The Official Armortek Forum - World leader in one sixth scale metal kits

Hi Neil I'm not sure about the cap head bolts for the front mud guard hinges I can't remember what I did . I think they where bolted from
underneath and the thread was flush at the top other wise the guards won't pivot up . Dale

Thanks Dale, excellent pick up.... I needed 8 bolts and saw 8 that different from the rest.....wrong of course. Instructions say CSK and not CAP.

All fixed now

Finished the matt varnishing of most of the lower hull
This meant I could attach the idler arms
...and reallign all the suspension arms to 30 degrees. However, there was one that would not sit on the torsion bar. So I replaced the grubs....but it still wobbled a good 10 degrees. I was about to drill small holes in the torsion rod so the grubs could sit in them, but with the drill in hand I decided to switch the torsion rod around.....and this did the trick!
I intend to wait until my steel tracks arrive and I build them before I attach the drive sprockets & wheels, simply so that they all align.

Next job is probably to do all the rear plate detail

Got back into it this morning....had a crazy few weeks at work but at least the Tiger was still waiting for me. My wife has named him 'Fritz'

Got the idler wheels on with caps Something I realised last week when I was aligning the suspension arms..... I could not access the locking bolt on top of the fixed ends as the left drive mount was in place....and I couldnt get the drive mount off without taking the drive sprocket off. First world problems I know, but its annoying when I have to spend time fixing obvious mistakes I should have noticed.
Even though the drive mount is on page 1 of the instructions, it would be obvious to anyone making a 2021 Tiger that it would have to come off when originally placing the arms, but my options pack & the mount only arrived recently. Oh well, at least I didnt have to break the whole tank down to tighten that single locking bolt
After putting all this back together I then moved onto preparing all of the rear plate detail parts. Filing parts with sharp edges and sanding/scratching all the other surfaces.

Will have to do something with these, though I don't know what yet, they clearly can't go on like this. I have a vice & a drill, wish me luck!

Hi Neil,

Your Tiger 1 is beautiful.

IMHO , in case of needing do it again in the future. Cut off necessary material of that LHS motor mount above this M6 cap screw , or simply to replace it with M6 hex head screw , before re-installing the LHS drive motor. So next time a L-shape M6 Allen wrench or spanner is enough to lock / unlock it. Learnt this from many Tiger 1 builders.
Happy building!

Lerh Chang

viewtopic.php?p=60621#p60621

2nd and 3rd photo.

Vince

Regarding the tow rope clamps; I made them open ended slots.

viewtopic.php?p=65062#p65062

Vince

Hi Neil you can cut down the Allen key into a mini me .Dale

Regarding the hard to get at allen bolt,simply replace it with a hex bolt,and save all the frustration
that's what i did

Donald

Thanks for the great suggestions guys, and the compliment Chang. I want it to look nice (and be reasonably safe from corrosion) even if I won't use any filler until the end and I know it runs

I did think about bending an allen key, but not cutting one...a metal saw is a likely addition to the tool kit. A new bolt is an obvious solution that I admit I didn't think about.

The slot was what I was hoping to cut with a drill bit. A bit scary for me as I am not a skilled metal guy by any stretch of the imagination.

Pick up a Dremel or similar small motor tool with a cutting wheel. Makes short work of slotting those clamp plates and does so pretty safely and easily. And I am no metal worker either

Yeah, I have resisted getting a dremel for so long.....maybe its about time

neil graham wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 06, 2024 10:41 am

Thanks for the great suggestions guys, and the compliment Chang. I want it to look nice (and be reasonably safe from corrosion) even if I won't use any filler until the end and I know it runs

I did think about bending an allen key, but not cutting one...a metal saw is a likely addition to the tool kit. A new bolt is an obvious solution that I admit I didn't think about.

The slot was what I was hoping to cut with a drill bit. A bit scary for me as I am not a skilled metal guy by any stretch of the imagination.

Hi Neil,you will have about zero chance of bending a quality Allen Wrench,they are tested to check strength and i went along to see this test,they rotate on themselves 3 times before breaking,so trying to bend one you will have a very hard job indeed

Donald

I'm glad I didn't try to bend an Allen key then, I am sure I would have come off second best

I haven't got the dremel yet, though I should have as I spent the morning at Bunnings (our version of Home Depot/B&Q). Getting even more rack shelving....and yes I am going to build several shelves for the exact size of the Armortek boxes....I imagine the ones I have are of a standard.

Did manage to sand all the remaining rear armour detail pieces and then get them coated (both sides!) with the etch primer & the red oxide primer. Will research the correct colours for each....up until now I could just paint everything in dunkelgelb,with the only exception being the machine gun barrel. I have rust effects and soot for the main exhaust parts....not sure on the rest yet. The internet awaits!

Spent last weekend doing more work to the shed...and getting yet more shelf rack space. It looks awesome, I have room for an entire tank in standard boxes

Started painting all the rear plate detail items..... long way to go of course, a lot of angles & coats to do