WCP SdKFz. 251: Herr Doc at it again

[Model Builder 4]

The single yellow cable coming from the esc is for the track steering professor and plugs into the top pin ( signal ) on the steering channel on your receiver

Cheers, Lee.

[WCP RC MODELS]

You need to plug the yellow one into steering as Lee suggests otherwise your esc is just powering both motors the same and does not aid steering, so it will push wide, unless you get alot of weight on the front.
The sensitivity of the steering proportional is unknown on these dual escs, so you need to experiment a little
Hoping the clark board will prove a better option, once i test it

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Bingo! Thank you, Will: that is exactly what I wondered. Now if I can get this through my over-educated head, it seems I can use the "Y harness" to plug in the front wheel steering AND the single yellow one for differential steering on the tracks, effectively linking them together.

Grumble Grumble, Fuss Fuss: As a former professor who did and taught writing, editing and technical writing for decades upon decades, I find the documentation for all hobby electronics wretched! With no other RC-ers around here, I do trial-and-error, sometimes with smoky results. Yesterday, for example, I disposed of my last LiPo battery in a dramatic way. The LiPo was not in anything, so results were harmless: as soon as I heard the hum, I ushered it out the door into the dirt. Of course, I took a few hours of verbal abuse from the other modelers in the Make Modeling Mediocre Again group. (I'll stick with LiIon and even a few NiMH)

[Herr Dr. Professor]

The WCP SdKFz. 251 is running and steering with the wheels and tracks coordinated. I have no video, as my "absent minded an old professor" brain is up to its usual tricks: so I left my phone (cellufungus) 45 miles away. I can fetch it next weekend.

Some of the electronics will fit under the hood. However, not everything will fit. Will explains that some who have built his 251 have hidden electronics under a tarp or inside a decorative load. That's good. But I wonder...

1. How did you get wires to the rear (crew) compartment. Did you drill through the firewall? ...go underneath somehow?
2. What other solutions do you suggest?

[WCP RC MODELS]

Hi Ed
From others the wiring has been done in multiple ways. Some have managed to go under the top body, but i dont like this personally as the gearbox is down low and the top is open to allow visibility from the engine bay area. Means can be greased/oiled etc and partly checked. But also wiring could find its way being eaten.
Personally mine has extra holes drilled thru firewall area into rear cabin. I have since modified the design to allow rx leads to pass thru etc.
This is why i mentioned previously i have designed some other equipment that sits in the back compartment which people can hide things behind or in, e.g. a fake radio set, maybe a tarp or hide in crates behind.
There is a Clark board being programmed for me, i know i am going to struggle fitting that up front so will have to design something in the back
Under the floor in the crew compartment you could hide slim electronics if you can ensure that it is held up out of the operation of the torsion sprung roadwheel setup.
I kinda wouldn't bother, because lifting the body off the chassis means careful manipulation of the shell over the front motor mounts. I can setup a video to show how this can be done as it is extremely tight, but does work as an option.
Hope that helps

[ColemanCollector]

The WCP SdKFz. 251 is running and steering with the wheels and tracks coordinated. I have no video, as my "absent minded an old professor" brain is up to its usual tricks: so I left my phone (cellufungus) 45 miles away. I can fetch it next weekend.

Some of the electronics will fit under the hood. However, not everything will fit. Will explains that some who have built his 251 have hidden electronics under a tarp or inside a decorate load. That's good. But I wonder...

1. How did you get wires to the rear (crew) compartment. Did you drill through the firewall? ...go underneath somehow?
2. What other solutions do you suggest?

Nice! That must look pretty sweet seeing the front wheels turn as one track drives the turn. Video please most definitely!

Mike.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you, Will! You have confirmed my inclination to drill through the firewall. I would guess that the passenger side is the way to go, and I can work my way up from a pilot hole to just large enough to fit the wiring through. A pin vise drill is the first special modeling tool I bought as a teenager oh-these-many years ago. I still have the first one, a few more, and umpty mumpty drill bits, some of which are actually sharp.

Mike: I will probably hold off a video until I do the aforementioned tunneling project, but before I dive into the painting. That will be the best "test" time for me. As you know, I can be slow.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Yes, I do sometimes make progress. After a bit of time away to work on two rather out-of-the-box tanks, a HengLong Challenger 2 and a Taigen Panther G, I am back at the SdKFz. 251. I blew a hole through the firewall with an 88 (well, really I drilled carefully) so the wires to the motors can fit through to the ESC. That's all set to go, so I am on with the second primer paint (Will sends his WCP models in a red primer): Vallejo 73604 Surface Primer - German Dark Yellow 60ml bottles. I have used a few of these relatively new Vallejo Surface Primers as base coats. The Dunkelgelb looks a bit too greenish to me, but I am partly color blind.

Bottom Lt Primer.jpg (195.83 KiB) Viewed 342 times

Bottom Rr Primer.jpg (190.78 KiB) Viewed 342 times

Bottom Rt Primer.jpg (212.44 KiB) Viewed 342 times

Hood Primer.jpg (177.6 KiB) Viewed 342 times

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Sometime, somewhere (at an age far-far away) I made two samples of three (there were likely more) of the variants of RAL7028 Dunkelgelb. The paint on my WCP SdKfz. 251 seems to be quite close to the Ammo by Mig 010. That gives me some range of date possibilities.

3 RAL 7028s.jpg (289.56 KiB) Viewed 273 times

The SdKFz. 251 A-B-C's were early, so many were only Dunkelgrau, but I wanted to do Dunkelgelb with camouflage. I am open to suggestions.

[tankme]

I used Tamiya's newer XF-88 and XF-89 (XF-90 is the brown for tri-color) on my Panzer III build. It only comes in the mini Tamiya bottles and not as a spray. It's much better than XF60.

Link to mine painted with Tamiya XF88 and XF89: viewtopic.php?t=33231&hilit=mato+panzer+III

Not my video, but a good review of the mini colors for German armor.

phpBB [video]