GOING TO TOWN WITH A TIGER PART 3 - IMPROVING THE OUTSIDE JOHN PRIGENT I've been able so far to avoid talking about expensive accessory sets because there aren't any - yet - which you can use to upgrade the interior of the Academy Tiger. That's not to say that there aren't interior sets available, but it really isn't worth buying a full interior to take just a few parts from it. The work I've discussed has therefore relied on the rods, tubes and plastic card which most serious modellers will have to hand anyway. However, after all that scratchbuilt interior work there are a number of good sets you can use for exterior superdetailing if you choose. I must admit that I lashed out a bit in buying these to show you how they work, but you can select for yourself the level of detail you want to add. I'll start by looking at the tracks. This is always a good starting point for a kit with separate links, because you can clean up a few at a time while you build the rest of the exterior, and avoid the exasperation of needing to deal with lots of them all at once. The Academy links are rather good, with the correct spud pattern, but do suffer from ejection pin marks - two on each link's inner face - and don't have the real thing's hole through each guide horn. Providing the hole would have meant separate horns, with twice as many parts to pay for and assemble, so Academy's compromise is sensible. However, I wanted fully detailed tracks so I turned to the aftermarket. Here both Model Kasten and Friulmodel make early Tiger I tracks, at similar prices. On this occasion I opted for the Friulmodel fully articulated white metal ones, mainly because their weight produces an absolutely authentic sag to the completed track. Friulmodel links come with cast-in track pins one side and open jaws the other. A former is provided, and you just place the links on this with each one's pin inside the jaws of its neighbour before pressing the jaws closed with a small screwdriver or something similar - I use the tang of an old file. The links need minimal cleanup, just the removal of tiny casting lugs and a quick run round the holes of the guide horns to remove any flash, and the metal is so soft that this is an easy job. I paint dark earth on the inside and outside of the completed tracks before making the final joint, then wipe it off; this leaves dirt where it belongs and fairly clean metal on the areas which contact the ground. A point to remember is that the tracks won't stretch to fit a completed suspension - leave some wheels (usually the idlers or sprockets) to be fitted with the tracks. For the Tiger it's best to make this the idlers, and you'll also need to leave off the outer roadwheels until the tracks are in place. Friuli gives you plenty of spare links, for stowage and also so there's no need to worry if you break a few. Tanks with torsion bar suspension use differing number s of links for each track, so don't build two identical tracks but check-fit them round their respective sets of wheels when you think they're nearly long enough. Remember also that the cast-in connecting pins are quite thin - they won't take too much movement and may break at the bottom under the tracks' weight if you hold the model in the air too long while you're working on it. To avoid this superglue the links to the bottoms of the roadwheels when you're satisfied with the sag of their top run, but if it happens anyway don't despair, just superglue the links together either side of the break. With the wheels and tracks completed you can move on to the hull details. those given by Academy are quite adequate, but I decided to use part of the super new Aber etched brass set 35014 kindly supplied for review by Historex Agents. This is beautifully etched and very comprehensive, but since it was designed for the Italeri Tiger I kit some parts won't fit the Academy one and others aren't needed as the Academy parts are accurate. For instance, the engine deck grills given by Academy fit perfectly well so there's no need to use those bits of the Aber set. Time didn't allow me to use all the bits which would have made a difference, but I hope I used enough for you to see in my photos how good they are. The "working" tool clamps are particularly nice, but note that they're delicate and easy to knock apart while painting - I added a tiny dab of superglue to each after experiencing this problem. I also bought Aber's sets 35A10, Tiger I front and back fenders (mudguards), and 35A12, Tiger I side fenders (which also includes the standard exhaust shields). These worked very well, as you can see. The only problem I had with any of the Aber parts, apart from the small size of some which made them tricky to handle, was that some of the "working" hinges need very thin wire which I couldn't get. My simple solution was to cut away the areas which were supposed to warp round the thin wire and simply add the hinge pins from brass rod after assembly. I also substituted a Tank Workshop glacis plate without mudguards, which seemed easier than trying to cut away the moulded mudguards on the Academy part. This needed slight modification as the inner corners of the armour have been cast square but the real Tiger had rounded corners here. Just add a little filler and file to shape when it's dry. It also had the headlamp mounts cast in, and my chosen subject had the hull-top ones given by Academy - yes, I did forget to remove them until after taking some of the photos with this article! The Tank Workshop plate is available from LSA Models. While fitting the plate I realised that the transmission assembly in the hull was sticking up above the hull edge, so it wouldn't fit. I had to cut the top of the transmission down to let the plate go in place, but if you haven't stuck everything in place it would be easier to cut off the pins of the external final drive housings, which fit through the hull into the transmission assembly, and simply push the transmission lower in the hull. There are only a few points I need mention about the Academy hull. First, dry-fit the hull top sections and trim if necessary for a good fit before