Discussion
Well I mentioned last time I put a build thread on here that my next project would be radio controlled, well here it is, this arrived today my shiny new Tamiya King Tiger Full Option kit: -
Lots of nicely detailed intricate parts and typical Tamiya good quality.
I aim to get all the spray work done asap before it gets too cold outside!
Lots of nicely detailed intricate parts and typical Tamiya good quality.
I aim to get all the spray work done asap before it gets too cold outside!
I thought you meant this rather famous book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Achtung-Panzer-Development...
Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
Simpo Two said:
I thought you meant this rather famous book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Achtung-Panzer-Development...
Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
I do have a copy of that Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
mattmoxon said:
Simpo Two said:
I thought you meant this rather famous book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Achtung-Panzer-Development...
Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
I do have a copy of that Written pre-WW2 by one of the most famous German tank commanders. Pity the Allies didn't buy a copy...
Edit to add - Lovely kit OP!
O/T slightly, but another good Panzer book was 'Panzer Commander' by Colonel Hans von Luck.
It shows the power of the Panther tank, how he and his group of three or four other Panthers could be going up against fifty-odd Allied Shermans, and manage to destroy all of them.
Back On topic though, that King Tiger looks great, is it a typical plastic kit, with the motors etc to put in there?
That will be a cracking model once it's finished, keep us posted on it's construction!
It shows the power of the Panther tank, how he and his group of three or four other Panthers could be going up against fifty-odd Allied Shermans, and manage to destroy all of them.
Back On topic though, that King Tiger looks great, is it a typical plastic kit, with the motors etc to put in there?
That will be a cracking model once it's finished, keep us posted on it's construction!
I only made one tank in my plastic modelling career, in about 1972, and that was a Tamiya too! But not a Tiger, possibly Panzer? I remember it had panels on the sides and really needed airbrushing for the camouflage; I had no airbrushing facility so tried dabbing paint on with cotton wool and it got a bit hairy...!
Steve_W said:
So do I - shame how Guderian admired and learnt from British experts such as Hobart yet the British govt. lagged way behind.
Edit to add - Lovely kit OP!
Quite, it was quite amazing to read how he read up on UK tank tactics and even visited the UK, the man had a vision and it worked.Edit to add - Lovely kit OP!
Brigand said:
O/T slightly, but another good Panzer book was 'Panzer Commander' by Colonel Hans von Luck.
It shows the power of the Panther tank, how he and his group of three or four other Panthers could be going up against fifty-odd Allied Shermans, and manage to destroy all of them.
Back On topic though, that King Tiger looks great, is it a typical plastic kit, with the motors etc to put in there?
That will be a cracking model once it's finished, keep us posted on it's construction!
I'll have to look out for that one.It shows the power of the Panther tank, how he and his group of three or four other Panthers could be going up against fifty-odd Allied Shermans, and manage to destroy all of them.
Back On topic though, that King Tiger looks great, is it a typical plastic kit, with the motors etc to put in there?
That will be a cracking model once it's finished, keep us posted on it's construction!
It isn't a typical plastic kit, its a 1:16 scale full RC tank, full of die cast metal parts, twin gearboxes and motors to power it. The turret moves in elevation and azimuth, the gun "fires" and recoils when it does so, the machine gun "fires" and it makes sounds.
I fully intend to keep this thread going as a build thread
I'll keep tabs on this thread.
The kit sounds great, as nice as it is to be gluing all the little details together; screwing things together, wiring and batteries would be a refreshing change.
I've eyed the Tamiya Tiger I R/C kit, but always been put off by the price.
I've noticed on a lot of King Tiger kits, you can get either the 'Production turret' (as with yours) or a Porsche designed one. Anyone know what the difference was?
EDIT: Found out what it was, the Porsche turret had a curved front section, the production one was flat.
The kit sounds great, as nice as it is to be gluing all the little details together; screwing things together, wiring and batteries would be a refreshing change.
I've eyed the Tamiya Tiger I R/C kit, but always been put off by the price.
I've noticed on a lot of King Tiger kits, you can get either the 'Production turret' (as with yours) or a Porsche designed one. Anyone know what the difference was?
EDIT: Found out what it was, the Porsche turret had a curved front section, the production one was flat.
