Taigen 360 turret rotation kit or DIY Mod?

[rochesb]

Opinions please, between buying a Taigen 360 turret rotation kit for my King Tiger vs DIY solution using a modified ring gear & a separately sourced slip ring ?

The only issue I see with the DIY solution is mounting the slip ring, the Taigen kit is plug & play(almost), but the wiring will need some rework.

Thanks

Brian

[jarndice]

I have both the raw slip ring which I bought separately from a 360 Turret ring, You have to obtain (They don't come with the kit) and solder the relevant plugs on the ends of the multi-wire cable.
I also have two fully fitted complete rotation kits including the 360 Turret ring which I bought from
www.forgebeartanks.com
The Turret Ring is fitted with a tailored slot for the slip ring,
By the way If you purchase the metal 360 Turret Ring which comes with Bearings it does not have the tailored slot for a slip ring.
When you order the Taigen 360 kit you will be given a choice of Cables depending on whether you need I/R or not, Or an MG free Turret or an MG turret cable,
If you specify the Turret MG cable then you will need to solder the MGs two wires onto the panel adjoining the socket, apart from that small chore which by the way if you buy the Taigen 360 Turret Rotation Kit it also includes a detailed Photo guide in how to wire the Turret MG,
If you are into masochism I recommend the DIY Mod, Otherwise the Taigen 360 Turret Rotation Kit is a no brainer.
Shaun.

[rochesb]

My DIY & soldering skills are ok, my modelling skills are a long way short of the experts here.

I have spoken to Dave at Forgebear who is his most helpful self as always, he can order in the IR kit for me.

My dilemma is cost vs convenience as I already have a turret ring which would only need a couple of teeth cutting to get it to rotate 360 degrees. Then all I need is a slip ring & a means of attaching it to the turret. I would need to rework the wiring of the Taigen unit anyway as my tank has an Open Panzer board which needed changes to the gun elevation and recoil wiring.

[RobW]

I've actually turned mine back to 320 rotation as I don't reckon the slip ring is loose enough to rotate freely and it'll just make a mess of the internals as it winds itself up. Ideally what they need is a unit that clips into the turret base and separately the upper hull to clamp both halves to, but then they'd need do some precision fitting.

[rochesb]

I've actually turned mine back to 320 rotation as I don't reckon the slip ring is loose enough to rotate freely and it'll just make a mess of the internals as it winds itself up. Ideally what they need is a unit that clips into the turret base and separately the upper hull to clamp both halves to, but then they'd need do some precision fitting.

I feel that all turret wires should go to a connector straight from the slip ring, and only then go down to the control board from the connector, I'm not happy with the way the wires can get wound up, especially so in the smaller tanks.

Mick.

Interesting comments, thank you. There is no substitute for real world experience.

I was planning on making the turret wiring 'pluggable' into the hull wiring via a small circuit board for exactly the reason you describe. I didn't like the idea of the turret wiring winding up & tugging on the Open Panzer board sockets if a slip ring seized. I already have a bunch of JST-XH sockets on their way to facilitate this.

Maybe I will stick with the 320 degree turret rotation & see how it goes before diving in.

Thanks for the advice

Brian

[RobW]

Given the price of the parts just dive in. It's the first modification I did, and I'm glad I did it on a HL. If you're going to break something do it all on the stock electrics!

And no Mick, I didn't run out of magic smoke on that one!

[RobW]

And no Mick, I didn't run out of magic smoke on that one!

Oh, nope sorry Rob, I'm having a senile moment, what am I forgetting/missing? Sorry

I'm sure I'm going to have an oh yeah moment lol

Mick.

You'd missed the opportunity for a smart alec comment about my wiring!

[ronnie42]

Hi folks
Wish they would make the cables longer on the slip rings.
I use 3 jst 7 pin connectors and glue onto the hull and same on turret.
Battle , servos and flash/ mg. saves plugging /unplugging into board and give a bit more cable length .
If the slip ring is not free turning i try to position it central, think the off centre place is wrong.
Bit of spiral wrap helps keeping stray cables from snagging.

[rochesb]

Hi folks
Wish they would make the cables longer on the slip rings.
I use 3 jst 7 pin connectors and glue onto the hull and same on turret.
Battle , servos and flash/ mg. saves plugging /unplugging into board and give a bit more cable length .
If the slip ring is not free turning i try to position it central, think the off centre place is wrong.
Bit of spiral wrap helps keeping stray cables from snagging.

Confirms my thoughts , thanks. I have been looking at slip rings available online as well as the Taigen offering, but you cannot always find out how long the cables are.

Brian

[43rdRecceReg]

If you feel curious enough, or bold enough to try a bespoke slip ring arrangement, then about halfway down the first page of this thread our Berliner Maestro, Hotte, has his own ingenious way of fitting the King Tiger with one.
Just don't look at all the other wee engineering triumphs on display in the turret, as it's a sure way of developing an inferiority complex
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10690&p=155844&hil ... ng#p155844