RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi,

Here is my new build to keep me busy for a while. It is a Ludwig base kit for which I have been slowly buying mechanical and detail parts for the past 2 years. I am a bit nervous launching it because its a big and complex model, and it has a lot of unknown that I will have to figure out along the way.

So, here is the planned new beast, a Daimler-Benz (now Rheinmetall MAN) 6x6 TPz-1 A8 Transportpanzer Fuchs (Fox) of the modern German Bundeswehr. I always liked the modern and powerful look of the Fuchs, it has a top speed of 80km/h. It started production in 1979 and is still currently in use. The version I am planning to build is the modernized A8A3A1 version with a FLW200 remote weapon station. It looks like a lunar vehicle with extra armor and external arrangement. The FLW200 station will be equipped with a GMW 40mm automatic grenade launcher, with turret rotation, flash and sound.
The Ludwig base kit contains no less than 12 polystyrol plates of pre-shaped parts, with limited instructions provided by some pictures on the website. It is left to the builder to ponder his options and figure out all the mechanical and electronics arrangement.
AFV-Modelbau has created quite a few metal and resin parts for this model. Over time, I have purchased the most important ones that can be used with the A8 version, it is a significant investment.
I have assembled a lot of mechanical parts for potential use on the build. I mean; motors, gearbox, axels, suspension parts, drive shafts, shock absorbers on many sizes, metal and plastic, etc. I need to reduce the cost of this build so I am planning to use the least expensive method possible to power it. I still do not know how I will make it work but it definitely needs power on its 6 wheels, and steering on its first 2 shafts.This will be interesting and something I have not done before.
Tankograd provides a few books on the TPz-1 and I purchased two of them, mainly for psychological support... The German webside http://www.panzer-modell.de/ has tons of info and excellent pictures of this model so it will be the main reference when I will be at the detailing phase.
As usual on a Ludwig build, I like to be supported by a 1/35 kit that provide dimensions and positioning information on most components. This kit is of an early TPz-1 version but the core components are the same, the latest A8 is actually a rebuild of earlier version, not newly built.
Oh well, this is it. I will need encouragements. Now, let's start it before I decide to put it back on the shelves...

Regards, Louis

The new truck board would do the job, give you lights and sound, you could slave the two steering servos together, and if done right the winch option could be used to give you proportional rotation on the gun mounted on top. Over here the board, TX and speaker are $40 plus postage, you might want to check with forgebear and see if he has them and how much.

This awesome build deserves the best electronics available. Definitely looking forward to this.

Jimster wrote:This awesome build deserves the best electronics available

Hi Max-U52 and Jimster, the plan is to equip it with a Clark TK-40, in similar fashion as the V-150 build. I need the machine gun flash and sound, turret rotation and gun elevation.

With a Ludwig kit, potential pitfalls and issues are at every step. It is a basic kit so all the engineering is left to the builder to ponder options and make decisions. It is important to get the model measurements early and plan all the mechanical aspects of the build as soon as possible. If things do not go as planned and some parts needs to be ordered from China, it will take time.

