RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Epic this is
Keep pushing mate.

Hi,

Here is the gun ! It's a huge 8.8cm Pak 43/1 (L/71). Quite impressive to see from breach to muzzle. It's only now that I fully realize that this is a King Tiger gun mounted on a Panzer IV chassis. I tell you this is not a 7.5cm...

All the larger parts have been assembled with the remaining gun parts next to it. It's far from over. But it is now easier to see what parts are provided, and which ones are not. In any cases, I think it is beautiful, all sins forgiven.
This gun is muzzle heavy. It will definitely need some kind of elevation mechanism to help keep it in place. The gun is heavy but fragile and I am not too sure how the shock recoil effect of the gears to the tracks will have on it when firing.
Many small parts will need to be scratch built because some like the ones to which the hand wheels are attached are not accurate.
It will be tricky, but I have to make this resin part look like the one on the picture provided by Nuts & Bolts. Great book, highly recommended.
The connecting part to the breech actuating mechanism is missing.
It should look like this, easy to build. Picture is from Nuts and Bolts.
The gun shield will be mounted on the shield support. However, various brackets and rods are missing and will need to be scratch built.

Louis it looks very nice. how does the turret rotation and elevation connect to the gun? It looks like you might even be able to complete the gun with a recoil servo setup.

I don't want to get ahead of myself the build is quite interesting and I've special interest in it as I'm a big nashorn fan ( as you might have guessed)

Just looks very good and I was curious about how or if it will be articulated

[quote="c.rainford73"]Louis it looks very nice. how does the turret rotation and elevation connect to the gun? It looks like you might even be able to complete the gun with a recoil servo setup.

Hi Carl, I have not figured out the elevation yet. I have in mind a push rod from the HL gun elevation unit through the axle of the rotation base and attached to the gun cradle. Nothing must show, it's important to me. Juckenburg really created it as a static gun. I think it would require a new metal frame and sliding parts to make it recoil with a life expectancy above 5 shots...

Louis

Even as a static gun it will be quite impressive so with the addition of your rotation and elevation it will be a stunning piece! I am following along with great interest Mr Louis

Hi Louis, gun assembly is going great. The gun is definitely muzzle heavy, with my build and the kits I had to reinforce the barrel with brass tube to ensure there was no sag, and I had to make the dampers fully functional to help carry the weight.

Great build, following along.
Alwyn

Hi,

Here is the gun elevation. It is composed of the Heng Long gun elevation unit coming with the Panzer IV turret and some Mecano stuff that I used to create a frame to which a push rod is connected to at the tip of the lever.

This is the gun elevation unit with mecano bars screwed to the elevation unit. Use of Mecano parts allow for various concepts to be realized and tested fast without too much effort, and with a lot of fun.
Then a flexible plastic push rod is installed under the gun, providing enough movement for realistic elevation. I tried various rods. I found that these plastic ones offer enough solidity to keep the gun strait when running, while still being flexible enough to bend a bit when pushing gun up, down and turning. It is also very solid.
Rod goes through the empty shaft of the gun rotation system.
The elevation unit will be installed just under the rotation unit shown here.
Elevation unit is temporary placed for testing. The engine forces the lever to go down where the rod is installed, pulling the rod towards the bottom and making the gun go up. Gravity is what makes the gun go down by default. There is absolutely no support in the gun dampers, they are completely loose. The fine resin parts holding the dampers have absolutely no strength in them to be of any use. In any cases, the push rod is doing all the work of keeping the gun strait at any time. It is very crowded inside the hull, no room for anything else. The battery fits in barely, its a relief.
Now testing, gun going down.
Going up.
Going left. The flexible plastic rod can twist, no problem.
And right.
There you go, gun elevation unit done, cost $0. Nothing is sticking out or showing in the gun compartment, which was a must to me because I want the interior to be a showcase for my collection too. Ok, this will not win a German engineering or aiming contest but it is good enough for me. It really brings life to the model. I wish I could have recoil but I prefer to have a perfectly accurate gun to look at. Maybe one day...This tank will never be in a dog fight anyway. Like the real ones, I will make sure it stays in the back, run slowly and carefully, hiding and avoiding any enemy tanks. It will shoot and destroy them from far away...

Now, I can focus on completing the gun and interior. The elevation unit was removed and it will be reinstalled at final assembly.

Regards, Louis

Excellent and innovative work louis! In the UK we have a saying about making a silk purse out of a sows ear - I think this build definitely qualifies for the gold silk purse award.

Great job
Alwyn

A lovely build, I thrive on detail, For UK members of the Forum I know of two good sources for Compressible "Small" springs,----
http://www.ukbolt.co.uk
And for really small springs ----
http://www.prime-miniatures.co.uk
Shaun.

Spectacular work Louis, that's an ingenious solution for the elevation and traverse. Some very clever reuse of the Meccano and Heng Long bits!