1/16 Unimax King Tiger Comments/Questions

[red69charger]

I received my King Tiger and finally got around to checking it out and assembling it last night. I decided to display it as MondayTanker did, with the top armor off exposing the entire interior for view. This eliminates many of the issues people have had with the paint scheme (by the way, the gray appears to be feldgrau or green gray on my tank). This is one COOL piece and looks great next to my other 1/16 Tamiya King Tigers.

I have had several problems though. The gun mount was not glued in properly and left a couple of plastic interior parts so stressed that they broke their glue bond and came apart. Its not very noticeable unless you know where to look but it is annoying because (pardon the innuendo) my barrel doesn't want to stay up Its OK if I simply display it and leave it alone, but as soon as the tank is moved I get droopage.

I also had 2 turret track hooks snap clean off as I tried to mount the track. I was being VERY careful. I have since glued them and will try again tonight to see if I can get the link on.

I cannot get many of my fenders to stay on. They simply won't snap into place or hold on. I would guess it is because the snaps were glued on incorrectly. One of mine came off in the process and I had to reglue it. I will probably have to glue the fenders on.

Has anyone else had these problems or am I just a clumsy oaf? I have vehicle #0037 in case casting order made a difference.


Would I buy it again. YES! I like this interior so much I am planning on buying the Tiger I when it gets released in 2006. Still, I'd like some of these issues addressed on upcoming vehicles.

[KWR190]

I had the same problem with the treds I glued mine back on and they broke it took about 4 trys to stay on. The side skirts would not stay on ether so I glue them on too.My MG broke off when I took off the top I glued it back but it broke trying to put the top back to gether.It sucks to pay so much to have so many thigs brake off. I think that it would been better not to have the traks on the side. My 2cent
Kurt

[mondaytanker]

I am simply missing 3 track hangers, another 3 were broke in half and two more had fallen out. Some one was nice enough to place some of the broke pieces in the box with the I-beam tank obstacle.I too have nothing but problems with the fenders. I will scratch build new ones from brass. I was disappointed on the quality and the fact that there is actually very little die-cast used. Could you imagine how heavy the tank would be if the upper and lower hulls were die cast? That is what I was expecting.
I do like the interior detail.

I will ask again. Why is there no zimmerit on this tank?

PS my tank collection can be viewed here. Not shown is the 1/16 Trumpeter T-34-85 under construction. The Tamiya Sherman is currently getting a "easy 8" converstion.
http://homepage.mac.com/jack137/BattleG ... bum22.html

[red69charger]

Oops mondaytanker, I forgot about your question from GPs board. I will have to look up a formal answer in my books but if I remember correctly, the Germans discontinued zimmerit on tanks sometime late in 1944 so it is possible that the lack of zimmerit is legit. I'll let you know what I find out unless someone else posts first.

[red69charger]

Mondaytanker, nice collection by the way! I really want to get a Pershing but keep hoping somebody will make it in 1/18 for a much nicer price. I am looking forward to building my T-34 next summer. Definitely post yours when you finish it.

[mondaytanker]

Thank you for the compliments. I to read some where that the Germans discontinued zimmerit application after they though it would catch fire. This turned out to be false but they never resumed applying it. Does this tank fall into that time frame?

I have three projects in the works right now. The Easy 8 conversion. Building the T-34 which has exceptional detail and I just picked up the ABER photo etched upgrade set for my Tiger 1. 17 sheets of mind numbingly small, detailed parts! I look forward to the challenge. And some time in there I will be adding zimmerit to my Tamiya KT so I can finish that one as well. I will continue to keep you guys updated when they get finished.

red69charger, nice car buy the way. I bet that is a little faster then my neon.

[red69charger]

Based on a decision by the General Inspector of Panzer Troops on Sept. 7, 1944 the order was given on Sept. 9, 1944 to assembly firms to no longer apply zimmerit to vehicles. The reason stated in the order was just for the purpose of simplification.

