rivetcounter

For me Dortmund was a very busy show with demonstration’s from RAG every 2 hours then we had a 45 minute slot to run the tanks and take pictures so over 3 days I didn’t get to see everything in all 8 halls, what was there you name it in the modelling world it was represented in Germany RC trucks and tractors are a very big followed by helicopter’s and RC cars.
What was new well in a word not a lot apart from the 1/16 VK4501 Porsche Tiger I from Aisiatam in metal 550€ and a Sturmtiger which is work in progress, VK4501 (P) this is a mix of parts from the Elefant and Henschel Tiger I and to be honest didn’t look as impressive as the Elefant what you do notice is the weight and the first thing that comes to mind is the gearboxes and how long they will last as the gears don’t look and larger or stronger than normal gears however the gearbox housing is very strong, there was also some injection pin marks measuring about 3mm on the outside of the models this will require cleaning and filling certainly not what you expect given the price, the owners of Aisiatam allowed me full access to the models and also to take whatever pictures I liked inside and outside I will say they didn’t try and hide anything, there was no sloppy play in any bearing or suspension linkage the one thing that did bother me on the Elefant was the gun mount s the fit was not good and will require a fair bit of cleaning up.
Famo, now this did look good again all bearings had no play nothing had a sloppy fit wheels fitted the tracks very well suspension worked well detail was good the only thing to let it down was the open gears on the gearbox this will require enclosing for obvious reasons


























Before all the nutcases start who are incapable of reading English, There was also 3 models of the VK4502 (P) these were scratched built they may have been on the Aisiatam stall but where not part of the production, these are not Aisiatam productions

karel47

very nice stuff over there mark, thanks for the sharing, do you remember the price of the sturmtiger upper kit , i could n't see on the foto, the last two were ...99 but the first one was hidden

rivetcounter

Karl the Famo was 599€ the VK4501 and Elefant 550€ there was no price on the Sturmtiger the kit is not yet finished, the Schumo kit I know is very detailed if you want any information on that kit I can ask Bob in England who has one.
More pictures to come tonight

Tanque

Mark I don't know if you can find out anything more about these but I thought I read a link from Asiatam's "new" page where they ( or someone ) if bringing to market new Tiger I tracks ( with sprockets) in 1/10 and 1/6 scales?

I have this link( about 2/3 down the page):
http://mmodell.de/forum/index.php?pa...&threadID=7057

If I read it correctly these are to be in cast steel, something I find difficult to believe; perhaps it meant to say made to simulate
cast steel. Anyway the photos looked pretty good and I would love to improve the tracks on my Tiger I models so any
info you may have would be swell.

Jerry

rivetcounter

Jerry, funny you should mention them, I did indeed see 1/10 scale tracks and sprockets on their stall and another, just for you I will post pictures and the information I have tonight.

ausf

Superb. The Famo is amazing.

However, I'm starting to hate to see things like this, they just remind me of how little money and time I have to do what I'd really want.

karel47

would be nice from you to ask him, i've looked on the axels site ... no trace of the schumo sturmtiger

Panther F

Nice pictures! I'd love to have some metal wheels for my HOOBEN Elefant build.











~ Jeff

karel47

are the hooben wheels not metal, i have a kit rc ready i thought they were into the kit

rivetcounter

Tonight we will look at some of the larger scales from 1/10 to 1/6 first is new tracks and sprockets from Aisiatam I only took the one picture the tracks looked like they were made from alloy the sprocket itself is steel and the sprocket wheel is alloy the parts on display were 1/10 scale
Jerry, another translation is, Tiger I track with steel sprocket that will rust correctly, we think they look better than the real steel.
The guide horns are opened and look OK depending on what they are made from the 1/16 kits are a poor quality alloy known as monkey metal or pot metal, making 1/16 tracks from poor alloy is one thing but larger scale tanks require better alloys

Next comes Stehr Jürgen http://www.stehr-modellbau.de/index.php?main_page=index from Germany he offers parts and kits in 1/10 through to 1/6 the parts are of the highest quality made from quality alloys
1/10 tracks wheels on sponsons of Leopard and Tiger I


