Sunday, May 10, 2015

Finishing Up....Four Years Later



So, I said almost exactly four years ago, that I was going to finish this thing, and soon. Well, after selling one house, buying another, interstate move, and digging things out of storage, here we are again.

After that time, though, I had forgotten what still needed to be done. Thankfully, the Tiger was packed well, so that when it was unpacked, it was in great shape. No missing or loose parts. Looking at it, it really didn't need much to finish it. Sometime after my last post, and packing, I did put in the periscope. I made these out of the kit stock, with added thin clear plastic for a lens after painting them.

The only thing left to do was to re-do the muzzle and exhaust stains, and add the antenna. Before I started, I gave it a good cleaning using a make-up brush and canned air. there were a few spots that looked a little glossy, so I gave it a light Dullcote. When this was dry, I dusted the muzzle and exhaust areas with my homemade black dust. I take a stick of black artist's chalk, and use a file to make the dust. I applied it with a 1/4" camel hair brush.

The antenna is a piece of .020" music wire, cut to 3" length, and attached to the base with zap. 3" is roughly 9 feet at this scale, and I got the dimension using a photo of a tanker standing next to the antenna on the top of the hull. It was about 1/2 again his height, so there was my estimate.

Once the antenna was in place, I took the final photos that you see. I hope that the information I presented has been helpful. If nothing else, at least the Tiger is finally at a place where I can say it is complete. One of these days, I would like to get back to the others that I have the kit pile; I would like to do one with the interior.

If you are reading this, thanks, and I do hope that the information I tried to present is helpful. John

1 comment:

  1. Glad to see this finished up!
    I found this blog a few years ago and read the whole thing. Imagine my dismay when I got to the end and discovered it hadn't been updated in years!
    I have had one of these in the box for about 25 years. My bro got it for me for my birthday. I had built one before that, but didn't like the way it turned out.
    I had always planned on going whole hog on it, inaccuracies and all. So now, after getting back into the hobby, I am going to have to give it a go.
    Thanks for the inspiration.

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