RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hey Painless.. if those shackles ever get on your nerves... you know where you can send them ...like the tail light lens cover.... You gonna remove any of the armor plates?.......... perhaps reorient some of the bolts on those plates if you keep them on ?


ALPHA

Alpha,
Taigen included a decent set of the plastic shackles if you want them. They are thick and nicely detailed and painted in the same green as the tank. They are the press fit kind. Your KV-2 already has some sweet hand made shackles so these must be for some other Soviet armor, eh? Comrade? I'm keeping the armor plates. I like their appearance ) I can see the Wehrmacht Depot guys welding extra armor onto their 'Captures' from wrecked KV-1's I might do the bolt orientation gig. Not sure. Early days yet. *chuckles* It sure is nice to work on and have fun with this big ol' Beauty of a tank.
regards,
Painless

PainlessWolf wrote:Alpha,
Taigen included a decent set of the plastic shackles if you want them. They are thick and nicely detailed and painted in the same green as the tank. They are the press fit kind. Your KV-2 already has some sweet hand made shackles so these must be for some other Soviet armor, eh? Comrade? I'm keeping the armor plates. I like their appearance ) I can see the Wehrmacht Depot guys welding extra armor onto their 'Captures' from wrecked KV-1's I might do the bolt orientation gig. Not sure. Early days yet. *chuckles* It sure is nice to work on and have fun with this big ol' Beauty of a tank.
regards,
Painless

Thanks Painless... actually I still have the plastic shackles that Heng Long provided.... the two things I wanted to order when I did my Kv was those metal ones and the tensioner ...Welsh had them listed...but "to date" do not have them in stock...not sure why they even list them...it's like a tease lol...but I was just kidding... my hand mades have grown on me .. but seeing those metal versions on your tank takes me back to that time when I wanted those

The Kv has a lot of possibilities ...going the captured route opens the door even more IMO... as you never know what a crew may or may not have done...I think the most enjoyable part will be the paint ..since there is nothing really specific

Now just a reminder.... those engine louvers ... leave them alone lol...opening them up was a big mistake when I did mine... you lose so much "area" not to mention you would have to glue them closed again anyway... not sure if Taigen gave you more space than the Heng long...but when I opened mine up... I had to just leave the louvers off because putting in positionable ones were just not possible

Have a good one Painless

ALPHA

PS...were you able to locate those "lift rings"

Watching with admiration! I like the double torsion bar method. I had to do similar stiffening on my t55 as the back sat right down on the move; it looked like a speed boat in the long grass! You'll also find stiffening the "corners" will help your tracks stay on!

Its looking good. I must admit, I'm tempted to get one. Not into Soviet tanks but it looks like a beast.

Interesting ... Knock on wood... I've had no problems with my Heng Long...after reading all the problems people have with this so called torsion style set ups in these RC tanks... I'm tending to stay away from anything that does have torsion bars... they might seem more deluxe...but apparently are rather deficient performance wise..Even Edwin's mod was more of a Heng Long style of suspension ... Interesting ...very Interesting

Have a great week Gentlemen


ALPHA

To be fair there's nothing wrong with torsion bars, it's no different to the spring HL use: if they're too soft for your unsprung weight you will have issues. The only difference is the HL springs can be clocked or replaced more cheaply and easily. My 9kg sturm is fine on the taigen torsion bar chassis. Unfortunately the kv-1 metal chassis got it wrong (for the kv-2 turret any way).

Good morning Alpha,
Good on the shackles then. Nice thing about the KV type plastic shackles is that they are plenty thick enough to cut off the faux bolt and nut and drill the shackle out for real ones. ;o) I remember the trouble that you had with the engine louvers on the KV-2 and had already decided to leave mine alone. ( The smoker mounts under the deck so opening up the louvers would pose a position problem right off of the bat ) The 'mesh' screen covers pop off so I am still deciding whether to replace those with metal ones or drill out the mesh on the stock ones or leave them alone as well and just paint them up nice. I think they would be bonzer dust catchers if I open them up or use mesh so it's 'a thought and think about it' thing still.
regards,
Painless

Tom,
Thanks for the watch! I hear you on the suspension. I don't mind a little rock to a tank for realism's sake but it can go too far. I am glad to hear from you that the stock torsion bars are working on your Sturm Tiger. I have a Taigen Tiger 1 to build later this year that uses the Asiatam torsion bars as well. I think like you that Taigen just woefully underestimated the weight of the KV-1 in metal. The lower hull is thick metal with an equally thick plastic mold over it for detail only on the sides. The bow and rear bulkhead are also solid metal castings along with all of the suspension arms, road wheels, sprockets, etc., it is just _heavy_ ! ;o) Looking forward to you working on yours.
regards,
Painless

Bilpe, Good Morning,
I can definitely recommend the Taigen KV-1 as either the tank it comes as or as a base to build a KV-2 with. I know that you had problems with flex on your Tiger 1 but seriously, there is no 'give' to this tank. You will need to pay attention to the suspension in the rear but even that is only because the tank is so well and solidly built. It is really is a 'Beast'
regards,
Painless