The Smythemeister's Tigger

[The Smythe Meister]

ALRIGHTY THEN ...
As my latest plane is nearing completion,I was deciding what to do next ...
THEN,it dawned on me...
....I'm obviously,primerily,an Armour builder,however ,my last AFV build,(my British "Priest " mini Dio),was 4 Wingy fings ago!!... yeah,count em... FOUR !!!..
SO,to address my hankering to do something of my favourite subject,(WW2 German Armour), I've decided to do this...

Yes I know,I can hear you yawning from here!!,
...BUT,stay with me dear reader...
The history behind this is as follows..
...a couple of years ago, myself and Rach went to Tankfest,(where we met the charming "Andrew and Junior"),and she thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. The one exhibit that blew her mind was the King Tiger,and on the way out, going through the Shop,(clever ploy putting that as you exit the place ),she bought me this kit...I sure wasn't complaining?!
However,as you already know,MANY,MANY, people have already built this,and it's boring to most!
But, I'm doing it anyway,and will post up my progress... Whether you like it or not!!
Of course,if any of you are of a masochistic nature.. then it'd be great to have you along
Cheers for now,
Andy

 

[Mini Me]

I for one am never bored when someone starts a new build in an area of my own interests! Even though it is grossssssly over scale it will be fun to pull up a chair and watch the adventures of "Smitty and the King Kitty"!!

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I for one am never bored when someone starts a new build in an area of my own interests! Even though it is grossssssly over scale it will be fun to pull up a chair and watch the adventures of "Smitty and the King Kitty"!!

HA,HA!!...
.. I've actually caught a follower
... You've been snared now mate... No wriggling away now!!

 

[Mini Me]

Happy to join in.........now show me what ya got!

 

[Jim R]

I'll follow this Andy. I'm sure you'll do a great job with this big pussycat. You'll have to pull out all the stops so that Rach is persuaded to buy more kits.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hooo hooo hooo hooo……as the song goes…..

 

[Graeme C.]

Chair pulled up Andy, be interesting to see what you do with it.

 

[Waspie]

Well you know what they say? The wonderful thing about 'Tiggers', is 'Tiggers' are wonderful things!!

I'm in, co-ordinates programmed into Magic Carpet Mk7 as I type!!

 

[langy71]

I'm in for this, It'll be good to see you return to your spiritual home and stop messing around with these wingy thingies..

 

[Mickc1440]

I'm definitely in.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I'll follow this Andy. I'm sure you'll do a great job with this big pussycat. You'll have to pull out all the stops so that Rach is persuaded to buy more kits.

Good to see you Jim Yes, I've got a job on my hands.... I think Rach expects something pretty spectacular.... she seems to forget that it's me whose building it!!

Hooo hooo hooo hooo……as the song goes…..

Tim,Sir... not sure I know that particular song?!

Chair pulled up Andy, be interesting to see what you do with it.

Hello Graeme,long time no speak, good to see you taking a seat mate

Well you know what they say? The wonderful thing about 'Tiggers', is 'Tiggers' are wonderful things!!

I'm in, co-ordinates programmed into Magic Carpet Mk7 as I type!!

Now there's a song I DO know Doug!! Good to have you along

I'm in for this, It'll be good to see you return to your spiritual home and stop messing around with these wingy thingies..

Ha!! Hi Chris,yeah, you're right... I'm back in my comfort zone!

I'm definitely in.

Great to see you Mick, pleased you're on board for this

Well,thanks to you all for showing an interest,gotta admit that I didn't expect this to get the attention of many!
A post of the requisite sprue pics coming up.....

 

[The Smythe Meister]

..... Cont'd....
So this will be an OOTB build pretty much, although there might be a slight problem which you shall see shortly, anyway..... 'ere be pics....

Unsure if I'm going for the Zimmermit version yet,the kit doesn't provide any,but the decals for the one with it are way cooler,(me... shallow?... how very dare you )....

.... stuff there...more stuff...

There are obviously 2 sets of that lower sprue.NOW,a potential problem, despite what many think of them,I don't mind rubber band tracks,and have my own method for fixing them with sag, HOWEVER....

That top track isn't exaggerated at all,it really is that warped,not sure how that happened, hopefully when connected up,and shoved on the wheels,it may straighten up? We shall see ... To end this post on a positive note mind,a couple of detail pics....

... now I don't normally bother with Tamiya figures on my AFVs,(I tend to replace them with Miniart or Masterbox...if not Resin), but I'm quite tempted to try this guy out,he looks like he might clean up ok! Finally, for now,the detail on the above tracks isn't bad at all for a 1993 kit,imho... (even though '93 sounds like just a few years ago to me !! ).....

So there you have it... going to break out the glue in a mo...

 

[Mini Me]

And it's about time Smitty! This "kitty" leaves a mighty big paw print.....watching with interest.

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Another cat, chair drawn up, but we demand real zimmerit not the stick on kind.....

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Ha!! Yeah I know,to use the decals I want to will mean making some Zim, I'll have to look that up, only fitted pre made stuff before!!

 

[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..)

 

[Jakko]

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.