Panzerpaul

This set of pictures is mostly of the inside electronics and track. I prefer Tamiya controls over HL or Mato, so my design was to accommodate these, but I will add that there would probably be more room inside using HL electronics. Pix 1 & 2 show all of the Electronics and Gearboxes fully installed. Everything is hard wired to save room and to limit excess wires getting tangled. Pix 2 is with the Speaker in place. Pix 3 shows the styrene frame for holding the speaker. This is not the speaker that comes with standard Tamiya models. Because of space limitations, I bought an oblong shaped one and mounted it so it could be easily removed. Pix 4 shows the entire underside of the Upper Hull. I used 2 “mini servos” for MG and Barrel control. The MG servo was rewired so that it has 2 wire actuation (just like a regular motor) and power/speed is limited with a Potentiometer(Rheostat) (see Pix 5-7). There was no room for a design to make the Barrel move both up/down as well as sideways, nor for recoil, so I elected to go with sideways movement only and the second mini servo does that. It still has 3 wire control, so it is plugged directly into the radio receiver. Pix 8 shows the Battery configuration. This is a standard 7.2 volt rechargeable, reconfigured to fit the small confines of the Hetzer. I also installed a charging jack into the circuit so that it can be recharged from the exterior. Pix 9 shows the Track Links and Pins. It was not practical to make 144 individual cast links and to drill 288 holes, nor did I think that resin would stand up under operational demands, so I chose to use Tamiya’s 1/25th scale plastic Panther tracks (bet you could not tell that in the diorama pictures). These are the only ones I could find with the correct double guide fin pattern for the wheels. Using these tracks also required a retooling of the Drive Sprocket to have a couple less teeth and afforded the opportunity to beef them up a bit. The true Hetzer drive sprocket has more pointed teeth, but the modified one still looks good. I cut off all the original plastic hinges in each track link, drilled out two holes in each one and inserted steel pins so that the track would hold together under operation. The Track result is a bit stiff, but runs nicely and slows the Gearbox speed down somewhat. Pix 10 is of the rear of the Upper Hull with most of the brass and cable parts installed.

This model is also wired for Tamiya's TBU which can be seen in Pix 4