RSEA

This is it folks! My last stand in RC tanking.. Also, first and last time I will ever strip old paint off of one of these tanks.

I am converting my full-option, Tamiya RC Tiger IR Battle Tank into one of the last Tigers that fought in Berlin, just as it all came to an end. This tank belonged to the Müncheberg Division and was abandoned by its crew on the Linden Strasse, in front of the Brandenburg Gate on May 1st, 1945 (the day after Hitler killed himself).

Something really did a number on the rear storage bin, almost totally demolishing it. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle that detail, but will probably leave that for last.

This tank was in relatively rough shape when the photos were taken. My model will reflect this distressed condition. My metal primer mishap might actually aid in the battle worn and deteriorated look of this unique vehicle. The end result will be my interpretation of this tank, especially with the cammo scheme. I'm not going to try and painstakingly re-create every detail of the cammo I can extract from the photos. Photos are blown out anyway. I suspect this tank probably had a dark yellow base coat, with a combination of red brown and green cammo overspray. It most likely was a training tank, pressed into service at the zero hour as Berlin was crumbling under the Russian onslaught.

I don't think that anyone has ever modeled this tank using the 1/16 RC Tamiya Tiger, but I might be wrong. Maybe, if I'm lucky, this tank will fight at the DAK night battle on May 21st. I missed the April battle because the tank was completely disassembled at the time of the battle. Actually, it will probably be a miracle if it is ready by May 21.. We shall see..

mergen

What so different from this tiger and any other, It looks like a tiger that went thru a little hell but dont see alot of difference.
Mergen

Pzjgr

I'd love to see pics of your rebuilding so far and can't wait to see how you do the camo. Hope you'll have it done by May 21st.

Pzjgr

As I understand it it's one of the last Tigers that fought in World War II, and even more unique is it fought in Berlin.

swathdiver

Cool, I didn't know that any early production tanks without modification or zimmerit made it that far to the end. Maybe it was a training tank at one time?

rivetcounter

This will be a very interesting build, some points I have noticed
323 Turret number
Swastika on the right side of the turret only
Cables on the engine deck along with a road wheel
3 colour paint scheme
Headlamp in the left corner
Looks to be missing most of the spare track brackets on the left side
Has the loaders periscope in the turret roof
No zimmerit

Did the tank come from a training unit, possibly at one time some month’s earlier Padaborne being the most likely hence the missing track brackets from the turret

RSEA

This project has already gotten off to a bad start. I used the worst possible kind of primer I could have selected to prime the metal parts. The results were terrible. Don't ever even think about using Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. That stuff is not red primer, it is the primer from hell. This is a classic example of making a bad choice, and a big mistake.

Pzjgr - I am not keeping my hopes up for having the tank ready by May 21st.. There is just too much work to do between now and then and not enough time available. The primer disaster hasn't helped matters either.

Rivetcounter - I agree with you on most of your detail list, except for the loader's periscope on the turret roof. I am guessing you're seeing it or think you have seen it in the rearview photograph. Maybe it is something in the background, one of the tree limbs.. Whatever it is it doesn't quite look like the late loader periscope to me.

Yes it has a swastika marking on the commander's side of the turret. That swastika was painted on by the Germans. The Russians did not paint that on it, like some people have suggested.

Another detail you omitted, is the fact that the tank is wearing late ice cleat tracks. All the spare track hangers are missing from the commander's side of the turret except for the top and forward most hanger piece. I thought this to be strange, do you have any insight as to why the other hangar attachments might have been removed? Would it be related to this tank most likely having been used as a training tank at one time?

Do you think the outer road wheels have white wash on them? The photos are kind of blown out, highlight wise, but it was hard for me to tell whether the outer road wheels are yellow or have white wash on them.

CHIEFSONN

looks to have at least three road wheels missing from both sides,from stations 1,3 and 7

manchu9inf

Steve,
Good luck with the re-do of ol' 931! I am sure you will do an outstanding job. I am looking forward to seeing it completed!

Will

rivetcounter

The late tracks on an early Tiger is nothing new there are plenty of pictures showing this and at least 2 Tigers from SS101 in Normandy had the early type tracks fitted on a late Tiger.
The question over possible white washed wheels is an interesting one http://www.tiif.de/thread.php?thread...c464eac44fa157 if you have a look at the first picture they do look white but on the second picture not as white as the stripe on the tree it’s also possible that they were painted a very light shade of yellow and this is what I would go for.

Having studied the pictures again have you noticed the lack of armoured periscope cover on the drivers hatch and the lack of a periscope, the tank doesn’t look to have been destroyed, the suspension hasn’t sagged and the gun is a normal length.

Have you also noticed on the last picture you posted the turret number 323 appears to have been modified from 393 which would be a strange number.

RSEA

I have mostly seen late tracks mounted on hybrid, steel-wheeled, early Tigers. Post some photos of some of these early, rubber-tired Tigers with late tracks on them, I'd like to see them.

