Heng Long Tiger 1 rebuild

[Guest]

Andy, i just use Halfords white primer, just a light coating to give the next coat something to stick to. I've seen replacement gearboxes with metal gears, brass i think, do you think this is because the plastic gears will strip under the extra start loading on the heavier tracks, haven't seen any uprated motors so i can't see them being a problem.

[Guest]

Darren,

i personaly think that the gear box might be required. Being a biker i can refer to the cush drive in the rear wheel hub. This allows a sort of elasticity for the drive sprocket, it takes stress and strain from the chain drive sprocket. If the gear box doesnt have the safety cushion of the elasticity of the rubber tracks then the next softest material will definatly take up the tare, this would be the nylon drive cogs. Only my opinion, if anyone has another answer then please correct me.

Andy

[Guest]

Morning all, a bit of an update on the Tiger as i had a couple hours spare in the shed last night.

First thing i tackled was all the road wheels had to come off for painting and weathering, this involved undoing an allen bolt in the centre of each wheel, when they are undone you'll hear the suspension arm clunk as it releases.

The idler wheel has a small enclosed philips screw that has to be undone through the small hole in the middle, be careful not to lose the small washer between wheel and hub.

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Once these were off i rubbed then down ready for an undercoat and also attacked the rubber part with a file to give them a worn look.

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While these and the turret undercoat dried i attempted to scratch a better box for the front near the gunners hatch. I used coffee stirrer sticks as the box body and plasticard for the steel straps. The belt and buckle are made from masking tape doubled over and a piece of copper wire for the buckle.

I also made the locating lugs on the hull with plasticard strips. These need filling and tidying before painting.

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While i was working on the hull i also added electrical conduit to the headlights, these need a couple of brackets when i get my hands on some thing ally or brass.

Also gave the exhaust shields a bit of a going over with a hot flame and the handle my craft knife to give them a bit of a battered look.

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Replaced one of the track skirts with a piece of stainless sheet and gave it the just shot with a cannon look, also moved the receiver ariel to its correct location and scratched a tow rope using the original ends.

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Thats all for now until i can dig myself a path through the snow to the shed.

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[Guest]

This is looking really good. The wooden block for the jack is a huge improvement over the original and the towing wire looks much better as well. I also like the damaged track guard and the dents in the exhaust covers.

This is going to look the part and be a superb RC model when you've finished.

[Guest]

Fantastic work Darren. I cant wait to get started on mine, still painting the tank crew at the moment. Keep them coming.

Andy

[Guest]

Morning all, happy new year.

Was lucky enough to get a bit of time in the shack over the last couple of evenings so i thought i'd bite the bullet and start the camo scheme on the big cat.

I first gave it a couple coats of Tamiya xf60 as a base and left over night to cure, while this was curing i put a gloss coat on the wheels.

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Once the base coat had cured fully it was time for the camo scheme, after trawling through picture after picture i decided on this one.

i used vallejo air camo green and using my .3 airbrush did it freehand as i wanted a feathered effect on the edges.

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As this was drying i had varnished the bottom half of the hull and gave it a pro modeller dark dirt wash and while this was wet i liberally applied dark dirt pigment to give it a dried mud look, i didn't want large lumps as it may be used indoors on swmbo's carpets.

The same was done to the road wheels, idlers and drive sprockets.

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The upper hull had dried after a few hours so it was treated to a coat of gloss varnish and left over night to cure properly.

The hull and turret where bolted back together and the wiring for the turret that i cut at the beginning of the project was soldered back together.

These were given the wash and pigment treatment but i only applied the pigment on the trackskirts to indicate dirt and mud.

Once all had dried i went over everything with a stiff brush to tone down the weathering by removing unwanted pigment and wash.

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The flag was made from an old metal pva glue tube that was cleaned and flattened out then masked and sprayed.

At the rear of the hull i used a little black pigment around the exhaust stacks and a little around the muzzle brake to show some use.

The commander has been started also and just needs some highlighting of the clothing then a matt varnish.

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All the tools and extra bits and pieces including the plastic tracks have yet to be started and i still have to find some decals as the ones that came with the tiger are terrible stickers.

Cheers for reading, all comments welcome, good or bad

Darren

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[Guest]

Looking very good Darren. I like the camoflage paint job, very even and consistent, and the foundation for the weathering looks superb. Is it possible to get more folds and creases into the flag? To get a scale look it would probably be very tatty and have a lot of folds in it, something along the lines of this canvas cover:

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[Guest]

Cheers for the input Richard, the flag isn't fixed yet so can try and get the weathered look, i think the metal may be a bit stiff for lots of folds but i'll try. If it doesn't work i might have a go at making a material one but unsure how to do it yet. To tell you the truth i wasn't sure about using it a all, where they only displayed when photos where taken or as identification for when operations included an air assault?

[Guest]

Darren, I use a sticky backed foil tape that is used in the HVAC industry but even cooking foil or wine bottle lead foil is worth considering. Foil works very well as it holds it's shape after you have positioned it and allows you to get a very realistic shape and look to it.

The trouble with material is getting it to look scale and it would require a very fine weave to be credible. Another possibility is thick paper, which can be manipulated well after it has been moistened slightly.

As far as I know the flags were used for recognition in combat areas so the would not be fitted all the time. They can look superb though if done carefully and really enhance the model.

[tr1ckey66]

Great looking RC Tiger Darren!

You've done a great job so far on making this tank a lot more realistic. Early this year I'm going to start my Tamiya Tiger 1 conversion to the late type. Perhaps when it's finished we could demonstrate our 1/16 tank Abteilung together!

Keep up the great work I'm looking forward to seeing this finished.

All the best

Paul

[Centurion3RTR]

WOW!! Looks like i've got my work cut out for me Darren lol, great job on the camo mate. Now i just need to make a start on mine and see if i can get it up to this standard.

Have fun, John

[Guest]

Cheers John and Paul, glad your enjoying the build. I must admit that i'd like to have more cash to spend on metal extras but they can always be added on at a later date. Will be good to see what your take on this beastie is going to look like.

Thanks for the ideas Richard, food for thought. Agree with you about the material not looking to scale so will stick with the foil i think, any other advice is gratefully received.

[Guest]

Looking great Darren. I will be starting mine very shortly. Keep up the good work.

Andy

[Guest]

Come on Andy, stop teasing us with Sherman piccys and start chopping that kitty cat about, if the work on your planes is to go by its going to be awesome.

[Guest]

Lol Darren, you make me laugh mate. Im treading carefully here, im now moving very close to the realms of you guys and a lot of you have more years of experience under your belts than i do. I dont want to make a big hash of it and the longer i put it off the less chance i have of looking a plonka haha. After all, i have only every built 2 models.

Andy