LATE TIGER I, #56 2012 SERIES restoration

[Bruno Mary]

Hi,
first timer to post on the forum.
My hobby focuses mainly on building large scale RC warbirds, but after receiving an offer to purchase this tank from a local guy I saw an opportunity to diversify.
I got the tank fully built, it was stored in a garage and homed some local rodents. Be in Colorado and having low humidity, the tank remained in pretty good shape. After installing new batteries and setting up a Hitec Aurora9, I was able to drive it around the house and take it to some of the Airplane events I attended. To my surprise, it got very popular with the crowd, especially the kids. This year, I decided to start the restore and took it apart.
Following is so far what I have accomplished, I welcome comments and suggestions as I am no expert with the Armortek kits.
The first step was to strip all the paint on every parts which I accomplished this summer, with the exception of the turret and few other parts.

[Bruno Mary]

With most of the bearings been rough, I started to replace them with gear case first. New shaft seals were purchased as well, I designed the gear gaskets in Solidwork and used a laser cutter.

[Manny Leung]

What did you use to strip the paint off so clean? Chemical or elbow grease?
Cheers:

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

I was thinking the same thing. Wonder if it is something we are allowed to use here in the EU...?

[Bruno Mary]

I used The following.
Considering the tank was roughly painted with Latex and a coat of automotive primer bellow, it did not take much to strip the paint. I treated the hardware the same and finished with 30 minutes in the ultrasonic bath. Since most bearings have paint on them, I am replacing them.
As an added note, I finished the large parts by scuffing them with steel-wool.

[Bruno Mary]

With half of the brass bushings worn out, I machined new ones as replacement.

[Bruno Mary]

With the tank, I also got all the manuals and instructions. Every options seems to be included, such as the motion, sound, smoke, and recoil packs. With this came also a box full of spare tracks, track pins, and bunch of 6th scale Icons details packs (some installed).
I selected to detail the engine bay and purchase a 3D model of the Maybach engine. I had to rescale it on the 3D printer to get the right size as the original file was more like a 1/16 scale. I'll get more in detail with the engine and installation as I get there.
For the scheme I am going with Michael Wittman tank. Considering that I grew up in Normandy and often visited family in Villers-Bocage, why not!

[Bruno Mary]

I have do have a question
On the following picture I pointed to the parts which were missing on the tank. Were those installed on the late Tiger tank?

[Chang]

I have do have a question
On the following picture I pointed to the parts which were missing on the tank. Were those installed on the late Tiger tank?

Hi Bruno,
Yes, the two parts were included and installed in all versions of Tiger 1 kit. Double check all parts included and good luck.
Regards,
Lerh Chang

[Bruno Mary]

Thanks Lerh,
Looks like the original owner didn't not install them or just didn't have them. I started to design those in SolidWorks but could use some dimensions/pictures. I contacted Armortek to possibly purchase the sets but they were not sure the newer version would fit the 2012 tiger series.
Thank you,

Bruno

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

Nice 3D model!
When you print the fans, pls note that they are supposed to be identical, not mirrored. The RH side is correct.

The final drive armor is supposed to extend into the sprocket wheel. A friend of mine (Stefan Konitzer - you may find his build thread from 2008 here on the forum) turned a ring to shape, cut it in half and fitted the halves to the respective sides. You might wonder if the tight gap between the armor and wheel would keep debris out of it or would make things jam there, but it has worked well for him. His model is still a very good runner. If you compare to drawings of the real thing, pls be aware that the Armortek track sits a few mm too far out from the hull, calling for a suitable compromise with regard to the armor rings.

[Bruno Mary]

Thank you for the info Christoffer.
I'll make sure to visit Stefan build thread.
I haven't printed the section with the fans yet, I'll modify the files to replicated the right side fans.
So far, I just have the engine block, the advantage of the model (engine) is all the parts can be broken down so to only print the selected ones.

[Bruno Mary]

During the past couple weeks, I also coated some of the parts with etching primer (Duplicolor).

[Bruno Mary]

Got also the axle bushings fitted in the suspension bars.

[Bruno Mary]

Nice weather here in Colorado, went to get some more Duplicolor etching primer and proceed with spraying all the hubs and some other parts.