Neil's early Tiger 1 (2023)

[Vince Cutajar]

I love Tiger 1 builds. Quietly following along.

Vince

[neil graham]

The suspension arm is mostly going to ride in the brass bushings in the lower hull, if I am reading things correctly. I am intending to lightly grease those contact areas. I know ArmorTek recommends not to do so or to use a dry lube, but I'm not comfortable with that. We used dry lube in the Air Force and it needed to be refreshed frequently. Those arms are going to rotate a lot, and I just don't see dry lube, or no lube, being a good idea. A couple of mine have rust spots also, and like you I simply sanded and polished them up until it was gone.

Where I live is very low humidity, so I shouldn't really ever have a rust problem, but seeing how one axle was already a little rusty a wet lubricant concerns me. I will likely follow the advice and use a dry lubricant, just not sure if I should stump up for the Dry Moly paste I have seen a few others use.

As for the grub screws, I just didn't like the look of those longer ones sticking up like that, so I ordered replacements of 4mm and 5mm to try out. I settled on the 4mm, which sits just slightly proud.

I used 638 LocTite on both of the suspension arm axles and the grub screws

As soon as I saw your images with the shorter grubs, I knew I had to do the same! But 638! you are brave, I would worry about screwing it up....I don't have a blowtorch to separate them....but at the rate I am buying stuff I will probably have a CNC milling machine by the end of the build


...and thanks for the heads up on the torsion rods!

[neil graham]

I love Tiger 1 builds. Quietly following along.

Vince

Hi Vince, don't hesitate to point out obvious mistakes or holes in my thinking/planning... it's one of the reasons why I am posting.

[neil graham]

One thing that surprises me is that mine is #46 and Dave's is #43.....that means there a lot of other early Tiger kits floating out there.

I wonder how many kits are ordered by new people and how many by grizzled Armortek veterans

[Andrew Gaze]

Hey Neil, I am following your and Dave’s builds with interest.
I have also ordered a Tiger kit but won’t be receiving it until later in the new year so I am keen to see your builds progress.
I am in Hobart and as far as I know there are no Armortek tanks in Tasmania so I’ve got no one close by to talk to about the build.
I hope you guys continue with posts so I can get a bit of heads up on what to expect.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[neil graham]

I discovered to my horror on a test fitting of a lot of the fixed ends that they don't fit into the torsion bar. Back at the start of this build I sanded down the brass bushes and cleaned up the fixed end holes, then test fit the axles and a fixed end..... but it would seem that the fixed end I tested with on many holes was on the smaller side of the tolerances.

Fast forward to today and I was doing a test fit of all of the fixed ends.....and most would not fit! I am sure I could have 'persuaded' them in with a mallet, but we need them to turn reasonably easily so we can fit the torsion rods tight, before getting the required 30 degree angle on the swing arms.

Anyway, took the torsion bars off the base and gave the fixed end holes a good working over with some files & sandpaper. End result is that that all the fixed ends now fit & rotate without using multigrips!

While the bars were out I took the opportunity to give them some etch primer on the one side that was missing it....as well as on the corresponding area on the baseplate.

The actual planned main task of the day was to give the inside of each swing arm (aka The dark side of the moon) several coats of etch primer & red oxide, ready for sand yellow tomorrow. Once these are attached to the chassis it will be fiddly to paint them again, obviously these will not be visible but I want them protected. In the end they only got etch primer today.

Line 'em up!

Oh.... and here is the first day this happened: Insert 'Ode to Joy' clip

At last, my table has fulfilled its destiny

[Brian Worth]

Tiger 1 No 48

Hi my first post just received my 2023 Tiger 1 kit 2 weeks ago. No 48
Location Brisbane Australia . Will be a few months before I start assembling as still sorting out my work shop.
Following your build.

[neil graham]

Hi Brian,
Welcome to the fold....what a great Christmas(ish) present.
The only people posting about their early Tiger builds are all the in the 'forties' club, which feels thoroughly appropriate for Tiger tanks! I wonder if Andrew in Tassie will also be in the forties club.

EDIT: and yes I totally get it about sorting out the work space....it cost me a good month or so, but I am so happy my shed is livable again (my wife maybe even more so)

Dave, we can make you an honorary Australian so you fit in

[Dave Goodwin]

Ripper! Bloody good oil, mate!

