away with removing a link) so until they arrive, I will just carrying on dismantling and seeing what is required.

[HERMAN BIX]

A Tamiya Tiger for sweet-f-A !!..................nothing wrong with that at all Sir and good on ya Mrs for bothering to pick it up I reckon

[Marco Peter]

For 15 pounds it would even be a nice option to practice airbrushing, zimmerit or weathering on. 15 pounds is nothing. But restoring it by searching for separate parts may cost (way) more than finding a good deal on a complete specimen.

Or make a range target out of it!

[Model Builder 4]

You could even break it up and sell the parts, from just what's shown in the pictures ( gearboxes, barrel flash, recoil and elevation units ) you could be close on 100 quid, you could put this towards a better and more complete specimen

Cheers,Lee

[Meter rat]

Admin, if this is not now appropriate in Tamiya builds, would you move it to other builds?

Because I have nothing to loose, the Hobby Boss Tiger was exhumed from the loft, and careful measurements were taken. It looks like it will fit.

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Grievous butchery, involving knives and saws, saw most of the Tamiya upper hull, and rear panel removed.

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The rear panel from the Hobby Boss was grafted in and glued in place. Surprisingly it seems to fit. I will need to devise a method of holding the upper hull on. Possibly a slot and magnets.

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And a selection of parts salvaged which may be of use, later.

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Regards Ian

[Ecam]

Quite the project, but I will be following along.

[MrChef]

"Cheap" is relative.

I say you got a good deal on a cool project. I'm in for the process.

Keep it up!

Chef

[Jimster]

I would look at it as a blank canvas and build it up. Of course you’re already on the right track!
Following along and I’m interested in your method to attach the upper hull. I’m trying to figure that out on my Panzer lll project.

[Jofaur86]

for Jimster, for my PZ III? Personally I used this, a 10X10 aluminum angle iron, possibly reshaped, and glued to the top of the front face of the inclined plane of the lower frame, and a formed aluminum plate, on the upper frame, which fits into the angle, then on the back, a screw hidden under a lot of edge for fixing.

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it is likely that it will be necessary to reopen the angle a bit? in order to have the right angle with the upper part
Personally is that what I did? Surely there are other solutions?

[Kaczor]

Base model £15, missing spare parts, electronics and upgrades £1500