Armortek

Thank you David, Adrian and Kent for the info which was very helpful.

Much appreciated.

Vince

Today it finally clicked. There are two 3mm tapped holes on the top edge of the right-hand side hull which at one point I thought were extra holes meant for a different Tiger variant. I realised today that they are meant for the holders of the spare antenna tube! Good thing I did not plug them. I remade the tube from 6mm stainless as I wanted it to be slightly longer to fit an end cap. Also instead of the button head screws I used hex bolts.
Made a trial fit of the exhaust armor using 4mm hardware in one place to see how it looks. Opened up one of the holes from 3.5mm to 4mm in the armor. For the rear plate, instead of widening the existing hole, I just tapped it for 4mm.
It doesn't look too bad. If I decide to do all of them like this I have to remember to slightly counterbore the 4mm holes with a long series 10mm endmill.

Vince

Nice work. I like your skills!

Thanks Brian.

Vince

Hi Vince, just picked up on your post re exhaust cover fixings

For info I used 8 BA Hex head screws threaded into 1/8" steel rod. Also if you want to improve the look, you could change the PCD or spacing of the support bars. I bored out the top of the exhaust stacks and made up some replacement inserts.

David

Thanks David for that photo. That's a really nice exhaust stack. When Kent posted his photo I suspected that the PCD of the bolts should be smaller. In fact at one point, I was thinking of plugging the original holes and re-making them with a smaller PCD. It never crossed my mind to use the method that you used.
What's the diameter of the round plate at the top of the exhaust stack? If my eyes are not deceiving me, it's looks bigger than the original kit supplied part.

Vince

I am toying with the idea of increasing slightly the diameter of the exhaust cap. The kit supplied cap is 41mm diameter and I made a cardboard prototype with a diameter of 47mm to see how it looks.
And these are the bolts that I eventually intend using. I might also try to add some lock washers under the bolt heads.
It doesn't look too bad and gives a visual impression that the bolt circle diameter has been reduced. Still have to decide if this is the way I will be taking.

Vince

Hi Vince,

According to David Byrden the top was 250mm diameter or 41.7mm at 1:6 scale.
(www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload ... 645&page=1)

David

Thanks David for that link.

Vince

Received Steve's excellent C shackles and brackets and immediately fitted one to the rear plate.
Also received the starter shaft and handle. I was mostly interested in getting the handle but the shaft is so nice that it is a pity not to use it also.
Vince

Two shots I made this weekend that might me useful for you now, they both show the original bolts so you can decide what size is most realistic:

Marco thanks for the excellent pictures! Vince following your details closely! Your tiger is looking great.
Bob

Robert E Morey wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:40 pm

Marco thanks for the excellent pictures!

Here are some more:



Link to a larger version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1xc1o99o0fon ... 3.png?dl=0

Thanks Marco for those photos which have been duly saved.

Vince

It looks like it is going to take some time to finish all the parts for the rear plate so in the periods were I am not actually working on it I have started work on another part of the model, namely, the engine deck.

I have already started doing some some additions/alterations to the engine rear access panel and so I have a question about the square head bolts. As you can see from the photo Marco posted, there is a good view of this panel. The top of the square head bolts at the rear of this panel are flush with the top of the panel which is OK. The same bolts on the side of the panel are missing so I can't say how much I need to counter bore them. I don't think they would be flush as the thickness of the panel in this area less.

So does anybody have a good photo of the engine deck with all the square head bolts installed?

Thanks guys for being patient with me.

Vince