BUILDING A TIGER TANK

Part 14 by Vince Cutajar

Decided to attempt the bending operation of the photo-etched grille covers. Not having any sheet metal fabrication tools I used my large milling vice and some parallels to hold the photo-etch grilles. Wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but at the end I managed to do them all.

Added mild steel mesh.
The fine mesh is "stitched" to the course mesh using thin copper wire.
As the engine deck was basically ready I thought I would paint it. The only things to add were the fire extinguisher and the tow rope brackets. So I first fitted the Armorpax fire extinguisher using a 2X20mm bolt. Then I started work on the brackets. Some modifications done on them and then I realized that I needed some 2.5mm CSK screws. Anything below 3mm is unobtainable here so I need to order some. As I was playing around with these tow rope brackets I remembered that on a late Tiger 1 the tow rope is attached to the hull roof slightly differently then previous variants. It is attached a little rearwards than previous versions and at the back of the tank it slightly overlaps the small grille panel. So fitted some temporary hardware to the brackets and started experimenting with the position on the tow rope.
As all the engine deck parts are finished and painted I started assembling the engine deck. When needed, I am using a clock winder for the square headed bolts. I am using size 4. A long nose plier will also do but I think the clock winder protects the painted square headed bolts better.
It did not take too long to encounter a minor hiccup.
The hole was too close to the engine deck support frame so the nut could not be properly tightened. It would not have made any difference if I left it like that but being me I made a 3mm thick spacer so that it can support the nut and washer.
Finished assembling the engine deck. It came together nicely.
Part 12+1 here   Part 15 here
 
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