I installed a scratchbuilt roller bearing to force the rubber treads into a more realistic sag. It doesn’t interfere at all with function, now I just have to trim it down a little and conceal it. If I can’t hide it it will have to go.
After painting, I was thinking about mud and also adding a strategic dent to the skirt. Any other suggestions?
Thanks to J-Hulk and Okieboy for pushing me over the edge on this one. Every bit of input helps a will make this a better build so please keep 'em coming…
As you can see, the track sits nicely atop the roadwheels now…(the deck’s off, it’s not a extra tall Tiger [;)])
Close up of the roller…
The assembly from a side view…
There are earlier pics in my begging for criticism post. Thanks again.
Great looking Tiger Ausf. Just curious, before you installed the roller, did you try a pin first? If it’s weathered up, you may not really notice the roller. Good luck.
I’ll try concealment tonight. I think I’m going backwards here.[:P]
I also think I’m becoming addicted to critique…
The more to guys can pick out, the better I can make this look. It’s becoming a solo group build. Hope you don’t mind. Thanks.
Bill, the whitewash is watercolor, you’ll find more info in a recent post of mine asking for help.
Keep the ideas coming, I’ll keep working.[:D]
Hey, here’s a wacky idea…if you really don’t like the way it shows up, and I don’t think it’s bad, mind you, you could take the fender off from the front, bend it up a bit, and suspend it from the last one or two attachment bolts. Like it had just been customed by a tree or something, but hadn’t come the whole way off yet. Seems like a lot of work to me for something that’s not that noticable, but thought I’d through it out as an idea.
Bill,
That fender’s going to feel some pain I assure you. About removing it from the bolts, that would leave me having to basecoat again as well as return once more to the PE fret for the mounting squares. Honestly, I think the whitewash idea is just my delaying tactic so I can avoid finishing the tool clamps. The thought of PEing again might make me see if this Tiger can fly. [;)]
John,
It’s Tamiya’s 1/35 RC Tiger I.
Eric,
The kit supplies this kind of ‘guide’ (you can just make it out in the two closeups on the right side) which doesn’t come close to the tracks. I was looking at the possibility of a larger version of that when the roller idea hit me. I could make it shorter because the main support goes through the hull. I could also make it smaller with smaller stock but this is what I had at 10 PM on Sunday night.
It was just an idea and if I can’t hide it effectively, I’ll try something else.
Thanks for the input, guys.
heres what i would do in this case ausf , the fender above it ? Tear it and bend it around the back of the roller to conceal it , that is if it is PE metal , that should hide it on one side anyways ! If this is to be a competition model they will notice it , believe me here . If not who cares , not many of us count rivets on tanks anyways ! Much less hidden track sagging devices !
I’ve resorted to putting a bracket or shelf on the inside of the hull where I want the sags to be. I run a small piece of stiff wire or rod through the outside of the hull at the lowest part of the track to make it sag. The bracket or shelf on the inside keeps the rod horizontal and from being leveraged upwards by the tension in the track material. It hides almost seamlessly between the tracks or grousers. If it is too apparent under inspection it gets the mud treatment.
Ah, but here’s the rub…these tracks have to move. Hence the roller. I probably could have made it a little shorter and still might if it is visible after ‘the treatment’ (mud, dirt and guttywots).
By the way, this isn’t for competition (do they even have 'em for RC?) and I’m not a bolt-counter, I just like to put as much into it as I can. I do plan on filming this (old habits die hard) and a visible roller would probably bother me more than the lack of sag…
Oh… nevermind then. [;)]
Question though, is the tension of the tracks and the friction and drag over your roller add on going to be a problem? Is there a possibility it will catch or the horizontal force of the tracks running along it going to cause it to snap off? Or worse bind up and cause undue stress on the motor?
