HL panzer iv turret fun

[yagen]

Hi panzer iv addicts,

am I the only one with the HL panzer iv turret cupola mounted the WRONG WAY round?

On my second hand panzer iv as well as the newly bought metal turret the commanders cupola was mounted back to front. I didn't recognize it at first sight. After a while I began wondering what the small pointer like piece in front of the cupola might be and what purpose it solves as there was no ooening in the cupola ligning up to this part.
Finally found out that this is the emergency sight and that there should be a viewing port looking straight ahead.
After applying a sharp knife to the glued areas, some carefully masured force and a lot of swearing I managed to get the cupola cut loose from its mount (which is actually just a spin mount) and replace it correctly.

This is how it should NOT look like

CupolaWrong.jpg

Now the commander can actually see where he's going

CupolaCorrect.jpg

Have a nice time, kind regards to everyone,

Reinhard

[Tiger6]

The Sherman cupola could rotate, where as the one on the HL panzer IV has always been fitted back to front for some bizzare reason.

[Son of a gun-ner]

And that turret bin on the Pz is always too high in respect to the top of the turret.

[jarndice]

The latest Taigen PZ4 Turret has the Turret box at the correct hight but because a quarter of the Gun is in the Turret box it is very difficult to fix the earlier Turret boxes,
The other significant fault with the Heng Long and Taigen PZ4s is the slope down the Engine bay or should I say the lack of a slope down the engine bay,
It should be about 5 degrees as per the Tamiya PZ4 which by the way also has the Turret box at the correct hight,
Don't start me off on the Taigen Panzer 4 Metal Hull both the gearbox output shaft cover and the rear idler housing are a disaster and require the use of a dremel on the rear idler housing,
The Gearbox output shaft cover stops you from fitting a Gearbox Output shaft bearing in the usual way,
There is an alternative It should be somewhere on the Forum.

[yagen]

<snip>
Don't start me off on the Taigen Panzer 4 Metal Hull both the gearbox output shaft cover and the rear idler housing are a disaster and require the use of a dremel on the rear idler housing,
The Gearbox output shaft cover stops you from fitting a Gearbox Output shaft bearing in the usual way,
There is an alternative It should be somewhere on the Forum.

I havn't tried the rear idler mounts yet. As for the output shaft covers I agree. They can be a pain in the ass (sorry...). However, I got rid of them in just about two minutes.

This is the problematic cover

TaigenDriveshaftPort.jpg

I use a special drill (according to leo it's called subland twist drill, or 'stufenbohrer' in german)
BEWARE: This drill is made for drilling steel! Used on a soft material like zinc is risky. I use a high rpm and only touch the drilling surface very gentle and for only a short time, pulling it back as soon as it starts to byte. Failing to do so can lead to the drill byting hard in the surface severely damaging the part. So please, use at your own risk, I warned you.

SublandTwistDrill.jpg

When nothing goes completely wrong, the result looks like this. Some finishing with a dremel and the bearing can be mounted.

TaigenDriveshaftPortNoFlange.jpg

Oh, now I see wht you mean with the output shaft covers.
The bearings must be embedded in the gearbox dummies to fit the drive sprockets. So it's back to the workshop

Can you perhaps give me hint how to fix the rear idler mounts? Feeling a bit lost at the moment. Thanks.

So long, regards,
Reinhard

[jarndice]

Reinhard If you go to the search box you should be able to find help.

[yagen]

Hi Jarndice,

thank you very much for your help.

Regards,
Reinhard

[43rdRecceReg]

I havn't tried the rear idler mounts yet. As for the output shaft covers I agree. They can be a pain in the ass (sorry...). However, I got rid of them in just about two minutes.


"...I use a special drill (according to leo it's called subland twist drill, or 'stufenbohrer' in german)
BEWARE: This drill is made for drilling steel! Used on a soft material like zinc is risky. I use a high rpm and only touch the drilling surface very gentle and for only a short time, pulling it back as soon as it starts to byte. Failing to do so can lead to the drill byting hard in the surface severely damaging the part. So please, use at your own risk, I warned you...."
Reinhard

Hi, Reinhard
I've not had any experience of working on the latest Taigen cast version of the Pz IV lower hull. On the Asiatam alloy version of the lower hull, the gearbox output shaft covers are separate from the body, and with a careful bit of honing, it's possible to insert the shaft support bearings into the covers as here (scroll down the page)
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=20703&hilit=Asiata ... metal+hull
'Arnie DK' did quite a bit of work on your version of the Pz IV, so do check out his threads.

[yagen]

Hi 43rdRecceReg,

I have seen and read this post already before starting work on my hull. Unfortunately, on the heng long hull the output shaft covers and gearbox dummies are part of the hull
Anyway, thanks for your information. I appreciate any help I can get.

Regards,
Reinhard