Metal Origins SdKfz 234/2 Puma

[AlwynTurner]

Hi Richard, seems like a bearing is badly needed for that turret. When you do the pics can you take one of the turret baseplate on a white background as I will be able to make an abs baseplate from it to fit the bearing. I will also need accurate length and width in mms. CURA has a facility to turn a pic into a design.
I wi?l get straight on it when I get back.
Alwyn

[silversurfer1947]

Will do. How do you want me to send the photos? I can pm them to you. or if you pm me your email address, I can send them that way.

[silversurfer1947]

Alwyn suggested fitting a narrow washer cut from 0.5 mm plasticard. It almost worked. Initially, I had almost full movement, then it started fouling again. It is tricky tightening the geared drive wheel to the correct amount. Too tight and nothing moves, too slack and the turret moves around and the gear does not bite. It will not beat me, but I have to tackle it in short bursts, otherwise, my frustrations take over.

[c.rainford73]

Is there any way of changing the mechanism to something else that would work reliably? I know space is at a premium just a thought

[silversurfer1947]

Sadly, I know little about turret rotation mechanisms. As I have said before, it is quite possible I am doing something wrong, but I have had no problems with any other of my vehicles. The turret rotation is an add on, not included in the basic kit and I can't help but think the design has not been properly thought through. I have no doubt the more experienced modellers amongst you would have it working in no time, but for what it costs, I think it should work for the likes of me.

[wibblywobbly]

Viola! Is ok Richard?

Recoil works well, but the turret is so small, and there are so many mouldings inside that the elevation is severely restricted. Anyways, this is how it looks in the video. The servo's are on screw mounts so that they can be removed. The hatch will have to be open, as the periscope on the underside hits the servo.

phpBB [video]

[c.rainford73]

Looking good IMHO

[silversurfer1947]

That looks great. Elevation is not an issue. It is disabled in my Panzer 3. I was thinking of leaving the hatch open to take a commander figure, so it all seems to be coming together. Many, many thanks.

[silversurfer1947]

Rob has done a great job with the turret. In such a small space, he has managed to fit both recoil and elevation.

20170724_153549.jpg (41.05 KiB) Viewed 4180 times

This means I can get rid of the full size servo that was sitting in the body space. Hopefully it should give me enough room to fit the Elmod board. Rob set the recoil up using a Clark board, so I found it needed a few adjustments to match the Elmod. Using the new Elmod app, it was an absolute doddle, once I'd worked out which were left and right on the servos.

I also had a play with some of the sound settings. The cannon originally sounded more like a pop gun, but now it actually sounds like a cannon. Out of interest, I turned on the ambient sounds and was very surprised to hear my Puma singing like a flock of birds! One of the setting for channel 5 on the radio is for user sounds. The board is supposed to support 8 different sounds. So far I have located 5-8. At least, this lady says "User Sound 5" etc depending where the right hand stick is put. Has anyone experience of installing user sounds? I can't find a way. There is an option in the app for altering the volume, but I can't find anything it there about actually adding them to the board.

[silversurfer1947]

I'm starting to get a little disheartened. I've had a tremendous amount of help from fellow members, Alwyn Turner & wibblywobbly, which has pretty much sorted out the problems with the turret. For a change, I thought I would checkout the chassis, drive and steering. Initially, I was getting little movement in the steering - instead the servo was moving on its bracket, despite me tightening the self tappers a much as possible.

I then had a eureka moment. In the various boxes and packages was a small bag with 2 pieces of metal. Despite reading and re-reading the instructions for everything, I could find no mention or reference too them. As I watched the plastic mounts for the steering servo move about I suddenly twigged. They are metal replacements which enable a solid fixing. Why then, do they supply useless plastic mounts? Why not remove them and actually mention the metal ones in the instructions? Brackets replaced, I refitted everything and tried again. First couple of tries, the steering worked beautifully. Then I lost the ability to turn right. A close examination indicates that the steering linkage is jamming against the underside of the motor. To prevent this means lifting the motor in its mount. This brings in a different scenario. Those who have ploughed their way through all my posts may recall that when the motor wass mounted as per the instructions, it did not engage with the transmission change. The motor, however, did not jam the steering. The immediate conclusion is that I can either drive the wheels or steer the vehicle but not both at the same time.

For the moment, I have walked away while I try to think things through. I hope that if I lift the motor very slightly, it will be enough to stop the steering fouling without losing the drive connection. To do this requires major disassembly so I need to be in the right mood. Trial and error is a real pain when it takes so long with each trial.

I am not going to let it beat me - I have invested too much time and money in it. I am hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel that is not an express train heading straight for me.

Thank you reading my woes. I hope to have something more uplifting to post next time.