PzII Running Gear Modifications
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:37 am
Here are some simple modifications I did on the kit's running gear since it comes with non moving parts.
1st... To make the front sprocket rotate I carefully sanded the inside hole of the bushing that goes in the back of the sprocket so it will rotate freely on the sprocket shaft. I then cut a ring of styrene with the center hole the same diameter as the shaft, and outter circumfrance smaller than the bushing. I carefully glued the ring to the shaft carefull not to get any glue on the bushing. Then it was just a simple matter of carefully glueing the sprocket to the bushing.
Next... to get the road wheels to rotate, I removed 5/16" from the rear half of the tube that sticks out from the rear half marked as "A" in the pic. I then removed 3/16" from the tube on the front half of the road wheel marked "B" in the pic. Save a couple of the "A" left over pieces for use later on.
Next... I then put the rear half of the road wheel on the spring part and drilled a hole through the end of the shaft and insterted a piece of wire to act as a cotter pin. Then it's just a matter of glueing the two halves of the road wheel together
Next.... I then turned my attention to the return rollers. I carefully sawed of the end that the road wheel glues to. I then cut a 9/16" section of 1/4" tubeing and slid a 3/16" section of 3/8" tubeing onto the 1/4" tubeing and glued the two pieces together. Here is a pic of the new parts
The next pic shows the rear mount with the new piece inside and glued to the end that was cut off. Be carefull glueing the shaft as you want the end piece to rotate. Then just carefully glue the return roller on the end of the shaft.
And finally the rear idler modification. I slid the idler bushing after sanding the hole so it rotates freely onto the idler mount shaft. Now takeing one of the "A" pieces sand the hole so it will slide over the end of the shaft and carefully glue in place leaveing the bushing to turn freely. Then carefully glue the rear idler onto the bushing.
This mod might be very difficult to do on the prebuild version. Hope this is of help to all the PzII builders. As always comments are welcome..... Harold
1st... To make the front sprocket rotate I carefully sanded the inside hole of the bushing that goes in the back of the sprocket so it will rotate freely on the sprocket shaft. I then cut a ring of styrene with the center hole the same diameter as the shaft, and outter circumfrance smaller than the bushing. I carefully glued the ring to the shaft carefull not to get any glue on the bushing. Then it was just a simple matter of carefully glueing the sprocket to the bushing.
Next... to get the road wheels to rotate, I removed 5/16" from the rear half of the tube that sticks out from the rear half marked as "A" in the pic. I then removed 3/16" from the tube on the front half of the road wheel marked "B" in the pic. Save a couple of the "A" left over pieces for use later on.
Next... I then put the rear half of the road wheel on the spring part and drilled a hole through the end of the shaft and insterted a piece of wire to act as a cotter pin. Then it's just a matter of glueing the two halves of the road wheel together
Next.... I then turned my attention to the return rollers. I carefully sawed of the end that the road wheel glues to. I then cut a 9/16" section of 1/4" tubeing and slid a 3/16" section of 3/8" tubeing onto the 1/4" tubeing and glued the two pieces together. Here is a pic of the new parts
The next pic shows the rear mount with the new piece inside and glued to the end that was cut off. Be carefull glueing the shaft as you want the end piece to rotate. Then just carefully glue the return roller on the end of the shaft.
And finally the rear idler modification. I slid the idler bushing after sanding the hole so it rotates freely onto the idler mount shaft. Now takeing one of the "A" pieces sand the hole so it will slide over the end of the shaft and carefully glue in place leaveing the bushing to turn freely. Then carefully glue the rear idler onto the bushing.
This mod might be very difficult to do on the prebuild version. Hope this is of help to all the PzII builders. As always comments are welcome..... Harold