W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Well I finally got the time to start building my King Tiger. Just like I mentioned I was going to do I am going to post pictures and describe what I have done as the build progresses. I have decided to add a few upgrades to my KT. They are the WECOHE suspension kit, the recoil upgrade, metal track hangers for the turret, longer gun barrel from Brass Barrels and a charging jack made by "tomzag". I am still deciding if I am going to go with metal tracks right away. Of course this will mean a couple of more upgrade parts.

Tonight I started adding parts to the lower hull. I have decided to prime and paint the lower hull with as many parts bolted in place as can be added right know. This way I will not have to paint as many screw heads later. I have bolted on the suspension arm housings, the torsion bar rails, the tension plates and part of the WECOHE suspension kit as well as the aluminum fenders that hang over the hull top edges. I have also sanded all the aluminum parts that will be primed and painted with 600 wet/dry sand paper. It is fine enough sand paper that no scratches will show but it will give some tooth for the primer and paint. Just in case anyone notices that the pictures show one of the WECOHE suspension springs missing it is because my suspension kit was missing one spring . The good news is a couple of replacements are on their way from WECOHE. Tomorrow I am going to get the drive sprockets, idler wheels, road wheel parts and all the suspension arms ready for primer as well. I am also going to mask of the lower hull so over spray does not get on the interior or any other place I do not want it. Hopefully I will get the primer on as well.

Here are a few pics of the lower hull with the parts I have added in place.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

vollenc

Nice photos. Please continue to post, or at least E-mail me. I'm a builder particularly interested in suspension, powertrain. I've been studying the Wecohe torsion bars. Do the coil springs provide compression/seating or do they rotate to soften the torsion bars?

heavyaslead

Vollenc

Let me know if you would like to see leaf spring bogie suspension and I will start another thread.

WhiteWolf McBride

My Feedback: (3)

Wayne:

You going to buy the cast metal nose pieces (the ones the tow shackles mount on) ?

I would recommend them as a former KT owner, as I've broken my share of the plastic ones. I'd also recommend Daryl Turner's gearbox mount plate.

If I can think of any other tweaks, I'll post.

GD Dave

Not sure if the rear idler replacement kit comes with the Wecohe suspension, but it is a MUST! Got mine from BYA, works fantastic.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

I am planning on getting the cast metal nose pieces. I was going to get them from ETO Armour but Bob is gone to the end of the month I hear. I am just glad they are an easy part to add later. I have heard of Daryl Turner's gearbox mount plate but am not sure where to get one. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be gratefull.

As for the idler updrade I am holding off for a bit as a buddy is going to machine me so new idler drums. He has all the equipement needed to do so. I am getting him to make me two sets. One without springs and another set that will have springs. I have managed to find some springs in my parts boxes that are a lot stronger than the Tamiya springs. If for some reason he does not have the time I will order a set of upgraded idler drums.



Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

kurtmeyer

ANY NEW PICS TODAY?

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Sorry no new pics yet. I was hoping to have some more done by now but a small paying job got in the way. I will be working on it this evening so I should have more pics then.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

GD Dave

Drop Tom a line, I got Darryl's gearbox mounting plate from him. With that brace, you can go without the cast metal nose pieces.

vollenc

Yes Heavyaslead, I would like to see your photos. Thanks.

hobbimaster

Be very careful when screwing the K- parts plastic pieces (black plastic) on the end gun barrel (inside turret) to the retract mechanism in particular. Apparently I overtightened it causing plastic to crack when the 2x4mm was inserted and tightened, the back of the plastic ear broke off. I reorder the K-parts from Tamiya, but noticed today my bottom torrent piece has cracks where you mount the 2 metal brackets that hold the main rotation gear to the bottom. Must have used to much muscle there too. I'm at a stand still till all the new parts arrive. I suggest barely tightening any plastic parts.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Well even though I have only managed to do a little more on my KT but I will update what I have done so far. Last night I masked of the interior of the lower hull to protect it from over spray and prepared and cleaned all the metal parts for primer. It took awhile to clean and degrease all the metal parts. Once that was done I sprayed everything with a light grey primer. It is a quick dry metal primer but I am going to wait until tomorrow to start painting the lower hull and all the suspension arms and wheels the dark yellow color. I want to make sure the primer is good and dry.

The good news of the day is my replacement spring for the WECOHE suspension upgrade kit arrived today from Germany. I am very impressed with the speed of the mail from Germany. It only took a week. Mail from the US to Canada takes longer and we are next door to each other. Now that I have the missing spring once the lower hull, suspension parts and the drive and idler wheels are painted dark yellow I will be able to assemble the drive system. I response to a question earlier the WECOHE suspension uses the springs like a torsion bar and ( twisting motion ). I will post more on the upgraded suspension as I install and adjust it. There will be plenty of photos.

