HL Panther G customization diary

[Jussek]

no problem mate, a quick search in google images:

[jeff1101]

I see, you can fasten all three wires with just one connector. OK I'll look for these. Thanks.

[jeff1101]

April 1 Update

Continued with detailing the gun cleaning tube by adding the handles I removed earlier. I used aluminum sheet for the new handles.

Bought some aluminum? or is it stainless steel? baking containers and cut strips of it.



Then tried to fashion the strips into handles. Had to use a lot of strips due to trial and error as I was very careful to make them to the correct scale. (The handles shouldnt be potruding too much when attached to the gun cleaner tube lid.



Finally I had 2 handles I was fairly satisfied with.



I tried this brand of CA for gluing the handles to the plastic.



And here it is attached to the gun cleaner tube.



For added strength I painted a layer of plastic cement on top of the handle on the surface of the plastic.

[jeff1101]

(continued)

Next I had leftover plastic strips from when I attached the straps to the gun cleaner container so I used it where the straps attaches to the tank.

Here I measure what I needed.



then cut strips to size.



I attached the cut strips to the tank above...



and at the bottom.

[streetfighterjeff]

looking good bud.
jeff

[jeff1101]

Update Apr 5

I finally shopped around for a wire connector (Thanks Jussek for the idea) so I can attach and re-attach the turret from the upper hull whenever I want to. I also bought some supplies for when attaching the connectors. Bought a cheap soldering iron (more on this later), some solder and these -


The sales clerk mentioned flux (the one in the syringe) and a soldering paste. She called it "soldering glue". Both were used for soldering (she says) but couldn't tell me what's the difference between the two and what its used for. Confused, I bought both just to be sure.

Also bought some shrink wraps. I don't know the size of these but just bought the smallest they had. Proved quite useful.



Here's the the wire connector. They didn't have a 3 wire connector in stock so I bought these 5 wire ones instead.



Okay so on with the mod. First I cut off the excess wire from the connectors since I just need 3.



Here it is cut up with the male/female connectors joined together.



Then I cut some shrink wraps to attach to the wires that will be cut. I had to redo a couple of wires that were already soldered and attached since I forgot to add the shrink wraps. (so don't forget that step)



Since only one of the wires (out of 3) that connects the turret to the upper hull is of a different color (red), I decided to key that wire with the blue wire in the connector.

Then cut one of the turret wires at the place you want the connector at. Don't cut all 3 turret wires at once as things can get confusing since 2 wires are of the same color. (black)



Strip the wires and don't forget to attach the shrink wraps before soldering.



Solder the wires together. Here I used the soldering paste instead of the flux. I got scared I might accidentally prick myself using the mean looking syringe so I didnt use the flux. This pic actually shows the thing I did wrong and I had to recut the wire and redo the solder all over again. As you can see I placed the shrink wrap too close to the solder that the heat shrank it before I can move it to cover the join. So don't do what I did.



Also half way to the soldering (when I successfully soldered 3 of the wires on one end of the connector) my el cheapo soldering iron gave up and wouldn't heat the solder enough to melt it. I had to attach the rest of the wires by just twisting the wire strands together. Hopefully the wires hold by pure mechanical force alone and not using solder as glue. The upside of this was, it was easier to slide the shrink wraps over the join as there were no thick solder goop blocking it.

Move the shrink wraps over the join to cover it. Then I just move the soldering iron close to the wrap to shrink it tight.



Here it is with all the wires finished.





Here's a wide view shot of the bottom of the upper hull. I didn't have the tiny zip ties so just used masking tape (for now) to hold the wires together.



After I finished, I re-assembled the tank and tested all functions. It worked great!

[jeff1101]

Apr 7 Update

Now that I can remove the turret, I decided to add the handle for the rear gunner's hatch. The original plastic handle that came with the tank broke so I decided to use paper clip wire for the replacement handle.

first unscrew the six screws attaching the turret to the turret floor.



Bend some paper clip wires to approximate the handle.



Bend the ends of the wire downward so that I can fasten it to the hatch on the other side.



Then I attached it to the gunner's hatch. I added some putty to the reverse side so that when it dries the handle will be fixed in place.



I also filled in the excess hole with putty and sanded it smooth. And I didn't have to spend time weathering it as the handles already have rust forming.

[jonger]

Bad luck with the cheapo soldering iron - I have one that looks similar that has lasted me for years, though I do have a fine Antex one I use for my electrical connections, it costs more but it comes with changeable tips.
The flux is to chemically clean the metal you are soldering so the solder flows easier and sticks to it, the solder paste has solder in it so you melt the paste and it solders the joint as you have found. For wires I often solder the end of each wire first then heat them together with the soldering iron so the solder flows and fuses them together as this gives a neater joint.

[n1ghtpony]

these are great for customizing ...ive seen some crackers on here with the side armoure panels wich look the biz.
i bought one of these and removed the armoure hangers on one side as i seen a few ww2 pics of the panther like this all the best with the build mate

[littletankman]

Your doing a very good job of this mate , keep those pictures coming.