Edited by Brigand on Saturday 29th October 02:00
Edited by Brigand on Saturday 29th October 02:00
I bought my Tiger 1 quite cheap (being in the industry...) and I have really given it some tough challenges - snow, mud, up and down steep inclines - it's even rolled down a hill, yet still keeps going! Have had to take off the wheels and tracks many times to give it a good clean, as it got so muddy!
A couple of pictures from today - not much aside from etch priming all the metal parts that need painting
and assembly of the commander, main gun mantlet and machine gun
I have ordered an aluminium muzzle brake as the standard plastic item had a botched moulding
though the ali one is only £6.50 plus postage on eBay.
and assembly of the commander, main gun mantlet and machine gun
I have ordered an aluminium muzzle brake as the standard plastic item had a botched moulding
though the ali one is only £6.50 plus postage on eBay.Well today was a day of painting, a few detail parts in the sprues and area coverage using Tamiya spray cans (I'm going to use an airbrush on the more visible parts).
I also started on a few more sub assemblies (exhaust stacks and rear panel - including adding the zimmermit coating to it) and painting the commander and machine gun.
The commander, machine gun exhaust stacks and suspension arms.
That's it for now, I might be able to do some more before next weekend but I'm not sure, the build will progress a bit more when I receive my bearing kit and muzzle brake.
It's odd really as at this point it feels more like I am building a plastic display model rather than an RC one – that will change when I start putting the suspension (real working torsion bars) etc together.
I also started on a few more sub assemblies (exhaust stacks and rear panel - including adding the zimmermit coating to it) and painting the commander and machine gun.
The commander, machine gun exhaust stacks and suspension arms.
That's it for now, I might be able to do some more before next weekend but I'm not sure, the build will progress a bit more when I receive my bearing kit and muzzle brake.
It's odd really as at this point it feels more like I am building a plastic display model rather than an RC one – that will change when I start putting the suspension (real working torsion bars) etc together.
Some more updates for you today, the empty painted hull: -
The suspension arm supports and the screws that hold them in place, the mouse in the back ground gives them some scale: -
The hull with the fitted suspension arm mounts, all locktited in place along with the idler arm mounts on the rear of the hull (note the torsion beam mounts to the right): -
The hull with torsion beam mounts securely bolted in place: -
The torsion beams (front) and suspension arms (rear): -
The Hull from the left showing the suspension arms and torsion beams: -
And from the right: -
I also fitted the equipment tray and fenders and the front drive sprocket guards.
Front: -
Left side: -
That’s it so far, the wheel bearing kit arrived today so when the time comes to make the road wheels up I have all the bits (the plastic parts for those still need painting mind you).
The next step is to go over the screw heads and sprocket guards with a coat of paint.
For anyone thinking of building one of these a little tip on the suspension and metal parts, because of the size of the bolts/screws I found it easier to use one bolt to fix the suspension arm mounts in place then locktite the other bolt in place, before removing the first one and then re-fitting with locktite saves on mess, obviously on bigger things with multiple bolts use two first.
It took about two and a quarter hours to do that part of the build, the zimmermit coating was also applied to the front of the hull which will need a coat of paint as well. I am impressed with the quality of the finish with the Tamiya spray cans I am using for parts like the lower hull and wheels etc.
I have to say the Mechano thing is spot on it was reminiscent of that, taking my time is going to be the rule of thumb with this, I am currently doing a part time degree so there will be periods where I get nothing at all done on it. Though the tank will form part of the project for the degree - I intend on building my own electronics.
The suspension arm supports and the screws that hold them in place, the mouse in the back ground gives them some scale: -
The hull with the fitted suspension arm mounts, all locktited in place along with the idler arm mounts on the rear of the hull (note the torsion beam mounts to the right): -
The hull with torsion beam mounts securely bolted in place: -
The torsion beams (front) and suspension arms (rear): -
The Hull from the left showing the suspension arms and torsion beams: -
And from the right: -
I also fitted the equipment tray and fenders and the front drive sprocket guards.
Front: -
Left side: -
That’s it so far, the wheel bearing kit arrived today so when the time comes to make the road wheels up I have all the bits (the plastic parts for those still need painting mind you).
The next step is to go over the screw heads and sprocket guards with a coat of paint.