I blame Google for any mis-use of the language

[John Fitzsimons]

Following you work with interest. Looking at your table lift. Once my wheels were fitted the Tiger was wider than the table top. I fitted a plywood top to the table. Also plywood along the edge width of tracks as otherwise not enough clearance to get jack in and out although I see your scissor jack is bolted to table.

[Tim Carr]

Thoughts on the grub screw stick out. If I read it right, you did, like I, a light setting of the grub screws. Remember, when you are ready to tighten down hard and set those grubs they will smash down the threads and set lower. How much I don't know as I've not set mine either. I'm thinking if they stick out too much, I'll take them one out at a time, and try to grind some off the inside end of the grub. When happy grind off outside end of grub and fill with filler and sand and prime and paint.

TEST fitting! I'm NOT going to tighten anything down, prime or whatever till I've down a complete install of at least 4 axle/ torsion bar setups. I've already had 1 surprise. It was on the Tiger that I just bought that was started. Last owner had problems with the torsion bars. So. LOTS of test fittings before I tighten down and set everything. Small Lesson Learned.

Hope that you had a Good Christmas and Boxing Day.

We Learn together by sharing. Thanks for your thread.

Later Tim

[neil graham]

Sorry, I have been on the road for a few days....

Dave, bloody good effort mate!

John, I deliberately got a table that could lift to 1.3m and was slightly larger, my table is 505mm wide which should hopefully be wide enough to allow me to use wood to support the tracks during storage (with jack) and remove the jack of course...... I will never need a lift table again so I wanted to but it once, buy it right. FYI, The jack isn't actually bolted to the table...those bolts are there purely to stop the jack rotation on the lazy susan, they lift right out. This is me simply copying the wonderful Knowledge Base guide on how to setup the workshop.

Tim, yes I did a test fitting, on just a single arm, though I tightened the grubs pretty hard. The steel underneath held up as there is little leverage in using a tiny hex tool, maybe I need to invest in something better. Yeah....I thought about grinding and such....or I could do what Dave did and buy new shorter grubs, thats what I plan to do.

[neil graham]

This arrived a few days ago, bit late for Christmas but I will take it anyway. Now I can field repair any random broken down Tiger tank that I happen to pass.

Beaker approves!

Started the red oxide on the swing arms....

Shiny!

Removed more of the manky carpet, you can see how black it left the concrete. Also repositioned the lift table so I can access it while sitting....I may invest in a swivel chair as well.

One thing I forgot to mention (or photograph) was that I painted the base in Tamiya sand yellow, it can just be seen at the front. Now the beast is on the table I doubt it will come off again, so I am glad I got this done. I have to say I hate the modellers rattle cans....they seem clearly designed for 1:32 scale models! I really need to get that airbrush!

[neil graham]

The grub screws that come with the kit (M4 x 6, flat ended, HEX....EDIT: typo, I originally said M3) are perfect for things such as locking the torsion rods in place, but as discussed a few posts ago these are a little long for locking the axles into the swing arms. So, like Dave I am going to purchase some shorter grub screws as soon as my specialist fastener store re-opens after its -very selfish- Christmas shutdown.

If I am buying new grubs, feel I may as well use something better than flat head for locking threads in place. The dog point grubs don't come short enough (shortest is 5mm) which leaves me the choice of the 'cone' point or the 'knurled cup'. I am leaning towards the knurled cup screws.

Any opinions one way or another?
Alternatively, am I overthinking this completely and should stick with flat head grubs?

cone

10X20-M149CPSSS-SIDE-medium.jpg (14.71 KiB) Viewed 820 times

knurled cup

10X20-M149KPSSS-ANGLE-medium.jpg (16.73 KiB) Viewed 820 times

[Tim Carr]

Well, the cone could grind down quicker than the flat. Interesting on both of my kits the grubs are M4 x 6. I checked both manuals. M4 x 6.

Glad to see you got that book. Not sure which may have cost more the shipping or the book. But lots of great info and pics and drawings on the early Tigers.

I've used that type of spray booth several times.

Nice lifting table. Someday, not this year. Maybe next year, wait that's just a few days away.

Enjoy the build. I'm off to walk the Dog. Then I'll be reviewing the back grill plate on my Tigers.

Later Tim