(sound on)
Despite the enormous temptation to the contrary, I was fairly disciplined in picking up merch.
As originally planned, I ordered the Heng Long 7.1 electronics, and possibly the most crucial item for the model – the tactical bucket.
I chose to use the original Taigen speaker from my Tiger instead of opting for a Heng Long dual speaker. Reason being that I put the latter in my Tiger when I upgraded it to HL 7.1, and while its good its only a very minor improvement over the standard Taigen speaker. Its also quite long and awkward to fit into the hull. So I’ve saved myself some cash and some significant effort.
I do however plan to install the same HL CNC smoke generator that I used in my Tiger, but its out of stock at the moment. It can be a bit awkward to install into the hull owing to the cylindrical motor but it works brilliantly and is hands down the best smoker I’ve had experience with.
Luckily the speaker is a straight plug and play into the HL board but as expected I had to re-solder the connections for the headlight, hull machine gun, and turret rotation motor.
The side of the right hand gearbox was the perfect position to mount the power switch so it would be accessible from the radio operator’s hatch. After trying various methods of securing the switch to the gearbox I ended up hot gluing it into place. Not my most presentable work admittedly but it works perfectly and seems to be holding in place without issue. Time will tell if it stays this way.
Without the upper hull elements plugged in, this is how the inside of the Panther is looking. Once I have the smoke generator my plan is to install the motor in a transverse position in the gap between the gearboxes and the MFU/battery with the heater and output tucked in behind the speaker/battery. I’m using the old battery from the Tiger from the time being, I’ll replace it with a new one once the model is finished.
This internal layout also allows for another quality of life feature where I have the option to charge the battery without having to open up the tank and remove it. I know this will raise some eyebrows but I use Ni-Mh as they’re inexpensive, safe and I don’t require the advantages other battery types offer.
While still incomplete, the tank is now “alive” and can move fully under its own power. Apologies for the vertical video, but holding a phone and filming and driving the tank at the same time is quite tricky.
The Tactical Bucket has been weathered using burnishing fluid and hooked onto the back of the tank. Quite realistic too.
As it happens the real Panther above is also a British Panther – one of a number of examples built under British supervision once the war ended for testing and evaluation purposes.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find the drivetrain hasn’t required much in the way of running in and the tank drives nice and smoothly. The only thing I’m having to periodically adjust is the track tension, as the tracks have stretched substantially since being installed, and it seems running the tank accelerates this affect. I may end up taking out the extra link I put in, which is crazy seeing as I had to put those links in because the tracks were so tight I couldn’t fasten them together. In contrast the Tiger needed a lot more running in and adjustment, but once the track tension was set I’ve barely had to touch it since.
I’m currently painting the end caps to go on the sprockets, but the main focus after that is the main gun and turret internals. There’s a fair few bits to get to install into the turret; servo recoil system, gun smoke system, and a slip ring. I’m also thinking about installing the hardware for the IR battle system. I’ve got no one to battle against and there’s no clubs or events anywhere near me, but I’ve figured it best to install it now before it’s finished rather than have to open it all up again in the future if things change.
Bucket of the Month!
