Pauls 2014 #4 Mid Tiger 1

[Paul McMartin]

Some good progress made so far over the Christmas break. With 36' - 38'c days, high humidity, in between heavy rain days - 600mm last week my Air-con tank room is the best place to be. I have been working on the rear hull, exhaust stacks wire buffed & painted, tubes fitted over the studs under the rain covers. Exhaust guards machined & needle gunned for cast patina, brass cone bolt made for starter cover, starter plate modified to have a little more detail. I find myself starting to get a little impatient as I really want something to drive but on the other hand, I want more detail than a standard kit. Some things like the jack retaining clamps, folding hinges on the guards and other things, I will come back too after I have it running. I have also tried my hand at weathering but some things I might have gone too far on, but I will wait till the camo and weathering have been done on the rest of the tank before I go back and touch up. Next onto the top deck. Happy New Year to all!!!

[Paul McMartin]

I have finally started work on the top deck, I've machined the gaps in the grills and painted with wrinkle paint for cast effect as I find it much easier that Mr Surfacer. I have also decided to put a Lazy Suzan bearing in as well. I've machined the deck supports so that the front & rear of the bearing is sitting on the supports, and it will bolt to the underside of the top deck plate. I've also started on the turret assembly and found the wrap was out by a fair bit, but with the use of five 'F' clamps and a dead blow hammer, I managed to get it on. A little short on one side and a little long on the other but nothing some Milliput and a sander won't fix. Now for a small hiccup with the gun pivot, one side hole is out by 5mm, so it is not parallel to the front plate.
Option A - make a whole new pivot
Option B - mill the hole over and epoxy the gap behind it
I think option B will save a lot of time and effort.

[neil graham]

Catching up the last months of your build..... where has the time gone!

Love the rotisserie! That would have been handy early on.
Super impressed with the texture effects you are getting, looks great. Sandblasting sounds like a great idea.

Yeah, I have to agree the original colour you were using looks way too 'yellow', the Tamiya looks much better.

[Paul McMartin]

Problem solved, milled out to my biggest end mill bit 16mm, and made a new bush. It wouldn't fit in my mill, so I had to tilt it to 60'.
I also drilled a second hole with a stepped drill for the binocular sight. I liked what Dale Jordan with the tabs in the front and the lug at the back to hold the top down, so I am doing the same, (thanks Dale )
Now for another slight hiccup, I one part of my turret top plate there is a 3.5mm gap . Luckily I have spoken to Liam and he will laser cut me a new one once I send a template down.