Vince's Tiger 1 late variant 2017

[Brian Ostlind]

I am sorry to read about your loss. I hope you feel ok and the model is a good distraction.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Brian.

I see you have and also getting new toys to play with. Hope you will be able to continue the Tiger.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Finished the engine rear access panel.

One thing I wanted to do on this part was to try and change the "+" cut-out on the small filler cap to a square recess which is more typical. As this meant a major change, I decided to make a new filler cap from scratch and keep the original as a backup just in case I did not like the end result. The problem was that I could not figure out the size of the thread being used. Kian came to the rescue by telling me the size of the imperial thread. No wonder I could not figure out the size myself. I only have metric tooling and have never worked with imperial threads.

This meant that I had to obtain an imperial die and wrench to cut the thread. Eventually I figured out that it was cheaper to just buy another filler cap from Monique. I used the head of a Roberston countersunk wood screw and am quite happy with the result.

I also added the triangular looking access panel to this part to make it look more like the real thing.

Vince

[Brian Ostlind]

Stunning!

[Brian Ostlind]

Hope you will be able to continue the Tiger.

Vince

Trust me I am dying to work on it. I have been waiting for a new spray system from Japan to get here to continue the painting and it’s taking the slow boat.

[Vince Cutajar]

Finished the radiator fan grilles and mating access panels.

So what did I do on these?

a) Made the counterbores for the square head bolts a little deeper. Which reminds me. On the engine rear access panel I also made the counterbores for the bolts as it did not have any.

b) Refreshed the female threads of the large filler caps as the filler caps did not screw all the way down. I was lucky that I had the required tap (16 X 1mm).

c) Used the same round headed bolts and castle nuts for the catch.

d) Made the cuts in the grille using a junior hacksaw. Cleaned up the cuts using a Dremel cut-off disk in the milling machine.

I haven't pushed in the hinge pins home as yet as it would be impossible to remove them. Unfortunately the pattern of the right grill is not typical of a 1944 Tiger. It resembles more a 1943 pattern. I can't do anything about this.

Vince

P.S. I have just realised that the right grille is a "mirror" of the left grille when it should be a copy.

[Vince Cutajar]

This may be helpful to someone.

I was playing around with the above small grilles and mating access panel and noticed that when placed on the surface plate they do not sit properly on the plate. There is a gap just under the hinge pin. A 0.55mm feeler gauge just slips in.

Sitting on surface plate

So, just to see if this is going to affect anything, I bolted it to the engine deck.

Bolted to engine deck

As I suspected, with this gap, the grille will not sit flush on the engine deck. My first thought was, no problem, I will remove the excess material from the bottom of the grille with the milling machine but after sleeping on it and me being a lazy so and so, I came up with an easy fix. Between the access panel and the engine deck I inserted a 3mm washer to the bolt holes closest to the hinge pins. This seems to fix the problem and the grille now sits properly on the engine deck.

Washer added

I also finished work on the larger grille sections.

Large grille sections

What did I do on these? Refreshed the female thread so that it would be easier to screw in the filler caps. Made counterbores for the square headed bolts and made the cut-outs in the grille.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

Very neat and tidy work Vince, I'm looking forward to the finished Tiger! Keep those progress photos coming regards Phil.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Phil for the compliment.

I'm looking forward to the finished Tiger!

Me too but the end is still not in sight. My original plan was that after finishing the rear plate, I would then attempt to apply zimmeritt to the hull and then start installing the radio equipment so that by the end of this year I would have at least a rolling hull, but the rear mudguards have put a dent in my plan.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Earlier this week I ordered the rear mudguards from FOA in the States. Still not sure what I am getting but it's useless worrying about it now. Spent the last couple of days detailing some parts (weld seams).

Even Steve's jack got the treatment.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

I like to see the welds going on as it enhances the whole thing but only if it's done well !

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Phil.

Temporarily bolted all the engine deck bits and pieces together to the deck. At least now I can keep them together.

Having seen Brian's success at managing to get a rolling hull made me think. That is one area I have not really tested. OK, my tracks fit nicely but I haven't really tested them. I got all the required parts (motion pack) to do it except the batteries. Just can't find that size of battery locally which means that I have to import them (ouch). I have a fully regulated power supply that can give me 24V at a maximum of 10A but I suspect that I might not be enough for testing purposes.

Vince

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

10A is plenty for testing indoors. 15+ is what it takes to make sharp turns on shaggy lawns. Might be less, actually, with the newer high efficiency drives. Besides, you will only test with an empty chassis - much lighter than full combat weight.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Christoffer.

If I remember correctly, when I gave the motors a little running-in, they were taking about 2.00 - 2.20A under no load.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

I feel quite chuffed with myself today.

Managed to get my first ever R/C setup to work today. I wanted a very basic setup just to test the tracks and running gear just like Brian's. So I wanted to use the motion control module only for now. Problem was that I could not find a diagram (or I missed it) for using just the receiver, motion control module and the two motors. With the help of a photo of Brian's setup (and a couple of questions to Brian) and also the Elephant's wiring diagram I managed to successfully bench test the setup using a power supply.

I am using a Spektrum DX8 transmitter with Spektrum AR8010T 8 channel receiver which came with an additional external receiver. I am at the moment using the Throttle and the Elevator channels to control the motors. That's all I need for now. I am using the power supply as I don't have the batteries. I think I found a source in Germany who is not asking for an arm and a leg for shipping two 22AH batteries to me.

I also noticed that whilst the motors were in storage the white Armortek sticker on each gear box turned pinkish. On closer inspection I found this was due to the gearbox lubricant seeping out. I hope this is not a problem.

Vince