Heller/Trumpeter Panzer III ausf. L Afrika Korps

[MonsieurTox]

Hello guys,

After seeing Louise's thread it made me think that I've never posted that build.
This is a conversion to RC of the static Heller/Trumpeter Panzer III. Different versions can be made from this kit, I chose the tropicalized ausf. L (Afrika Korps).

For those who remember, I already converted the Heller/Trumpeter StuG III to RC, using Henglong chassis.
This time I'm using the kit chassis, even the plastic torsion bars! After some modifications so they can accept the extra load of the electronics, battery and gearbox, they work like a charm.
They are very smooth unlike the awful Henglong one .

However I made two major modifications to the chassis : metal idler tensioner (detailed with the plastic parts, the metal parts are too rough) and the front and rear suspensions, made from aluminium on a lathe.

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Initial fitting, torsion bars are not glued yet nor modified :

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[MonsieurTox]

The small detail plate of the shock absorbers are made with thin aluminum, I used a toothpick to gently rub the aluminum on the original kit part to transfer the shape. It is then cut and glued onto my aluminum shock absorbers.

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I'm using Henglong plastic sprocket but I'm using the hub cover of the Heller kit. The hub cover of the Henglong is milled off, and the Heller part is held with a magnet.

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[MonsieurTox]

Track guards are attached to the lower hull and can be detached if needed. I only modified one of the engine hatch to be movable, to get access to the on/off switch.

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Gearboxes are fitted and the tank is running very well.

I still have to work on the turret : rotation, elevation and recoil. I made one of the side hatch movable.

The kit come with a nice short aluminium barrel but I'm going for the plastic longer version.

The model as it stands at the moment :

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[Kaczor]

Looking good! Those new static kits are game changer

[Ad Lav]

Very smart!

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks guys.

Looking good! Those new static kits are game changer

Yeah those static kits are great and quite cheap!
I reckon it was a great challenge to use most of the kit parts, it was much easier to just drop the Trumpeter and Heller top hulls on the HL StuGIII and Panzer IV chassis but at that time I was concerned about the strength of the all plastic running gear and suspensions. Fear is now gone and I know it's very durable. If the plastic torsion bars fail at some point, I'll replace them with metal. It's not 100% original plastic parts though, as mentioned the idler track tensioner is metal from Taigen and I used ball bearings in the road wheels.