1 16 Tiger 1

R

ratskiss

Guest
If you are going to drop a grand it has to be the 1/16 Tamiya Tiger 1. I can't afford to build another model for ten years so here it goes.

I bought the full Aber photo etch kit. I had never done photo etch before but I did know how to solder. I forgot that at 50+ how blind I was. After looking around and comparing cost The "Aber" set covered pretty much every thing. This kit can nickel and dime you to poverty.

I started last October and am just approaching the finish of the "Aber" details to the hull. I found the driver hatch details the most difficult so far. I am only doing the radio operators hatch as I moved the power switch from the turret, (Kit instructions) to the drivers hatch to reduce the wires to the turret since it will have to be removed on occasion.

I have read about the problems of detailing an RC tank but it will not be used much, maybe on Remembrance day. I'll get a cheap tank to battle the kid with.

I am just researching the colours. It will have the Yellow base and be somewhere from January - December 43.

I'm not a purest by any means and hope only to have a nice representation of the real thing. I am not counting rivets, nor hoping for a copy of any particular machine. I do hope to get real close though. The joy is with the build and the research. ...and the pictures of the cute girls you sometimes get when you type in the word "Tiger" in Google images.

Tank commander is not finished and is from the kit. I chose him in the "defensive" position as opposed to the sniper bait position.


Excuse the photo quality, I don't have macro lens.
 

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Sweet, I am looking forward to following along on this thread...
 
Some amazing detail here... Great work. I wish I could get started modeling...
 
Finished the tool clamps today and attached them to the deck. Abers shovel is a weak part of an overall great detail kit. So it has been modified. I have a few wires for the anti-personal devices and bits to do on the hull before I move on to the turret. Those Aber etch sheets sure look good empty.
 

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Gulp, a grand? I'd be so afraid of ruining it! It looks great so far. I've seen a completed one - very impressive.
 
Moving on to the turret...

The Hull is mostly done. I am not happy with the job I did on the radio operators hatch. So may just shut the door on it. The track hangers I installed last night. The commanders copula interior is done. I have the storage hatch to do as well as the vent cover. Then on to the piddley details that will fall off on the first attack.

I'm excited that soon I may start the painting and weathering. I'm still not sure of the tank I'm doing. I may have to search the decal world for some dry transfer decals. I think on a beast this big wet decals would not look so good, or I may hand paint markings.

There is a certain beauty in empty etch holders.

Now for a beer.http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/images/smilies/tongue-new.png
 

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Great work so far....at $1,000 I would have to say I would stretch the build to take 10 years (Dollar cost averaging)!!! Cant wait to see the progress you make....
 
I do tend to do that, stretch out the builds, I have only done 3 kits in the last ten years. HMCS Snowberry which I converted to RC and the 1 1/18 Fokker Tri plane by Hasagawa. I have space for few models so I save up to get good ones and make it last. The Tiger is moving along well as I am on sabbatical. The kit itself was $680.00, the abet set $240.00 and misc. stuff just adds up. Bucket $5.00, paint etc. The beast is large and my first paints ran out quick. I live in the woods so mail order shipping costs and then remortgage the house, sell the wife. It all adds up.
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Just asking....how much did you get for the wife?

Nice work of the etch btw.....I confess to being too scared to try it (yet)...keep doing my photo-etchless kits and ignoring the rest.
 
Send out the kids for manual labor, should be good for a few $ a week!
 
I would send the boy off to work but he's 11 months old.

I must admit when the Aber kit arrived in the mail I had a look and was wondering if I had made a mistake. I did not touch for a week thinking I might resell the kit. I did build my own house though so I jumped in. What is needed is four power glasses, a good set of tweezers, and know when to put the project aside before you loose it. I did not use the fancy expensive bending tools. I had enough sets of pliers for that. A mini vise was helpful. I found with experience, and the full Aber Tiger kit will give you that, that I knew when to solder and when to glue. The combination of both worked wonderfully. The real reason people do armour kits is not for the history and interest, it's because if we make a mistake we can throw mud on it. One of the first things I did was the front fenders. Now one is battle damaged. Photo etch made simple.

I couldn't sell the wife the cars in her name.
 
Tiger Driver

Another upgrade to my beast. I bought a camera to mount on a helicopter model I could never fly. I placed it in the drivers seat looking through his viewport. The camera can connect to my computer. I have no way to control it from there,yet, but I can record the video and drive it looking at the computer screen.
 

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now if you can link your PC to the RC controls, you can remote your tank just like a UAV

uav1.jpg
 
Seleman Honey Brown is fine but that brewery only uses Saz Hops...I don't care fore so much.

By the ratskiss quite an undertaking...how you can drive it around for us?
 
Beer is not my favourite. When I'm not making tanks I like to make mead. Tastes great and I can act like a Viking.
 
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