Tiger I-One Tough Cat

[LAH 1 SS]

im like a kid in a lolly shop here hehehe ok now as for the photos. now the battalion is correct 501 in africa. the rear exhaust sheilds are for the inital or african version of the tiger 1. the prototype tiger produced in may 42 never had the sheilds and the 1st confiuration summer 42 also never had exhaust sheilds. these sheilds are classed as the second configuration and were produced and seen on tigers after fall 42 (december) by the companies workshop the square edges on the sheilds were the first batches of sheilds and the rounded versions came after them. they are slightly longer than later designed sheilds and had the slits put in to help with cooling and exhuast disipitation. the track locations below the exhausts were welded on by the company workshop and were a feature of 501 tigers in africa. the feifel air cleaner system is the early model system seen on tigers produced after november 42 these were carried through to to march 43 when a new design was introduced. they were employed on to desert tigers to stop the sand getting into the engines they consisted of metal and paper filters held in the two circular cannisters on the top of the feifel aircleaner the air was drawn from the outside then through the cleaners in to the engine. however these aircleaners were prone to damage quite easily and were often removed by the crews. after 43 when most of the tigers were in europe the air cleaners were then deleated from the design becuase they had no use and were easily damaged. the rearplate design was seen on vehicles after september 42 and was carried through to early 43 when the rear plate design changed

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

im like a kid in a lolly shop here hehehe ...

You just keep talking and you get ALLLLL the lolly pops you want....

[LAH 1 SS]

Originally Posted by cyberia

A Tiger I of the 1st SS Panzer Div., date and location unknown

ah this photo has been the cause of quite a stir it is actually tiger 232 towing tiger 231 of 101 ss lah june 44 . now the story is the tiger being towed was the vehicle that wittmann commandered just before the battle of villers bocage which then broke down. wittmann was supposed to have been the commander of tiger 205 this vehicle broke down on route to villers bocage. he then commandered tiger 232. this vehicle later broke down or was abondend due to mechanical failure. he then was supposed to have commanderd tiger 222 for a reconaisance of villers bocage and the rest is history this vehicle 222 was destroyed in the battle for villers bocage. howver is still in debate with researchers

[Geek44]

LAH, info ain't spam and this site is all about info. Post away mate.
I must say I'm inspired by the info you're providing. My financial manager (Ms. Geek) has authourized some expenditure down at the local hobby shop. This very day I may find myself down there shopping for a Dragon T1. I have parts galore...thanks again LAH. Please PM me your address so I can get a box of lollypops on its way to you.

[LAH 1 SS]

glad to hear the wife let you have some increased expenditure mate which tiger kit did you get

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by McCoy

Please go ahead 'cos it ain't spam if I tell you so n' Paul will agree on that point! So please shower us with information mate!

Urban's right. Your stuff is as far from spam as it can get. You're one of the gang here so, spill it!!

[LAH 1 SS]

Originally Posted by cyberia

The main draw back of interleaved road wheels was accessibility
A Werkstattkompanie had to removed six wheels to replace a single one struck by an anti-tank round

Inspekteur der Panzertruppen Heinz Guderian confers with a Tiger I crew during a training exercise in Russia

the first vehicle is a member of spzabt 502 a very good photo of the interleaved road wheels and to top it off a very early tiger it still has the machine pistol port on the commanders side of the turret. an interesting point to note is the front road wheel has not been removed which was common practice amongst tiger crews after the first winter. the second photo is of a company vehicle of spzabt 507 in april 44 in the tarnopol area in russia this vehicle carried a red and panzer yellow camouflage scheme the urret numbers were used for this unit and were white with black edging the 1st number always being double the size of the last two

[Geek44]

The removal of the front road wheel thing is fascinating LAH. I've seen so many pictures of Tigers missing that wheel... A good fact for modellers.

[Geek44]

Originally Posted by LAH 1 SS

glad to hear the wife let you have some increased expenditure mate which tiger kit did you get

Nothing mate...I came home empty handed. It was either spend $150 on ICMs He 177 or risk a 'Zvezda' La 5. No Tigers on the shelf.

[LAH 1 SS]

Originally Posted by Geek44

The removal of the front road wheel thing is fascinating LAH. I've seen so many pictures of Tigers missing that wheel... A good fact for modellers.

i dont have the exact date for the removal of the front road wheel at the present however when the tigers had full road wheels attatched the front road wheel overlapped the drive sprocket and thats where the drama occured. having the road wheels interleaved like they did they became encrusted and heavily built up with mud and debris to the point where crews would have to constanly clean the road wheels out. now if they werent cleaned out regularly when the cold set in this mixture would freeze the road wheels together and when the tiger went to move it would do so until the tracks were thrown from the front drive sprocket not real good if you want to move in a hurry. this an important thing to remember also when modelling tigers that look llike they have seen lots of battle in the winter months or are diplayed on muddy diorama ground works remeber studying photographs of vehicles in the setting your looking for will give you the info your looking for .


glad to hear you came home empty mate save that money for a tiger kit hehehe