King Tiger

[Jerry Carducci]

Has anyone here ever purchased the set of drawings of the King Tiger from (DIPL.PSYCH) Dr. Eduard Geisler? Does he still do these
drawing sets? I believe Per Sonnervik had these as well, I recall discussing them with him; not sure if he was involved gathering data
for them.

As I've been scouring my source materials for information regarding aspects of this machine I came across a copy of these I'd
purchased in 1996 when I was in the middle of my 1/10 scale project. Of particular interest at this moment is the shape of the
exhaust armored covers. I had made a pattern to cast these in 1/10 scale some 26 years ago and I'm checking my own work
as I'm considering whether I want to make a new pattern to recast these or if I'll just go the route of modifying the kit parts.
I'm leaning towards the latter at least for the time being in the interest of completing the model- as it's an easily removed part
I could remake it at any time. It's rather difficult so get the perspective of the bottom of these parts; and when I was at Munster years ago
I ran the risk of being chased off when I wanted to get up close to theirs with a measuring scale...

So as I ponder this I continue work on other aspects of the model. The track hangers and soon to test out the recoil workings..

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

Worked on the elevation and recoil mechanisms. They appear to be functioning satisfactorily.

The elevation mechanism was very stiff at first and would become jammed. In my case I found that the end of the lead screw opposite the motor end having a somewhat conical profile to it tended to jam itself into the brass bearing in the mounting fixture. My solution was to change the conical profile
to a flat step and using two brass washers as a sort of ersatz thrust bearing. I have regular hardened steel thrust bearings but to use one would have taken more space than I felt I wanted to give up. The change I implemented seems to work but I can't help but feel the motor is rather over taxed in it's role. I have some very powerful slightly larger Maxxon gear head motors that I might try should the OEM unit give up the ghost at some point.

The recoil mechanism went together rather easily with no major issues except that the barrel and draw tube sections that came in contact with the plastic (nylon?) bearings needed polishing so they would slide easily. The plastic bearings are a pretty tough material that had a scuffing action on the
surface of the barrel and draw tube; noticeable on the polished surface. I tried both silicon spray lubricant as well as light oil but settled on the latter..

Again trying to decide how I want to finish the turret roof as It seems likely periodic maintenance or adjustments of the mechanisms might be required.
The recoil mechanism is awkward to work on with my clumsy hands when mounted.

I am reticent to put adhesive thread locker on the end of the barrel draw tube so I'm considering using a nylon tipped set screw on the block that
the recoil mechanism operate on in order to lock the barrel in place without causing any damage to threads.

Next step is to organism the wiring and determine proper placement of all electronic components.

Jerry


Above, a brief test of the recoil and elevation mechanisms.

[Michael Allen]

Jerry

Many thanks for your valued posts

Please keep them coming as they will make my build so much easier when I get to these tasks

Regards

Mick

[Jerry Carducci]

More progress.

I have all the electronics where I wanted them. I use double sided picture hanging tape- the clear 'gooey' type. The stuff is remarkable
in its holding ability; the only downside is it you place something either in the wrong place or decide it's not right it's an absolute
nightmare getting it unstuck. so as the Crusader Knight said: "Choose wisely!"...

The model seems a bit too fast for my taste so I might limit accerleration and top speed using changes to the model profile.
The speed is something I'm going to be mindful of whan I get to building the JagdTiger. I prefer slow and stump pulling power
than racing speed. I'm rarely in a rush with these things. I'd love to have a selectable low and really low speed transmission.

With most major bits mounted it's on to details and to revisit things I hopped over before. The details are going to take a while.

Began with the exhaust stacks; spent a little time there with more to do. At least I don't have to worry about making these ones
proof against an active exhaust system; no high heast and exhaust oils to concern myself with as I've had with glow and igintion engine
powered models. One 4 cycle powered model using ignition and running gasoline (petrol), not glow fuel had issues with the exhaust header
turning red hot in minutes. A terrific performer but the heat was unmanageable; swutched to glow fuel as the fuel is part of the cooling...
Anyway... some more work to be done on the exhausts. So many little bits!

The model is functional, it can move under its own power. Not I removed it from its perch and it's on the floor. I need to modify the
lift table slightly to have a little larger platform for it while remaining safe for me and the model. It was made apparent to me that the
model really needs the same sort of control box I made for my M3 Lee where I can electrically disconnect the motors while allowing the rest
of the system to to function for testing and tuning. At one point the model attacked my Pershing kit! The scene could have turned really ugly
however my long years of driving models saved the day! Phew! The King Tiger is one tough trooper...