I am the one that made that post about the whitewashed wheels on TIIF. Apparently nobody on that forum cared to comment about it. This tank has been my Muse since early 2009. I reached a similar conclusion in regards to the color of the outer road wheels. I most likely will make them a very light shade of yellow, by mixing a little white into my yellow base coat paint, just for those road wheels.

I had not noticed the missing driver periscope and cover.. It is possible the Russians removed it. If you look at the photos, a lot of changes have taken place before the frontal photo was taken which shows the swastika on the turret. The turret has been turned around 90 plus degrees. The drivers hatch is at a different position. The loader side front toe shackle has been removed and is now missing. The hull machine gun is now pointing down instead of up, the headlight seems to been messed with (looks like the blackout cover has been removed), the remaining spare track links that were in the front track bar appear to be missing, etc. The Russians were busy screwing around with this tank and in all the photos they are posing around it like it's their trophy. It certainly attracted a lot of their attention.

Now that you mention it, it does kind of look like it could have originally been 393..

RSEA

This is starting to look like an episode of Tank Overhaul. Below are photos of what the Last Tiger currently looks like after taking a nice bath in Super Clean. As you can see, a fair amount of the original gray primer did not want to come off, along with a few areas of the original Testors Afrika Mustard base coat. The original paint and primer had been on the tank for almost 3 1/2 years.

After soaking the metal parts in the Super Clean two days ago, the mixture of the Rusty Metal Primer and Super Clean caused a chemical reaction on the aluminum Schumo gun barrel and the aluminum tub. It attacked the plating on the gun barrel, removing over half of it. The aluminum tub suffered a similar fate, but not quite as bad as the gun barrel. I will have to do some sanding with fine grit sandpaper to prepare both of those parts for painting. Once sanded, primed (with the correct primer), and painted they should look okay.

This time, I will be using Floquil Polly Scale primer shot from my airbrush. I refuse to use a rattle can primer again, way too much overspray, got a sore finger from having to press down hard on the nozzle head to make the paint come out, had to shake the can continuously which seemed like forever, and had problems with the paint spitting out of the nozzle. And on top of that, I then had to soak and scrub it all off...Nightmare.

After going through this whole paint stripping experience, I have concluded that I will NEVER, EVER do this again.. It would be worth the extra money it to me, just to buy a brand new full option kit, and start with an unpainted tank. The paint stripping process was hellish, and not enjoyable in the least. With that said though, I probably would not want to build a brand new kit as "The Last Tiger". As the finished tank will not look new, it is going to look like it's been to hell and back.

As this project progresses, whenever that shall be, I'll post more photos..

RSEA

Thanks Will.. Ole' 931 did not go quietly.. She has put up a fight during her transformation to the Last Tiger.

thomasjohnmurphy

I wonder if it was from a training school. It is an early production tiger

Airbrushler

wow that stuff really ate at your tank hope none got down inside the barrel
throw that other primer in the garbage

manchu9inf

Steve,
Here is an artist's rendition of the last Tiger, you might find this interesting. It may not be completely correct, but the colored perspective by the artist is pretty nice.

http://www.military-art.com/mall/more.php?ProdID=20

Will

RSEA

Thanks Will. I have already seen that painting before. That artist didn't quite replicate all the details on the tank correctly, for example he depicted it with all the outer road wheels installed, where the tank in the photos is missing the first and last outer wheel on the hull gunner's side. It does look like he tried to reproduce the cammo pattern on the front of the hull as shown in the photos though. He did a three color scheme, like I plan to do.

Rivetcounter - Can you help me to identify the type of spare track bar that is mounted on the front of the hull? It looks different than some of the other track bars I have seen on Tigers. Do you perhaps have clearer photos of that specific bar mounted on some other Tiger? I'd like to try to scratch build that particular track bar if I can find some additional reference photos of it.

I successfully removed the front mud guards from the tank this evening with a rotary tool.. It's coming along gradually..

sevoblast

I use brake fluid to strip paint from plastic. Do it outside and away from any painted surface, and try it on a piece of sprue first, but pretty generally it will remove most any paint there is from plastic. And metal. And your car. Wash the plastic well after with warm soapy water, and dry, and be sure to wear rubber gloves. It will not harm any plastic that I've ever tried it on, nor metal, and does not score the metal or plastic. I use a deep rectangular baking pan for the soak, and then a tooth brush to get the paint out of the corners etc.

Panther G

Many tanks from the training school where eventually used to defend Berlin. I beleive the Germans even used a captured KV-2, read that somewhere but can't verify, but is a reasonable possibility.

RSEA

Not much progress has occurred on this project.. The Last Kitty, I mean Tiger, is in suspended animation at the moment.

