The Turret presented itself with a number of corrections and modifications. I started at the rear with the right side pistol port. This version of the Tiger had identical pistol ports on each side, not the port/hatch combination in the Tamiya kit. The Tamiya kit is correct for later Tigers. I started by removing the hatch, Part D25 and its' hinge, Part F11. I glued a thin piece of styrene on the inside of the remaining hole, from the inside of the Turret, then filled in with Squadron white putty. Once dry, I sanded it to the correct contour of the outside of the Turret. It took a few applications, going lighter with each application, until I was happy. From the donor kit, I removed the pistol port from the left side, Part D24, and sanded the inside of it to the correct contour to where it would match the fit of the left-side port on the "good" Turret. Once I was satisfied, I glued it into place.
The storage bin needs some work, too. The mount clips at the top of the bin, Part C28, need removed and filled/sanded. Same is true for the locating slots in the Turret roof. Again, this bin configuration is correct for later versions, but not the Tunisian. Instead, it used two braces riveted to each side of the bin, and welded to the Turret. When I filled and sanded the brace area on the existing lid, I also removed the existing small rivet detail on the lid, as the early bins did not have this feature. After gluing the bin in place, I fabricated the straps on each side using 0.020 x 0.060" styrene. I added three Grandt Line bolt heads on each brace, on the bin-side, as on the real thing. I cannot emphasize enough how fantastic these Grandt Line detail pieces are!
I also cut two very small pieces of 0.010" thick styrene, and glued and bent these to represent the latches on each bin lid. A very small piece of rod was glued to these to represent the latch pin.
The ventilator, Part D18, was left alone. In some photos an armored cover is present, but since the 1/25 scale kit does not come with one, I left it as-is. I did check other 1/25 scale kits, such as the Academy Panther, but nothing was appropriate.
The cupola is accurate, and only a few small details were added. I drilled the rain drainage holes using a very small bit in my pin vise where these were present. Two very small sections of rod were attached where these belong for the sunshade. From the commander's position viewing forward, these would be at the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock positions. A great photo of this can be found on Page 54 of The Modeler's Guide to the Tiger Tank (Stansell).
The smoke grenade launcher held the most work of any Turret item. I assembled them per the instructions, with a few modifications. I installed the bracket, Part C38, to each side, and filled the small gaps on the Turret roof. next, I drilled a small hole just aft for the main conduit run where it enters the roof. The bracket for each launcher (6 in total) were drilled for conduit at the rear of the launcher, Part C29. I bored through into Part C4, which will allow the wire to feed into the rear.
Before terminating any wire, I took three small pieces of copper wire, and a 0.010 piece of lead solder, and sandwiched these between two pieces of thin, narrow styrene strip, cementing the strip together with super glue. Once dry, I cut the strip as small as possible, thus forming a junction box. This was glued to the inside of the main bracket, Part C38, where it would be minimally visible.
Before mounting the launchers to the main bracket, I cut the slot that is evident on the discharge end. It runs across the radius in two spots of the tube. I also cut a thin section of rod and inserted it into three of the launchers to represent loaded grenades. Once done, I glued these to the main bracket. The feed wires were then trimmed, and the small copper wires fed into the hole in each launcher, while the lead solder was trimmed and fed into the hole in the roof.
The main gun was installed per the instructions after cleaning and sanding. I had debated making, or having made, a main gun out of turned aluminum, but really, the Tamiya part is pretty good. I glued the gun in place, so the elevation may not be changed, at a permanent elevation of about 20-degrees. This helps hide the gap at the top of the Mantlet, which is pretty significant on this kit. It makes it look more aggressive, too.
Lastly, the Turret was coated with Tamiya white primer from the bottle, and hit with a stiff brush when it was partially dry, which gives it that stippled appearance that the steel exhibited from casting and crude rolling. On to primer and painting. Assembly is complete at this point.
The storage bin needs some work, too. The mount clips at the top of the bin, Part C28, need removed and filled/sanded. Same is true for the locating slots in the Turret roof. Again, this bin configuration is correct for later versions, but not the Tunisian. Instead, it used two braces riveted to each side of the bin, and welded to the Turret. When I filled and sanded the brace area on the existing lid, I also removed the existing small rivet detail on the lid, as the early bins did not have this feature. After gluing the bin in place, I fabricated the straps on each side using 0.020 x 0.060" styrene. I added three Grandt Line bolt heads on each brace, on the bin-side, as on the real thing. I cannot emphasize enough how fantastic these Grandt Line detail pieces are!
I also cut two very small pieces of 0.010" thick styrene, and glued and bent these to represent the latches on each bin lid. A very small piece of rod was glued to these to represent the latch pin.
The ventilator, Part D18, was left alone. In some photos an armored cover is present, but since the 1/25 scale kit does not come with one, I left it as-is. I did check other 1/25 scale kits, such as the Academy Panther, but nothing was appropriate.
The cupola is accurate, and only a few small details were added. I drilled the rain drainage holes using a very small bit in my pin vise where these were present. Two very small sections of rod were attached where these belong for the sunshade. From the commander's position viewing forward, these would be at the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock positions. A great photo of this can be found on Page 54 of The Modeler's Guide to the Tiger Tank (Stansell).
The smoke grenade launcher held the most work of any Turret item. I assembled them per the instructions, with a few modifications. I installed the bracket, Part C38, to each side, and filled the small gaps on the Turret roof. next, I drilled a small hole just aft for the main conduit run where it enters the roof. The bracket for each launcher (6 in total) were drilled for conduit at the rear of the launcher, Part C29. I bored through into Part C4, which will allow the wire to feed into the rear.
Before terminating any wire, I took three small pieces of copper wire, and a 0.010 piece of lead solder, and sandwiched these between two pieces of thin, narrow styrene strip, cementing the strip together with super glue. Once dry, I cut the strip as small as possible, thus forming a junction box. This was glued to the inside of the main bracket, Part C38, where it would be minimally visible.
Before mounting the launchers to the main bracket, I cut the slot that is evident on the discharge end. It runs across the radius in two spots of the tube. I also cut a thin section of rod and inserted it into three of the launchers to represent loaded grenades. Once done, I glued these to the main bracket. The feed wires were then trimmed, and the small copper wires fed into the hole in each launcher, while the lead solder was trimmed and fed into the hole in the roof.
The main gun was installed per the instructions after cleaning and sanding. I had debated making, or having made, a main gun out of turned aluminum, but really, the Tamiya part is pretty good. I glued the gun in place, so the elevation may not be changed, at a permanent elevation of about 20-degrees. This helps hide the gap at the top of the Mantlet, which is pretty significant on this kit. It makes it look more aggressive, too.
Lastly, the Turret was coated with Tamiya white primer from the bottle, and hit with a stiff brush when it was partially dry, which gives it that stippled appearance that the steel exhibited from casting and crude rolling. On to primer and painting. Assembly is complete at this point.
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