Tiger I Details

[Simon Peck]

Hi Gents.
I was wondering if anyone could help with a few detail questions concerning the Tiger I?
1. The hull roof, was this item one large deck piece, with a hole for the turret, or was it several panels, and if so, were there any weld lines, other than those at the edge where meeting the hull?
2. While I know the earliest Tiger I's didn't have track hangers on the turrets, and then a few had three on the right hand side and five on the left, followed by two on the right hand side and still five on the left. My question is, I've read somewhere, but don't remember where: the positioning of the five varied, does anyone know anything of this?
3. Zimmerit, was this put on and around the smaller hull fixtures, or was the zimmerit put on first and cut away after to make way for the fixtures? Does anyone have any pictures of war time factory zimmerit being applied?
Any help as always is appreciated.
Kind regards to all,
Simon.

[Adrian Harris]

Simon.

Sorry, can't help with any specifics, but it might be worth going through the Bovington Tiger restoration journal, as that has pictures of 131 with the turret off, paint stripped etc.

http://www.tiger-tank.com

The pictures aren't the best, but you can order the originals from the Tank Museum.

Adrian.

[mark lawson]

Hull roof came as one piece with the 25mm hull roof for the later model it came at first as a single piece 40mm roof then changed to a two piece 40mm roof welded at what would have been the fold
Zimmerit was applied last all tool brackets were welded in place first, I know this is not the way most modellers apply zimmerit
I’m not aware of any pictures of zimmerit application but if you wish to study how it was shaped then it’s best to study as many pictures as possible there are a number of books covering the Tiger subject
Turret mounted track brackets did vary when the 3 brackets on the right was reduced to 2 this was to aid the opening of the engine hatch as for the 5 on the left this is the best sight to research Tigers
http://tiger1.info/

[Ragnar Arntsen]

Hi Simon
The hull roof is one piece. On my 2010 tiger I added an 14mm wide and 3mm thick alu plate at the front of engine Hatch to make this level with the rest of the roof. I also raised the engine hatch by 3mm to make this level with the hull roof. This was done by milling of 3mm from the bottom of the hinges. All this to make it look more correct.

Track holders was originally 15 to be stowed outside turret. The baggage bin and the need to open the engine Hatch reduced this as to 5 on left side and 3 on right side and from late april 1943 it was reduced to 2.
The book from Jentz and Doyle are an MUST as an building aid
ISBN: 0-7643-1038-0

Zimmerit was applied after the fasteners were welded in place, since the zimmerit are a thick paste it was deletet under tools that was an thight fit. As the zimmerit is made of barium sulfate, polyvinyl acetate, ochre pigment, zinc sulfide and sawdust this would have made it highly flammable and therefor had to be applied after the Welding of the tool fasteners was completed
To get Your build right,I advise you to make it leave the factory any given date,my build left the factory the first week in June 43 and was given fahrgestell# 250284.
This made me able to add or remove parts to make an more correct model.

Ragnar

[Simon Peck]

Hello Gents.
Thanks for the replies.
Mark, unless I'm mistaken the hull roof remained at 25mm thick throughout the entire production run, I believe it was only the turret roof that changed to 40mm.
Ragnar, Zimmerit may have been flammable when applied wet, but it proved almost impossible to ignite once dry.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmerit
I have most of the Tiger I books, but even Doyle and Jentz can lack sufficient detail for our 1:6 models.
The turret track hangers: you are completely right, decide when your Tiger left the factory and you will have a good idea as to what features to apply accordingly. I was aware of the 5/4, 5/3, 5/2 on the left and right hand sides respectively, but there is more to it than simply those numbers. The actual positions of the hangers varied. I chose September '43 for my tank, a mid production, but you will see if I choose early or late September, then the position of the hangers will be different, despite both options being five on the left and 2 on the right! Fortunately I found the answer, and this site shows the positions very nicely: http://tiger1.info/EN/Turret-track-holders.html
Anyways, I hope this of help.
Cheers again,
Simon.

[Per Sonnervik]

Hello Simon,

About the deck, it was two 25 mm thick plates and welded together, see below;




These welds are confirmed on the Bovington´s Tiger and I´ve seen them on late Tiger I´s too so I don´t think they changed.

/Per

[Kent Wiik]

Hi Simon,

Per is correct, the hull roof was made from two half and this was done on all Tiger I from the early, mid and late ones.
Here is a Panzerbasics photo of the Saumur late Tiger I were the front weld can be seen.

http://www.panzerbasics.com/index_files ... antlet.jpg

Kind regards
Kent

[Simon Peck]

Per, Kent.
Thanks ever so.... exactly what I was looking for, much appreciated!
Kind regards,
Simon.