1/8 Panther tracks wheels and sprockets, these are also available in 1/6



1/8 scale resin Maybach HL230 engine for Panther and Tiger II the detail was impeccable

Various Tiger parts in 1/10 again larger scales are available

This was very interesting a 1/8 transmition unit

Tanque

Thanks for the photos Mark. I agree that the tracks for the larger scales shouldn't be made of zinc alloy. If the Asiatam 1/10 scale tracks are made of zinc I'd
think twice about buying them ( I didn't really believe they were steel - steel tooth rings on an alloy sprocket spool are not a new thing).

Nils Herman makes many of his tracks of zinc alloy, the smaller vehicles in 1/10 scale anyway. They're ok but I fear for their longevity. Zinc alloy tracks
for a larger model or scale would weigh alot.

I met Jurgen Stehr in 1996 while he was still working for Jochen Maier. He does good work but he's difficult to work with at times; it may well be that he
has too much work to do but we don't know that. I've been trying to buy that rear engine deck for the 1/10 Tiger I (that is in your second to last photo)
that he sells but he doesn't accept PayPal and the relatively low cost of the assembly isn't worth the wire fees.

I'll be interested in learning more of the 1/10 Asiatam parts as they see the light of day.

Nice to see and hear that the Famo is good, just 2 days ago I ordered one from rc tank.de and it is on its way...Dominque is so much better to work with than
Asiatam...

Jerry

rivetcounter

Jerry, glad that these where of some use to you, the chaps were saying that on recent years there was at least 6 companies that didn’t display at Dortmund this year this is in tanks alone.
I did ask Jorgen for some prices and they were very high, but the quality of the work was also high

MAUS45

Who makes the 1/8 scale Panther wheels and tracks and what was the cost? Thanks for sharing the photos!!!

Rudy

rivetcounter

Stehr Jürgen http://www.stehr-modellbau.de/index.php?main_page=index is the maker of the 1/8 Panther wheels, I didn’t ask the cost but you could e-mail him and ask

tomhugill

MAUS45

Thanks, Rivetcounter. I will check their site out and e-mail them.

Panther G

Half the screws holding on the suspension arms on the Famo are already striped out. I don't know why companies use Phillips head screws. They are the worst type of fastener you could use in that location. they should all be button head or socket head shoulder bolts or screws if you prefer.

karel47

kenny kong make nice elefant tracks , high quality stuff and fitting the hooben wheels instead of asiatam they don't fit the wheels you have to replace the whole set wheels also

see the pics of the kenny kongs, they are the closed pin type of tracks

rivetcounter

This is some film I shot over the weekend at Dortmund tanks are in various scales from 1/16 too 1/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPPVuXs6dcg

EugeniRUS

I will not buy it this time!
Note the difference between what you see on the pics and what you really can get from Asiatam.
I have their Elefant and will not buy any of their models untill I hear good feedback from the buyers.

rivetcounter

I said to Karl if he wanted one buy it at the show next year that way he can check the quality of the parts before handing over cash

Panther G

Did you say that there where some 1;10 th scale parts at the show? It would be great if some one would make a kit version of a Tiger or other tank in 1;10th scale. I would love to get to build something a little larger. 1: 8 is just a little to big for my work shop but something a little smaller would be fantastic. I know 1:10 is big in Europe, it would be nice if it caught on over here.

rivetcounter

1/8 is larger in Europe, for the same reasons you are saying this is why people in Europe also opt for 1/10.
Jerry is the god of 1/10 on this forum he has been into this scale far longer than most of us have had an interest in tanks he is by far the best placed to answer any questions on this scale, and yes there are kits of Tiger in 1/10 the pictures above show some parts

Tanque

Thanks for the kind words Mark.

I would be pleased to answer to the best of my ability any questions put to me regarding 1/10 scale.

