I've been away for awhile visiting friends and family, but now the plastic attraction is dragging me back...
As my Tamiya Pz IV comparison is morphing into a build, the bits I need now are becoming more expensive. I'll also have to decide on whether to buy Tamiya geartrains and MFUs, or to try a budget approach. Thanks once more to modest Forum members for support.Meantime, I've just got the tyres I need for the Tamiya road wheels. They're from Taigen (supplied by rctank.de), and I'm delighted as well as relieved to say they fit the Tamiya wheels perfectly
- Taigen tyre on Tamiya Pz IV road wheel..
First things first, though. I'll have to remove sprue marks and rough edges from the wheels, then prime and paint them before fitting the tyres.
Shaun (The Jarndice) raised an interesting point about the accuracy (the authentic look) of Pz IV idler mountings on models.
They all should look pretty much like this:
- Panzer IV idler mounting/housing.
This is an odd looking example with a bizarre, almost phallic appendage in the middle (some sort of exhaust tailpipe?), but the design of the suspension mounting is clear to see.
Here's Taigen's (plastic) take on it:
- Taigen Pz IV rear idler housing.
Sorry about the grainy image. Click to enlarge any of these pics, by the way.
Now the Asiatam (metal) version:
- Asiatam Pz IV idler housing and adjuster
Finally, the Tamiya interpretation:
I did a double take when comparing the three. Why? Well, of the three the plastic Taigen version looks the most accurate, and the vaunted Tamiya...shockingly..the least. Having scoured the parts list and the build manual for caps or locking caps for the idler adjuster (the inboard domed lock nuts seen on the real PZ IV)..I couldn't find any. Surely Tamiya can't leave it (the finished housing) like that, can they...I mused ? Anyone with a Tamiya Pz IV on the forum who can confirm this? If I'm missing the cap nuts in some list DO tell. But there's nothing in the build instruction showing them..
Och well..more research needed.
Thanks once more to Mike (Sassgrunt) in Hawaii for the precious parts he supplied earlier, and now to Dan (Raminator) in Oz, for some hard to locate screws.
You're both great guys!
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.