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Not sure what you mean. I presume the internal roof supports. I did not use the kit parts. I made my own in aluminium as I wanted to base them on the original vehicle parts. Mine are fotted within brackets which are bolted to the pannier sides but are easily removed to get access tt the removeable floor. I think the kit bulk head is also bolted to the hull roof but mine is not. The standard kit assembly is more than secure enough. Do not worry about your tiger falling apart.

Don't take me wrong, I think these kits are a stunning piece of engineering, people go on about German engineering, but give me a wiley Brit every time.

I would never dream of it if I didn't have an in house aluminum expert.

However his solution to my wide pannier floors was to cut them in half length wise and weld them back together.Yow!

I sanded them 40 grit with my festool sander and they eased right in.
Took 30 min with the first one.

I do love rivets more than these fidley little screws though. POP. and you have a nice tight feeling of accomplishment.

I am on the fence about welding the main frame and getting rid of those brackets. If I do it will just be a tack. not a proper weld seam.

Greg, it's your model and you should do what you feel is right.... But.

You've had a number of experienced builders strongly advise you that the fasteners provided will give you the best solution. This is because, above all, they give you the opportunity, as the instructions state, to pull assemblies together true, with the secondary benefit that you can disassemble if needed.

Welding will run the considerable risk of introducing thermal distortion and would be highly unlikely not to make later stages of assembly difficult if there is the slightest misalignment or distortion. Rivets simply are not strong enough to provide the required structural strength when running.

Don't misunderstand me, I use aluminum brazing and have described successful use of brazing rod products such as lumiweld but not welding. But - and this is important - only for extra detail which I've added, not for structural components. With brazing, you have to accept the risk of introducing thermal stress and you dramatically soften the metal, which, in the case of structural components, would be fatal. See my Centurion thread.

Now, that's the advice, the rest is up to you. Above all enjoy the best one sixth models available.

Regards.

Stephen

Greg,

May I suggest before you make serious alteration to your model and using your ideals into practice, read and re read what Stephen and John have written. Being both experienced Armortek builders to perfection, they are stressing that major damage may and will result from personal ideas. The information on construction is found here on this forum where most have been there and tried it. Mark has tried and tested every which way to build this model to save frustration for the modellers of his kits and ease of construction. At the end of the day the model is a very expensive item which has been tested to perfect before being placed as an offering to the potential customer, so listen to the wise men and follow the manual and read other posts, there is a lot to learn.

Best of Wishes

Robin H

If you want to make use of those aluminium skills stick to upgrades. I replaced the bulkheads with more detailed versions in aluminium. I would have liked to weld some od the component but had to use alternative methods. If you have somebody with welding and soldering skill there are plenty of upgrade parts they can make.

Robin,
I will do exactly that. I am mostly just being curious. I am in the slow filing and fitting stage now. I deeply appreciate all of the advice from the builders on the forum, past and present.

John,
Open to suggestions. I still have to have a discussion with you about tricking out my turret interior.

No problem Greg. It's 3am here and I just finished in my workshop. Off to work at 7. Just loosely fitted a turret floor. I will get some photos tomorrow.

John

Had a little chance to fit finish fitting the pannier floors. I am probably going to disassemble and prime the hull this weekend.

I have noticed some people have siliconed the seams in the hull.

Is this recommended?

I did not. I do not drive it much and certainly not in water.

Yeah, I am in a different environment. South Florida is hell on aluminum. Especially if any electricity or dissimilar metals are involved.
I have trouble with my tools in the garage and I am 15 miles from the ocean.

And the Tiger Tank kit is at its next stage in its life. Greg sold the kit to me, and I picked it up and brough it to a new home, next to my Tiger #131 kit.
Updates
1st I think that Greg followed the advice of NOT welding the major seams.
2nd Went AGAINST the advice of using the original fasteners and used pop rivets on the 90-degree brackets in the lower hull.
3rd Looks like most of the lower hull was primed and put together or put together and then primed and millipute weld detail added.
4th Turret is started.
5th Did rework a few items.

So, at this time it's sitting on my new tool chest workbench and I'm thinking about what to do next after sorting everything out.
A few pics have been placed in my build thread. Note I've not posted a lot in the last week due to planning, reviewing and a few 1 to 1 life things.
Planning to build this tiger as a static well detailed inside and out kit.

viewtopic.php?t=9880

Later Tim

Talk about a thread hijacking.