Armortek

Very slow progress but at least it is moving forward.

Finished painting the rear mudguards in preparation to applying zimmerit to the rear plate.
Painted also the home-made track rope clamps.
I am also slowly progressing with the application of the zimmerit. I have the left and right sides finished and at the moment working on the front of the tank.
Vince

Looking good Vince, ref the rear plate, the real application would have been done around the fittings and would of affected the pattern some what, I would a least loosely bolt the exhaust shields on and the armoured covers for the track tensioners .....Love those rope clamps! Phil.

Hi Phil and thanks for your thoughts. For the rear plate I have marked the outline of each component with pencil so that I know where to apply the zim. Let's see if this method works.

Vince

Finally finished the fire extinguisher! I used the label that was made by Lionel (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3996&p=34350&hilit= ... bel#p34350). After some trial and error managed to re-size it in a word processor. My first attempt was using decal paper. This failed miserably. It just did not want to stick to a painted surface. Second attempt was using "sticker" paper. This at least remained stuck to the fire extinguisher. For how long? Time will tell. If it gets unstuck I can always make another one.
Vince

RE: Fire Extinguisher

Does anyone know of a web link to, or have a color photo of an original?

Vince, do you think a light lacquer over the label would hold it on??

cheers...

At the moment with the sticky backed paper it is adhering well to the fire extinguisher. I guess one can use a transparent lacquer to fix it better but I think the whole extinguisher has to be given a coat of the lacquer to make it look uniform.

Vince

I re-did mine.

I painted it a light green and brushed it with a rag to make it look worn.

Printed a label and soaked it for a few seconds in water-and-white glue, and it seems to have adhered fine.

Vince - the trick with decal paper is to give it a couple of coats of clear matt varnish before soaking the backing off. That gives it some strength. Then, once you've positioned it and dried it, give it another spray of varnish to seal it. Should then stick for ever. Much better result than sticky paper or white glue.

Tom
Just out of curiosity, how did you paint (or treat) the tow rope that is showing in your photo's?

Stephen
Maybe the mistake I made was that instead of varnish I sprayed two coats of transparent plastic paint. Having said that the sticky paper experiment is still looking good.

Vince

Vince,

Regarding the tow cable, I simply sprayed some matte black primer on it and immediately drew it through a rag until I was satisfied with the look.

Because it's steel cable, make sure there are no frayed pieces that might stick you when you draw it through the rag.

I think Stephen has the better idea, of using a clear varnish. The varnish should protect it from moisture more so than white glue or other water soluble substance.

I've avoided running it in the rain or snow as water might get to the speakers under the grill covers. I'll see how it holds up.

cheers... Tom

Happy birthday to my Tiger 1. Exactly a year ago I received the four boxes from Armortek.
It's been a fun year. There have been hiccups on the way but have to commend the excellent service I received from Monique and Kian. Have to admit that my previous experience of scratch building models did help a lot.

Today finished the zimmerit on the rear plate and now I need to mask everything in preparation to painting the zimmerit.
I am not really happy with my zimmerit but I am hoping that it will look better with the paint.

Vince

Hey, good Zimmerit. It looks nice.

Your zim looks just fine. I wouldn't do anything with it.

In fact, I think you need not tape and paint it separately. Originally, they applied it to bare metal, or more often, onto a non-corrosive primer.

Ultimately, you're going to paint it, right? If anything, you might consider a primer.

Tom

Hi Vince
Happy 1 year anniversary. You've made a lot of progress. Your Tiger is looking great.
B

Thanks Brian, Tom and Bob for your comments.

Vince

p.s. Brian I missed your regular updates.