Tamiya 1/16 R/C Tiger and stalled Kublewagen

[WrongWay]

Thought I would share some photos of my Tamiya 1/16 Tiger and Kubelwagen. I built these way back when I first returned to building models again. I started the Kubelwagen shortly after the Tiger but it stalled out when I got a hold of the Trumpeter 1/32 P-47. I joined LSP shortly after building the P-47. One of these fine days I'll finish that Kubelwagen! And maybee all the other stalled projects I have stuffed into every nook and cranny.

 

 

I didn't have a very good camera back then so not all of the pics are good. I added as much metal to this thing as possible. The front hatches are functional and lexan was added for the glass. I really need to shoot some video of it running around.

 

 

 

I had to fill hundreds of small casting marks in these tracks. I still have nightmares when I look at these photos!

 

 

 

 

The latches are functional. These hatches also have working hinges. The stock Tamiya kit has no periscopes and the front hatches have no hinges.

[WrongWay]

 

 

 

Spare metal tracks were also added.

 

Cupola periscopes.

 

 

[WrongWay]

This is how it is now. Few decals existed when this was built but that is not the case now. I may end up stripping it down and going with a new scheme later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WrongWay]

A few pictures I took recently of it running around.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking through one of the perisopes in the cupola.

[WrongWay]

Here is the 1/16 R/C Kubelwagen. This comes with a very crude R/C system so I did a little surgery to it. It now features digital proportional steering and speed control. It's also mixed with the full detail non R/C kit for maximum detail. It was a real pain hiding all the R/C equipment but it worked out well. It runs 6 second quarter mile times thanks to the speed control. I really need to finish this thing.

 

Jammed in there.

 

 

 

 

What R/C gear?

 

 

 

Scratch jerry can mount from brass.

[LSP_K2]

Actually, all panzer grey is not a bad scheme for the early production Tigers, although there are many other options you could use that might be more visually interesting. I've wanted one of these babies for quite some time. If you do redo it, be sure to post some pictures please; after all, we can never have too many Tigers!

 

[Wurzacher]

Nice Tiger! For i have one of these Tamiya beasts in my stash i´d like to know what tracks did you add, and what else aftermarket did you make use of.

 

Mine has new scale reduced transmission, gun recoil, suspension and aluminium road wheels from WECOHE in Germany. Expensive, but worth the investment. I bought it during the last 10 years, so it financially worked for me... Now, when will i finally build this one?

[MarkS]

I too built this beast a few years back. I assume you used the Aber PE set. That set is overwhelming. Ten or more huge sheets of PE. I couldn't manage the periscopes and inner hatch detail. Once it was all together, I had to abandon RC'ing it as every time I tried to take off the hull top (to get at the RC stuff inside) a dozen pieces of PE would fly off. Here's a pic of mine (hope you don't mind).

 

[LSP_Ron]

I like it! I have the Sherman that I built sometime ago. I really enjoyed building it but have to admit I haven't fired it up in well over a year. This make me want to pull it out for a rip around but worse yet makes me want to buy the Tiger!

[WrongWay]

Nice Tiger! For i have one of these Tamiya beasts in my stash i´d like to know what tracks did you add, and what else aftermarket did you make use of.

 

Mine has new scale reduced transmission, gun recoil, suspension and aluminium road wheels from WECOHE in Germany. Expensive, but worth the investment. I bought it during the last 10 years, so it financially worked for me... Now, when will i finally build this one?

 

 

It's indeed an expensive hobby these 1/16 tanks! I wanted the aluminum road wheels too but I had already spent almost $800.00 on upgrades. The tracks alone were $200.00 US. I bought all my parts from a place called Backyard Armor. Unfortunatley they have gone out of biz. You can get all the parts from Axels though since you are in Germany. http://www.axels-modellbau-shop.de/katalog/ Sadly for me the cost of international shipping and the weak US dollar have kept me from building another. The only supplier I can find state side is ETO Armor and they don't carry a lot of the parts I want. I have plans to build a late Tiger I with steel road wheels. The only place I can get the parts for the conversion is from the UK or Germany. Costly for me! Even so some time next year I will start to collect the parts slowly a little at a time.

 

Here are the parts I used on this Tiger.

 

From Schumo Kits

 

High grade aluminum barrel - You will need to carefully smooth the inside of the mantlet lip in order for the recoil to work smoothly. I used a sanding cloth and then polished the inside afterward.

Tow Shakles with bolts front and rear

High grade spare track holders

Conical antenna

Hull bolt kit

High grade tow cable holders - You will need to carefully grind off the plastic holders on the hull top.

Metal tow cable kit

Metal S-Mine launchers - These are fantastic! They have actual tiny bolts and screws on the rear launchers.

Metal Smoke launcher mounts

Metal rear mud flaps with hinges - Instead of screwing these on I installed pins that will push out in the event that you run into something. This way you will not have any damage to the hull.

