Tiger 1 2021 no. 13

[Gary Richardson]

Thanks for the replies regarding the steel wheels, having seen the photo of the real wheel I can now see the one on the left is the one to go with.
David, thanks for the heads up regarding the height problem with the jack block. I have just checked it against the steel bracket supplied with the kit
and providing I use countersunk screws to attack the corner brackets it is only 1.2mm higher so hopefully will have enough clearance.
The borgward would be an interesting project, I didn't realise there were so many variations including ammo carriers and 88mm Raketenpanzerbuche 54 with its six bazooka style anti tank weapons used in the battle of Berlin.

[Gary Richardson]

The build is progressing and I have started to paint some of the hull parts including the suspension bars which have also had the bushes installed.
I had to make a temporary spray booth by recycling the armortek boxes, very handy. After using the Upol acid etch for the first time I have now decided to build a proper spray booth with an extractor fan as even with a good quality respirator and goggles the fumes linger a long time and its a bit too cold to keep opening the workshop doors every time I need to spray something.
I am enjoying working on the road wheels, hubs and bearings , there is something quite therapeutic about deburring and fettling to get the hub caps so they do up without binding.

A good use for the Armortek boxes.

beginning the hubs

all wheels, hubs and centres cleaned and ready

bearing installed using loctite 638

[Gary Richardson]

I decided to build a spray booth with an extractor fan which should allow me to make better progress with priming the hull parts and the wheels over the next couple of days. It works reasonably well and cuts down on fumes and drifting paint particles.
I am also looking into using countersunk screws to secure the suspension bars to the hull floor and the hull lower front and rear plate. I will do one more dry fit of the hull to make sure everything lines up correctly and work out the best way to do the countersinking so it remains aligned.

This should make spraying easier and quicker.

[Donald Suttie]

I have used csk screws at both and front panels,but didn't do the underside because it really wont be seen and someone is unlikely to flip it over for a look at 150KG
just go easy when you countersink the front and back plates,as there is not much material to work with,i did it by hand so i didn't over do it,just fitting the screw up till i got it just past flush,using a drill to do this will probably overdo things

Donald

[Gary Richardson]

Thanks Donald

I will take your advice and do the countersinking by hand, as you say, the front and back plates are the ones that get noticed so I will do those first, then decide on the suspension bar holes.

Gary

[Gary Richardson]

I have made good progress this last week with many of the hull parts etch primed and I have started work on the suspension arms and wheels.
I made an arbor to hold the wheels centred and put it in the pillar drill to allow me to use 240g emery paper to remove the machining rings on the wheels, it worked a treat and all wheels were cleaned up in a couple of hours.
The single extractor fan for the spray booth needed upgrading so I installed a second extractor and made the ducting more permanent, I will just have to get another tank to make the expenditure worth while. This has reduced the fumes and overspray and saves me having to keep opening the doors to clear the air.

home made arbor using 2 x 5mm aluminium discs

wheel refining.JPG[/attachment [attachment=2]twin extractors.JPG

The shape of the booth allows all the parts to fit without using too much garage space

Should be able to start assembling the wheel sets soon.

[Gary Richardson]

Apologies, I repeated the previous spray booth photo and got the photos in the wrong order, I should have double checked the preview.

twin extractors

[Gary Richardson]

I decided to do some fettling on the drive sprockets while waiting for the primer to harden on the hull parts.
I am assuming the full size were cast so after rounding off the spokes and cleaning up the machining marks I will experiment with car filler or high build primer to try and achieve a cast metal look.

Still need some cleaning up.

Road wheels are taking shape

[Gary Richardson]

A quick update on my build, most of the main hull components are etch primed and have had the red oxide coating done. The suspension bars are fitted to the floor and front and rear screw holes have been countersunk. I have modified the vison blocks but may still need to flatten off the recess and started bolting together the road wheels.
I now have to decide on the dunkelgelb as I need to paint the inside of the roadwheels before I can progress them any further. I will be trying a mix of Tamiya XF60 dark yellow and XF59 desert yellow as suggested on other builds although I think the mix of 4-1 mention was for the early Dunkelgelb so may have to darken it a touch. Ideally I would like to get a can of acrylic paint made and some thinners once I have sorted out the correct colour so I can use an airbrush. Can anyone recommend a company that will mix small volumes of paint from a swatch.
Once the paint has had a chance to harden I will start assembling the lower hull and test fit the suspension torsion bars, axels etc.
I have been acquiring various aftermarket parts from Dave Dibbs, Mark Lawson and Steve Winstone so will need to modify some of the hull plates for the new bump stops, headlight, tool brackets etc.

Regards
Gary

modified sprocket.

modified vision blocks

[AlastairCooke]

Hi Gary,
Just a thought... others may wish to confirm...it is possible that the wheel sets were bolted together before being given a coat of Dukelgelb. I have seen an image of a complete Tiger 1 in what appears to be red oxide primer. If you go this route then the inner faces of the inner wheel sets will be left in the primer. I am considering this for F01.

Alastair

[Søren Sandvold]

Nice progress Gary And great result on the vision block

Just a word of caution, you might know this and I did, but still manged to fail anyway.

Be carefull to clean away all excess locktite from parts that are to be primed and painted.
I though I had done a good enough cleaning of my arms but nooooo

Primer/paint do not cure properly over locktite.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Gary,
Just a thought... others may wish to confirm...it is possible that the wheel sets were bolted together before being given a coat of Dukelgelb. I have seen an image of a complete Tiger 1 in what appears to be red oxide primer. If you go this route then the inner faces of the inner wheel sets will be left in the primer. I am considering this for F01.
Alastair

Thanks Alastair
That is very interesting and not something I had thought about. It makes a lot of sense as paint was in short supply and why camouflage something that is very difficult to see anyway. I will check the photos in my collection of Tiger books and also see if I can find photos of late Tigers that had wheel damage that might be revealing.

Just a word of caution, you might know this and I did, but still manged to fail anyway.
Be carefull to clean away all excess locktite from parts that are to be primed and painted.
Primer/paint do not cure properly over locktite.

Hi Soren
Thanks for the heads up, I found the axles were a very tight fit even after deburring so I didn't loctite them in. I did loctite the grub screws in place but I used a thin wire to run droplets of loctite directly into the threaded holes so there was no overspill and some of it would have engaged with the axle threads.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I thought I would show some of the aftermarket parts I have acquired so far as other newbies may be interested.

Looking forward to adding these.

Regards

Gary

[Søren Sandvold]

Nice selection of Gucci parts

I'm on my way to the post office, as we speak, to pick up my goody bag from Steve
Especially looking forward to the bumpstops, as these are the items that have held up the assembly of the lower hull.

[Gary Richardson]

Festive greetings to all
Its been a bit of a slow week as far as the Tiger build is concerned, I have made some progress assembling the lower hull and test fitting the torsion bars. The new bump stops have been etch primed and appropriate holes drilled in the hull sides, I then got side tracked modifying the headlight bracket to accept the very well detailed Steve Winstone headlight.
I will be leaving a note and a very large Brandy out for Santa in the hope more brass goodies find their way into my stocking....well you have to have hope

Regards
Gary

Modified headlight bracket

Bracket fitted

Hull assembly

Steve Winstone bump stops etch primed