HL Panzer III with Elmod Electronics

[grompix]

Most of you have probably seen this already. This is my Panzer III which I kitted out with Elmod last year. I first posted this on the RCU forum but I’ve now put it here for certain reasons!

I must say the Elmod system is good and offers options that Tamiya’s MFU and DMD modules do not . It also uses the same IR battle frequency as Tamiya but is much more configurable. Using a computer, you can play around with the sound effects or even use your own.

On the downside the Elmod system has a couple of minor differences with Tamiya which make it a tad inferior in certain areas IMHO. It runs on a lower voltage than Tamiya (even though it uses the same 7.2 volt battery pack). So I find lacks the ‘oooomph’ that Tamiya DMD units have. It also doesn’t ‘blip’ the motors to give a recoil effect like Tamiya. Small differences maybe but differences nonetheless.   

Here's some video links:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3GDDcbEUeGU

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LIYv-b1eeT8

The ElMod ‘ThinkTank’ system can be used with the original HL or WSN radio modules or standard RC equipment (which is the option I chose). If anyone is interested I heartily recommend downloading the datasheet manuals from their website.

http://www.el-mod.de/manuals.php?osCsid ... b0313f3583

The HenLong Panzer III is a small model and as you can see from the photographs it was quite a squeeze to fit everything inside. Sorta reminded me of shoe-horning stuff in the Tamiya Pershing. The Elmod 'ThinkTank' units are quite small though and they can be tucked away in corners and underneath things. Something that can't be done quite so easily with the bigger Tamiya blocks. You do have more cable with the Elmod units though (as each module needs to be connected to another).

As I intended to gut the PzIII right from the beginning I did not bother with getting a 'smoke & sound' version. The only things I kept were the gearboxes, lights, on/of switch, turret-turn and gun elevation units. Even though the gearboxes were the HL plastic ones they seemed sturdy enough and ran very quietly with the Permax long-can motors I fitted.

I cut out the battery compartment completely and glued the compartment lid in place to strengthen the floor. I also needed to create more room inside by cutting out some of the moulded screw posts holding the hull top and bottom together (you can see this in the close-up pic of the hull underside). I didn't use the screws anyway as I made the hull top just drop in place held with a couple of metal rods glued into the holes where the original screws were. Makes it much easier to swap batteries.

I replaced the airsoft barrel with a Schumo PzIII aluminium one and cut away the airsoft unit, keeping just enough to act as a fixing point for a Tamiya recoil unit. I was in two minds whether to use the original HL gun elevation unit or make my own (as the HL elevation unit is quite big). In the end I decided to keep it. It’s a bit tight in the turret (especially with the Tamiya recoil unit and Elmod 'IR combat mushroom' in there too) but it did all go in with a judicious bit of 'persuasion'.

The tracks, sprockets and idlers are made by ‘Impact’ and really make the model IMO. I removed the HL aerial from the back of the tank and refitted it in its proper place on the right hand side.

And that's about it (in a nutshell).

I’ve since added the Elmod ‘Afterburner’ for more torque, 3-1 HL metal gears and swapped out the Tamiya recoil for an Asiatam recoil/elevation unit. I’ve also converted the Elmod IR combat CSI ‘mushroom’ to fit out of sight inside the turret. The sensors are now positioned inside the commander’s vision blocks.

[[ICE]monkey]

nice install very tidy,overall a very nice panzer 111
regards,ice

[tiger205]

hi chris that is a great little p3, well detailed as usual, you said you were in 2 minds wether or not to keep the stock gun elevation motor or not, has your TLS got the provision for 2 servo's?, if it has why not use servo's?, thats what i intend doing, when i get round to getting the servo's.
oh yes, i love the way you do your IR sensors, just brilliant, how much would you charge for one for my Tiger? i like the idea of putting the sensors behind the cuppola vision blocks, i will have to get the elmod csi aswell the shopping list just gets longer

                        Tony

[Matdragon]

great job youve done their mate, nifty littel tank

cheers mate,

matt

[grompix]

Thanks for the encouraging comments folks.

I did think about using a servo for the gun elevation (I have already on my Easy Eight) but I didn't have any micro-servos handy and a full size one occupied almost the same amount of room as the HL elevation unit.
I like the Asiatam module because it has a recoil function and gun elevation all in the same unit (and is a doddle to fit!) so that's the route I took.

Tony I'll certainly help you out with hiding the IR sensors in your tiger mate. Its pretty straighforward really (as long as you are comfortable with soldering LOL!)
I'll be reposting the 'Disguising the TBU' mod on this forum soon so that will give you an idea of what to do.

Cheers
Chris

[tiger205]

thanks chris, i look forward to seeing your how its done post on the sensors,

        Tony