Early turret floor

If you wish to make a Tiger model in which the turret can be lifted out for close inspection, you will need to know what was underneath the turret floor - not a commonly photographed place! In the Tiger I the underside of this floor had a distinctive pattern of reinforcing ribs, visible in the diagram below. Note that this diagram is a work in progress; some components are missing from the upper part of the turret.

The diagrams below describe the turret floor in early-model turrets; they are not valid for turrets after the 1943 redesign. The blue marks indicate centimeters in 1/35 scale. The paint, as I explain in my Panzers site, was the same overall colour as the rest of the lower hull; while it could get very oily and worn away on top, the bottom would be pristine.

The strengthening ribs were flat strips of metal, except for one which had an L-shaped cross-section. The major ones were 45mm in width, tapering towards the outside; the minor ones were 30mm. The rim surrounding the floor was 35mm high, and the small round protective rim in the center was 55mm high. The overall diameter of the floor was 1460mm (scales down to 41.7mm or 1 41/64 inch).

Part of the the turret floor was a hinged door which could be lifted and latched into place. In early Tigers, the latch for it was on the jerrycan storage frame. In later Tigers this frame was moved and then eliminated completely, after which the floor panel could be swung almost all the way back.

The flat part of the turret floor had two components; thin metal sheeting with a bump texture (not illustrated) to give better foothold; and under that, a 'skeleton' frame of thicker metal, with large holes cut in it to save weight. In the diagram of the underneath, you can see the outlines of the skeleton frame. The smallest circles are holes in the sheeting that allow items to be bolted directly to the stronger skeleton frame.

The three legs supporting the floor were bolted into substantial attachment points, visible from underneath; these were spaced precisely 120 degrees around the circle.

There was a large hole cut in the middle of the floor for the mechanical & electrical power input to the turret. A dome-shaped cowling protected the mechanical link on the top side, and an electrical lead, covered by another protective housing, snaked from here along the turret floor and up one of the supporting legs. In late-model turrets, this same electrical lead took a different route.

Note also there is a rectangular hole with rounded corners (below the center in these diagrams) allowing access to the bottom of the traverse gearbox, which was bolted to the floor.

Sources

[1] Survey of vehicle 250122, Bovington, by David Byrden

[2] Tiger Turret Manual

Copyright © David Byrden 1998-2007 except where indicated.

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