Early Tiger 1 from sPzAbt 503

[cahlfors]

Continuing my build thread over here from the Swedish section in case someone is interested who does not happen to know any Swedish.

It will be clear coated to leave the metal look, which I am very fond of, on the model. Considering that, it is probably hard to understand why I want it to resemble Tiger 131 of Hans Fendesack and Kurt Knispel. The reasons for choosing this specific prototype was that when looking at the shooting galleries, I found Kurt Knispel being the most successful gunner ever. He was also the only one who was smiling broadly in the photographs, giving an impression of a warm hearted man. The stories confirm this. In addition, his commander Hans Fendesack is said to have held back the bold and encouraged the humble, a leadership I like.

Back to the model. At times, I put everything in place just to see how it looks. Here is such a shot that shows how far I have come:


I am currently wiring up the batteries - a daunting task because I have chosen to use many small batteries that I can obtain used free of charge from a UPS system that has its batteries replaced on a schedule whether they are bad or not. It also allows me to install good capacity, which might come in handy. However, I really do not know if cramming that many batteries into it is such a good idea. The weight is substantial, there will most certainly be clearance problems etc, but I figured that I wire them up and remove an occasional battery if I have to.

Here is a look down onto "battery deck" (which is very much work in progress):

What you see are about 30 batteries. At one point I managed to put 10 more in, but I also want room for large speakers in the rear, so I think I am on a practical max right now. I also noticed that that would make the model sag in the rear, leading me to think that moving the heavy batteries forward and the other, lighter stuff rearward is the way to go.

Cheers,
/Chris

[plgGe]

Many thanks for you post in English.
Keep us (we not Swedish speaking :( ) updated, please.

An electrical question : how many little batteries are equal to one car battery ?

Cheers

[cahlfors]

The ones I am using are 4,5Ah each but, as mine are second hand, I expect maybe half of that. This adds to the uncertainty - maybe buying a couple big batteries is a better idea.
Regarding car batteries: In a given volume, a car size battery could be optimized either for cold start capacity in A at the expense of charge capacity in Ah. A trailer or boat battery (same size) would be optimized for the opposite. Such batteries range between 50Ah and 75Ah something depending on that.

Cheers,
/Chris

[cahlfors]

Today, I have been doing a bit of work on the engine hatch. The proper position of the intake manifold from the air precleaners is pretty much in the center between the handles as seen in this picture:

Regrettably, this placement would not cover the hole in the hatch. Instead, I chose to move it partially to the "south", enough to cover the hole. A "good enough" solution:

I might return one day to redo this, but an entirely new hatch would be required. For the moment, I have more important things to do.

Cheers,
/Chris

[plgGe]

I really like tanks and I know something about the Panther owing to the Kent's posts but I have only a superficial knowledge about the other tanks and AFV in general.

Nevertheless I apreciate very much people who looks at the particulars so I enjoy the work you have done.

Oh yes, it is only a little difference really but we must try to reproduce the model as it is.

[cahlfors]

More work on the engine hatch. Today, I have fastened the grab irons. As they seem to be the logical place to grab in order to lift the hatch, I figured that a cosmetic glue joint would not be enough. Instead I employed some of my old 1/87 model railroading techniques - drilling and tapping in small dimensions. As you can see in the first photo, my tools have blurred from many years of inactivity... Gosh, I used to be able to tell a 0,5mm drill from a 0,6mm by a glance. Now, I could not tell one from a sewing needle...
Here, I drill 1.2 mm after starting the hole with a center drill. I noted Peter's advice on this and realized that it is all the more relevant in small dimensions. When checking the drill, I realized that it was quite dull, but I decided to take a chance anyway since I did not have a replacement. By paying close attention to the sounds and feel of the drill, I knew when it was time to pull back. Here, the drill has gotten clogged and I try to clean it with a sharp piece of metal.

By taking my time and cleaning the drill like this often, I managed to drill all the holes successfully with a drill that was really dull!
I tapped one hole without lubrication and after that dipped the ends in alcohol. Wow, what a difference! Still, extreme caution is called for when tapping in aluminum - the tap gets clogged up instantly all the time and has to be backed out entirely and cleaned.

The grab irons are screwed in place from underneith:

Feels just right!


I have always been uncertain of the height of the engine hatch, but I now feel reasonably sure that it should be level with the gratings around it. Changing this involves modifying the hinges. This is how they looked like from the beginning:

I have beveled the sides previously, but now it was time to mill them thinner as well:

This is how the new riding height looks:

There is an area in front of the hatch (to the left in the picture) that needs a fill:

With the Feifel gear in place, it is beginning to look like something!


