Taigen T-34/85

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General Jumbo01
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by General Jumbo01 »

HERMAN BIX wrote:
Oh, you two?
Stop pissing at each other.
Plastic tanks remember
Quite right too! Considered reprimanded sir.

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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

General Jumbo01 wrote:Mick, I'm not out for arguments and l can't stand trolls but you consistently fail to really read other peoples posts properly, jumping to conclusions and being unnecessarily critical. You're a mod and should be setting a good example.
Funny thing, I never made this personal, you did, after I gave a solution that's been tried and tested and sadly couldn't find herman's mention of it, then by request from Roy, I wrote down the method. And funny enough, you missed where I said that the suspension on a T34 wasn't how you thought without actually looking at one. And you jumped to conclusions and was unnecessary critical of my solution that even Herman said he's done, yet you never told him he was wrong? And when I first mentioned this method, you and I wasn't in discussion about it before hand.
And now you can't resist having the last word with a personal dig at me, gosh how the high and mighty stoop so low.
Everyone is allowed an opinion, and no-one has to agree on everything.
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by General Jumbo01 »

Last word?? :haha: :haha: :haha: :crazy:
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jimbo_wa
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by jimbo_wa »

Well, it's now in bits and it looks like I can get an extra 1mm travel on the down swing of the arms by filing the slot in the outer plastic to be the same height as the metal hull.

Also going to epoxy the plastic outer to the inner metal hull to stop the plastic flexing under compression, as has been suggested here and rcuniverse.

Thanks for the pointers. ImageImage

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43rdRecceReg
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

Hi, Jimbo (no relation to JimBob Wan, I take it? :) ) Here's a pic, from 2017, I took of a working T34 that was on display in Wester Ross, where I live(No, not the one in 'Game of Thrones'.. :lolno: )
As you can see, the ride height is fairly high and, if anything, the model rides slightly lower. But then, it's all scale relative. In any event, it doesn't really matter that much. I have the Taigen Pro model (metal hull, wheels etc..) and it certainly looks the part. It also drives beautifully.
As for the track fouling the fender, it should be quite a simple fix to restrict the upward movement of the swing arm with a rubber bump stop, or similar. After all, (actual) Panzer IV bogies have bump rubbers to stop them swinging up too far. I'm pretty sure most other systems incorporate similar limiters. Yes, the Panzer IV doesn't use the Christie suspension system, but the basic principle of limiting travel to prevent damage also applies.
I spent many years working on real Mini Cooper 'S' models (970,1071 and 1275 cc) from the 1960s, as an interest; but also liked the challenge of adding some of the competition parts to my own cars that BL's Rally division produced. One special part was the competition-type bump stop, fitted to the rear trailing arms to stop them mashing the Moulton suspension; the later 'Hydro-drastic' suspension, or just hitting the top of the wheelarch with a sickening crunch :O
Incidentally, The Cromwell tank also uses the Christie system. Working on the Ludwig model, I found it was quite a challenge to get the ride dynamics right, especially the amount of travel the swing arms needed. I didn't want a Cromwell that looked like a "Funny Tank', nor an armoured go-kart. :haha:
By the way, scratch builders on this forum have used the wheels from the T34, to assemble pretty convincing lookingCromwells in 1/16 scale. :thumbup: If you ever consider upgrading the running gear, the old wheels could be put to creative use in the future. Note- in this pic I was looking for details of the Tank's attachments. I was also trying to avoid snapping the Russkie-lookalikes populating the front of the Tank. :D
Image
Cheers!
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by jimbo_wa »

43rdRecceReg wrote:Hi, Jimbo (no relation to JimBob Wan, I take it? :) ) Here's a pic, from 2017, I took of a working T34 that was on display in Wester Ross
Cheers!
Nope - no relation at all, and he's far more talented than me too! :D

Thanks for the picture - that's helped the process.

I've now put the T34 back together after using Shoo-Glue rather than epoxy on the side panels - it's better, but there's still a bit of flex. Also decided not to feckle with the stock suspension at all - it need to be run properly before I start making irreversible changes!

I've also added 2x extra links into each side and adjusted the tensioner to maximum throw, the tracks now sit like the 1:1 on top of the road wheels and it's freed up the drive-train considerably. There is now a bit of inertia present from full throttle to idle, and it's quieter running too.

In an ideal world I'd cut off the internal plastic nuggets that the swing arms bolt to and replace with a lock nut, it would remove all flex once and for all.
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jimbo_wa
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Taigen T-34/85

Post by jimbo_wa »

So, again thanks to Forgebear I have a second T-34 upper, this time with IR so I'm in the process of getting it installed into the original BB turret...

Image

And thanks to Herman Bix I also have an Open Panzer board to install, so have built up a Styrene deck for the speaker enclosure and battery too.

Image

As the T-34 is a bit tight for space width ways, I only had room for a 1.5" speaker - but I'm hoping that with the correct amplifier it'll be perfect for the build (if not, there’s space to fit a second unit...).

Image

Image

Also managed to fit a pair of XCar 45A ESC's between the gearboxes.

Image

Blanked out the switch plate hole in the Hull too...

Image

Should be able to get it moving this week, still waiting for the amplifier and sound card from AliExpress.

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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Coming along nicely :thumbup:

Yeah, Dave and Julie are good for spares, I too picked up a complete upper with IR from them, with the intention of painting it the same, that way I can just swap over the tops between club battling and garden shoot ups.
Did you not fancy painting up the other hull to match?
Mick - The grit in the underpants of life!
And always happy to spare the bytes

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jimbo_wa
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by jimbo_wa »

Son of a gun-ner wrote:Coming along nicely :thumbup:

Did you not fancy painting up the other hull to match?
Cheers Mick - the idea is that the other upper will be painted up in winter whitewash. However, rather than leaving my life easy, I'm going to cut it up and make a SU-100 as I need something to compete with the StuG! :wtf:

I also ended up removing all the Shoo-Glue from the plastic panels and redid it all with epoxy - much better job and no flex at all...
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Taigen T-34/85

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Cool, that should be an interesting build :thumbup:

Well done countering the flexing :clap:
Mick - The grit in the underpants of life!
And always happy to spare the bytes

TOTM needs YOU :thumbup: support YOUR TOTM competition, I'm doing my part, are YOU?
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