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

I've been making small incremental changes to the model over the last weeks, limited by other considerations. I've focused on
the electronics control, turret roof, and engine deck.

Happily as I'd sensed the turret is both a liability as its great length poses unique issues and asset as it's roomy enough that I can get my
hands inside to loosen the butterfly nuts I used to hold the roof down! Not the easiest maneuver but manageable. Allows me the lattitude
of working on roof mounted items at will as well as easier access to the mechanisms within...

The length liability comes in as the turret is so long, in either direction, that the engine bay door is blocked unless the turret is at nearly right
angle to the hull. It poses the question where to best mount the main system power switch so that one can turn on/off the model- easily...this
I've not yet decided.

I need to do a bit more 'moving around' of a module or two to optimize placement of my control box. I also purchased a Brother PTE550W label
maker that allows printed heat shrink tubing allowing me to mark all my new cables/connectors to aid in reconnecting everything when needed.
The tool is fantastic; I owe it's discovery to a fellow forum member who got there first...although I've used other Brother label makers for years.

I've made a variation of the control box similar to that made for the M3 Lee. It has a battery cutoff, a volt/amp meter (mostly because I had one),
and a drive motor cutoff which I find very useful allowing me the opportunity to test other aspects of the model without worrying that I might
accidentally bump the throttle sending the model off somewhere it shouldn't be...I can be clumsy and have paid a price for that in the past...
I used a different form of circuit breaker for this one and a 50 amp one at that. For my wiring I use silicon insulated 14 gauge wire rated at 58 amps.
All XT60 plugs/sockets are rated for 60 amps. This is for everything in and out of my control box however the original wiring from/to the functional modules is as issued.

It's interesting to see the minimal current draw for the turret drive, recoil and elevation functions via the voltage/amp meter. The brief driving
in my garage showed ~2.5-4.3 amp draw for crawling speed and the next largest draw was raising the main gun at about .6-.7amps - not a great surprise there. I will still rely on run-time telemetry to inform me as to the state of the main battery while in operation.

The track on the model is far too loose for actual running, rearward movement is sketchy in this regard; I'm trying to decide how best to resolve that.
I have not yet made permanent the swing arm angles. I used about 30 degrees as a preliminary but may increase that among other changes. I've not yet
checked the height of the hull against scale to see where I am.

I plan to implement a curve for the throttle to hopefully provide a more 'King Tiger-like' acceleration and not the jack rabbit start as it is.

Jerry

[Tim Carr]

Looking Good.

After looking at your link and seeing Lulubelle I'm thinking of giving you the nic-name of "Mr Rivet". Looks Great.

Hope to see a lot more in this thread. Thanks for sharing.

Enjoy the build

Later Tim

[Jerry Carducci]

At the moment I've been working on small bits of which there are many on this model!

I wanted to make a few changes to the turret roof vent; I opened it up even though it's difficult to see plus made a thin spacer ring
so that the assembly will be slightly above the roof plate itself. I was going to make a cover for it mainly because I think it looks goog
with all the fasteners and butterfly nuts but then I realized few tanks in operation probably had this on (unless possibly in winter??) as I don't believe the fan could be used that way. I still may make one. It would give me a use for some of the tiny functional butterfly nuts I purchased from WECOHE years ago...

I made a couple of changes to the close defence weapon including fitting a tube with a base so when looking down at the turret one doesn't see an open hole. I mulled over making this a 'functional' thing with some sort of spring loaded-jack_in_the_box like thing to startle people but dismissed that idea...

I made the locking screw for the spent casings hatch, no great thing there; perhaps I should make the mating -sliding piece inside the turret.

Finally, and this is a work in progress I worked on the loader's hatch. I wanted the locking mechanism to function and it does actually. The handwheel started out looking much better but over the course of development became a little 'beaten up'; thee metal, steel, I used was particularly annoying to braze. Some of it was left over scrap from my 88 project did well and that used for the central hub just wouldn't wet well no matter what I did. I formed the outer ring from piano wire and it soaked up braze lik a sponge. I used a indexing head to cut the notches before brazing the ring and while assembling it all the differing responses to brazing was annoying. In short it could be a lot better but I'll chalk up the roughness to 'battle damage'. The support posts for the locking rods were fun to make but came out well. The rods themselves were made from my favorite metal scrap: the bristles from street cleaning machine brushes which I pick up while I go on my daily walks. The steel is good, takes either annealing or tempering and it very uniform in width and thickness. Quite difficult to find metal that size... Anyway, I have quite a bit to do on the hatch however at this point it's functional and indeed will lock the hatch into the roof... Some of the parts either are thicker/taller than I'd want but I believe the hatch itself is thinner than it should be and I was too lazy to make a new one.

