The exhaust smoker is still unavailable for another 4 to 5 weeks, so in the meantime my Panther exhaust remains inactive. I have ordered the barrel flash and smoke system along with a slip ring and they should arrive in a week or so. I’m not sure if the Heng Long slip ring is compatible with the Taigen turret ring (it is surprisingly hard to find this information), but the convenience of being able to connect/disconnect the upper hull and turret electronics via a single connection means its going into the tank regardless.
While I don’t have any places or opponents to IR battle now or for the foreseeable future, I figured as I’m shoving a load of extra bits into the turret that I’ll add the capability on the off chance the situation changes.
I’ve acquired an infra red emitter bulb, the HL IR apple and a commander figure. The bulb will replace the bulb currently installed into the gunner sight. I suspect this might be an IR bulb already but I have no idea if the bulbs are compatible (I know the battle systems aren’t) so for the sake of £1.70 I’m not leaving it to chance.
The opening that originally housed the cutoff switch for the BB gun is just the right size for the apple to plug into, so that’s where the plug will be going, and I’ll attach a magnet to the inside of the hull roof for it to attach to. The opening to load BBs will be used to refill the barrel smoker.
Lastly is a commander figure, and I’ve opted for British Commonwealth. Looking mildly fed up with everything while he drinks a mug of a tea, I felt he was rather relatable.
He’s designed for Allied armour that didn’t have that great big rail on top of the cupola, so I had to raise him a bit. 25mm Warhammer bases are the perfect size to fit snugly inside the cupola, so I glued two together and stuck him on the top.
I also had to raise his arms up more than the model was designed for, so I’ll need to fill in the gaps appropriately. Overall I’m quite happy with how he’s turned out, and I’m looking forward to painting him.
