Armortek

The contrast is good

Thanks Phil,
I'm not too happy about how the photographed but the look fine in the flesh. I will do more work on them.
I am slightly disturbed by your pending destruction of a Tiger tank. Will there be anything left afterwards. As an explosive expert do you know where I can get Nitro cartriges for the blank firer. I believe they do not have such a bad residue problem.

The Tiger at present even today infact is being used and filmed as a hard target we want to see how the ali plates look using different size rnds and varing velocities, today it will have some 15 rnds from a 243 long rifle fired at the front and side, my only concern is that they will penertrate the entry plate but also have enough energy to penertrate the other side as well, the idea is to keep the Tiger in one piece and to only shoot the glasis and the left side and so keep the others intact for a comparison reference.
When she is subjected to simulated mines and shell fire the damaged plates will be just bolted back into place (I hope) we can then bring it along to the open day for you guys to recover from a shell hole and then drag about.
With reference to the nitro carts the unit was never designed or tested with nitro loads only black powder which is a lot less poweful so we recommend you stick with the those, it's not so much that it could not handle the same load in nitro it's due to the unburnt powder that accumulates in the unit (due to the lower pressures involved when it has no projectile to push against), this can then ignite during a firing with devastating effects

Getting a bit more done on the Tiger wheels before going away for a few weeks. Got started on the hubcaps and sprockets. Nothing really secured at the moment but all wheels spin well. I need to secure the bearings to the sprocket axle so got some bearing lock today.















Getting some work done on the exhausts also.

John
You are making a fine Late Tiger
Keep up the great work
Timbo

Hollidays over. Back to the Tiger. Here is an update on some progress made before I left. I am a little concerned about the bullet guard placement. See photos. Left about 5mm clearance for the widest point on the turret but now Guard seems to interfere with placement of tow ropes and cleaning rods. Any advice apreciated.





Wooden block place to avoid contact with mantlet during rotation. Would prefer to have it further back. Corners of mantlet rounded slightly as I think they are too square.











Tracks fitted.

















I have 94 links each side. I think as more weight is added the tracks will slacken a little. Left track running smoothly. Right maybe in need of very slight adjustment.

Looking forward to addind some of Tim's/Steve's bump stops. The look great Steve.[/b]

John
The Tiger is coming along nicely. The tracks will definitely slacken with weight.
Sorry can't help with the bullet guard as mine is a mid Tiger.

Here is one thing that needs to be modified, the lip (fender rest) at the inside hinge needs to be shortened to 1/4" wide.

Hi John

In answer to you problem on the turret ring guard, it looks like the one you have is my product. This was designed on one of the very first Tiger 1's, which have gone through a lot of upgrades. It is possible that the turret you have maybe slightly larger than the original one. When scaling parts down to 1:6 scale the margin of error in fitting can be very critical and the slightest size difference of part can mean everything fitting as is should or not. When you say there is not enough room for the tow rope fittings I think you have your ring guard set to wide. The 5 mm gap you have between the turret and guard is to much. The turret position A should just barely clear the guard. Try positioning the ring guard as close to the turret as you can and see if the tow rope clamps will fit. If not I recommend filing the turret in this position so you can reduce the diameter of the ring. As you can see from the pictures below on my Tiger I there is ample room to fit the tow ropes. As for the jack block this should be fitted with the front edge of the wood block about 5/8"-3/4"(20 mm) from the forward edge of the sloping armor.






Hope this helps, if you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me.

Regards
Mike

John,
Your Tiger is looking great. The details are starting to pay off. Keep up the great work. Best regards,
Bob

Hi John,

Nice looking Late Tiger I of yours, well done!

Like Mike say just round those corners and close the ring a bit.
Those turret corners were rounded on the real thing when the turret ring guard was introduced.
All surviving Late Tiger I (Saumur, Lenio and Vimoutier) has that rounded corners.

Here is a photo of the Vimoutier RH turret corner:


Sadly the ring guard is absent, guess it was an easy item for the locals to "liberate"

Kind regards
Kent

Thanks Bob amd Mike and Mike.

Mike, do you mean the piece of the hull paralel to the track that the guard rests on? I can get it sorted when wheels are removed for fitting of motors and bump stops. Good to know this at this stage.

Mike, thanks for the help with the bullet guard, it is one of yours, got it as a gift along with the mg mount but do not know how long the previous owner had the parts. I will refit as you say and reduce the clrarance with the turret. I notice your bracket for retaining the rods is fitted over the side armour plate. This will allow even more space.

The wodden block is the Steve Winstone version. 20mm back was what I was trying to achieve but turret was clipping it when traversing. Maybe when elevation restrictors are fitted problem might be solved.

Thanks kent, great photos of the real thing. This will now be easy enough to sort out. Did'nt realize how rounded this piece was.

John.
The tow rope and cleaning rod mounts are positioned to the edge of the hull top plate as supplied in the kit, They should go to the outer edge of the hull sides. This should give you the right amount of clearence around the turret gaurd.
Regards
Steve

Hi John

Very nice. Coming together rapidly. Assembly and paint looks really good.

I had the exact same interference with the turret's deck ring. Glad to know the real ones were rounded on that corner.(Thank you Kent).

Best regards
Tim

Tim, I would'nt call this rapid. I'm taking my time and enjoying the build. At least I have just one to work on. Easier to stay focused that way. I think I could work through one quite quickly now that I have a little more confidence with these models. I will have to find ways to drag out the next build as I doubt I will have space for more.