Tamiya Jagdpanther overhaul and new transmission
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 6:20 am
He gets a standard ETO transmission albeit slowed down a little with stump pulling short cans. He has Impact tracks and bearings in the road wheels and idlers, otherwise he is stock except for some main gun goodies which I will go in to later. Plan is to replace the stock Tamiya elevation and rotation units with servos, and since it's a Daryl's Parts unit for the main gun control there's going to be some footwork modifying him. Recoil will be a modified prototypical recoil Wecohe unit and should work flawlessly when I'm done with it.
First off is removal of the tracks, then removal of the Tamiya transmissions. While they are worn in some places and both have one stripped gear, I will salvage them, rebuild them and have them ready for future use if needed. The Type 3 transmissions are all the same for Tiger E, Tiger B, Sherman, KV 1 and KV2, Panther, Jagdpanther, and IS 2. Only difference that I know of is the length of the final drive shaft for the actual transmission and the lengths of the standoffs to position them in the hull. IS 2 uses an angled bracket under each TU to get him to the correct angle and clearance of the hull floor.
Installation of the ETO unit is simple. One removes one of the two final drive shafts, accomplished by loosening one set screw and carefully pulling the final drive shaft out. By reversing the provided transmission mounts and attaching them to the hull floor on the outside, see photos, using two Tamiya hull holes to screw them to the outside hull floor from inside the tank. After marking the location of the two additional holes needed to mount the unit. the unit is removed, the mounts installed in their correct position and you are ready to drill the two 3 mm holes in the hull floor. Detailed instructions are included with the units along with photos and information in addition to what I am posting here. The only modification to the Panther/JP hull is a small addition to the two inner cutouts of the stock unit, photo shown. Other tanks need no modifications beyond the two additional mounting holes. Once the unit is in place and bolted down, the one final drive shaft is installed and the unit is ready to work. I do strongly advise to use copper wire for the motor electric feeds, and 'deans plugs'. You will be amazed at how much resistance is in the stock aluminum wire and connectors. Don't believe me? Run your tank wide open for five minutes, pop the top and feel the wires and connectors. Heat is resistance. Be careful to not burn your fingers.
While the Panther/Jagdpanther come with a sticky aluminum foil piece to cover the existing holes in the hull front lower plate, I never use them. I use a 0.5 mm or 1 mm piece of Evergreen plastic card to do the job and I attach it with Moment rubber cement. It's worked for years for me.
Attached are a couple photos of the first of a few simple modifications that cost almost nothing but go a long way to ease maintenance and east of removal of any parts needed for work and/or repair. I now use 'button head' hex head screws for just about everything. They are not expensive, hold very well and the problems with Phillips head screws stripping out their crosshead are gone. Also, I use socket head bolts for the final drive shafts. The Phillips head screws are long ago history and these units with the proper lock washer do not come loose. For countersink screws, I also use a hex head screws, not phillips head.
I'll add more tomorrow as I continue with the overhaul and I'll have more tips and tricks included.