chilipiper

Thanks.. I'm thinking I just might have to switch to an appropriate adult beverage (frosty cold, of course) as a source for my aluminum!

I purchased the Aluminum Black from Brownells.com. I would imagine other big name sporting good stores that cater to firearms aficionados might carry it too.

TigerI

Thanks Chili found the aluminum black.

chilipiper

Any time..

Prometheum5

Looks good... I didn't realize you were doing 332... I did a quarter scale dio with 332 using the same photos and details you are

chilipiper

Thanks Prometheum5,
Care to post a picture or 2??

Prometheum5

chilipiper

Awesome... they don't come much more realistic looking!

googlydoogly

Are you gonna paint your 332 in gray as well?

chilipiper

Good question.. it's something I have been wrestling with since I decided I would build Tiger 332. Tiger 332 has been identified as a March '43 build, and therefore would have been built shortly after the changeover to dunkelgelb at the factory. Most of the photos I have could be either color; there are a couple that stand out to me as being very clearly dunkelgelb.

It's definitely something I will ponder a while yet... but I need to decide soon.

Prometheum5

It's always shown as Schwarzgrau in model instructions, so that's what I went with... the argument for yellow certainly seems to be there in some of the photos tho.

chilipiper

Well, whatever it's supposed to be, you've built an awesome model and dio! [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Prometheum5

Thanks! I'm sure your R/C build will be amazing too... I'm working on the Tamiya cat right now myself, and am simply waiting for my Local Hobby Store to get my batteries in to install all the guts and see it run!

TigerI

Hey Chili, where did you get the miniature hinges you used on your hatches and stowage box on the turret. Finally got mine and am trying to get all the goodies I'll need to detail it. Hows your's coming along? I just started the lower hull with the suspension arms and torsion bars. I have the Daryl turner upgrade for the Idler tension and the gun elevation arm for the main gun.

chilipiper

All that good stuff came with the Aber basic photoetch set, along with a zillion other little tiny parts that are guaranteed to make you question your sanity!

Glad to hear you have started your Tiger; the Daryl Turner idler tensioner is a great upgrade and a good start for a build. Are you going to do a build thread too?

TigerI

I've got the Aber basic set coming so that takes care of that. Don't know about doing a build on here as I'm pretty busy with other things besides the tank. Your Tiger looks better everytime I see it! Thanks for the info Chili!

chilipiper

Anytime... glad to help..

TigerI

Chili, another question buddy. Did you super glue or epoxy your aluminum gun barrel and muzzle brake to the mantlet.

chilipiper

TigerI,
My aluminum gun tube installed into the mantlet and the recoil mechanism the same as the plastic one that came with the kit, per the kit instructions. I used a little bit of 5 minute epoxy when attaching parts J3 and J4 to the gun tube for added security, but I'm not sure it was needed.

The muzzle brake was a tight fit onto the gun tube and needed a lot trial fitting and filing (on the gun tube... it's softer) to get it to fit right (I had the same trouble with my King Tiger). When everything fit to my satisfaction, a little bit of 5 minute epoxy helped seal the deal.

TigerI

Thanks much again, Chili!

chilipiper

Glad to help...

chilipiper

For my latest update... hull construction continued…
I began the final phase of hull construction by adding the various Aber cable fittings and tie downs to the left side of the hull. I found the Aber cable clamps very tedious to construct… so much so, that after finishing the first one, I decided to scratchbuild the rest from styrene. The styrene ones won’t function like the Aber parts and will be completed (outer pieces and wing nuts) once the final paint has been applied. All of these pieces were attached using 5 minute epoxy and had weld beads applied.

Moving to the front of the hull, I added the upper portions of the spare track rack. The upper and lower rack can be seen in the tow scanned photos of Tiger 332. The upper rack was made of three 0.020 brass strips, cut to size (scaled from the pictures). I cut slots into the hull (going completely through) with a x-acto knife for the “uprights” that are protruding from the hull. The strips were inserted into the grooves, tabbed over inside the hull and epoxied in place. As always… weld bead was added where needed. The cross piece was bolted in place (yup… that’s a real nut and bolt) on one “upright” and held in place on the other “upright” with a piece of wire (so I can pivot the cross bar to install the spare track… The wire will be replaced later with a matching nut and bolt, which will be after the final paint has been applied).

chilipiper

Gotta lot of pics for this update, so I broke it into two posts.

Even More Hull Construction…

On to the right side… Tiger 332 had an interesting field modification (as did many in sPzAbt.503); 5 brackets which were made to hold an unditching beam or log. These were fairly simple to construct, the mount consisting of short length of aluminum tubing, which were glued to the hull with 5 minute epoxy and the brackets themselves, which were made from brass rod cut and bent to shape. The dimensions of the mounts and brackets were scaled from photographs. Guess what got some more weld beads ??

Moving on to the rear of the hull, I added metal mudflaps that I got from Tankzone. The real Tiger 332 had only the left side mudflap in the pictures I have, but these were such nice pieces that I hated to waste one. So I used both.. (well, they were both there at one time, weren’t they??) I also added the Schumo S-mine launchers at the corners of the hull. These are also some very nice pieces that add some nice detail to the hull.

The electronics were installed at this point. I chose to use a single battery, mostly because the Schumo reduction gears took up enough space that adding a second battery was problematic. I am using a Futaba T4VWD Attack 4WD radio with this tank; this same radio setup worked well with my King Tiger. Later on I will probably switch over to a Spectrum DX6i, but I didn’t want to go through the learning curve with this radio right now. I will be adding a charging jack and an isolation switch as well, but haven’t gotten these bits and pieces yet.

Finally.. On to some paint.. I primed the hull with Tamiya surface primer then put on a coat of Testors Model Master Acryl Antifouling Red.

TigerI

Tank is looking good Chili. With as much detail as you're adding its liable to take you many more months to finish. I hope not I really want to see this masterpiece when its completed.

chilipiper

Thanks Greg,
I hope it won't take that long to complete. I have 6 more builds waiting in the wings, including one for my SWMBO (she's so patient... bless her heart). The last big piece to do with a lot of detail is the hull deck. Gotta do a little rewiring too, to add a charging jack and isolation switch. Then, it's on to the paint booth.

My LHS was finally (with great difficulty, it seems) able to come up with a "K" sprue, so I can start building the deck. If you can't find one, don't despair, I've seen the metal hinges available from a number of sites. If you are so inclined, one of the Aber PE sets for this kit has hinges (as well as the rest of the stuff for the hatches) that you can make from PE. I learned about them from reading this [link=http://planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4627]build[/link]. Now that's an awesome build!

TigerI

6 more!!!!!!!!!!! What kind of tanks are we talking about here. It sounds like you're tied up for a couple of years buddy!