Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Thanks to a lot of very nice people on this forum I bought my first tank. The HL tiger 1. I have begun the modding of the tank as I wait for my uprage parts to come. This is what I have so far. The RCcommand 3:1 gear boxes came in today, but I'll wait for the hull and other parts to arrive to take the tank apart and do paint on it. Here are the pics of the progress. Honest opinions are welcome.

I thinkI am done with the tiger. Aside from a few dress-up items, all the hard work is finished.Check out the pictures and let me know what you think.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Looks like your off to a great start! You will be amazed at what a little paint and weathering will do.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Good start, Yellowshaker. This is when you really start having some fun

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Thanks guys! I'm trying, though I know it will take alot of time to get her right. YHR, I've seen your work and it's amazing how realistic your tanks look.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Nice job Mr Mach 1,
Once all the parts start coming in you will find it hard to keep it together. Be careful with the battle damage. A lot of the new guys tend to overdo it....like I did with my first tank (A tiger as well). You will love the 3:1 gearboxes. They are the best mod out there for our tanks in my opinion. Fix that barrel next, the big Cat needs a proper gun.
Perry

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

I'm planning to go with teh metal barrel from RCcommand or the Creeping death unit., but I need to wait a while for that. I spent some money this week with the hull and drive wheels and gearbox and new smoke unit and...well, you get the idea. Anyway, the aluminum lower hull is supposed to make access easier so I guess the turret will be easier to change at that point anyway.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

YS,
Like you, I've had my tank for about a week now and already have metal sprockets, idlers, aluminum barrel extension, extra links with track hangars, new resin figure, new Russian-front decals, chopped off the cupola and rotated, primed, painted, new smoke units, blah blah blah. Addicting....:D

Lookin' good man. ;)

P.S. Can't wait for the creepingdeath unit either :D

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Yea, I guess guys like us go in head long. lol I'm going to give her a coat of german grey once I disassemble the whole thing. I want to get some metal dress-up itmes too.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Hey Yellowshaker... aren't the metal tracks awesome?! If you want to darken them, this stuff works great! Just a quick soak for a few minutes and rinse them off. I found it at a local hobby store that carried a lot of hobby train stuff. They use it to darken the metal railroad tracks and other metal bits. I believe it was less than $10. I also used it on the metal tools I got for Tiger #2 and I think it gives a nice, realistic appearance. Wiped them down and painted the handles...
You can also use the Insta-Blue stuff made for gun blueing... Walmart carries that stuff and it works just as well.

This stuff gives a brownish-black finish that looks good... like a bit of rust. You can see the before and after with the tool set. In the last pic I applied a bit of gun oil to them and think they look like the real deal. Better than painting the parts IMO.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Nice work Ern!! If you look at the pictures of my Tiger, in a few of them you can see I already used that stuff on my tracks.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gifIt does work very well. I'm looking to buy the insta-blu though. I was thinking of using that for some details too. these are great products, IMO. I figure with the weathering kit tamiya makes, sky's the limit for details. This is a great hobby!

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Oops... sorry! Didn't see that they were darkened in the last two. Nice job... now you gotta run them on some concrete and get the raised parts all worn and shiny!

This is a great hobby, and the Tiger is a good first tank because of all the extras that you can get... Tiger #2 is stalled waiting to see if Creeping Death releases their new gun system anytime soon. I've heard that they will probably be sold as loose gun systems to install, complete turrets, and complete tanks but haven't heard prices or time frame yet. So, I don't want to do up the turret yet until I see what they release. Here's what I started with with what was a "parts tank"... [metal tracks too but forgot to put them in the pic]

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Sweet deal Ern. Ihave the aluminum hull, metal idler, and drive wheels ordered. Should be here tomorrow.The 3:1 gear boxes arrived earlier today.Some other little things ordered and then it'll be time to take it all apart and hope it goes back together. I need to get rccommand to send me a new smoker too.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Yellowshaker,
You know what I do with those bugeye LED headlights? I take a razor saw and cut them flush with the Light housing. I then cut a thin strip of painters tape and put it across. Then dab on some paint and let it dry. In the end, you have a pretty good facsimilie of a German headlight( Oh by the way, The LED still works). Hope this will help with your upgrades.

Jim

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Jim,
That's EXACTLY what I did this past week with my Tig!

Blake

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Well guys, I found some time to get the lower hull somewhat assembled. As you can se in the pics, the meatl road wheels are on, but I had to do my testing with the stock idler pulley. I opened the hole to get the philips screw out and used the pins from the kit to install it. I had to shim it quite a bit from the inside because the pin is too long for this idler wheel. I managed to get it on and in pretty fair alignment. So, while I was in there i had to mess with the brkoen smoke unit. I have a new one coming from rccommand anyway, so what harm couldI do right? Anyway, to make a long story short, the smoke unit works again. being that I had done the motor and gear break-in earlier, I decided to get it together for a quick test run. It ran pretty good. The torque difference is astounding with the 3:1 box. Of course nothing ever goes smoooth so while testing the driver sprocket screw fell out on the carpet....I found it. I also learned that tightening these is not enough, use locktite. So another test and one of the road wheels fell apart. Not off the arm, but the 2 halves seperated and the outside fell off. So now I am thinking they will have to be glued together as the press fit is not very tight on some of them. That's a job for tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how the tensioners work. They don't seem to make much difference in track tension, of course, I may not be doing it right.
So can some of you guys post pictures of how you set up the switches. i need some ideas for relocating them now.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

heres what i did to my very 1st tiger tank.. and the samething with my 504 DAK tiger tank..
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_86...tm.htm#8620527
daryl

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Those openeing rear hatches are great. i read the post and I would assume you have the hinges under the hatches?You have any pictures of the setup?

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

sure.. ill post the picture.. but 1st i have to take a picture of it... :)
daryl

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Well, I got the new headlights installed, along with the fan, and I made the internal antenna for this beast. The good part is everything works. I also modified the smoke system so that the smoke actually exits through the top of the exhaust ports. It works good too.. Waiting on my metal idlers from rccommand and the bearings and motor supports from welsh dragon to finish beefing up the drivetrain.Then it's off to the paintshop and adding the little finishing touches.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Looks like your gun barrel is in the recoil position...

You can mod that or buy a complete corrected version set bolt on style :D

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Finally got the paint on her. Did a little detailing on the cables and need to apply the decals. Tryed doing a light grey camo pattern, but didn't like it much. It's difficult to camo with something this small and no airbrush.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

The decals are on...

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Here's whati got so far. The gear box brace came in today, so i'll have to sinstall that. I decided to do a camo scheme on her, but had to make due without an airbrush. Figured I'd give it a try anyway.

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

as promised...
but dont have a real picture though.. cant find my camera..
anyways, heres how it goes..

1 is a drawing of a track...(plastic) cut the part where the dotted line is.. after cutting it dont throw it away..
2 is th drawing of the exhaust.. after reparating it from the hull it should look like that..
3 is a side view of the exhaust.. now cut the part with a dotted line then insert the part from the track that you just cut awhile ago. (just try to measure everything that u cut.)
4 its should look like that after putting everything together.. also insert the metal pin from the track... so the same hull (but carefull not the cut the plastic that connects the upper hull to the lower hull)

hope this helps..

daryl

RE: Update..First time modding tanks....pics
 

Wow, that's great Chinto.thank you for the guidance. That's going to be another project to add to the growing list. In the meantime,i added the dull coat to my tank. Here's the results.much better than that gloss finish it had before.