Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

This section is to 'show and tell' about any customizing or re-modeling you have done (or are doing) to a Heng Long tank.
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This section is for posting a build log of your Heng Long tank.
Questions relating to issues you are having with your tank(s) should be posted in the General Questions forum here: viewforum.php?f=14
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Raminator
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Raminator »

Coming along in leaps and bounds, Brett. Is that neat quick-release system something you're planning to emulate here?
Estnische wrote:And so the first problem is encountered. When I ordered the Mato wheels, I didn’t read the fine print. They are meant for the Heng Long chassis, and come pre-assembled with cast swing arms instead of stub axles.
I did the same thing with my T-34; I tried to save some money by getting Heng Long metal wheels for my Taigen chassis (they were AU$50 instead of about $100 in Euros for the Taigen ones), and they naturally had a completely different axle setup. I ended up having to buy a whole set of new bearings and make up axles to suit, probably at a cost of close to $50. Live and learn, eh?
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Estnische
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Estnische »

No Dan, my spare wheels are being moved to the sides of the casemate, and the trapezoidal toolbox is going on the back. No schurzen means I don't have the problems Herman is anticipating.

The frequent mis-match between Taigen, Mato and Heng Long parts is half the fun of a build. The unique position we have here in Australia with only two small but enthusiastic Heng Long parts suppliers means we can save some cash by utilising what they can supply with minor modification ( and a little metaphorical fencing wire).
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Estnische
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Estnische »

I moved onto attaching the HL upper hull, and unfortunately the Taigen hull latching system is not as neat as it is on the Tiger. Nevertheless, I went ahead with it rather than try and engineer something else.

The front bracket is similar though, and after screwing it into place, only a slight tweak was needed for it to slot in the the Taigen item at the front.
W04-01.jpg
The rear clips however, are a bit awkward. Firstly, they come as three apparently unrelated pieces and a spring, with no instructions. I searched the forums for someone else’s experiences with no luck, and played with them for a while until I worked out some functional assembly. Even then, they don’t lock down the rear of the hull, merely hold it on place. No worse than magnets I suppose.
W04-02.jpg
Next came the rear air intakes. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the Heng Long engine intakes have a textured top in place of the mesh covered opening and as a bonus, my Stug came fitted with a right side air intake fitted on the left side. Presumably the Heng Long assembly technician who stuck it in there knew from the other side how it was supposed to look, and figured no-one would notice.
W04-03.jpg
Fortunately they are not glued in, being held by clips which were easily released.
W04-04.jpg
I got hold of some Asiatam items with the correct openings and some photo etch mesh tops.
W04-05.jpg
Having heard how good it is, I used some solder paste for the first time to stick the mesh to the frames.
W04-06.jpg
I then sprayed them with some automotive etch primer, which happens to be a close match to the existing grey paint, and clipped them into place.
W04-07.jpg
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c.rainford73
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by c.rainford73 »

Very nice work
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by HERMAN BIX »

Those rear fasteners are supposed to engage into slots on the rear lower hull tub. I had to fit washers under mine to allow the spring loaded bar to properly slide into the slots.
They work ok but are very finicky & not user-friendly to release.
Having Schurzen on will make it worse.

Don’t forget to add the small rivets to the mesh screens!
HL JAGDPANTHER,HL TIGER 1,HL PzIII MUNITIONSCHLEPPER, HL KT OCTOPUS,HL PANTHER ZU-FUSS,HL STuG III,HL T34/85 BEDSPRING,
HL PZIV MALTA,MATORRO JAGDTIGER,HL F05 TIGER,TAMIYA KT,HL PANTHERDOZER,HL EARLY PANTHER G,TAIGEN/RAMINATOR T34/76,
HL AN-BRI-RAM SU-85
Aussie
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Aussie »

Looks good so far.
Seems it was the same glue monkey built my Stug as your rear Convoy light and fire extinguisher are glued on backwards , as was mine.
Don't get your panties in a bunch , we still got hand weapons and the fifty!
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Raminator
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Raminator »

It's probably hard to care too much about those sorts of things when you're making two bucks an hour.

The solder paste is fantastic, I've found that applying it with an old fine-point paintbrush is a convenient way to apply it finely. Interesting that you're heating it with an electric soldering iron, it's bound to be a more controllable way than using the blowtorch tip on a gas soldering iron like I did.
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Estnische
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Estnische »

I thought the same thing as both of you. Firstly, disappointed at the control over the assembly process and then I considered who this guy likely is -'a poorly paid factory worker'. What does he care about a toy tank?

Long as I get paid...
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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by HERMAN BIX »

If we could get a direct Lind to the guy we could save a fortune AND create a wealthy peasant !!!
HL JAGDPANTHER,HL TIGER 1,HL PzIII MUNITIONSCHLEPPER, HL KT OCTOPUS,HL PANTHER ZU-FUSS,HL STuG III,HL T34/85 BEDSPRING,
HL PZIV MALTA,MATORRO JAGDTIGER,HL F05 TIGER,TAMIYA KT,HL PANTHERDOZER,HL EARLY PANTHER G,TAIGEN/RAMINATOR T34/76,
HL AN-BRI-RAM SU-85
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Estnische
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Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2016 11:52 pm
Location: Wollongong, Australia

Re: Sturmi - A Finnish Stug

Post by Estnische »

Hi folks, its been a while. Change of jobs and lots of commuting means less time for hobbies.

Stugs have a plethora of hinged metal hatches available from Mato, so for no good reason, I went for the lot. At least it will give them a meaty feel and provide some options for the smoker refill and charging socket locations. Here are the front ones.They come with hinge pieces that need to be mounted.
W05-01.jpg
W05-01.jpg (74.62 KiB) Viewed 3991 times
And this is what they have to replace.
W05-01a.jpg
Its not as straightforward as the Tiger front hatches. Unfortunately, by the time you remove the plastic necessary to fit the metal hatches, it is apparent there is not enough left to mount the hinges.
W05-02.jpg
The hinges have slop built in, so I knew I would need to locate them so they sat level and even. To align them vertically and horizontally, I decided to mount the hinges on a styrene sheet and remove the excess once the hatches were straight.
W05-03.jpg
I traced the openings onto the plate and cut out the excess.
W05-04.jpg
So far so good, from the outside. Using the styrene shows there never was enough thickness in the hull plastic to mount them to begin with.
W05-05.jpg
Rather than fiddle about trying to get the supplied nuts to thread onto the pot-metal hinge mounts, I glued them with epoxy. But of course, nothing goes smoothly. The bottom of the hinge mounts stick through the plate and two in the front-centre interfere with the fit of the Taigen hull latch. I had to grind some of the latch away to clear the hinge mounts.
W05-06.jpg
Last edited by Estnische on Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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