I am just hoping I have enough paint. I cleaned out my normal mail order place of all the dark yellow tamiya paint they had. I was able to get three of the spray cans and 9 of the little bottles of paint. I know when airbrushing a little goes a long ways but it is a large tank. I guess I will find out if I have enough once I start painting the yellow.

Seeing as I have only gotten a little done there is not much to take pictures of but for the die hards here is a couple of pics showing the lower hull primed as well as a few other parts. I should be able to get a lot done Thursday as I have the whole day to work on it. Of course drying paint will slow things down a little.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

hobbimaster

I've been using the light grey Tamiya primer which goes pretty far, but almost 5 cans of Tamiya German grey. The cans definetely do not go very far, I've painted 99% of the kit with a little touch up needed. I'm thinking of using the dark yellow on top of the grey for my scheme.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

I was unable to get some Tamiya primer. I ended up using a lacquer metal primer for real cars. I tested first to see if it would be safe with the Tamiya paint. It is actually a nice primer as it only took two thin coats to get good coverage without hiding any details. It also sticks to the metal real well. The down side is it is very stinky.The cans are one and a half times larger than the Tamiya cans and it still took a whole can and it was just enough to do all the metal parts.I am still not sure what I will use for primer on the plastic parts. I was actually hoping that seeing as the plastic parts are already a yelow color I may be able to skip the primer. If not I have some water based light gray primer from my model train days that is safe to use with any paint. It goes on very thin and covers real good.

One thing I have learned getting into the Rc tank hobby is hobby shops in Canada do not stock much Tamiya paint. Out of the four I usually order from they all only keep 5 or 6 jars and a couple of the spray cans of each color on hand. I may just have to start a little stock pile of certain colors just to make sure I never have a shortage.


Wayne Reid
Ontario, Canada

GD Dave

Wayne, I used 4 cans of Dark yellow to cover mine, but that was because the zimmerit didn't cover very well. With three cans you should come out OK. I know what you mean about certain paints, the only hobby store here in S.A. that carries tamiya paint has a very limited selection. Everytime I go there I pick up some paint wether I need it or not and since I will be beginning another KT, I should be well stocked.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Well time for a update on the build. Things got slowed down a lot due to my air compressor deciding it had enough and letting the magic smoke out. I ended up getting a little two gallon compressor as it is lighter and easier to move around. It runs a lot more than my old 20 gallon but it is more than good enough for airbrushing. I will get a bigger one when one comes on sale for a good price.

I have now gotten the lower hull painted the dark yellow. It is a little darker than I expected. I thought maybe the gray primer caused the dark yellow to look darker but it is real close to the color of the can tops from the Tamiya spray cans. I could have went with a sand yellow but the dark yellow looks good. It looks darker in the pictures due to the fluorescent lights. My digital camera has a setting so it can be set for the light source being used but I have not played with it yet. The camera I am using is the Fujifilm Finepix S5200. Really nice camera that takes great photos.

The drive sprockets and idler wheels are painted the dark yellow. I have all the suspension arms painted with primer ( a few are painted the dark yellow ) and the plastic parts for the road wheels were just primed this morning. I primed them with Badger Modelflex acrylic water based light gray primer. I like using the Badger primer as it airbrushes real nice and dries fast. It can be painted over in a few hours but I wait at least 12 hours. I have yet to have it react with another paint.

Either later this evening or early Sunday morning I am going to airbrush the road wheel parts dark yellow as well as the remaining suspension arms. Once they are dry it will be time to assemble the rest of the suspension, all the wheels and get the chassis up and running. I will be taking plenty of pictures of that part of the build.

So far I am very happy with how things are progressing. I was hoping to have a lot more done than this but more important things have gotten in the way. The only problem encountered so far is one of the Tamiya spray cans of dark yellow I bought is no good. It refuses to spray at all. I even tried the button of one of the other cans and no luck. It is a good thing I was able to get some more of the little bottles of dark yellow.

Once the chassis is up and running it will be time to build the upper hull and turret. This is where all the major work will be. I plan to make the hatch on the back of the turret a working hatch as well as both hatches on the turret top. I am also going to shave off the molded on grab handles on the hatches and add some made from steel wire. I am also thinking of adding some screens over the engine vents made from some wire mesh. I also have the metal track hanger kit to add as well. I have a few other things I would like to do but I will cover those when I get there.

I have attached some pictures of some of the painted parts.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Well the last two days have been good and I have gotten a fair amount done. The road wheels have been painted the dark yellow and assembled and greased where needed. The suspension arms are all painted. I have installed the WECOHE suspension upgrade kit and adjusted it. this went well with only one minor problem. One of the steel trunnions that go on the springs had a over sized and poorly threaded hole for the 3x3mm grub screw ( set screw ). This meant I could not put the WECOHE suspension parts on that road wheel. I had to use a stock torsion bar with brass shim stock to remove the play. It will have to do until I can get a replacement trunnion from WECOHE. The pictures show what I have done.