adding any other parts. If you want to show you engine deck hinged up, note that the Tiger had thin sheet metal guards under its front grilles. These would be easy to make - just two triangular sides, cut to fit over the fuel tanks, with a bottom. The Feifel hoses, if fixed properly with the securing clamps given in the Aber set, will make it impossible to remover the deck to display the engine bay. I left the clamps off to keep the hoses flexible. There should be two extra bomb throwers at the rear corners of the hull. Academy gives the needed parts but they're listed in the instructions as unused. Fit one E2 to each rear corner and one of the spare E28s, with its mount cut off, to each. Finally, don't forget to fill the slot in the turret ring intended for the turret s locating lugs which you cut off last month. Now there's only the turret to complete. You'll need to fit its stowage bin slightly off-centre to clear the escape hatch - I'm not quite sure whether this is accurate or if the hatch is slightly misplaced. The hatch itself, if you want it open, should be positioned to rest on the engine deck- the real one just hung open like that. Academy shows its locking bar secured to the inside of the turret, which is wrong. Cut the ends of the bar to the diameter of the hatch and fix two scraps of plastic card for the parts which stick out from each end of its housing, then cement it vertically to the hatch. On the turret roof, only the loader's hatch needs anything added. Just a simple arc of plastic card for the arm which slid against the spring stop inside the roof will do - this is in the Aber set too. You'll need to pare away part of the roof's location inside the turret top, which foul the interior part of the ventilator: dry-fit the roof and check how much to cut away. That's it! Now all you have to do is decide which of the 5 choices of decal markings to apply. All seem accurate, except for Tiger 712 of S Pz Abt 504 which seems to be intended as the tank captured by the Americans and shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. This tank was actually from the very early production batch with two turret pistol ports and no escape hatch. If you want to model it, use plastic card and putty to fill the hatchway and replace it with the spare pistol port included in the kit. If you'd like to consider alternative markings Panzer Colours 3 by Bruce Culver, recently republished by Squadron Signal, has a very useful section on Tiger markings. New Vanguard 5, Tiger I by Tom Jentz and Hilary Doyle and published by Osprey, will also give you plenty of inspiration. For more on the interior detailing I recommend Panzerkampfwagen Tiger and Tiger I and Sturmtiger in Detail, both by Uwe Feist and Bruce Culver and published by Ryton Publications, or Tiger! he Tiger Tank: A British View by David Fletcher, published by HMSO. All of these should be available through the public library system. Note, however, that the internal stowage diagrams in these books were prepared by British analysts and, although seeming to be scale drawings, are really schematics with several detail errors of shape and size. The details I've given in this short series are based on the Tiger at Bovington, which I was privileged to examine and photograph inside several years ago, and careful study of wartime German photographs. The Academy early Tiger I is a splendid kit, capable of being made even better by simple methods as I hope I've shown. The things which I've dealt with are minor errors by the kit designers and omissions forced on them by simple economics - to add any more to such a complete model would have pushed the price to an unacceptable level. More advanced modellers can take things even further than I've done by adding internal pipework and wiring, and some small fittings left out of this series due to time and space constraints. Happy modelling! PHOTO CAPTIONS FILM ALREADY SENT WITH GROUND POUNDERS PHOTOS 1. The Friulmodel tracks are easy to use - just fit the links onto the former and press the jaws of each one closed over the pin cast on the next one. Here are some of the links, the former and a length of track showing its flexibility, just like the real thing. 2. The Aber general etched brass set for the Tiger is very comprehensive - not all of it is needed for the Academy kit. 3. Aber's Tiger I front and rear fender set even has tiny hinges which can be made workable if your fingers are nimble enough. The small item at the right makes up into a holder to steady the hinge pins while you form the hinges around them. NEW FILM 1. Aber's Tiger I side fender set includes the standard exhaust shields (the Afrika Korps version is a separate set) and also the S-mine throwers and a replacement turret escape hatch. 2. Fit the Friulmodel links onto their former like this and press their jaws closed - that's all there is to it. 3. Here is a track in place, ready for the outer roadwheels to be added. Note the authentic sag, achieved solely by the weight. of the links. 4. The Aber front mudguards are a definite improvement over the kit ones.... 5. ....and they really do hinge up like the real thing! This photo also shows the additions needed to the Tank Workshop replacement front plate: the rounded inner corner under the mudguard and a 0.5mm strip at the front. 6. Here's a comparison of the kit port rear mudguard and its Aber replacement. 7. Two of the gorgeous Aber working tool clamps - one open, one closed. 8 and 9. The model ready for painting shows the Aber parts I used. I haven't fitted hold-downs to the Feifel hoses as these would make it difficult to remove and replace the engine decks. 10 to 14. The finished model. I chose one of the simple colour schemes. 15. The Tiger opened up for inspection. 16. This is my preferred display option - showing off the completed interior. 17. Note that the turret escape hatch should be angled to rest on engine deck when it's fitted - it just hung loose on the real Tiger. PHOTOS FOR GROUND POUNDERS 18. The latest New Vanguard book on Panther Variants. 19. Dragon's M51 Isherman. 20. The parts of On Track Models' new Panzer IV Bridgelayer.