RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

I was experimenting with some of my parts yesterday, and trying to find a solvent that would stick them together well, (I don't know what kind of plastic Hooben uses, but it's not straight styrene). I used scraps of the parts tree; glued them and clamped them together overnight.
I first tried my favorite, which is Tenax 7R, but the bond was weak after curing and could be separated fairly easily. (Incidentally, they quit making this solvent quite some time ago, but after researching it, I learned that dichloromethane is the same stuff. I bought a couple of 4 oz. cans of it, and use them to refill the Tenax bottle when it runs out. The advisory lists the hazards as everything from birth defects to cancer, so only use it in a well-ventilated area, as I do).
Next I tried Plastruct Bondene, which says it's for styrene and ABS. That did bond them stronger than the Tenax, but the parts could still be pulled apart without a lot of effort.
Last, I tried Plastruct Plastic Weld, which says it's for multiple types of plastic. Although I've never had much luck with this stuff on other models, it really seems to permanently bond the Hooben plastic very well, and I plan to use it for the kit.

I tried Tamiya Extra Thin Cement first and then tried CA glue. Both didn't bond at all. The surface was probably too smooth for the CA. Then I tried Tamiya ABS Cement, which did the trick. I did try to abuse the bonded parts, but it held up pretty good.

In hopes that it won't offend anybody, I'd like to share what I have learned, (or, THINK I have learned), about these vehicles. They completed somewhere between 5 and 10 of them, and all of them had 100mm frontal armor; a machine gun and driver's visor like on a typical Tiger I; the lower turret side vision ports; and the turret roof shown in your lower color drawing, (except for the one that was sent to their proving grounds in 1942, which had a raised turret roof like in the first drawing and this kit). When the Henschel design for the Tiger was selected over the Porsche design, the completed vehicles (except for the one at the proving grounds) were either scrapped or converted into something else. I have read that three were converted into Bergetiger (P), and then nobody seems to agree on anything else, (like maybe they built three Rammtigers, but no one has seen a genuine photo of one, other than a wooden mockup).
Anyway, the one at the proving grounds started off with the stock front armor. At some point it was modified with zimmerit; an extra 100mm plate was added to the front; a square-shaped armor piece was added to the machine gun; a small flap was added to the driver's vision port; and the turret was modified to include a side escape hatch. I think I remember something about the driver's periscopes being modified from stock to something different, but can't remember if it was the number of them or something else.
So as far as the color drawings go; the first one is correct for this kit, and the other four views show the earlier vehicles, which never got zimmerit or saw combat. Both drawings also show the turret side vision port in the later (higher) position. They should be about the same height as the gun pivot.
I know there are a bunch of things I DON'T know about this vehicle; but I'm pretty confident with the above info.

In case somebody didn't say this, I think they started with zimmerit roughly around or right after Kursk, and stopped applying it in October-November 1944.

By the way your design skills are astounding. Beyond skilled.

I have those zim stamps from Imperial, they work great!
That and aves epoxy sculpt are my favorite method


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Something interesting I found out today. On Hooben's Elefant kit, a lot of people don't like the stock gearboxes. These have silver frames and the first gear that the motor contacts is white. Here is a thread on a different forum that shows how you can swap out gears from a Tamiya Pershing to fit this Elefant gearbox. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-tank ... efant.html
Anyway, as I was looking at the Elefant, I realized that Hooben has changed the gearboxes to ones with black frames and all metal gears. That earlier gearbox has a 5mm shaft that you attach a larger brass shaft onto that fits the sprockets. These new gearboxes have larger final drive shafts that already fit the sprockets. In addition, they now include a metal plate that you screw into the hull, and both gearboxes are screwed into that; making for a very rigid mounting. On the Elefant, you just pass screws through the plastic hull and into each gearbox. I would assume that this new gearbox setup will also be used on new Elefant kits, as it is much better than the old one. I hope so, anyway.

You are correct on the gearboxes. I also own the Elefant and those didn't even have bearings or bushes. Maybe a model before the ones you mentioned? (Will try to confirm tomorrow) So the ones I got with the Tiger (P) are a lot better compared to those. Plan is to eventually upgrade both the Elefant and Tiger (P) with the DKLM PDSGBs. Stock plastic tracks aren't working great either, as they are far to stiff. So these will also be replaced with metal tracks (Hooben or Asiatam. Haven't decided yet) on both models.

Yeah, my Elefant was purchased in 2013, so it's an older one. I wrote to Carson at DKLM and asked if they make a PDSGB to fit the Elefant. He told me that they are considering it, but haven't decided yet. I have the Kenny Kong metal tracks, because I have read that the Asiatam ones fit the Imai Elefant, but not the Hooben.

I would also like to use bearings in the idler wheels and road wheels. I believe the idler bearings need to be 5mm ID x 9mm OD x 6mm long. The roadwheel bearings are the same ID and OD, but are a little shorter. I have not been able to find 5mm x 9mm unflanged bearings cheaper than these 3mm long ones: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-5-x-9-x- ... 1438.l2649 They are sold in sets of 10 and you need three sets for all the wheels. Although using two 3mm long bearings will be a little too long for the roadwheel, I am hoping that I can gently ream out the depth of the plastic enough to fit the bearings in. But, there is not much thickness of plastic there.

These gearboxes came with my Elefant:





They look different from the ones on RCU....?

I asked Carson last year about the PDSGB and he said that he was too busy at the time with the release of the Okmo T28/95. As for tracks, the standard Asiatam tracks won't fit the Hooben Idler and Sprocket. (https://www.asiatam.de/product_info.php ... 1--16.html) But after a bit further digging I discovered they also offer their tracks with their own Sprockets and Idlers. (https://www.asiatam.de/product_info.php ... -1-16.html) Maybe they'll fit

As for bearings, I don't think you can ream out the depth reliably. Seeing as the plastic is really thin. As for me, I won't be running them long enough to really want to swap the bushes. They're going to be shelf queens for now. In the future I might look at the Asiatam running gear though. (https://www.asiatam.de/product_info.php ... -1-16.html)

Good morning,
I was going to go with the stock gearboxes and tracks on my Elefant since they seem to be the upgraded ones that Mike mentions. If, however, Asiatam is offering metal tracks with corresponding sprockets and idlers, those would be well worth a look-see.
regards,
Painless