Vince's Tiger 1 late variant 2017

[Robert E Morey]

Vince
The lazy susan turret bearing is a late edition to the design - the first models didn't have this bearing. I would try reversing the direction of the bracket as Adrian suggested. If that doesn't work a notch may be needed. Looks like the engine deck support plate has been notched already.

I'm retrofitting my Tiger with this type of bearing so I will have similar clearance issues.
Bob

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Adrian and Bob for the suggestion. I thought about flipping the bulkhead but at first sight I thought it might foul the grille panels. I will still give it a try tomorrow. I wonder if Tom encountered this problem with his Tiger.

In the meantime I sent Kian an email.

Vince

[Tom OBrien]

Vince, I had to cut the rear deck support to allow the turret bearing component to fit.

I used a Dremel cutting disc, which worked fine.

You won't see any imperfections in your cutting the rear deck support.

[Vince Cutajar]

Many thanks to all the people who sent photos and suggestions both here and also off-line.

So what did I do?

I first tried the solution of Adrian, Bob and Kian of flipping the bulkhead around. It is workable although the bend for the legs of the bulkhead just hits the grille panels and as such when bolted to the engine deck it does not sit perpendicular to the engine deck. All it needs is some filing in the bend. It also blocks two of the holes for the square headed bolts. Solution is to cut and glue in place the square headed bolts. Also, the batteries need to be moved back a little. Something which I wanted to avoid.

So I decided to cut the rectangular notch in the bulkhead instead. According to my measurements it needs to be at least 4mm wide. It can be cut with a Dremel and cut-off disk as Tom did but as I am apprehensive of using this method for long cuts I discarded it. One could also chain drill the cut-out, use a fret or scroll saw to remove the unwanted material and then file smooth but as I am lucky to have a milling machine, I milled it out.

Finished milling the bulkhead

I milled it 6mm deep instead of 4mm just to be sure. Using a drum sander in the Dremel I also touched up the semi-circle in the engine deck so that the hull roof will fit easier.

Trial fit was perfect. Now I need to touch up the paintwork.

Vince

[Tom OBrien]

Very nicely done! It helps to have a well appointed shop with the right machinery for light fabrication.

Because my batteries sit upright (terminals upward), I trimmed the longer bolts that stuck out from underneath the lower deck. I wanted to avoid any possibility of shorting the terminals. I also covered the battery tops with a non-conductive rubber/vinyl material held on with Velcro, just in case.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Tom

Vince

[florian rudolf]

Verry nice detailles build...
Looking forward to see more of that

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Florian.

I am also following your Famo build. It's amazing how many things one learns just by following other peoples projects.

Vince

[florian rudolf]

Yes thats definetly right. Learning by looking and trying

[Tom OBrien]

Yes, working on tanks is fun and they don't come crashing to earth if you did something wrong in the build.

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

That's clearly the advantage with tanks! They also do not sink, nor do they need a gym floor to run.

[Vince Cutajar]

After the turret turn mechanism got sorted, it was the turn of the turret joint protector (bullet ring). Earlier I had made these (actually only drew them in CAD and then somebody else laser cut them) following the pattern of a real one (http://tiger1.info/EN/Turret-ring-protector.html). Today I drilled the holes in the roof using the segments as templates.

Temporarily bolted on the roof using 2mm hardware to see how they look. As the real ones were fitted using flat top bolts the plan is to tap the bullet ring segment holes 3mm and bolt them from below the roof and eventually use Milliput to give the impression of flat top bolts. Let's see if it works out.

Vince

[Adrian Harris]

How about using these instead ?

https://www.ekpsupplies.com/steel-count ... slots.html

Adrian.

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Adrian.

I did not know that those existed. There are two problems though. EKP does not cater for overseas orders. The other problem is that three of the holes are over the front bulkhead and I was going to use countersunk screws for them.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Did one of the segments to see how it looks. Each segment has seven holes and two are unused. Tapped the used holes 3mm and the two unused ones drilled 3mm.

I am now wondering if it looks better if I go one size larger (4mm).

Vince