The Smythemeister's Tigger

[Tim Marlow]

You mean you don’t know this……well stick with me kid and I’ll complete your education…..

Looks good…….

If you need any info give me a shout, I’ve got this in the shelf….


….and there’s some good detail shots in this one…

[langy71]

Not sure if this helps in any way but not all King Tigers had zimmerit, I know the early Henschel turret ones didn't, and if memory serves I think there were only 500..(ish) ever made...also zimmerit was discontinued in Sept '44
Most of the king tigers which ended up being abandoned due to mechanical issues..(the gearboxes and final drives were hideously underpowered for a tank of this weight, and as such the tanks suffered for it..)

[Guest]

Not sure if this helps in any way but not all King Tigers had zimmerit

The ones with the so-called “Henschel” turret came with and without.

if memory serves I think there were only 500..(ish) ever made...

417 by the end of January 1945, according to Spielberger in Der Panzer-Kampfwagen Tiger und seine Abarten, but I can’t find total production in that just now.

Most of the king tigers which ended up being abandoned due to mechanical issues..(the gearboxes and final drives were hideously underpowered for a tank of this weight, and as such the tanks suffered for it..)

Spielberger claims that the design of the final drives was basically sound and should have been strong enough, but there were far more cases of damaged drives than expected, for reasons he doesn’t really explain. My guess is poor quality steel, resulting from the general state Germany was in by 1944.

[scottie3158]

Smiffy,
I'm in mate as close to the front as I can get.

[Tim Marlow]

Spielberger claims that the design of the final drives was basically sound and should have been strong enough, but there were far more cases of damaged drives than expected, for reasons he doesn’t really explain. My guess is poor quality steel, resulting from the general state Germany was in by 1944.

I seem to remember the Haynes book quoting drivers at Bovington, saying the Tiger one is easy to drive, but that it takes a light touch and a completely different clutch technique to contemporary tanks of the time or the drives and gearboxes could be damaged. Could well be the same issues.

[Guest]

One thing to remember is that Germany was scraping the bottom of the barrel for troops by late 1944, and in any case, most German youths had never driven a motorised vehicle at all anyway before being conscripted — and then they only got a very basic training in how to do that. This is not conducive to careful driving that takes into account the vehicle’s weaknesses.

[David Lovell]

Hi Andy ,few years back now on here I built a old trumpeter kit id grabbed from a show stall cheap a russian amphibious thing I want to say P100 but I'm sure it was something else any way must of been about the same vintage ,the tracks were twisted worse than yourse ,like a worm dropped on a hot pavement ,I did half get them straightish wich I thought ok I'll live with that only to find that they'd shrunk and were a good inch short. Hope yous are OK length wise just a thought to check at the earliest opportunity. Dave

[The Smythe Meister]

Hi chaps,
I'm sorry,but I've had next to time to post stuff up, however, behind the scenes I have managed to get some progress :flushed:, I'll answer your welcomed posts over the weekend, when I'm not clogged up with work etc :thumb2:.
Here are just a couple of pics to show that I AM actually doing something!!...

No surprise that there's a load of wheels there,after primer,and a coat of dark yellow,(don't ask me to call it "unclegrab" or whatever it is!!)...

.. a surprise to me was the fact that, unlike the previous Panzers that I've done,the wheels aren't just block painted in each one with the camo colours... In pretty much all of the pics I've seen,each wheel had ALL THREE colours:flushed: Not a worry mind, I'm going to do this the hard way:dizzy:.
Anyway, I've put some tiny bits on the upper hull...

...and the obligatory lower hull stuff..

... Finally for tonight, I've decided to go with the Kit supplied Commander, assembled him, started to clean him up,shows promise I reckon......

That's it for this evening,cheers for now... and thanks for looking in:thumb2:

[Tim Marlow]

Nice start. Looks like you’ve got a German Tommy Cooper to crew it as well……just like that…..

