discussion SimonT - 1/72 Revell Tiger II

[SimonT]

Morning all,

This Revell 1/72 Tiger II will be my entry for the Little Armour GB

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box top

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comes with a hefty instruction booklet although I don't tend to follow them very often

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I have a turned barrel in the stash, an end of line bought for a couple of quid, which has just been waiting for such a project

I have plenty of reference books so I am sure that I will be able to make a few improvements to the basic kit along the way

 

[Mini Me]

Right Simon, Good choice the Henschel turreted Tiger ll is one of my favs. Happy New Year pardner. I'll just pull up a chair and watch this one unfold.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Nice choice Simon I’m sure you will do your magic and turn this thing into something incredible. Happy New Years also

 

[Guest]

I'm in please Simon.
" I will be able to make a few improvements to the basic kit " really, an under statement if I ever read one:hugging-face::smiling::smiling::smiling:.
No doubt there will be pewter , the odd 100 rivets, along with hatches complete with hinges .
I look fwd to this with relish .
John .

 

[Si Benson]

Afternoon Mr T,
Interested to see where you go with this. At least some of the tools are not moulded on....although I’m expecting you to remake them all:thinking:
I’m currently making Revells 72nd Tiger 1...shaved all the tools off, replaced the barrel and been adding a PE zimmerit set....gotta remake the tools and cables next:surprised:

 

[Jim R]

I have plenty of reference books so I am sure that I will be able to make a few improvements to the basic kit along the way

You do surprise me. Fancy you not building OOB :smiling4:
Jim

 

[Mini Me]

Wouldn't that be a novel idea! Happy New Year Gents.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Steve Jones]

JR said it all:smiling3::smiling2::smiling: Apprentice bodger seat pulled up with notebook in hand. Good luck:thumb2:

 

[SimonT]

Thank you all for turning up :thumb2:

Are you sitting comfortably, then we shall begin......


Firstly, what have I done? Tiger II's are a minefield of features and changes depending on which month the things were built

So without any clear direction other than getting something Tiger looking I have started with a few general bits and pieces

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a pot full of bits

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the holes in the rear of the final drive housings were filled and sanded

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as you can see - if this is not done then the holes protrude past the hull and are visible

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basic turret parts assembled

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the turned gun barrel added - unfortunately the maker did not allow extra length for fitting into the mantlet so I ended up drilling the end of the barrel so I could pin it and extend the length with tubing

the mantlet was then drilled out to accept the tubing - this will give a stronger joint than just tacking the barrel with glue to the mantlet end

new ballistic bolts added to the barrel retaining ring - these should really be cross drilled and lock wired

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the tall forward grille covers are moulded solid so I made up some new ones from etch mesh

according to the plans in Achtung Panzer 6 the grilles are too short (and in fact do not cover the grille) so I made mine to match the plans

this will cause problems with the turret though as it only just cleared the kit version so something is off slightly

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made the circular grille covers as well

That is as far as I got

Back to work today - I should actually be getting ready rather than writing this so gotta go......

 

[Mini Me]

Simon, looking good so far. Yes, lock wire on the ballistic bolts is something that always bothered me too.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Steve Jones]

Ah the joys of going back to work. Back to snails pace like the rest of us. It was a joy to watch your burst of creativity over the festive period.

Well this is certainly going to be a Mr T classic. Are you using a specific point of reference or whatever you see fit as far as the upgrades go.

P.S I hit the like button as well:tongue-out3::smiling5::smiling3:

 

[Guest]

Happy New Year Simon. Ah, lovely. Another view of your high class structure with your own modifications. Like everyone, a sit and observe enjoyment of you. Great. :smiling3::thumb2:

 

[Fernando N]

Great looking updates to the base kit Simon, like the others looking on what can be done to this one.:thumb2::smiling:

 

[SimonT]

Rick - if you don't use lock wire your nuts will fall off and you wouldn't want that :anguished:

Steve - :thumb2: yes, slow as a slow thing again. References, see below

John - and to you. Thanks for dropping in

Fernando - cheers

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my main reference - gives info on what feature was implemented or removed and when and has scale plans which seem to agree pretty much with the dimensions of the Revell kit

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if the plans in this one are actually 1/35 then the Revell kit is nowhere near as they are rather different to the Achtung Panzer ones

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lots of info for modelling and detailing 1/35 Tigers in this one

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not much on Tiger II

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walk around pictures of preserved Tiger II

I also have a Meng 1/35 kit which may be handy for details

 

[Mini Me]

Great ref. material. The modelers guide is particularly helpful in my opinion. You can't go wrong with this lot.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Looks like you are up to you're usual tricks :thumb2: References can be a mixed bag - can create order or chaos :sad: Sometimes false info in one book can find itself quoted in another and after that it kinda spreads.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Great work as usual Simon but I think you need more reference books :tongue-out2:.
Keep up the good work.
Pete

 

[SimonT]

Rick, Jim, Pete - :thumb2:

I do like a book or two :smiling:

As Jim says, there is conflicting information between books, the worst being the plans. The Culver & Feist book doesn't have a scale bar on any of the drawings and they are quite different to the ones in Achtung Panzer 6 (AP6) which isn't very helpful View attachment 325129
removed the moulded on tools from the hull top

Marked the hull sides in preparation for adding the side skirt mounts - you can just see the pencil marks

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made the grille covers for the rear of the engine deck

the kit has the late ventilator armoured cover but the earlier grille covers so I sliced it off and replaced with the earlier type of vent cover with open mesh

I want to add zimmerit so that combination of grille covers and vent should place it in the right time frame for zim according to AP6

 

[papa 695]

Some very nice work going into this one Simon, looking good

 

[Jim R]

Morning Simon
Looking good. I presume that you will be making your own zimm. Interesting to see which method, from the many available, that you choose. I imagine zimm is harder to do at braille scale?
Jim