Given that SS 502 did not take on any Tiger II tanks until Dec. 1944 it would actually have been incorrect to put zimmerit on the Unimax Tiger.

I got this info from the series of hardbound books done by Tom Jentz on the Tiger tanks.


Thanks for the compliments on my old car. It was a quick one ... able to do 13 sec. quarter miles even with a cruising gear installed. Unfortunately I had to sell it this summer to help finance our new house. I miss it quite a bit and if I can ever stop spending all my spare cash on 1/18 WWII stuff I plan on saving up to buy another Mopar muscle car.

[mondaytanker]

Thank you for clearing that up. My book didn't go into that much depth. I also didn't know when the 502 started receiving KT. I am glad you cleared this up, I was planning on applying zimmerit to the FOV KT when I did my Tamiya.

Sorry to hear about the sale of your car. I too had to sell my precious, A 99 3/4 Dodge Ram Quad cab long box with a Cummins, Goodyear 285 MTR's and a Ram air hood. After my daughter was born, then a double whammy I get laid off. I still miss it. What really sucks is my friend (new Chevy) and brother (01 Dodge) have bought diesel trucks since. They are engaged in a HP war. They were neck an neck for a while at about 450. But now my brother replaced his injectors and now spins tire on dry pavement in 4th. Once he replaces his clutch (go figure) he will dyno it and get the final numbers.

[mburduck]

Geeez!

It sounds like there are some really cheap parts/assembly on that rather expensive Tiger tank.

Mike

[KAMIKAZE]

Sorry to hear you had to give up your Charger,Red69Charger.I have a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 convertable that is pretty nice.It is the one thing from my youth that I refuse to let go.I just finished installing a fresh M-22
four speed in the beast.My engine is punched out to 473 ci,has a 10.5
compression ratio,and a high lift cam.My car runs 13's as well.I have to
post pictures of it as soon as I figure out how to do it.

Mark

[mondaytanker]

Mike you got that right. I personally wouldn't buy another release. I would recommend buying the Trumpeter 1/16 tanks, far more detail and only about $130. But you have to build them yourself. I was hoping to use the tracks from the FOV KT on my Tamiya KT, but the space between the inner and outer drive sprocket is different!

[Zartan]

Here are some close up pictures of the tank for those that didn't get a chance to see one up close. I think it was a bit overpriced at $300 U.S., 200-250 is more reasonable and I'm sure some got them at that price through pre orders. The Trumpeter kits are a good deal but the R/C Tamiya King Tiger goes for over $1400 Canadian in town minus a radio/servos and battery. The file is large so give it time to load. Point your cursor at the bottom of the picture if it appears small and watch for the expand icon to come up.

http://www3.telus.net/public/laralim/FOVtiger2.jpg

[Teamski]

WOW!!!!!! Those are some sweet pictures Zartan!! Now that's what I call comprehensive.....

Yeah the $300 is a lot, but just look at the amount of detailing on it. I'm now impressed with it. Now if they did it in 1:18, I would give it a second thought.

Thanks again for the pictures. Now I gotta go back to absorb it all. Just amazing!

-Ski

[buzzard]

It appears that there will be a 2nd release in a winter scheme. Found this on the Motor Pool's homepage:

http://www.themotorpool.bigstep.com/ite ... ID=1444123

[Zartan]

Ski, no problem, someone had to post them. It's hard to find photos of something your not sure on purchasing because you don't know know what it's going to look like with only a prototype picture. Anyways I assumed there was going to be a repaint since it says "First Production" where you find the production number underneath the turret floor. I hope they do a better job with the winter scheme on this then they do on the 1/32nd pieces. Typo Says Sept 2004 is the release date on Motorpool site. Sept 2005 along with the Tiger1.

[mburduck]

If they do a slightly better job with paint scheme #2, then I just might go for it!

It's a bit pricey so I'm going to be a stickler on it!

Mike