Hi everyone and thank you for your interest on the Panzer III.
These posts are for the front of the vehicle.
The Trumpeter/Heller kit has a good fit at the front between the glacis and the lower hull, no gaps and it is strait. It includes the weld line that is missing on the Heng Long models. I want to have that on my panzer III.
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The Heller glacis is obviously not a perfect natural match with the Taigen chassis, i expected that. The metal tub is also too high. Taigen also does not provide any front plate overlay, it's just the metal tub with screw holes and slots for the spare tracks. The rest is rough. It's not a pretty sight.
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It's the same situation on a HL chassis, but it would be simpler to integrate the Heller glacis because there is no metal tub involved.
- 1/16 PzKpfw III Ausf M - Converting the Trumpeter/Heller kit to RC - Build
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After analysis, i have decided to transplant the whole Heller frontal area to the Taigen chassis. I decided where to make the cut so that it is the least impacting. Although they look compatible after comparing them from all angles, it's only through a real dry fit that i will see what is the situation.
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Equivalent cuts are made on the Taigen chassis.
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After much dry fitting and it is encouraging, the front bottom is giving me difficulties. Even after much grinding inside to reduce the thickness of the plastic, i am still missing 1mm that i have no way to get.
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No way around it, the bottom needs to be removed and will be fixed later. For now, i need to position the top and front correctly, that is what is critical.
- 1/16 PzKpfw III Ausf M - Converting the Trumpeter/Heller kit to RC - Build
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After cutting the bottom, dry fitting the parts shows that it is a good match. I have aligned the top at the angle, and the angle is the same, perfect. Only the aluminum tip is too high, it will be easily fixed.
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Ah, no wonder the plastic bottom overlay was giving me problems, it is at the same level as the aluminum... I will have to extend the front plate by 1mm at the bottom to respect the joint design, and create the bottom plate with a 0.5mm plasticard, no problemo.
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Need to cut the aluminum tub at the front by about 3 mm. After a rough cut, it is finetuned with a nail file and sanded smooth.
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Continuing on following post