ska2d2's Panzer III Build(II)

[dgsselkirk]

Hi Ska2d2!

You're more than welcome! Funny, Years ago I did 1/35th in Tunisia and all I did was the base coat, pastel the lighter areas and used a lead pencil for the wear areas. It looked quite nice and really was one of the best I ever did. I wanted mine to look like it had been off the boat maybe a month without too much wear and tear... Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Dean

[philipat]

Ska,

I'll look at the alignment again for mine. I bought the kit that included metal wheels, brass gears, etc. So, they're fitted. I didn't notice an alignment problem on mine. But, I did have problem with the road wheels not turning because the bushing and the axle ground together...might have been sand in there. So, I pulled them off and sanded the axles and bushings lightly to smooth them out. You also have to be careful not to bind the road wheels by pushing the axle too far in. That may also affect the alignment.

One thing I noticed is that the looser the tracks, the more the road wheels popped off. Your tank right now looks borderline for being a little too loose and will lose more of the outer road wheels. Looking at all of the war photos, the Pz III and IV seemed to use fairly tight tracks.

I've ordered some ball bearings for the road wheels to see if I can ensure smooth rolling. I'll have to remove the brass bushings and slightly enlarge the holes, but it should help.

Check my RCU thread for links to the YouTube videos of mine running. There different "slacks" in the tracks to see how it looks and does.

[jeff1101]

Sorry about that, My bad but your right Panzer III do have pretty tight track tension on them.

[ska2d2]

Hi all! Its been while but as I have some time on my hands I thought I would try and finish this project. First job is to remove the stock storage bin and replace it with a proportionally more accurate after market offering.

I've also got the Taigen recoil unit and turned barrel to install.

Electronics are not a strength of mine so hopefully once the cosmetics are done I can get it all working again!
My apologies for all the previous shots of the build as 'Photobucket' have decided they are their property. If anyone knows how I can fix this I would be interested.

[c.rainford73]

Hello and welcome back this is an impressive build and I'm happy to see it again!

[jarndice]

Welcome back
I tried to fit aftermarket turret bins on my Panzer 4s, but in the end I gave up,
The problem is that both Heng Long and Taigen did not have enough space in the turret for the motor driving the elevation of the main gun,
The only space for it was in the turret bin hence the inaccurate hump,
Taigen have now seen sense and they have remodeled the turret and instead of a motor they have fitted a much more compact servo which fits snugly in the turret meaning that the bin on the latest Tanks are both empty and accurate,
This is what Taigen have done to the Panzer 4,
I do not know if the Taigen Panzer 111 has been modified yet but the total overhaul of the PZ4s turret has produced something that rivals Tamiya's own PZ4 in detail and accuracy and I never thought I would say that

[ska2d2]

Hi Jarndice! And thanks. I'm installing the recoil unit in my Panzer III. The over sized storage was to allow for the elevation motor. I hope i'm right in saying the recoil unit has the elevation mechanism incorporated. If this isn't the case, honestly, as long as the turret turns and the gun recoils i'm not really bothered. I guess i'm looking to build a model that looks right even if all the functions don't work.

[Wildboar44]

SKA's IN THE HOUSE !

240627.jpg (80.8 KiB) Viewed 2867 times

[ska2d2]

Thanks Wildboar44

[ska2d2]

Allo,allo! Here's wishing everyone a fine Sunday.
Back to the action. Some shots start to finish of removing and repairing the rear of the turret with plasticard. Cut off the storage bin from the top and bottom half of the turret.

TUR2.jpg (89.56 KiB) Viewed 2808 times

I left the tab on the bottom half to act as a former for the plasticard repair.

TUR5.jpg (91.52 KiB) Viewed 2808 times

Cleaned up.

TUR6.jpg (72.66 KiB) Viewed 2808 times

With plasticard attached. The tab isn't bonded so the two halves of the turret remain separate.

TUR7.jpg (77.17 KiB) Viewed 2808 times

Pistol ports reattached.

TUR8.jpg (63.37 KiB) Viewed 2808 times