Cheers,
/Chris

[plgGe]

I think your work looks good. I enjoy it. :thumright:

[cahlfors]

More engine hatch. Getting into the details really is fun, as Kent has been saying all the time.

The big cap over the air intake included with the kit was for a late Tiger, which has a taller and more rounded form. Luckily, it could simply be reshaped into the lower variant with beveled sides:


The center knob that was used for screwing it shut for fording or to use the Feifel cyclone precleaners in dusty environments, is a really expensive after market part.

Just kidding. It was "scratch built". Here is a picture of the material "before" and "after":


In my research, I realize that there are few pictures and drawings of details on the rear deck. Here is what it looks like so far:


Here, I have filled the void in front of (at the bottom in the picture) the now raised engine hatch:


Cheers,
/Chris

[Björn Johansson]

Looking so good I´m enjoy all you´r
great work with you´r vehicle. :thumright:

[cahlfors]

Still no radio, so I have been fiddling with details. This time the Feifel air cleaners.

After and before filing the surface smooth:


The included tops are nice, but white metal castings are not very stable. A great mismatch is the result in this case:


This is totally hopeless, of course, and the way out is to make new tops by tracing the shape on to sheet aluminum:


Fresh from the saw:


Filing it to the shape of the traced line:


Putting some countersunk holes in the lid:


The lid now has the right shape, but the casting does not have a perfectly flat top. This is corrected with a large file:


Using the holes in the lid as pilots, holes were drilled into the casting and tapped. The end result:


That was a lot of filing! I need to take a rest.

Cheers,
/Chris

[plgGe]

Good work!

[Peter]

Just one more left? ;) The repetative nature of this hobby has it´s drawbacks. Just when you are ready with one part you turn around and see that there is still 1, 2, 5, 9 more to go... Or in the case of making tracks: Just another 139...

[cahlfors]

Ain't that true!

But that is also the difference between scratchbuilders and kitbuilders. Scratchbuilding is a LOT of work. I purchased these units knowing that there would be work, but hoping that it would be a lot easier than scratchbuilding. In that perspective, the assembly is a breeze and the filing is nothing. In fact, one reason that I got a little worn out on filing is that I actually finished them both. Here is picture proof:


However, the mating flanges do not have identical, square shapes (yes, the one on the left is rectangular):


I managed to enlarge the holes to make some sort of fit, but I broke through the material and I am not sure if this is quite good enough. Besides, the second tube interfered with the first when test fitting, highlighting the need for angular adjustments somehow.

Possibly, I can tweak this with the parts as is. If not, I might have to make a new set of flanges and cut off the original ones. 8 pieces, here we go again... When I did trains in 1/87, I often duplicated parts like this by pasting paste solder on some brass sheet, putting them together and heating with a torch until the solder melted. Then I would saw or machine the contour, drill the necessary holes and when done, put the stack on a brick and melt the solder with the torch again and yank the parts free from each other. Voilà, a bunch of identical parts. Unfortunately, this trick does not work with aluminum. Or does it? Have I been dreaming, or is there something that can dissolve a CA joint? In that case, CA could take the place of solder. Does anyone know?

Thanks for reading,
/Chris

[cahlfors]

Instead of picking funghi in the forest...

...like most other people around here, I have been diligently filing in the garage.
When the work ahead feels tedious, I take the approach of attacking it with full force to get it over with as soon as possible.

I was able to tweak the plumbing parts to a pretty good fit after learning from the first one. That means that I consider this to be good enough, thankfully. There are many battles ahead, so this is very welcome.

The bolts are temporary. Hopefully I can replace them with scale bolts later on, but first I will have to gather the need to place an order. There are lots of things to do still.

Thanks for reading!
/Chris

[Peter]

When I did trains in 1/87, I often duplicated parts like this by pasting paste solder on some brass sheet, putting them together and heating with a torch until the solder melted. Then I would saw or machine the contour, drill the necessary holes and when done, put the stack on a brick and melt the solder with the torch again and yank the parts free from each other. Voilà, a bunch of identical parts. Unfortunately, this trick does not work with aluminum. Or does it? Have I been dreaming, or is there something that can dissolve a CA joint? In that case, CA could take the place of solder. Does anyone know?

This is a technique applicable to all materials, it is just the way you attach them to each other that might differ I have done the thing you described above by drilling a center hole in 4 aluminium plates, screwing them together. Since a centerhole didnt matter to me with that perticular piece it was an easy way. There are many strong glues that only need some heat for them to loose their grip. Residues on the surface might me a problem then though.