Armortek

Spent most of the day checking and measuring to see if I did something wrong when assembling the upper hull and everything seems to check out. I even checked to see if the top of the upper hull is parallel with the hull floor and it seems that they are actually parallel.
Also, looking at the following photo, the glacis plate can't go any lower because then the machine gun mantlet will not fit.
I will be filling in that gap with Milliput. I wish there was somebody else building this 2017 model so that I could compare notes.

Also decided that my next operation will be to paint the interior of the hull and did some prep work for that.

Vince

Mostly painting the interior and the bulkheads today. Gave it two light coats and then ran out of paint. Tomorrow I will see if it needs a third coating. Still need to do the torsion bars and the battery tray so next week I will order another can. Also red primed the idlers which were already etch primed.

Noticed that some people make a fillet in the upper front panel so today I attempted to do that also with milliput.
Formed the curve using a 25.4mm round bar. Will let it cure and then sand it and see if it's OK.

Vince

I have been thinking on what Christoffer suggested earlier on about the possibility of having a front spare track holder. I have found photos of Tigers with zimm having these front spare track holders. Various methods of holding the tracks seem to have been used but could not find a detailed (close-up) photo of the actual holder.

So, today made a rough 3d sketch of how it could have been made.
What do you think? Also, did earlier versions of the Armortek Tiger 1s come with these spare track holders? If so, could somebody send me a photo of the assembly manual showing this holder?

Vince

Vince

The spare track holder on the toe plate was never a production standard and you therefore have to choose from any number of local mods, specific to a particular vehicle or unit.

Here's the page from Tiger 131 Instructions:


Two photos of the Fehrmann Tiger F01, which I'm planning to build sometime. Although the photos are pretty indistinct, it looks to me as though there is one piece of channel section stock welded to the hull horns.



RFM make a 1/35th scale kit of F01 and this is how they interpret the track holder. I don't think they're correct:




These are a few typical examples of styles:



Take your pick!

Stephen

David Wilkins's Tiger 131 thread shows a close up of the track hanger from that kit.

Adrian.

Thanks Stephen and Adrian. That was very helpful.

Vince

It's amazing how a little paint changes the size of a part. Spent this afternoon removing paint and draw filing so that the glacis plate and the upper front panel fit together in the hull. Before painting they were a perfect fit but after painting they did not fit anymore. Luckily I only needed to work on the top edge/side of the upper front panel to get them to slot in the hull.

Vince

I received some 2.5mm stainless nuts and thought that for a change I would assemble the sprockets. I am using 2.5 X 10 mm hex head bolts to assemble both sprocket rings. I also have some extra brass locking tabs for both sprocket rings.

So started with the inner sprocket rings and applied some 2.5mm hardware and brass tabs and tried to bend the brass tabs onto the hardware. Easier said than done. It is not as easy as it looks. The problem is to initially lift the edge of the brass tab so that it can then be bent. I tried various tools to lift the edge. Jewellers screw drivers, craft knives and Stanley knives. Eventually I could manage to do it but apart from mangling the edge of the brass I was also conscious that I could injure myself in the process. So, time-out, had a smoke, and scratched my bald head and came up with a safer method of doing things. So what follows is a tip to the people (like myself) who are dealing with these brass tabs for the first time.

Take a brass tab and with a long-nose plier, slightly bend the edges.
Fix it to the sprocket assembly with the 2.5mm hardware but do not tighten. Before tightening the hardware put an old Stanley knife blade under the edge of the tab and bend it at little bit more. Tighten the hardware and then using a long-nose plier or side cutter continue bending the brass tab onto the hardware. The following photo shows the best tool (don't know the proper name for it) I found to give the best final bend.
Vince

Thanks for the explanation of your method Vince.

Having been guilty of trying to use a Stanley knife as an impromptu lever in the past, I can see why you would want to avoid the excitement of bits of broken blade flying around the place. BTDT

The tool you used are usually called end cutters (or nippers).

Adrian.

End cutters. Thanks.

I was more concerned with the tool slipping and stabbing myself.

I hope the explanation made sense as English is not my mother language.

Vince

hi vince, a lot of the armortek kit building is make it up as you go along to what suites you, there's nothing to critical on fit, you will have to do some adjustments, its just part of the build process, it looks like your doing a superb job there, regards simon manning.

Thanks Simon for having a look.

Vince

So this afternoon, the station manager sent me to get her some things from Lidl and something followed me home.
I wonder if it can be used to set the swing arms?

Vince

Vince, hello. You were asking Phil about track painting. There is a Knowledge Base Topic here:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... =34&t=5816

Regards.

Stephen

Thanks for the link Stephen.

Vince