Question concerning Aber Tiger I Photoetch set

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Greetings,

I am currently indulging in the self-torture that is the Tiger I 1/35 Aber Photoetch set, and am about ready to throw in the towel. I find the instructions at times woefully inadequate. I am working on the left sided driver’s hatch, which I would like to install in the open position. I am hoping someone else who has tackled this set might be able to help me. Three flat, bent rods articulate on a central hub to which is attached a lever. In the actual tank, the rod tips would slide into slots around the rim when the lever is turned, securing the hatch from the inside. The diagram shows little cylindrical objects, pins if you will, that you are supposed to insert through the holes in the rods and then through the holes in the hub, after which you are supposed to whack the pins with a hammer to flatten them (this is laughable, as the hatch is only about the size of a dime, and the metal parts considerably smaller than a pinky fingernail clipping–a very tiny, probably 1/35 scale hammer would be necessary to keep from destroying the part, and in fact that is what is in the illustration!). My question is this–what, exactly, are the little cylinrical “pins” supposed to be made of? This is not explained…are they supposed to be wire? Stretched sprue? Fishing line? A human hair? The holes are much narrower than the thinnest wire I have, and I really can’t stretch sprue that thin and have it remain intact, so I don’t know what to do. I am about ready to just glue the hatches shut and get on with it. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am becoming quite frustrated…thanks!

2

Not used the Tiger set but had a similar situation,I ended up using some brass wire which is microscopic.I got it from my LHS in about 1ft length’s.

Hope that help’s.

3

I haven’t used the set you describe, but I’ve used some Aber stuff and I think it called for stretched sprue. I think I spent about an hour stretching and finally settled on the smallest gage wire I could lay my hands on. I can’t recall where I got it, but you may try stripping some phone wire, that’s pretty small.

4

Thanks. I really like the detail of the finished product on the Aber sets, but I feel that the instructions are scanty and often confusing at best. It seems to make the presumption that the modeler cannot in fact read, so very little attempt is made to explaining anything verbally (yes, I know it’s intended for a multilingual, predominantly European consumer, but still–other companies supply multilingual instructions). Important measurements are not given, materials to be used are often not clarified, and even photoetched parts are illustrated without giving the actual part numbers. The set is challenging enough without inadequate instructions. Plus they don’t supply the little 1/35 scale hammer you’re apparently supposed to use the hammer the little pins flat [sigh]

5

If you need a very thin and very strong wire… cut an extension cord in 2 and take some copper wire from it… its VERY thin and very strong.