I also managed to get all the road wheels in place as well as the stock idler system for now. I am ordering an upgraded idler system this week. I did install stiffer springs in the stock idler system. I found some in my small parts junk box. So far they seem to work real well and keep the tracks tensioned. From there I installed the gear boxes and the drive sprockets. Next I had to figure out how to locate the equipment tray as it no longer will bolt in due to the WECOHE suspension upgrade. I ended up blocking the original mounting holes with some bolts and nuts and sticky taping the equipment tray in as called fro in the suspension kit instructions. Next came the tracks. Yes I had to put them on as I wanted to get the chassis running and test the new suspension. All I have to say is WOW. I had already test built and run the chassis with the stock suspension when I first got the kit and the upgrade is worlds better. I have only run it for about 20 minutes but am very happy with the performance. I am also a little surprised how fast it goes at full throttle. Maybe just a little to fast. May have to look into one of the gear reduction kits.

Here are a few pictures of the progress. If anyone wants a more detailed description of the setting up of the WECOHE suspension kit let me know.



Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

Ben2006

Very Nice......KingTiger..Cant wait till its all Done!.

Supreme Reign

That suspension is beautiful. Too bad the price isn't[:-]

vollenc

Yes please, more detail on the installation and function of the WECOHE suspension kit. Very nice work and photos. Thanks.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

I am actually very happy with how the KT is turning out. I am excited to see what it will look like when finished but do not want to rush it as that is when mistakes can be made.With the amount of cash I have sunk into this tank I want it to look real good when done.

I agree about the price of the suspension kit. It is a very expensive kit for what you get. Of course it is like any other custom part that the average modeler cannot make him self. You end paying a premium for it. I do have to say it does work real well. I have played around with the running chassis for about an hour and have tried driving over a number of obstacles in the house and it has handled everything really well. I do not want to play in the dirt outside till the tank is totally finished plus I do not want dirt on any parts that still have to have the red/brown and dark green painting done.
I had thought of going with the improved torsion bars I have seen being sold by the TankZone. To be honest with the missing spring and the improperly threaded trunnion problems I have had with my suspension kit I was getting a little frustrated with it and was wishing I had went with the improved torsion bars. I am planning on getting a Tiger 1 next and for it I will most likely go with the improved torsion bars. Seeing as one of the trunnions for my KT suspension kit was messed up and I had to use a stock torsion bar I shimmed the stock piece and took out all the play. That road wheel seems to have the same spring action and tension as the upgraded road wheels have and handles the bumps and obstacles just as well now. I should also mention that adjusting the the WECOHE suspension is a bit of work compared to the stock suspension but on a positive note being able to adjust how the suspension handles could come in handy.I actually set mine to sit a little bit higher than the supplied template called for. This was done to compensate for the extra weight from the upgrades being added and to give the suspension little more working room.

Also as I mention earlier on I am still using the stock idler system. I added stiffer springs to it and also glued some 800 grit sand paper to the outside of the idler drums so the adjustment clamps would hold better and to stop the drums from possibly slipping. So far these improvements have work real well. The track tension has not changed and the idlers have some spring to them. I do have an upgraded idler system coming just in case. I have also ordered the brass gear box drive shaft support bearings. This is for when I add metal tracks. They are supposed to give the gear box drive shafts to the sprockets better support and keep the gear boxes from self destructing under the load of the metal tracks. I can see them working as it gives a third support area to the drive shafts.

As for progress on it today I did not really get anything done. I had some work around the house to finish before the bad weather comes and the new computer for the wife and kids showed up and I had to set it up. Those tasks killed the day. Tomorrow I hope to add the recoil upgrade to the stock recoil system and start on the turret modifications. I will be sure to take plenty of pictures and post what I have done.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

vollenc

I will post more on the suspension kit and the install of it tomorrow.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

GD Dave

Damn Wayne, it looks like you are adding every upgrade part available. Can't wait to see the end product. Keep us posted on your advancement and maybe a video when your done.

W Reid

My Feedback: (-1)

Dave

Well not every upgrade. There are few more I would have liked to add but I decided to stick mostly with the ones that will make it preform better and make it a little more durable. I avoided some of the upgrades that had a lot of fine detail parts as they would most likely just get knock off with the handling of the tank during every day use. Some detail like a lighted headlight I will do myself. I am going to hollow out the plastic headlight to take a golden white led that will run of the receiver power. It will add looks and also be a reminder the tank is on as it will always be on when the tank is turned on. I am also going to make my own engine bay screens as well as any metal grab bars needed to replace the molded plastic ones. I did order the metal to shackles though.

I should be able to a video when it is done. My new digital camera actually does nice video clips. If I use my 2 Gig card I can do up to a 30 minute video of good quality.


Wayne Reid
Ontario,Canada

GD Dave

Wayne, are you going to use the gear reduction? I had it in mine at first, but when you take hits, it goes even slower than normal. Your basically more of a sitting duck.