Motorization; the plan is to equip this vehicle with twin motors and gearbox, it is a bit unorthodox. One set is for the front axle, the other set is for the middle and rear axles.
Axles: Like the real thing, I want the front and middle axles to be steerable. So, this situation makes the use of a standard WPL 6x6 truck arrangement impossible. I have selected these nice WPL replacement all metal axles for custom installation. Notice axle mounts for dampers and pull rods.
Suspension: I do not want the leaf springs, I was not happy with them for the V-150 build, too weak and leaf springs are not used on the TPz anyway. Therefore, I want to use shock absorbers. The TPz has the axles holding in place with pull rods, i have a bunch of various quality and size to select from.
Starting construction. It's time to put on a new blade. After part preparation, the big superglue job is better done outside.
The assembly is going well. First thing that surprises me is the size of this vehicle, its huge at 44cm (17 inches) long. It also seems much wider than a WPL truck or V-150, that could be a problem.
Now, that's the thing I wanted to see for a long time, the actual bottom of the vehicle to validate my assumptions and determine how I can make this build happen.
There is good distance between the axles so it should not be an issue linking them to their respective gearbox.
Ok, this is not funny. The vehicle is much wider that anticipated. I need the axles to be 1cm longer of both sides. The dampers will also have to go through the hull bottom instead of the sides.
I therefore had to purchase these axle shaft extensions from China. They will add the required 1cm on both sides. Although they bring some potential weakness to the axles, I'm lucky to find a solution so easily, the build can proceed. I probably need to wait a month to get them. No big deal, plenty of work to do in the meantime.
The motorization plan looks good. The rear gearbox will be lowered within its allocation space like the real vehicle. The front motor/gearbox should sit somewhere between the front and middle axle.
Now I can continue with the construction.

Regards, Louis

Hi,
Here is the bottom of the lower hull, in preparation for the installation of the mechanical parts.

I have built many Ludwig base kit. The hull is usually simple and strait but this model is specially challenging, and not really fun. There are a lot of angles. It took me a whole afternoon to put together, cursing at every part.
I dislike interlocking parts. I think It would be better if Christian drop these, maybe simply put in some markers and leave the parts flat. It would make the building easier. Big gaps need to be filled and the interlocking does not really help, its actually much of a nuisance. I had to remove some in order for the parts to fit into each other from 3 sides.
The sprues for the Tpz-1 A8 version does not have instructions or pictures on the Ludwid website. In any cases, external reference pictures must be studied anyway. So, you get a puzzle for the price. The amphibious propellers at the rear on earlier Tpz-1 versions are replaced by bins on the A8 version. It takes a while to select the proper parts from the sprues and figure out the installation.
Having no interlocking grooves on these made the construction easier.
The builder of a Ludwig kit must avoid the temptation to pour whole tubes of putty in the gaps. It would take an eternity to dry, would not be solid and would easily crack. My method to fill the gaps is to throw in residual plasticard strips with lots of superglue. It dry fast and can be sanded within a few minutes.
Then everything is sanded. Some light coat of filler is applied and sanded smooth. The front cabin section of the hull has been removed from the main hull. It contains weak parts that would be damaged by all the hull manipulations and sanding. The cabin will be put back with the hull after installation of the mechanical parts requiring a heavy hand.
The interior is cleaned up. Plasticard strips are added to most corners to solidify the hull and make it prettier.
The Ludwig hull dimensions compares extremely well with the 1/35 kit when extrapolated to 1/16. That is what I like about Ludwig kit, the hull has always been of the right dimension.
The 1/16 WPL B-16 wheels are about 2mm too small in Radius compared to the 1/35 kit. I think it still looks ok. I got a Michelin sample alternative from AFV-Model but it is 2 to 3mm too big in radius...not better. Good thing I did not order 6 of them because they are expensive. So, I will use the WPL, cheap and easily available by the dozen at a bargain price. If I could make them to bulge just a little instead of their natural inward aspect, it would be better. I am planning to add the WPL weights to the wheels, I might be able to do something that builds on them on the inside.
Next step is to install the mechanical parts; axles, suspension, pull rods, motors and drive shafts. It is a task that requires a lot of engineering, modifications, and some luck.
Regards, Louis

Good morning!
The suspension components look like a nightmare but I know that you will see them through and turn out another finely detailed and engineered beauty of a Build. ;o) Thanks for all the details in what you run into and how you surmount it. Your Build threads are an inspiration. Their Can-Do attitude certainly has helped see me through difficult steps in Builds before. ;o)
regards,
Painless

This already is looking like an impressive build, very well done.

Another very interesting project, Louis. I'll be very interested to hear your opinion on the metal axle housings. I don't know too many guys who've got them but I've talked to one guy who likes them and one who didn't. I've been thinking about getting those for my next truck project but now that I know you have them I'm going to wait until I hear what you think of them. Are they really worth all that money, or should I just stick with plastic?

