Torro 1:16 Sturmtiger

[OneSmallStep1966]

OK, I'm not sure if this belongs on ISM due to it being an RC model, but I wonder if anyone is interested in (or perhaps against) my continuation of the build here?

First the history behind it; It began early last year when my son bought a Heng Long 1:16 RC Walker Bulldog and I thought I join in the fun and build my own RC tank and things went well up to this point last year when my father died. At that point I complexity lost interest in it and it has sat in the cupboard ever since gathering dust. A year on my son has moved on from RC so I either need to sell it as an abandoned project or finish it.

The base kit is a Torro Tiger 1 early Version Metal edition that I want to convert to a Sturmtiger using an Asiatam Sturmtiger upper hull...



So, its up to you guys, do I carry on with the build here or not?

[ROBOPAUL]

YES

[Tiger213]

IMHO, you need to know if it is worth the time and energy and if you want to do it. It is your model, your decision and you will have to do it

[MarkVerploeg]

I don't see a reason why it couldn't be posted here
I asume you will do things like painting and possibly weathering
So only the construction is different fron a normal static model
And there was a RC modeller on here before (a few years ago)
He made a IS-2 back then and that was a fairly popular topic
And if you already have all the stuff i would build it and have fun while i was at it
Even if you sell it you will never get the money you put into it so far back

[OneSmallStep1966]

OK guys, you've convinced me, lets finish this thing

I'll start by showing the steps I took last year to get the build to where it is now and continue to update this thread as it progresses.
It was my intention to weather it but now I just want to get it finished with a clean paint job and probably sell it.

The first job was to modify the Tiger 1 upper hull to accept the Asiatam Sturmtiger casemate which meant cutting out the front top section...





Due to the weight of the metal casemate I need something substantial to join it to the plastic upper hull and opted to use brass pins and epoxy to do the job...



Poor manufacture of the Asiatam casemate meant that one of the conical bolt holes was out-of-line (second in from front) but it was an easy job to knock it out re-drill another hole.



Next up was construction of the lower hull and I have to say I was really impressed with the Torro Tiger 1 kit. The instructions are clear, the components (lots of them) are clearly labeled and everything fitted perfectly.
It was also refreshing (and welcome) to see that Torro had include spares for almost every component part (some of those grub screws are tiny and extras are to be expected, but to include an extra suspension arm, torsion bar etc, left me pleasantly surprised).

My first job was assembly of the track tensioners and suspension. The manual recommends using threadlock on all screws so it was handy I had some loctite lying around...




I then proceeded to make 25 conical bolts for the front armour plate and sides from 5mm brass rod by tilting the sander table to 45 degrees to sand a point on the end of the rod and cut it off with a Dremel (I made a wooden template to allow me to accurately place the rod in the vice to keep the cut height consistent).



I superglued these on to a piece of white styrene sheet and fixed it to the front of the lower hull...



I took the opportunity to block in the open exhaust stacks so the smoke will discharge out the tops like the real thing (the smoker pipes are normally pushed up next to the exhaust stacks) before proceeding to prime the lower hull...




At this point I needed to fit the electronics into the lower hull and started by constructing a mount for the ghetto blaster using a leftover ABS box section from my conservatory (I want it to be loud )...



Which was sprayed black before I fitted the speakers and volume controls...



I glued 4 x M3 Rivnuts (using CA) to the upper hull to mount the speaker assembly as shown...



And test fitted it together...




So far so good and time to fit the drive motors, IBU controller and smoke box...





Unfortunately I didn't document the next bits, but I sprayed the lower hull using Tamiya XF-60 and fitted the wheels and tracks, so time for the first power-up test...

[youtube]o2im7Hfb0h4[/youtube]

So, thats how it sat for a year, but this afternoon I cleared down my bench and prepared it for work (I didn't have a man cave when I started this project) and to properly declare this as a recommenced build I also quickly bored out the filter hoses this afternoon.



PE parts will get attached when I get more CA glue and I need to repair one of the loading door handles and then its off to paint.

[privatepete]

Hi Norm so this is what you have been playing with ,must say it's going to be one hell of hod carrier it's looking good my friend, are you sure that red wire goes there told you.

[Naedrux]

This is one eccentric, yet interesting, build! I love the German commander's voice and Panzerlied, are those actually played by the model? Also, about the electronics of the model, are all the little wires and other odds and ends included in the kit? I'd love to try my hand at building an R/C tank at some point, but my knowledge is rather dull and limited when it comes to wiring - instructions and included electronical components in the kit would be a godsend in my case.

[OneSmallStep1966]

This is one eccentric, yet interesting, build! I love the German commander's voice and Panzerlied, are those actually played by the model? Also, about the electronics of the model, are all the little wires and other odds and ends included in the kit? I'd love to try my hand at building an R/C tank at some point, but my knowledge is rather dull and limited when it comes to wiring - instructions and included electronical components in the kit would be a godsend in my case.

The Torro Tiger kit doesn't come with the electronics, battery or speakers but does include everything else (drive motors, turret motors, BB/IR firing mechanism etc). The electronics are very easy to assemble and are basically plug-and-play. I have chosen the IBU2 Pro (Italian battle unit) which is specifically designed for RC Tanks and all the sounds you hear are pre-loaded onto an SD Memory card and are fully customisable (you can download files for nearly any tank out there).

Heres a video showing what the kit consists of...

[youtube]_Xf5VifmaZk[/youtube]


...and the IBU2 Pro Sound Effects...

[youtube]FUOF5ZJxNug[/youtube]

I stole a few minutes last night to fix on the PE, repair the loading door handle and fix on the front headlamp.

[Stokesy44]

Loved the video, complete with the commander's voice and the marching song!

That's a fantastic build you've got there. Loving seeing it come together

[Paul]

Yep this belongs on ISM no doubt, look forward to seeing it built

[SergioSolo]

My goodness! That's incredibly cool!

[OneSmallStep1966]

Thank you all for the kind comments

I've finally started painting and got to the first layer of dunkelgelb ready to chip using the hair spray technique.

Given the size of this model I decided to a base prime using Halfords Grey primer and then apply a coat of Vallejo Model Color Cavalry Brown (which I don't think is to far off German red primer) and for dunkelgelb I used Tamiya XF-60...





Hairspray layer applied...


...and if I ever doubted my decision to buy an Iwata RG-3L those doubts were blown away today It's simply awesome at laying down paint over large areas and I'm pleased I have one in my collection...



Ready for first layer chipping chipping...

[OneSmallStep1966]

Today I chipped the first layer and laid down the camo pattern...

[SergioSolo]

Looks great! It's an interesting decision to make the chipping before the camo

[Naedrux]

Thank you for sharing those videos, quite helpful they are. And beautiful work on that chipping!

[Stokesy44]

That is a beautiful beast you have there. Love the way you are laying down the colours. I suspect w may have a potential masterpiece on our hands.

Keep going Dude, this is superb - fascinating too.

[OneSmallStep1966]

I stole some time this during the past week to lay down a gloss coat and decals (all two of them)...



...and over the weekend started my first attempt at weathering using oil paint rendering with the aim of producing a grimy worn effect. So far mixed results but I'm determined to stick with it because it has so much potential. I also like the way oils are quite forgiving which is a good thing for me

[MarkVerploeg]

Nice work on the Sturmtiger so far
Keep it up

[Stokesy44]

I think it looks superb!

The subtle shade differences in the hull colour look really good.

[Icemannique]

Nice project, never seen rc-tanks in action now and now i have.
Nice camo btw !