Metal Origins SdKfz 234/2 Puma

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning again,
If it works, it works! Following along.
regards,
Painless

[silversurfer1947]

Is there anyone out there with good knowledge of the Puma, please? According to the technical spec on Wikipedia, it was equipped with an MG34 as secondary armament. The Elmod fusion board has machine gun sounds. However, there is nothing in the kit and no real indication of how or where it was mounted. Where did it go?

[tomhugill]

The 232 definitely did.



I found this which looks like an mg, there's a hole on the other side which I assume is for the sights.

[silversurfer1947]

Thanks Tom, I shall have a closer look now I know where.

EDIT.
It's obvious now I know where. It was just a hole in the mantlet when I first saw it.

[silversurfer1947]

I'm working on the upper hull now, but to give an impression of how it's looking, I just put the upper in place and propped up the wheels against it.

20170404_125310.jpg (25.82 KiB) Viewed 4096 times

[Ad Lav]

Hubba hubba.

Like that!

[silversurfer1947]

I got fed up with seeing the chassis just sat there so I have fitted the wheels.

20170404_172803.jpg (48.75 KiB) Viewed 4083 times

As I suspected, I will have to adjust the steering arms as, despite my best efforts and measuring each one before fitting, the wheels do not line up. More seriously, what you can not see is that there are only 7 wheels fitted. The stub axles have two flats machined on them to correspond with the moulding on the wheel. At least, I should say 7 of the stub axle have flats machined on them. One is completely round. Very poor quality control. There are only 8 of them - you would have thought it would be easy to check when they were packed. I have overcome previous problems but that one is beyond me. I shall have to refer that back to Dominique in the hope that he can provide a replacement. I am still not convinced that the steering is correct, but ideally I need all 8 wheels correctly fitted first.

[wibblywobbly]

Despite your woes, this is going to be an impressive bit of kit once it is all done. The sheer weight of the chassis is going make it ride over terrain very realistically, I can't wait to see it running.

[silversurfer1947]

So far, I have done everything in the order given, but while I play around with the steering and wait for the stub axle problem to be resolved, I thought I'd have a go at the body work. All the vision slots are fitted and all open and close.

20170405_102856.jpg (30.93 KiB) Viewed 4060 times

20170405_102910.jpg (27.73 KiB) Viewed 4060 times

As a consequence of assembling what you see, I made an interesting discovery, which will be a bit of a nuisance when it's finished. With the mudguards in place you can not fit the body to the chassis because of the inward slope. That means that each time you need to remove the body, you will first have to remove both mudguards.

[silversurfer1947]

I was so pleased with myself when I found the terminals that would fit the motor. I soldered them on to the motor leads and then went to fit the motor. First of all I had to remove the steering servo, then had to refit the plastic motor mount after rotating the motor 180 otherwise the motor would have shorted out on the chassis. got the motor in place and then found there was not enough room between to motor and the chassis to get the positive lead connected. I guess I will have to solder that lead directly on to the motor.

Overall, there is not a lot of room to fit all the necessary electrics. I am now wondering where I shall find space for the Elmod board! The only RC gear shown in the instructions comprises a receiver and an ESC.