[Si Benson]

Evening Mr Smith, Ooooh a big Tigger…..whats not to like :smiling4:
Any idea of what colour scheme you are going for?

[Mini Me]

Well Mr. Smiff, it appears that you have things well in hand PCO my good man. :thumb2:

[Guest]

dark yellow,(don't ask me to call it "unclegrab" or whatever it is!!)...

Dunkelgelb is literally simply German for “dark yellow” anyway. I’ve never understood this need to not translate things such as this, like colour names that are really nothing more than descriptive indicators — just saying “dark yellow” (or “German dark yellow”) works fine in English if you ask me.

.. a surprise to me was the fact that, unlike the previous Panzers that I've done,the wheels aren't just block painted in each one with the camo colours... In pretty much all of the pics I've seen,each wheel had ALL THREE colours:flushed:

Chances are they were painted in the factory before being installed on the tank. I rather doubt a crew in the field would have bothered to remove the outer wheels so they can spray the inner ones, unless maybe for an inspection by some high-ranking officer.

[The Smythe Meister]

You mean you don’t know this……well stick with me kid and I’ll complete your education…..

Looks good…….

If you need any info give me a shout, I’ve got this in the shelf….
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1206398[/ATTACH]

….and there’s some good detail shots in this one…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1206399[/ATTACH]

Thanks for that Tim,I have both "The tank Book",by The Tank Museum,and,"German Tanks of WW2",by David Porter..... but neither of them have any pictures of the engine deck details,grilles etc :sad-face:.
I'd appreciate any info on that if you'd be so kind.:thumb2:

Smiffy,
I'm in mate as close to the front as I can get.

Welcome along Scottie, always great to see you looking in mate.:hugging-face:

[The Smythe Meister]

Hi Andy ,few years back now on here I built a old trumpeter kit id grabbed from a show stall cheap a russian amphibious thing I want to say P100 but I'm sure it was something else any way must of been about the same vintage ,the tracks were twisted worse than yourse ,like a worm dropped on a hot pavement ,I did half get them straightish wich I thought ok I'll live with that only to find that they'd shrunk and were a good inch short. Hope yous are OK length wise just a thought to check at the earliest opportunity. Dave

Hi Dave, thanks very much for the tip, I'll wrap them around as soon as the running gear is ready,to check that out :thumb2:

Evening Mr Smith, Ooooh a big Tigger…..whats not to like :smiling4:
Any idea of what colour scheme you are going for?

Hello Si,long time no see, welcome aboard Sir,I'm going for the three colour "ambush"type scheme:hugging-face:

Dunkelgelb is literally simply German for “dark yellow” anyway. I’ve never understood this need to translate things that don’t need it, like colour names that are really nothing more than descriptive indicators — just saying “dark yellow” (or “German dark yellow”) works fine in English if you ask me.


Chances are they were painted in the factory before being installed on the tank. I rather doubt a crew in the field would have bothered to remove the outer wheels so they can spray the inner ones, unless maybe for an inspection by some high-ranking officer.

Lots of great info there thanks Jakko,I think I'm going to go for a mix.... solid colour on the inner wheels,and a mix on the forward ones:thumb2:

Well Mr. Smiff, it appears that you have things well in hand PCO my good man. :thumb2:

Yep,things are rolling along now mate

Nice start. Looks like you’ve got a German Tommy Cooper to crew it as well……just like that…..

Yes,he does look a bit like that iconic pose doesn't he!:tears-of-joy:

[langy71]

Just looking over this again Andy and a question has popped into my head... are you installing the side skirts in one piece or cutting them apart and leaving a couple off ? from what I can remember these tended to get damaged and/or torn off quite frequently.. and we all know how good a Tiggy looks with a bit of damage..

(Incidentally.. was reading about Bovingdons 'Tiger 131' last night and discovered it was part of my old regiment.. (The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters)..who were responsible for it's capture..)