Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

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PainlessWolf
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by PainlessWolf »

Good morning,
Take care of your health. Splendid job on the mount! That thing is a mechanical work of art. Following along!
regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
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B_Man
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by B_Man »

That would have to be the best designed elevation/traverse set up I've seen in a tank destroyer. Top work. :thumbup:

I haven't ventured into any CAD designing yet so cant help on that front but I do have a 3d printer so if you ever need parts printed just let me know.
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Raminator
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by Raminator »

Much obliged for the kind words lads, I'm glad the frustration paid off.
Soeren wrote:This looks fantastic. Where do all the gears come from? Do you have some CAD to share? I don't have a printer myself , but could get help by a friend.
Just watches the video too. That looks really sturdy. Great engineering. That was all scratch build or is there a kit available?
The recoil unit is Clark's one for the Taigen Tiger I, I swapped it around so that the elevation servo attaches to it directly. That way the elevation can be done inside a cradle that can then traverse, which was all scratchbuilt from styrene scraps.
  • IMAG1046.jpg
The traverse cradle at the top of the photo uses a section of a normal Heng Long turret ring, it took a bunch of high-school trigonometry to figure out where to cut it and how to attach it. The gun pivot at the bottom of the photo is all styrene offcuts from the Ludwig kit; I turned some M3 nylon PCB spacers (using a cordless drill as a makeshift lathe) down to fit. M3 bolts then hold the recoil unit to the gun pivot, and the gun pivot to the mantlet.

The tension spring underneath the unit counteracts the mass of the metal gun barrel and Milliput mantlet without having to suspend even more weight on the pivot points.
PainlessWolf wrote:Take care of your health.
It's something I've always taken for granted all my life, so learning what my new limitations are and how to pace myself has been frustrating sometimes. Needs must though, after all if we don't have our health we don't have anything. Cheers for the well wishes, my friend.
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Soeren
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by Soeren »

Thank you for the explanation. That looks fantastic and very solid. I made good use of the turret rotation rings as well. Was a bit worried about the placement too. I didn't measure any positions but did it by eye and funny enough it turned put well enough in three turrets by now.

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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by HERMAN BIX »

I'm not far off getting hold of one of these too. Sure is a world of learning to do on this Mr Ram, thanks for sharing.
As for health, its one of those taken for granted things that we all really never put in as much as we hope to get out............until its too late.
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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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by HERMAN BIX »

Any updates on this project mate ?
Hows the health ?
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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Raminator
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by Raminator »

It's been an eventful few months, but I've gradually been getting back at it again. Many thanks to those who messaged me while I was gone, I appreciate the thought. My health has improved a bit and we've sold our home, so lately I've been able to get little bits done here and there. I don't have any in-progress photos, so this post will be a catch-up from the last update. Here's where we are today:
  • IMAG1242.jpg
Doesn't look significantly different from this time last year; almost all of the work is structural and/or internal.
  • IMAG1243.jpg
A new styrene lower glacis textured with Mr. Surfacer 500 to get a cold-rolled steel effect. I used my soldering iron's hot knife attachment to make the torch-cut armour plate edges; they're 0.3 mm styrene strips that have been melted into shape. They're stronger and more subtle than the Milliput versions I did earlier. I also made new tow shackle attachments, sculpted and blended with the Taigen metal parts, styrene, Tamiya putty and Mr. Surfacer 500. I'll need to do some weld seams around them, but I want to get some practice before committing to anything on the model.
  • IMAG1257.jpg
I used laminated styrene arcs to build up the armoured collar that protects the throat under the mantlet from ricochets. It'll be suitably textured with Tamiya putty for a cast steel effect, and will need weld seams around the perimeter.
  • IMAG1250.jpg
    IMAG1256.jpg
I ended up replacing the original upper hull; I broke the resin Juckenburg transmission cover when I (foolishly) attempted to remove it to sell the kit. I think I'd cut too much out of the original Heng Long upper and it was flimsy as hell (and now had no transmission cover). You can see where I recut the new upper's transmission cover out, then sliced off the rear curve, turned it 180° and reattached it to create a more accurate KV-1S shape. This has the advantage of keeping the strength of the original ABS hull.
  • IMAG1259.jpg
The same Mr. Surfacer treatment on the rear of the hull, it adds some visual interest and will help tie together all the different materials. I was planning to use the tail light fitting from the Tamiya C sprue I had, but I suspect it was eaten by the vacuum cleaner so I had to scratch built a new one from bits in the spares bin. Some nice Schumo shackles as well.
  • IMAG1251.jpg
    IMAG1252.jpg
On to the most significant changes; a DKLM PDSGB and OpenPanzer TCB setup. The bulkhead holds the switches underneath the transmission access hatches, and the Sabertooth ESC is wedged between the hull wall and the speaker box. There's a Benedini TBS Mini snuggled underneath the TCB. I'm considering installing a little amplifier in-line; the TBS Mini is plenty loud on its own indoors, but it distorts a bit at max volume and I don't know how well it'll hold up outside yet. Like on my T-34/76, I've routed wires underneath the suspension; main battery on the chassis' right-hand side, TCB power and LEDs on the left.

I've had a couple test drives, but I don't have any videos of it in action yet; still some troubleshooting to do with the PDSGB first. Still, now that the internals are revamped and good to go, the upper hull will be getting textured and detailed next. On to the fun stuff!
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c.rainford73
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by c.rainford73 »

So nice to see you back at it and glad you are doing better! Very impressive work. I admire your attention to detail with the interior design of this beast.

Following along

Carl
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by HERMAN BIX »

Its fantastic to have you back & well Mr Raminator...........very glad things are better.
Shame how life still throws shit at a person when things are already topped off with too much of it.


While you were away I think I may have got hold of one of these things as well, so I will look on in careful silence to learn all I can.
Mines reeeeeeaaaaallllyyyyy rough,and missing a lot of vitals, but its a start.

Welcome back :wave: :thumbup:
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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Soeren
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Re: Ludwig/Taigen SU-152 (early production)

Post by Soeren »

Nice to see you back and feeling better too. Your build looks great , tidy and we'll thought through.
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