Hey everyone, I'm new to the boards here and wanted to say hello and ask for a little advice. I just got the Merit 1/16 Tiger I and I am going to be starting on a complete overhaul of the kit. I'm wondering if anyone has disassembled one yet and if so would you have any pointers on how to do this. I appreciate any help with this.
Thanks,
Neil
Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
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Ghostrider
- Private First Class
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- Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:09 pm
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Ghostrider, Welcome aboard!
I did a rebuild of the Merit Tiger I recently
http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =9&t=27638
how far do you plan on taking it?
Cheers,
Mark
I did a rebuild of the Merit Tiger I recently
http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =9&t=27638
how far do you plan on taking it?
Cheers,
Mark
The sign of a great model is that one’s eye is not drawn to any one feature, yet one can study it for hours and continually find something new.
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Ghostrider
- Private First Class
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:09 pm
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Hi Mark and thanks for the welcome.
I really enjoyed your buildup, she's a beauty. I can definitely get some pointers from your build up. As of now I am planning on doing a pretty extensive overhaul. I am looking to change out the tracks, sprocket and idler wheels and possibly even changing the road wheels. Then doing a complete rework of the upper hull and turret as well. This is my hope anyway, but things could change as I begin to work on it.
My bigget issue right now is how to pull the hull apart without damaging it. I've been looking around but can't seem to find any information on how the hull is mounted. It has the four holes at the bottom for screws, but nothing is in there so I am wondering if it is just snapped together real tight possibly?
It really is a good kit to start with and was surprised at the amount of detail it has. As mentioned there are some errors but nothing that can't be fixed.
Thanks again,
Neil
I really enjoyed your buildup, she's a beauty. I can definitely get some pointers from your build up. As of now I am planning on doing a pretty extensive overhaul. I am looking to change out the tracks, sprocket and idler wheels and possibly even changing the road wheels. Then doing a complete rework of the upper hull and turret as well. This is my hope anyway, but things could change as I begin to work on it.
My bigget issue right now is how to pull the hull apart without damaging it. I've been looking around but can't seem to find any information on how the hull is mounted. It has the four holes at the bottom for screws, but nothing is in there so I am wondering if it is just snapped together real tight possibly?
It really is a good kit to start with and was surprised at the amount of detail it has. As mentioned there are some errors but nothing that can't be fixed.
Thanks again,
Neil
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Ghostrider,
Thanks for the kind words.
Its funny because I started out just wanting to add Zimmerite and then just kept going...
I could not get the tank hull to seperate, so worked around it. It would have made life so much easier with adding the commanders hatch and is why I left the beveled escape hatch in place insted of adding the late Tiger I flat hatch and did not add a working loaders hatch...I really wanted to get inside the turret but it was also secured by three screws and nylon washers from underneath...the whole tank seems to be factory glued and sealed, though there are some screws hidden in the upper area of the hull hidden by the tracks. I did remove the tracks and added another link to give the tracks a bit more sag and that is when I discovered the screws, but even then the hull would not seperate and I felt forcing it any more I would risk breaking it and messing up my zimmerite job I had spent way too much time on
Mark
Thanks for the kind words.
Its funny because I started out just wanting to add Zimmerite and then just kept going...
I could not get the tank hull to seperate, so worked around it. It would have made life so much easier with adding the commanders hatch and is why I left the beveled escape hatch in place insted of adding the late Tiger I flat hatch and did not add a working loaders hatch...I really wanted to get inside the turret but it was also secured by three screws and nylon washers from underneath...the whole tank seems to be factory glued and sealed, though there are some screws hidden in the upper area of the hull hidden by the tracks. I did remove the tracks and added another link to give the tracks a bit more sag and that is when I discovered the screws, but even then the hull would not seperate and I felt forcing it any more I would risk breaking it and messing up my zimmerite job I had spent way too much time on
Mark
The sign of a great model is that one’s eye is not drawn to any one feature, yet one can study it for hours and continually find something new.
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Ghostrider
- Private First Class
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:09 pm
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Hey Mark,
I did another search on the internet and I found where someone had taken the WSN version apart. It turns out that there are 5 hidden screws that hold the hull together. All located on top of the hull. There was a bit of glue holding the access panels to them in place but it was easy enough to work them loose. I got the tracks off by removing the sprocket that was held by the one screw on the outside and one more from inside.
Now the only problem I see is getting the road wheels off. The inside wheels as you may have noticed have 4 tiny screws holding them in place it would seem. The outer wheels appear to be glued in place. It shows sign of a weld so it's a good plastic cement glue which means cutting them off more than likely.
I have some time to think on how to remove them as I'm still focused on another project at the moment. I know you've finished up your tank already but I can post some photos later on to show how to remove the hull.
Neil
I did another search on the internet and I found where someone had taken the WSN version apart. It turns out that there are 5 hidden screws that hold the hull together. All located on top of the hull. There was a bit of glue holding the access panels to them in place but it was easy enough to work them loose. I got the tracks off by removing the sprocket that was held by the one screw on the outside and one more from inside.
Now the only problem I see is getting the road wheels off. The inside wheels as you may have noticed have 4 tiny screws holding them in place it would seem. The outer wheels appear to be glued in place. It shows sign of a weld so it's a good plastic cement glue which means cutting them off more than likely.
I have some time to think on how to remove them as I'm still focused on another project at the moment. I know you've finished up your tank already but I can post some photos later on to show how to remove the hull.
Neil
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Neil,
look forward to your build and any "tricks" to get the hull apart with minimal damage, thinking about doing another one (also with the late model steel road wheels.) Have fun with the upsidedown spare track links that come with the Merit TI...I ended up tossing them and adding new holders with metal links.
Mark
look forward to your build and any "tricks" to get the hull apart with minimal damage, thinking about doing another one (also with the late model steel road wheels.) Have fun with the upsidedown spare track links that come with the Merit TI...I ended up tossing them and adding new holders with metal links.
Mark
The sign of a great model is that one’s eye is not drawn to any one feature, yet one can study it for hours and continually find something new.
-
Ghostrider
- Private First Class
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:09 pm
Re: Need tips on breaking down the Merit 1/16 Tiger I
Oh the spare track links were one of the first on the list of things to replace. 
I'll get some photos taken and I'll start another thread on it so anyone else looking for the info can easily find it.
Here is a link to the page for the disassembly
http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =9&t=28281
Neil
I'll get some photos taken and I'll start another thread on it so anyone else looking for the info can easily find it. Here is a link to the page for the disassembly
http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =9&t=28281
Neil