HL Panther G customization diary

[jeff1101]

Had to turn the the screwdriver with some force as the screw was secured tight. Be careful not to strip the screw heads.



Alas I soon discovered my HL is the plastic gear variety. I am satisfied on how the tank moves and complaints from others of the excessive weight of the brass gearbox gives me thought for pause. I'll probably decide if I will upgrade them at a later time.

[jeff1101]

With the upper hull off I was able to take stock of what I needed to do. First I detailed the fuel overfill hose on top of the engine deck. I scored it with the hobby knife.



Then removed the central part with the flat blade.



With the channel thus created I plan to insert a piece of wire with the bend to the side.

[jeff1101]

I didn't like the look of the gun barrel cleaning rod container. It looked fake. To detail it I need to take it off first.



I turned the hull over, and looked where the tube was attached. I then scored it to lessen the area the glue is attached to.



I then tried to pry it off. (Ever so gently...)



The gun cleaner container was removed with the hull non the worse for wear.

[jeff1101]

I decided the container need real handles so I decided to shave off the molded on handle.



Before:



After. Plan to attach handles cut from thin metal sheet.

[jeff1101]

I also fixed the crack in the muzzle brake using plastic cement. After some putty and sanding it should look as good as new.

[jeff1101]

As everyone knows the HL panther has the engine deck lifting hooks the wrong way around. (Why they continue to attach it this way I have no idea). I decided to try to pry them off and affix them to the correct orientation. Well at this point my luck ran out.



Turns out some of the hooks were easy to remove while for others the attachment point were broken due to the original assemblers using too much glue.



Some of the broken hooks after removal.



The hooks on the top part next to the turret have their attachments hidden behind the turret traverse assembly. Had to remove the assembly to gain access to it.



I then tried to push the hooks outward using the pin where they are attached on the other side.



Still no luck.




At this point I have to ask, is it better to just sand the bottoms of the broken hook flat and reattach to the deck with plastic cement? Are they ever going to be as strong as the original?

[jeff1101]

That concludes my post for today. My next task is applying weld lines to the hull. I plan on using this. I have worked with this product before (for a DIY at home) and find the material pliable like clay and its nice since it has a long cure time. However I don't know if its going to be usable for plastic. I plan to test it in one small portion of the tank and see how it goes.

[littletankman]

Its starting mate well done keep those pics coming. On my Panther A build I removed the end caps of the barrel cleaning rod tube , replace the end handles and attached a chain .

Andy

[jeff1101]

Update: 03/02/2012

OK using off the shelf putty for weld seams was a disaster. The putty wouldn't stick to the smooth plastic and it was hardening in just 15 minutes that I was always in a hurry to form the weld beads once I rolled it up and placed it on the spot where I wanted to. Hurried work and non sticking putty after several hours I finally gave up. Below is the result of hours of effort and a lot of wasted putty.



I then decided to just use the putty for some detail parts I wanted to add to the commander's cupola. Again it was hard work as the putty kept sticking to the craft knife so that cutting it cleanly was hard. After several hours I was able to at least make this:



After hardening, I attached it to the cupola.

[jeff1101]

With the weld seams at a dead end. I concentrated my efforts on other stuff.

Here is the muzzle brake finally dry, crack mended and sanded smooth.



I also reattached the engine deck lifting hooks. They are now in the correct orientation.