There are a few manufacturers still producing 1/10 sale models, some just as an adjunct to their own building hobby.
There aren't as many as years back due age of the principals or other reasons. Specifically new Tiger I models are
more rare these days however they do show up used from time to time even here in the US. Check ebay.

Other suggestions are:

Panzermodellbau Hermann http://www.panzermodellbau-hermann.de/
( makes a whole bunch of 1/10 subjects as well as 1/6 later models are quite good )

4M - Technischer Modellbau vom Feinsten http://www.vierm.eu/index.htm
( made or makes a JagdPanther which is extremely good as well as costly; has made a Hetzer one was for sale off a forum in Germany)

Stehr Modellbau http://www.stehr-modellbau.de/
( mentioned previously - formerly Jochen Maier Modellbaubedarf; also as previously mentioned VERY costly but first cabin quality )

Thomas Wittgrebe http://www.sdkfz-modellbau.de/
( Thomas has ceased production - shown for reference - used may still be found, made 1/10 Tiger I early /late and SturmTiger)

Das Gießwerk - Schneider Feinguss und Modellbau http://www.giesswerk.de/index.htm
( mostly for tracks, small accessories. VERY costly but exquisite )

Wecohe https://www.wecohe.de/shop/
( I know they make / made a Tiger I, I've seen the hulls )

Panzermodellbau Peter Mueller Alfeld http://www.sonderfahrzeug-modellbau.de/
( modern machines mostly nice products)

VEROMA-SHOP http://www.veroma-modellbau.eu/
( mostly parts for modern machines now; once produced full models of older subjects)

Sergey Federov No website
( outstanding models - costly)

Sankyo models Available from http://www.tokyo-hobbies.com/eng.html
( I see only the Japanese type 74 these days, not certain of their other models, I know the 1/8 type 61
is discontinued very reasonable prices but limited to modern Japanese subjects)


One other worth mentioning, sadly gone also, but if you find an original worth considering are the 1/10 Tigers
made and sold by Seiki of Japan ( at least that is how we know them in the US ). Please keep in mind these were first offered in the 1970s so the detail is not up to current standards; and the track while nigh indestructible is terribly not to scale. But the model basis is quite elegant and next to Maier's late type
transmissions the Seiki transmission is a thing of beauty and flawlessly smooth operation. Designed for glow engines, it's self starter uses a noisy ratchet and pawl mechanism but works every time.
Very rare here in the US as Seiki only sold to the Japanese home market but occasionally even these come up for sale. These models are a good basis for improving and are the models on which I'd like to use the ( potentially) better tracks mentioned above. Seiki also briefly made a 1/8 scale Sd Kfz 251 powered by glow
and a Tiger I variant powered by twin Saito 4 cycles. I have probably the only exiting video of these running.

Lastly there was a fellow here in the US, who unfortunately came to a very premature and untimely end due to
illness, Moody Braun. He had started the live steam company Little Engines but had later sold it and was looking for other projects. He read a brief article I wrote for the defunct magazine RCM which was published in 1996. Moody contacted me after reading it and after many conversations he decided as he was only interested in US Armor to build a 1/10 scale Sherman M4A1 ( VVSS). Unfortunately he never lived to see it to completion
but his associates completed 7 examples after his death. As it turns out the upper hull and turret are off ( the upper hull rear is completely flat - Moody wasn't alive to approve the patterns ) but the models were built out
beautifully. If you find one ( I have many of the parts to build one ) they are costly but worth considering. Moody was a wonderful person, over the years he could have changed the face of 1/10 scale in this country but sadly we'll never know.

I would love to see 1/10 scale catch on here in the US as well. If any of you decide to move in that direction I'll help all I am able but above all have patience while looking for 1/10 AFV models and supplies.

Jerry

Panther F

Thanks, yeah I know they are plastic. I have the kit. I may or may not wait for the metal ones to be available for purchase and just run the f out of the plastic ones for now. At the rate I drive 'em they might just outlast me!

Oh ... and that Tiger P is really starting to look good now. Think I may have to have one in plastic since this one has had the curse of the rivet counter thrusted upon it.









~ Jeff