Referring to Mr. Chef's P3 post, has anyone

[michaelwhittmann]

Has anyone had any success in trying to open up a sealed-up hatch?????

Would it be Worth the effort??

[tankme]

I know of people that have done it. I have personally done it using dental floss or fishing line using friction as a saw. Best to use unwaxed dental floss if you use that and yeah it breaks a lot during the process, but not as much as you might think. Drill a pilot hole and use the floss or fishing line in a sawing motion. It takes some time, but it minimizes the width of the cut line. I've seen others use really small drill bits to drill holes all along the hatch lines before using a hobby knife to cut between the drill holes. It is a pain in the rear either way.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Good grief! What does dental floss do to teeth? And when it's done, will there be hinges on teeth?

[michaelwhittmann]

Thx tankme.

[MrChef]

Okie dokie, so I have the parts just sitting around an figured I'd share what's what before people go wasting dental floss and become disappointed.

So here's the Taigen hatch doors. I didn't do much with them on the inside but I may feel compelled to in the future. I think I may pin wash and dry brush them now.




I went at the Heng Long with a chisel razor blade and small hammer then a favorite prying tool the bamboo skewers. Then got frustrated with slow progress and just chiseled and whacked it with the hammer till the glue cracked and I popped the four corner posts holding it on=










Kind of anticlimactic and possibly disappointing.

But now we know.

They do sell the metal hatch doors though-

https://www.rctank.de/Panzer-III-IV-Turret-side-hatches

[MrChef]

Has anyone had any success in trying to open up a sealed-up hatch?????

Would it be Worth the effort??

Take a look.

IIRC older HL Pz III H either had opening hatches or were easier to mod and were affixed/detailed differently.

[Panzermechaniker]

I have and love an old HL PZ3/Tauchpanzer and the side hatches open. I have heard since they are upside down or something. Who cares. The el cheapo tank in my collection is one of my favourites

[Meter rat]

Ok. Mr C. You are irking me now. Change your image host. I am having to rely on fb, to view your work. Your P3 looks excellent. (PS, I don’t know how to change my VPL, or whatever it’s called )

[Jimster]

My Taigen hatches popped off with a little persuasion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Son of a gun-ner]

Screenshot_20251019_183931_Chrome.jpg (471.13 KiB) Viewed 148 times

This post is as much use as a chocolate teapot, or as much use as using imgur on a British forum.