remove battery compartment

[mrmetallica]

ive seen that some people remove the battery compartment on there tanks. im thinking of doing it myself would i need to reinforce any where on the tankif i do this ?

[jarndice]

Removing the battery box from the Panzer 4 is well worth doing BUT do not remove the uprights surrounding the box or you will have no way of securing the Hull to the Body and do make sure you leave enough floor in place so that the battery cover can be used to fill the otherwise large hole in the hull floor.
This of itself will help provide rigidity to the hull.
I suggest after you have cut the box out (A DREMEL Would be my tool of choice) you line the floor and walls of the hull with Velcro and apply velcro to the base of the Battery,Smoker, Control Board etc, That way the ancilleries can be placed wherever there is space and yet they can be removed when needed.

[tankme]

I have an old, dull set of nippers to cut the box out as it makes a lot less mess than a Dremel, but use whatever works for you. If I take the battery box out, I usually will add a little slow curing liquid resin (4-6oz depending on size of tank) to the bottom to seal everything up and make the base flat. If you decide to use resin, make sure every little, tiny hole is sealed up before you pour. I use a hot glue gun to seal the holes before pouring.

[Jofaur86]

Indeed, if our friend, wishes to keep the current system, upper chassis fixings, it is necessary to avoid removing the existing columns, or else adopt the solution with magnets. On a PZ III I have adopted a small aluminum angle, at the top of the part inclined horizontal of the lower frame, and adapted a small piece of formed aluminum, to come to be caught below, by sliding the inclined upper part and in first, the back being fixed with a hidden screw. Sorry no photos

[Jofaur86]

This is the principle that I realized, but it seems that for the PZ IV? it is installed on the back in view of the photos?

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[RobW]

I put a bulkhead across next to the motors when I've done this. It does reduce flex in the hull but also stops the wires getting into the gear boxes. Using magnets to fit the upper hull and using longer wires to connect the turret are also useful mods. The latter is so when you lift the top off to change the battery you've got some room to work.

[mrmetallica]

than you every body will take it all on board was going to do the magnet thingy

is there any where i can get a strenghthening kit

[Jofaur86]

Hello, what do you mean by talking about the reinforcement kit, adaptable? if the system on the photo? seems to be different for a PZ IV, there is a member of this forum, who has a sales site, ask him the question.
maïs pour la PZ III ? rien trouvé pour le IV ,mais possible que soit piece idem ? adaptable autre façon
https://www.forgebeartanks.com/store/c1 ... ducts.html

[mrmetallica]

Hello, what do you mean by talking about the reinforcement kit, adaptable? if the system on the photo? seems to be different for a PZ IV, there is a member of this forum, who has a sales site, ask him the question.
maïs pour la PZ III ? rien trouvé pour le IV ,mais possible que soit piece idem ? adaptable autre façon
https://www.forgebeartanks.com/store/c1 ... ducts.html

as in picture above do they do anything to reinforce the tank if i take the battery compartement out will it be flimsy or ok. or do i have to make something ?

[Estnische]

There is no exact science. You will have to do it by trial and error. As an experiment, screw your upper hull back on. Then try holding the front of the tank and twisting the rear. Try removing the upper hull then doing the same twisting. You will notice that the lower hull is much more flexible without the upper hull. Plastic doesn’t like constant flexing because it is not elastic, so it is prone to cracking.

This same principle is applied to design of modern racing touring cars. To make their chassis stiffer, roll cages are triangulated and are fixed throughout the shell, including suspension mounting points. Ordinary road cars have torque boxes built in below the door sills to do a similar job. Your ordinary Heng Long battery box acts like a torque box. If you remove it, or use magnet mounts, your plastic hull will also flex more than HL intended. Two common ways to overcome this are a horizontal stiffener plate epoxied to the floor, or vertical bulkheads like those used in ship or aircraft design.

Edit: In my Sherman with both mods, I expoxied aluminium angle to the hull sponsons, and slid an aluminium bulkhead behind the motors.