Metal bucket - You can see this bucket in many photos of Tigers in the field.

Metal front sprocket guides - A must if you use the metal tow shakles. You will need to do some trimming and filling to install. Easy to do.

Metal front hatch hinges

Metal spare track links - I hade to glue the front spare tracks together with CA and then tap them for screws to go through the hull.

High grade metal closed pin tracks. Beware of sellers on e-Bay. The cheap sets have the pins showing.

** Support for rear idler arms - I can't remember if these are from Schumo or not but they are mandatory if you use metal tracks. Read below.

 

Let me say this about metal tracks. They are very heavy and can over stress the rear idler arms if you are not careful. Even though the idler arms are metal it is possible to shear off the axle from stress. Even with the support you will need to be careful. The danger comes when making fast tight turns and the tracks dig in from all the weight. If you use metal tracks don't make those quick turns on carpet or heavy grass where the tank will bind up. As long as you don't drive it like a Ferrari you won't have a problem. On dirt you don't have this problem only grass and carpet. My Tiger weighs almost 17lbs when put on a scale so you can see how easy it would be to break the rear idler arm.

 

From Aber

Grills

Front hatch detail - This includes the periscopes and latches.

Commander cupola detail. I only used the periscopes from this set.

 

 

 

When you start on the kit please show it here as I would love to see it! Feel free to ask any questions if you need to as I will be happy to answer.

 

Cheers,

Don

[Wurzacher]

Hi Don!

 

Nice to meet you!

 

This is an awesome list of additions you collected for your Tiger! I am impressed! I know Axel´s shop, i bought some stuff for my kit there, too. Last week i have been on the Modellbau Bodensee, a local model show here in southern Germany. To my surprise i met some people from ELMOD, which have some additional stuff i find interesting to add to my kit. But due to my economical situation this has to wait until some time later. I have my kit partially built since 10 years now, so there will be time to wait...

 

I still do not have any metal tracks for mine, this will be a future investment, too. But i have to thank you for your tips related to the use of these!

 

Take care,

Thomas

[WrongWay]

I too built this beast a few years back. I assume you used the Aber PE set. That set is overwhelming. Ten or more huge sheets of PE. I couldn't manage the periscopes and inner hatch detail. Once it was all together, I had to abandon RC'ing it as every time I tried to take off the hull top (to get at the RC stuff inside) a dozen pieces of PE would fly off. Here's a pic of mine (hope you don't mind).

 

 

Your Tiger is beautiful! Feel free to post more photos!

 

I only used the commanders cupola set and front hatch set from Aber. I used the metal Schumo parts instead. I never have any problems with them coming off so far. You have to drill holes directly into the hull to mount them and then glue them from beneath as they are nickel metal. That said I never remove the upper hull ever. I keep the turrent turned to the openings so it can be removed for battery changes. I mounted the power switch beneath the left front hatch also so it is easy to switch on by opening the hatch.

[WrongWay]

Hi Don!

 

Nice to meet you!

 

This is an awesome list of additions you collected for your Tiger! I am impressed! I know Axel´s shop, i bought some stuff for my kit there, too. Last week i have been on the Modellbau Bodensee, a local model show here in southern Germany. To my surprise i met some people from ELMOD, which have some additional stuff i find interesting to add to my kit. But due to my economical situation this has to wait until some time later. I have my kit partially built since 10 years now, so there will be time to wait...

 

I still do not have any metal tracks for mine, this will be a future investment, too. But i have to thank you for your tips related to the use of these!

 

Take care,

Thomas

 

Nice to meet you too Thomas! Just keep adding parts little by little and soon you will have the makings for a monster. You are most welcome for the tips. That model show looks fantastic too! I see a lot of models there I would love to see in person. Thanks for the link!

 

Cheers,

Don

[WrongWay]

Actually, all panzer grey is not a bad scheme for the early production Tigers, although there are many other options you could use that might be more visually interesting. I've wanted one of these babies for quite some time. If you do redo it, be sure to post some pictures please; after all, we can never have too many Tigers!

 

 

Now that I have started looking at all these tanks again I'll probably leave it as is and just push on with another. I have a late Tiger I planned so they will compliment one another. Probably shouldn't have started this thread as I can now feel my bank account shrinking.

[WrongWay]

I like it! I have the Sherman that I built sometime ago. I really enjoyed building it but have to admit I haven't fired it up in well over a year. This make me want to pull it out for a rip around but worse yet makes me want to buy the Tiger!

 

 

Go for it Ron! I was originally going to build the Sherman but fell in love with the Tiger I. I think the Tiger I is the best looking WWII tank next to the Panther. I still prefer the Tiger I over the panther as there is just something about them that really does it for me. I would love to see your Sherman too. Feel free to post some photos of it. We can turn this into the 1/16 tank thread!