Tiger ausf. E : Turret rotation lock

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Turret rotation lock

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About this detail of the Tiger

The later kind of Tiger turret (with a low cupola) had a simple traverse lock. A handwheel could be turned to press a toothed piece of metal against the gear teeth in the turret ring. This allowed the turret to be locked at any angle.

Tiger traverse lock

This is a photo of the traverse lock (the green paint is not original). Hachette's kit provides a representation of this lock. Unfortunately it is not in the correct location.

Tiger traverse lock

Here is the traverse lock in a real Tiger (at Saumur museum). It is located aft of the vision port in the turret wall. Therefore, it is accessible to the loader while he sits in his seat. The seat is missing from this photo, but it would be attached to the trestle at lower left.

As you can see in this blog photo, Hachette have placed the lock too far forward. In their model, it is not accessible to the loader.

Tiger traverse lock

If you add the missing trestle to improve the accuracy of your Hachette Tiger, then you must remove the locking device from the turret ring. You should move it to its correct position, which is 15 degrees forward of the midline, as shown here. The lock in the Hachette kit is almost 30 degrees forward.

 
 

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