Thank you Painless, Square4 and Max-U52 for your nice words and encouragements.

Max-U52 wrote: I'll be very interested to hear your opinion on the metal axle housings. I don't know too many guys who've got them but I've talked to one guy who likes them and one who didn't. I've been thinking about getting those for my next truck project but now that I know you have them I'm going to wait until I hear what you think of them. Are they really worth all that money, or should I just stick with plastic?

I have noticed and purchased at least 3 variations of brandless WPL replacement metal axles from China and they are not created equal. In my views, there are 2 good ones to buy and 1 bad one to avoid.

Of the 2 good types below, you can notice the differences between the two. The bottom one is more square and older, the other more rounded, thinner and seems newer. The feel compared to the plastic ones is no comparison, so smooth and more solid. Its quite exciting to work with these, feels like the real thing in miniature, specially with Titanium color. But they are a lot more heavy than plastic. They will bring realistic weight to the vehicle but will be hard on a light WPL single blade leaf spring suspension. I recommend a suspension, motor and drive shaft metal upgrades to go with these. The two types below can be purchased as a set of 3 (front, mid and rear) for about 60$-80$ range with free shipping and pull rod adjuster for steering servo. I think its good to try. But once you go metal, it is difficult to go back to plastic.
This is the set with the rounded corners. If you have a to pick one, buy these.
This is the set that i think should be avoided but difficult to spot because it looks like the one above but the casing is rougher. I purchased them for the V-150 Commando build. Although they were eventually made to run relatively well, the quality of the casing is much less than the others, and they have imperfections. i had difficulty with the steering parts falling off... The screws cannot be made tight, i actually had to put superglue on the screw heads to keep them in place. The steering is also more difficult. They were not cheaper. Could have been a bad lot, not sure.
I also have these metal shell replacements for the WPL gears but i have not tried them yet on anything and cannot comment if good or not.
Regards, Louis

Hi,
This post is for the mounting of the suspension, axles, motors and drive shafts.

The Fuchs is equipped with a drive train composed of 3 main axles mounted on dampers and shock absorbers, and held in place with pull rods. A WPL leaf spring suspension would certainly not look good on this vehicle.
Multiple pull rods are used and it is mostly impossible to repro. I could only hope to get some of the feeling of the original using what is available.
The Revell 1/35 Fuchs kit instructions provides a good view of the axle and pull rod arrangement.
To complicate things, the two front axles have steering and the two steering servos will need to work in tandem and provide the right angles for efficient turning.
This is the metal front axle with its regular pull rods, damper mount and dampers mounted and ready to be analysed on how they can be mounted on the Fuchs in a functional way. It was very interesting doing this analysis, while trying to keep the spirit and look and feel of the Fuchs drive train.
It did not take me long to determine that the pull rods need to be adjustable. I have therefore replaced many of the fixed length rod with another that would allow for the end points to be adjusted and fine tuned.
I also determined that the dampers would not be enough to keep the suspension strait. Like the real Fuchs, I picked up some RC shock absorbers to work in pair with the dampers.
There is not much space between the axles so the two 370 motors with gearbox needed to have their main shaft connecting to the drive shaft cut to the minimal length possible, and another groove was filed for the mounting screw.
After much analysis, dry fitting and hard work, this is how the Fuchs working suspension looks like.
Because the axles are not long enough for this huge vehicle, I could not install the dampers and shock absorber externally like the real fuchs, and like I originally want to... Too bad. So, to maintain the integrity of the pull rod mount and keep the vehicle fully RC functional, I placed the dampers and shock absorber internally where they can provide appropriate support. As per previous post, I ordered shaft extensions for the wheels that will provide 1cm extension on each side and connect to the wheels. I have not received them yet.
Continuing on following post.