Next on the list if the rear escape hatch of the turret- lots to do there...!

[Jerry Carducci]

Earlier this evening I was fiddling around with the turret's rear escape hatch. I know the pistol port had originally
a tapered hole and plug. I wanted a tapered hole. It seems that the oem hole was very close to a inch size 5/8" or .625"
or a hair smaller than 16mm in diameter. As it turns out I happen to have a length of .625" heavy wall tubing which was a slightly
loose fit, so... I cut a short length, chamfered the inner and outer edges of the existing hole and proceeded to press and crush the tube section to securely hold it in place.

Now looking at drawings of this pistol hole the hole seems to have anywhere between a 65-69° taper. Not having exactly that taper cutter I used a large conical reamer I happen to have; this reamer was probably originally made to clean out certain parts of automotive suspension components however I find it quite hand for things like this. Despite it's aggressive appearance it's quite docile in use. Anyway I used it to cut a new, tapered hole. I don't really know the dimensions of the original port so I made an initial cut but I may well make it larger as it seem a bit small to me. My goal is to make the plug to fit this taper and the securing mechanism on the inside of the hatch. I need to research this a bit to
determine the dimensions.

It's a start however.

Jerry

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi Jerry
Have you seen these photos? Should not be too difficult to roughly estimate the diameter using the Armortek hatch as a reference. Hope it was helpful.

https://panzerplace.eu/king-of-the-bulg ... rear-hatch

Also have a look here:
https://tiger1.info/EN/Pistol-port-2.html
It is for a Tiger 1 but I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar if not the same as that used for a King Tiger.

Vince

[Tim Carr]

Vince Cutajar
Those are outstanding links. Thanks

Jerry
Great work on the hatches!
Thanks for sharing it.

Later Tim

[Jerry Carducci]

Hi Jerry
Have you seen these photos? Should not be too difficult to roughly estimate the diameter using the Armortek hatch as a reference. Hope it was helpful.

https://panzerplace.eu/king-of-the-bulg ... rear-hatch

Also have a look here:
https://tiger1.info/EN/Pistol-port-2.html
It is for a Tiger 1 but I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar if not the same as that used for a King Tiger.

Vince

Vince these will be very helpful thanks. I believe I've seen them before but my old man brain has a difficult time remembering what I've seen and where. I use photos like these exactly as you mentioned; compare the relationship of the various features of full size to those of the model in hand.

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

A little better. I might make several plugs; I’ve seen the originals have a chamfer at the base and a shallow radius cut towards the center. All doable if I can keep from being lazy…!

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

Pistol port plug V1.03. I believe I'll stay with this version, perhaps I might shorten it a bit- we'll see. Now on to the retaining mechanism, chain and other bits. Looking to make the sliding lock bolts next.

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

I have made my interpretation of the pistol port plug retaining mechanism. Similar to the creative license I took
when making the 'protectoscope' for my M3 Lee I used what I had in hand. I went a little overboard with the chains
and I'll have to shorten those. I can't find a clear enough photo of how the retaining latch was fixed to its swivel so
I made and used a cotter pin. Drilling that number 67 hole ( 0.032" - .81mm) in the steel pivot post was interesting and making the
cotter from spring steel was fun as well. The locking or tension screw is an SAE 0-80 I found in my miscellaneous micro screw jar
with a handle brazed on..

I think the one photo I've seen shows the rotating retaining latch from a left -handed perspective; I can remount my interpretation
from either direction and it works equally well.. but I'm going to leave it as is just to be different.

It might not be true to scale but again it works (and rather well at that) and mostly from bits from my bits bin..

On to the sliding latches.

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

Plodding along with details as I listen to the rain soaking the area...

Made the latches for the rear hatch. I'm going to resist making cutouts for the latches to fit into on the inner turret walls;
I really don't want to have the thing lock itself as that could be annoying if I have the turret fixed to the turret bearing with butterfly nuts...
there wouldn't be an easy way to get it apart.

I Began cutting the shield/shield for the rear hatch. I read debate about what this thing was for but I think it was there so crew wouldn't injure themselves crawling out over all the latches, chains and potentially hurtful stuff on the hatch itself.. I didn't make the projection on the left latch
to which I've seen the metal cover attaches. I'll simulate the square_ish access hole there and that's about it.

Moving on to the rear engine deck shortly.

Jerry