D-Day Group Build – Tiger II

Started by Gregor d · 46 · 9 years ago · Airfix, D-Day, Tiger
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    Gregor d said 10 years, 1 month ago:

    Cheers Simon. I may have to call Airfix if I can't do something with the broken bits!

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    Andrew Wainwright said 10 years, 1 month ago:

    Hi Gregor, don't give up mate, the broken stubs are a real easy fix. You will need some small size drill bits 1mm ish or so from work or local model/hobby shop a pin vise or dremmel or cordless drill.

    Drill a hole in the axel and the broken wheel then take a cocktail stick/toothpick and cut it down to length and use this wooden dowel to pin the broken wheels back in place with glue (works every time) As I have cracked more wheels off AFV's than I can remember 🙁

    As for the rubber band tracks (I love these, much better than individual links) glue them onto the road wheels with super glue everywhere then make the join up under the middle of the skirts, no one will ever see the join or big gap! then weather with pigments to hide the glue! Remember an AFV model can hide faults with as much weathering as YOU like.

    Contact Airfix for spares or buy a doner kit and make a knocked out tank from the doner?

    YOUR model is looking great, keep on keeping on 🙂

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Thanks for the kind words and encouragement Andrew. I'll give that a try. Cheers 🙂

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    neil foster said 10 years ago:

    Andrew's right this can still be a nice kit, I've done the same trick when I've snapped wheel legs of aircraft kits, I would do it slightly different and use some copper wire,it's going to be fiddly but is do-able, I can't really see Airfix giving you new bits but I could be wrong.Like Andy said you could attach the tracks to the road wheels with superglue that way there is no tension and if there is a gap just work it so that it is either on the top and hidden by the skirts if there are any or along the bottom ,you could make a simple but effective dio for virtually no money,check out my WW1 tank in my gallery ,the only thing I paid for there was the base,you could find a small picture frame from the poundshop ,probly for err a pound, if you fancy doing that let me know and I'll tell you exactly how I did it,it was easy.on further thought if your going to put the tracks on by glueing them to the wheels as you go round you may well get away without drilling and pinning the damaged parts.

    Don't give up matey N.

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Hi Neil, thanks for the ideas - the dio is a good one, and I'm tempted to go down that road if I have the time. I'm gonna give Andrew and Al's suggestions a shot with the repairs or may model the tank with damaged track(s). What I won't be doing is giving up on it. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂 .

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    AL HOFFMAN said 10 years ago:

    I'm glad your not throwing in the towel on this one. I don't mind so much parking a kit as losing the time invested.

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Heres my latest update in the Tiger saga. I have assembled the main components and applied basic camo colours and blending using washes. Detail painting has still to be carried out, and a bit of touch up here and there. The running gear and tracks are still proving problematic, and i'm waiting on parts setting before adding the turret and upper hull to the lower half. Test fitting with tracks on loose was not promising and i fear some use of force will be required to put the beast together.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    neil foster said 10 years ago:

    Looking good so far Greg,carefully does it with those tracks though !
    N.

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    AL HOFFMAN said 10 years ago:

    This look goods Gregor. Have you done anything with the damaged road wheel?

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Cheers Neil! Super glue to the rescue 🙂

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Al I have patched one of them up and reattached it with superglue. I've still to try the track on but recon it will hold I fi use Andrews suggestion and hide the join under the protective armour skirts. The other wheel is unrepairable so I may model it as damaged.

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    Tom Cleaver said 10 years ago:

    If you get past the disaster and get to the markings, here's some info:

    The Tiger II was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army (Schwere Heerespanzerabteilung - abbreviated s.H.Pz.Abt) and the Waffen-SS (s.SS.Pz.Abt). It was first used in combat with s.H.Pz.Abt. 503 during the Normandy campaign on 11 July 1944

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Thanks Tom. I'd been doing a wee bit of surfing on the web re Tiger II's and they get a mention in Operation Goodwood. I've just finished reading Anthony Beevor's book on D-day so there was a fair bit of info there.

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    Gregor d said 10 years ago:

    Tiger tales part - i've lost count! - Latest pics attached. The "thing" is still in progress and is doing a good job of wearing me down. Those tracks are not that flexible despite me soaking them in hot water. They also seem impervious to glue of any type i've got so they are attched by gravity in places. I'm going to attach the whole thing to a base and clamp/nail/screw the "broken" track to the ground as if its been hit by a mine or HE round. Despite all that its a quite nice model of the tiger. Next time i'll try 1/35 scale!

    6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    AL HOFFMAN said 10 years ago:

    I see what you mean about the tracks. Bummer. I've run out of suggestions especially if you say the won't respond to glue.
    I have never built any Airfix armor kits but have done some 1/72nd Revell of Germany armor. Most of their newer kits use "link & length" track made from plastic which to me is easy to work with. You might try one of their's before writing off Braille scale armor.