HL Stug III

[jeff1101]

About the gearbox, saw an exact same one in Aliexpress. Bought from this site before (not this gearbox though)

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Heng-Lon ... 30331.html

Looks good, aside from the anodized finish, all the gear shafts are mounted on bearings. Also all the gears (except the final gear which is in brass) are made of steel.

[mike1268]

I got the gear box's from Tankarmy.com. I ordered a load of other parts at the same time. $30 shipping, $66 for the gears. £48 to the uk aprox. I ordered mine with a load of other parts, tracks etc and saved on the postage. its a very nice, smooth drive.
http://tankarmy.com/heng-long-tank/prod ... ger-p-1565

[mike1268]

I've hit the point where a proper test run was need before I could progress. I put the metal tracks on and screwed the top back on. First problem I noticed is that even though I glued the cables to the top that go over the gearbox's, they are still too close to the gears, so covers will need ro be made to go over the gears. There its very little room between the top of the gearbox and the top shell, less then 5mm. This small gap also caused a second problem with the traverse, the metal plate I made is fouling on the gearbox wall. I'm going to shape the plate better so it doesnt his this. Then I had an issue with the idle wheel being misaligned, causing the track to try and jump out, you can see this in the picture below. This was caused mainly by the molded plastic lump that the adjuster arm screws in to. The lump was angled high at the back and low at the front. I have filed this level and put a metal washer in to make the room up. Seems to have done the trick.

[jarndice]

MIKE this is a lovely build
BUT, BUT
of course there is always something else to do,
Whatever Tank I build I always make a bulkhead to fit between the Gearboxes and the electrics,
A little bit of plastic channel (if you have a Panzer 111/4 radio stowage channel that is ideal) Super glued to the side of the Hull each side immediately behind the Gearboxes,
A piece of 2mm Plasticard sheet with a hole in the centre to thread the Gearbox cables through.
Cut the Plasticard so it fits right across the Hull and slides into the channel on both sides (DO NOT GLUE THE BULKHEAD IN PLACE)
You now have a bulkhead that will keep oil/grease away from the Electrics and it really is easy to do, and has the advantage of sliding in or out of place when you need access, it also adds rigidity to the Hull.
This is a modification that can be carried out on just about any Tank. shaun

[mike1268]

Do you have a pic of this mod? Everything I've done so far has just been off the top of my head. just discovering a few flaws

[HERMAN BIX]

For a cover on mine I use the lid off a chinese food container, trim the edge off, cyt it to suit the width of the hull and then bend it over the gear sets until the front upper hull retaining boss is met. Drill a clearance hole so the front of the cover goes over and is retained by the front hull boss & thats it.
Be sure to create some form of lubrication access though, a hatch, and a couple of small holes on the cover that you can drip lube into through the open hatch.
On the Stug these would be the brake/trans hatches.
Sorry its a bit late

[mike1268]

Just about done for my first tank. Just want to add some shrubs and branchs. Panzer III or tiger 1 next

[PainlessWolf]

Mike,
It's coming along really well! Super paint and weathering! Any plans to add stowage or tow cables? Following along.
regards,
Painless

[mike1268]

Not adding stowage, but I will order cables up when I place my panzer III parts order. Just ordered the amp for the ibu2. Its really tight for room now, hopefully I can find space. Because there are no open grilles on the top of the tank, the speakers get muffled a bit, so I'm hoping to resolve it with volume

[edpanzer]

Can't wait to see this mike great job