Rear mudguards from 6th Scale Icons

[Vince Cutajar]

I am most probably going to order the rear mudguards for my late Tiger from 6th Scale Icons. These come as a kit and I would need to assemble them myself.

Has anybody assembled these? Any particular difficulties encountered? Any other thoughts?

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Yesterday, I ordered the 6th Scale Icons kit for the rear mudguards for my late Tiger 1. If it's of any interest, I can make a review of this kit when I receive it and start work on it. I would most probably focus on how easy/difficult it is to put together.

What do you think?

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

I received my kit earlier this week. I have already downloaded the assembly instructions for the kit. These look to be the original late Mike Stannard's instructions.

All the bits and pieces are packed in a strong Ziploc plastic bag so nothing gets lost and this bag was packed in a carton box with newspaper for stuffing. I checked the contents with the printed instructions and everything seems to be there. I did not bother with the bolts and nuts as I might be changing them to be similar to the hardware I used on the front mudguards.

One thing I noticed is that the main mudguard panels are flat whilst on the assembly instructions they are shown as pre-formed with the bends already there, the triangular ribs attached and the hinge sections formed. So I thought that there could be some updated assembly instructions to cater for this. When I emailed to ask about this, I was directed to the same instructions that I already downloaded!

Doing the straight bends should not be a problem as the bend line is also etched. Similarly soft soldering the triangular ribs should not be a problem as the location of where they should be is also etched. What I think will create some problems for me is forming the round hinge sections in 0.8mm thick brass.

As it is, I won't be starting work on the rear mudguards for now as I need to finish doing and painting on the engine deck grille meshes. This will give me time to think of the best method to form these hinge sections.

Vince

[Robert E Morey]

Hi Vince,
I'd be interested in your thoughts after you assemble these. I'd be concerned they would be a little delicate for RC use, but perhaps not - after assembling them. I think they will look nice for accuracy.
Best regards, Bob

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

They ARE a little too delicate. It is very easy to snag or bump one when maneuvering in tight spaces, resulting in quite prototypical damage.
I would suggest that you silver solder the triangular reinforcement brackets. Soft solder will not withstand the force if you accidentally back into something and it gets difficult to resolder when bent. The original kit steel mudguards are almost indestructible, but the brass hinges are a weak point.

Dear old Mike Stannard was very helpful and did some of the difficult work in his kits. The instructions reflect this. Unfortunately, this was time consuming for him and he had a hard time keeping up with demand, resulting in long delays on orders. It looks like the new proprietors do what they do best: Produce the parts and leave the assembly to the customers. In return, there was delivery in a few weeks instead of a year.

The hinges ARE the difficult part to make, but if I could do it, so can you.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thank you Bob and Christoffer for your thoughts and comments.

Yes, it looks a bit delicate but will see how it turns out when finished. I have to admit that it replicates the details of a late Tiger rear mudguard very well. Still don't have any idea how to properly form those hinge sections at the top of the main panel. Obviously there is nothing on the instructions as they used to come already pre-formed.

As far as I know, these are the only after-market rear mudguards for the late Tiger that are available, so I had no choice but to get them.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

Looks like you need one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Photo-Etch-Sta ... B00UHSHFJY

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Adrian.
Interesting contraption.
Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Finally managed to do something on the mudguards. First thing I need to do was to form those hinge sections on the main panel of the mudguards. I have been thinking of various methods to achieve this. The problem is that all the hinge sections must be in line with each other. Another problem was where to start the bend. Finally I settled on a particular method keeping my fingers crossed.

Made a jig for holding the main panel in it.

I annealed the brass tabs and very carefully bent them by 180 degrees.

Then continued the bend around the shank of a 2.5mm drill.

I will be using a 2mm rod as the hinge rod as I think the one that came with the kit is a bit too thick (approx. 2.6mm). Now that I managed to surmount this hurdle I can order some fasteners for them. There are fasteners in the kit but I want to match them with the fasteners I used for the front mudguards.

I suspect this was the hardest part for this assembly. Even though I have a decent workshop I still struggled to get to this point. The problem is that there are no indications in the instructions of how to achieve this.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

Nicely done Vince, your now the expert in mudguard hinge rolling! You do realise that the rear mudguards are one of the first parts of a Tiger1 to get trashed when manoeuvring the beast, just as the real thing did! Regards Phil.

[Vince Cutajar]

You do realise that the rear mudguards are one of the first parts of a Tiger1 to get trashed when manoeuvring the beast, just as the real thing did!

I hope not! I doubt it will see a lot of running time.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

> that there are no indications in the instructions of how to achieve this.

I have a feeling that Mike Stannard used to do some of the forming work on his parts, even when they were sold as a kit, so there would have been no need for him to include those steps in the instructions.

I have a set of his Early Tiger mudguards, which I hope to be working on over the Christmas break, so your explanation and photos are invaluable

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

I have a feeling that Mike Stannard used to do some of the forming work on his parts, even when they were sold as a kit, so there would have been no need for him to include those steps in the instructions.

Adrian you are correct. In fact the first photo of the instructions shows all the bits and pieces and the main panels are shown pre-bent, with the ribs soldered and the hinges already formed.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

As I had that feel good feeling after forming the hinges, I thought I would do the straight bends. I don't have a sheet metal bender so the big milling vice was used instead.

For the bend below the hinges I used parallels to protect the hinges.

First bend

Second bend at the edge of the panel was easier as the bend line was photo-etched.

Second bend

As you can see in the photo, I used the rib to set the angle of the bend. This was used for both bends. Worked a charm.

Bends done

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Soldered the ribs to the main panels.

Now it is basically following the instructions although I would not be surprised if I change the sequence of operations. Have to wait for the fasteners I ordered to arrive.

Vince