This video below partially explains why there have been no updates to the project thus far..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujeJRUOObus&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

RSEA

Mudguards came off, not much more has happened. Last Tiger won't be in the fight this May.. Lucky for the opposition though, as my SS scientists came up with a killer night fighting unit to mount in the cupola. Needs two 8200 mAh LiPoly packs to power the device. Very radical stuff..

rivetcounter

Panther, the Germans used whatever they could get their hands on the main Russian tank in use was the Pz34 or better known as the T34 these where used in large numbers from 1943 to the end of the war.

RESA, I haven’t been able to find a match for the bracket you seek though I will keep looking, on a lot of pictures this is very difficult to see clearly

RSEA

Thanks for checking on that spare track bar Rivet. No hurry on that, as the 1945 Last Tiger build has been temporarily postponed..

Instead I have decided to throw my actual real Last Tiger into the final DAK battle of the season, and what probably will be the final DAK battle for me and my lone Tiger. It will be thrown together tomorrow, rolling into battle wearing only the remaining gray primer that is left on its armored skin.

I refuse to quit, and I refuse to let Ethan and the others enjoy this final battle without gracing them with my presence at the field. Being that the 88mm cannon is in no condition right now for firing (it needs its bore cleaned for starters), and that it probably would not be sufficient to allow the tank to survive against all the Russian Armor surely to swarm the field Saturday night, the main armament has been radically changed.

By a miracle, I have gotten a hold of plans for a top secret "cannon" that was being developed at Peenemunde at one time during the war. Very high tech and radical weapon, specifically designed for night fighting. Was never actually completed or used in combat back then, but will be this Saturday night for the first time ever. Sevo was working on a special cannon for his Tiger, but this will be far more technically advanced and devastating. A true WunderWaffe if there ever was one. Developed by the most clever scientific minds the SS had in their employment. I sat down examined the plans and started construction of this weapon of mass tank destruction this evening.

And so it is.. The FINAL GAME begins..

RSEA

Last weekend my Tiger became the Peenemünde Tiger. Thrown together with a Night Vision system and a secret "Shockwave" cannon as armament. This strange, but devastatingly powerful cannon, was being developed at Peenemünde under the supervision of Major General Dr. Walter Dornberger. The Shockwave cannon concept, as it was referred to, was intended for installation in new aircraft designs to destroy ground targets without the use of bombs.

Unfortunately, powerful and LIGHT enough battery cells had yet to be invented to allow its use in planes as intended. The lone prototype cannon was fitted into the barrel sleeve of a lone, early model training Tiger (in less than 2 days time). Modified "electroboat" batteries, designed for the Type XXI Uboat, were installed in the Tiger instead of 88mm rounds. This strange looking Tiger was so late in arriving on the scene of the final battle in Berlin, that it is suspected that it didn't do much of anything.. Except to be blown up by its crew less than 1 hour after rolling into battle.

It is said to have challenged an SU-152, but its highly advanced cannon was defeated simply by placing a piece of opaque tape over the front of the TBU of the invading SU-152. There is no such thing as IFA when being attacked by the Peenemünde Shockwave Cannon.. Apparently, the SU-152 commander wasn't aware of that..

RSEA

Ten plus year thread resurrection.. After the last post, in 2011, this tank was put in storage and sat, motionless, for 10 years and 8 months.. For the first time in over a decade it was powered up on Jan 26th. This is the first time I’ve logged onto this site in almost six years.



What instigated this resurrection you may ask? Watching some RC tank videos on YouTube two weeks ago. That started it..



I also discovered DAK was having a tank battle last Saturday. These two things motivated me to break out the Last Tiger, and get it operational.



Sanded the gun barrel, cleaning up the damage done by the rusty metal primer/Super clean mix years ago. Reinstalled said gun barrel and recoil unit in the turret.



Custom fabricated a muzzle brake IR sleeve in honor of StreetSquid (Craig). Bought a new 5100 mAh battery pack for the tank, as the old one wouldn’t charge. Mounted the Kenny Kong metal tracks that had been removed and also put away in storage.



Then fired it up and heard that inertia starter sound effect! Surprisingly the 12 year old transmitter battery pack charged up and works like it did, 12 years ago! I only had to cycle it once to revive it.



I made temporary 323 numbers along with some Muncheberg divisional emblems to put on the tank. Then made a surprise appearance at the January 29th DAK battle. The Last Tiger participated in three battles that day.



Over the last two years I’ve been doing restoration work on a vintage Dodge Charger, as time has allowed. I still have more work to do on that project. Eventually, I hope to paint the tank and complete its transformation to the Last Tiger.



It was kind of surreal bringing the tank to a DAK battle after so many years away from it.


Ready for its first IR battle in over a decade.

One tough, old Tiger.

Temporarily glued the armored exhaust covers back on.

I am a vintage Tamiya Tiger, hear me ROAR!

Got the correct 393 changed to 323 numbers on the turret.

The Last Tiger awakened from a 10 year sleep.