For anyone thinking of building one of these a little tip on the suspension and metal parts, because of the size of the bolts/screws I found it easier to use one bolt to fix the suspension arm mounts in place then locktite the other bolt in place, before removing the first one and then re-fitting with locktite saves on mess, obviously on bigger things with multiple bolts use two
first.It took about two and a quarter hours to do that part of the build, the zimmermit coating was also applied to the front of the hull which will need a coat of paint as well. I am impressed with the quality of the finish with the Tamiya spray cans I am using for parts like the lower hull and wheels etc.
I have to say the Mechano thing is spot on it was reminiscent of that, taking my time is going to be the rule of thumb with this, I am currently doing a part time degree so there will be periods where I get nothing at all done on it. Though the tank will form part of the project for the degree - I intend on building my own electronics.
Well here is another instalment of pictures from the build, first the idlers, reading on it one of the problems with the stock idlers is the fact the drums can slip, so the eagle eyed amongst you will spot two strips of 2000 grit wet and dry paper amongst the idler components:
These were glued (using cyano) and left to go off before assembly, hopefully the extra friction will stop the drums slipping in the bands.
The idler mechanism installed:
The other failing with the idlers seems to be the screw to clamp it tight is on the wrong side of the band it needs to be more outboard so it doesn’t pull the band in when tightened.
The road wheels painted and the rear panel (sans all scale details for now) painted with the zimmermit applied (exhaust armour is currently unpainted).
The drive motors and gearboxes installed in the Hull:
The rear panel bolted in place – I used threadlock on these bolts despite the instructions not mentioning it.
The assembled road wheels and idlers, each road wheel (including the three screws that hold them together) contain 11 parts. Took me a while to assemble them all, the idlers contained less parts but no provision for bearings so plenty of grease (impact bearings rather than the stock plain bearings on the road wheels negate the use of it all) should help stop them wearing too quickly:
Finally the hull with the mudguards bolted on and the zimmermit applied, the turret is placed on the top and also has the zimmermit applied.
The next job is the finale for the lower hull, the fitting of the drive sprockets, idlers and road wheels before fitting the tracks, the tracks will come off again when I paint the camouflage pattern on the tank to prevent overspray.
These were glued (using cyano) and left to go off before assembly, hopefully the extra friction will stop the drums slipping in the bands.
The idler mechanism installed:
The other failing with the idlers seems to be the screw to clamp it tight is on the wrong side of the band it needs to be more outboard so it doesn’t pull the band in when tightened.
The road wheels painted and the rear panel (sans all scale details for now) painted with the zimmermit applied (exhaust armour is currently unpainted).
The drive motors and gearboxes installed in the Hull:
The rear panel bolted in place – I used threadlock on these bolts despite the instructions not mentioning it.
The assembled road wheels and idlers, each road wheel (including the three screws that hold them together) contain 11 parts. Took me a while to assemble them all, the idlers contained less parts but no provision for bearings so plenty of grease (impact bearings rather than the stock plain bearings on the road wheels negate the use of it all) should help stop them wearing too quickly:
Finally the hull with the mudguards bolted on and the zimmermit applied, the turret is placed on the top and also has the zimmermit applied.
The next job is the finale for the lower hull, the fitting of the drive sprockets, idlers and road wheels before fitting the tracks, the tracks will come off again when I paint the camouflage pattern on the tank to prevent overspray.
Well this morning I fitted the road wheels, idlers drive sprockets and tracks, Yes it is a big kit, the instruction book underneath (~A3 sided when folded out) gives it scale: -
Yep I was surprised by the volume of metal parts but that can only be a good thing
No the upper hull is thick moulded ABS plastic, the gun barrel is also metal.
Oh and for prosperity I dry fitted the hull and sat the gun less turret on top.
These have since been painted and are currently drying off their first coat now.
Yep I was surprised by the volume of metal parts but that can only be a good thing
No the upper hull is thick moulded ABS plastic, the gun barrel is also metal.
Oh and for prosperity I dry fitted the hull and sat the gun less turret on top.
These have since been painted and are currently drying off their first coat now.
Showed my wife this thread, and asked if I could have a King Tiger to go with my Tiger 1 - but she said no! 
However, I have just ordered a metal turning lathe and a load of other workshop tools, so I can see where she's coming from...
Nice job thus far - I would have never thought there were so many great modellers on P/H!
However, I have just ordered a metal turning lathe and a load of other workshop tools, so I can see where she's coming from...
Nice job thus far - I would have never thought there were so many great modellers on P/H!
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