New life to an old Cat
 

I have spent the day electrically refurbishing my 70s issue Tamiya king tiger. Runs like a champ now. The big question is do i also refurbish and update the outside too. As it is it looks presentable. Its got the standard ambush scheme and is decently weathered. Part of me though sayt to rip it and strip it, Give it some zimmerit and update the details. What do you guys think. This old war horse has struggled on for more than 30 years still runs like mad, even runs on the original tracks. What say you men, REFURBISH OR OVERHAUL!


Also not wanting to get the metal tracks for it since these would likely kill the old clutch drive gearbox in it does anyone have unused lengths of King Tiger track they wouldnt mind parting with? Im out of spares on this and being 30 years old these tracks dont have much life left in them.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

We need to see the pictures to help you make such an important decision.:D

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

imm getting to those. Finishing my ice cream and coffee first.....seriously

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Thats just as important, I'm working on a Long Island Ice Tea, It's about 80 deg. outside here and the same inside without the air on.:D

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Mild overhaul, replace the tracks and clean it up. Keep it going and show it to the grandkids so they can see what RC tanks were like 50 years ago.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Well heres the pics. As i said it looks presentable. I have the loaders hatch and missing spare link block. I admit she looks really good for her age in the pics but in person you can see she is starting to get a little dogeard. One thing id like to do is take the crap spare blocks off the turret and make real hangars and retainers out of sheet brass to mont actual spare links on. Nothing like havig those handy. Id also like to replace the track. If someone has an unused set from a kit they put the metal tracks on ill take them off your hands. Theres other little details id like to tackle too just to give it a sharper appearance overall and bring it up to more modern looking standards. Im on a budget though. Im not complaining much though. I got the tank for free and it was a wreck. I was able to bring it to this standard using just what was in the box with it. The body had been brush painted with thick paint and a nasty brush. This worked ot tough and after a sanding left an awesome rough texture to the hull that looks exactly like all the real King Tigers i have seen.
Well without further ado here is the old girl.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

I think Swathdiver has got the right answer, tracks to keep on the road and the paint looks good from the pics, adding parts to the outside may make matching the color a little bit of a challenge, but with weathering you can mask that color difference. I say upgrade the outside and touchup the paint.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

It looks great! Just do what you said, replace the track links on the turret and keep driving it! Why do you want to replace the tracks? They chevrons aren't even worn off yet! hehehe Great tank!

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

The tracks are 30 years old and the flex has gone out. The ends of the links are splitting on some of them. They are getting brittle. If i add the details to the outside i am going to go for a full repaint. Maybe just flip through Tigers in combat and pick a random king tiger to replicate. I know there was a good KT detail thread around here somewhere that broke the smaller details down into manageable chunks. I cant find it. I d like to skim it to see wat i can add simply. Also if im going to totall repaing it i may as well add zimmerit huh.
Just tossing ideas out there. Anyone else care to chime in?

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

I know its hard, I'd leave it alone. Just replacing the fake looking spare track links and brackets and the real tracks. If ya want to go all out, why not build a modern sister tank with more reliable transmission? hehehe

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

This may be the thread your looking for. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5078128/tm.htm

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Thanks for the input guys. I think in the long run it will require a full repaint. Simply for the fact i will bw adding details to most every surface of it. Ill look through Tigers In Combat and find a good KT to replicate that doesnt have zimmerit. I will also use this as a chance to strip and retexture the hull. The one that is on it is good butwill disappear under another coat of paint.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

More reliable sister? If you are referring to a Leopard2 i have built it already. If your referring to another KT or the new Panther unfortunately i cannot afford it at this time. Thats why im on a big tank overhaul kick. Most of my tanks have run reliably and steadily for 4 years now. Some have lost parts or gotten the details knocked off from movint and the rest are just so dirty and nasty that they require the overhaul to clean out the gunk.
My stug 4 is almost ready for paint. Making better hatches for it and upping the details overall. hull texture, removing the zimmerit, weld beads. I also took this as an opportunity to clean out all the old grease in the gearboxes and relube them and true up the suspension bogies. Not big tasks overall but all added up to a good amount of time spent. But its worth it to keep it runnng for another 4 years.
This is the idea with the king tiger as well. For as old as the parts are on it and as well as it has stood up to time id like to give it the refurbishment it deserves.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

What ever you do , post pictures and share it with us. The forum needs some build threads.:D

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Well i have begun refurbishing the old cat. Just stripping of all the little bits and fenders now. Added sponsons under the hull that follow the lines of a real King Tiger. I marked off where the track hangars go on the turret too. Ill be making these out of sheet brass. It will hold shape better than plastic and will look more to scale. The Tiger will be getting zimmerit and a whole host of little details added to it. Ill post pics later this afternoon when i get more time. I have some errands to run now.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Here she is as of last night. I threw all the bits together. I may leave the skirts off. Looks meaner and sleeker without them. Also allows for better ejection of mud and track damaging stones now the sponsons are in the hull. I also filled in the old screw mounting points in the hull for the skirts. I will be making new mount plates from sheet plastic that will go where the real skirts would have bolted on. Other details will come as i narrow down common features and unique features to which specific vehicle i choose.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Zimmerit is on, Dummy fender mounts are on. Now im adding details to the hull like the weld bead around all the major panels that arent covered in zimmerit. I have no plans to take this as far as sturm has on his King Tiger build though. Overall i just want to enhance the details present and give a new lease on life to this venerable old model. Hopefully when im done this 30 year old beast will still turn heads.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

well....not tempting you to burn a hole in your wallet:

http://www.customrcmodels.com/shop/i...g_tiger_tracks

http://www.customrcmodels.com/shop/i...nsmission_unit
this will make your KT purr like a real cat

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/IMPACT-1-16-L...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/IMPACT-1-16-K...QQcmdZViewItem

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Heh. Sorry but this is an OLD clutch drive vehicle. I dont have a spare DMD for it and the metal tracks grip would cause damage to a unit so old. Now if someone has put metal tracks on their tamiya id gladly take the old plastics off their hands.
Also kind of like a museum i like to kep as much of the original kit in the model. If i were to get another old KT that has been abused then id try for the internal upgrades. As it is i like how it runs on this old system.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

lol i was just thinking, what would this tank cost back in the 70's?

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Get me a photo of the sides of the original box top and i could tell you. ALL japanese kits have the japanese sales price in Yen printed directly n the box. It is the price they MUST sell for in Japan. Outside japan it doesnt matter.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

did some fine detail work on the turet. Added the weld beads to the channels around all the plate and the commanders cupola. Also added a bead around the main plate for the upper hull. Made the commanders sighting mechanism for the turret roof and his front vision port. Made the 2 square plates at the rear of the roof more to scale. Added a rain/sun guard over the guners sight. There are various other details over the model too. It has been base coated in slightly lightened XF-60 dark yellow. The roar wheels should repolish to a sheen as they used to have. Again another fun project that i didnt have to spend any money on. Just used the resources available to me here.

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

leo2a6,check your pm.....

is the king tiger tracks the same as the panther tracks?

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

Nice work on your King Tiger, Have one that I'm about to start if I ever get the rest of my upgrade parts, I cleaned off my work area and layed out some of the parts hoping that will be my good luck and my parts will show up.:D

RE: New life to an old Cat
 

i have mu plastic panther tracks links if any one wants them...i used the impact tracks on my panther...shoot me a pm if ya want them...