philipat

One of the problems that came from raising the sprockets is that the outer edge of the tracks were rubbing the edge of the fenders. I’m using Impact tracks and the have a rounded knob on the end of each link that creates the closed-pin feature. The fenders have a small vertical face on the outer edge that represents the metal being bent down on the real thing. But, because it’s plastic, there is more thickness to this lip than there would be if the fenders were metal. So, I’ve tried a couple of different ways to make this work correctly and still look right.

First thing I did was ask my brother to lathe the drive shafts in order to shorten them by 2-mm (original length: ~60-mm). That worked. The tracks were no longer rubbing the lip. But, they seemed to far from the edge of the fender. Photos of the real tanks showed that the tracks pushed a ways away from the hull. In fact they went all the way to being just inside the bent lip of the fender. So, the next attempt was order some more drive shafts from MatoMart (sold in sets of two) and lathe them down by 1-mm. To make the drive shafts work that only had 1-mm removed, I sanded down the inner lip. Stock it is 2-mm thick. After sanding, it is 1-mm thick. That should leave sufficient strength in the plastic and let the tracks come a little closer to where they are supposed to be. Comparison photos are attached. I like the second effort better (1-mm from plastic and 1-mm from the drive shafts).

One thing my brother did for me while we had the drive shafts in the lathe was to deepen the hole for the bolt that holds the sprocket in place. For whatever reason on all of my drive shafts (I have three sets), the M3 bolt that secures the drive sprocket won’t screw in all the way to the bolt head. It stops about 2/3 of the way into the shaft. It will still hold the sprocket as is, but I like to be able to screw it in all the way to bolt head. So, he drilled that out and tapped it all the way in.

One added benefit to lathing the drive shafts is that the sprockets seat better. The stock drive shafts have a slight beveling around outer edge of the shaft at the ends. It was just enough to let the sprockets wobble slightly on the end of the shaft, even if tightened down. Shaving off a millimeter or two eliminated the bevel leaving a sharp, 90o junction at the end. The sprockets don’t seem to have that slight wobble anymore.

Rustytrax

Nice project. What else have you done? It looks like more than just this.

philipat

Thanks...the only other complete build I've done is my PzIII Ausf M (1st SS PanzerGrenadier Div (LSSAH), schwere compania) (http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/show...php?t=11523151)

philipat

So, I’m waiting for a few materials to arrive. But, in the meantime, I’m getting closer to be finished. So, I played with a color mixture that I found. I plan to use acrylics to paint the tank and I want to paint in the RAL 8020/7027 camouflage scheme. The closest single paint that I could find that approximated what I think the RAL 8020 should look like is the Vallejo paint. (http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?...=170708&page=3 or http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_U.../family/17/133).

I’ve been using Tamiya paints; so, I figure I’ll stick with them. Their paint mixture calls for a 5:2 mix of Flat Flesh (XF-15): Red Brown (XF-64) to make RAL 8020 and using Buff (XF-57) to make RAL 7027. [References: Tamiya Manuals for “German Steyr & AK Infantry at Rest” (35305ml) and “PzIII Ausf N” (35290ml)]

I mixed them and painted a piece of scrap styrene. I’d say they came out pretty close to the Vallejo colors. I might add a little Deck Tan to lighten them. I’ll have to see later with some smaller parts, like the backside of the road wheels.

In this painting, I only used a few drops to make the RAL 8020 and thinned it so that I could brush it onto the styrene. The Buff was brushed on without thinning it. There also isn’t any primer behind it. So, the color contrasts are a little more than will happen later.

Overall, what do you think?

Also, looking at some painting masks. Something I can apply and remove later. Anyone try this stuff (Hobbico Master Mask)?

1sgt

I thought you were doing the PZ IV from Tunisia? Have you picked a different PZ IV and paint?? If so, do you have some pics of the new paint scheme?

Great build by the way. Makes me want to get another PZ IV.

Jim

philipat

Still doing the Spade-7 from Tunisia. Best as I can tell it was destroyed during the fighting at Kasserine Pass. Given the frontal armor plates and Ausf G turret, this tank appears to be one that was part of the last shipments of PzIVs to N. Africa, which I think occurred in November 1942. This is after the order to change the tropical, or desert, camouflage scheme. This change moved it from a base pattern of Gruenbraun RAL 8000 with a 1/3 disruptive overspray of RAL 7008 Graugrün to a base pattern of RAL 8020 Gelbbraun with 1/3 disruptive overspray of RAL 7027 Sandgrau. The change was ordered in April 1942.

By this time in the campaign, the equipment going to N. Africa was supposed to be painted in the depots before being shipped. They were generally painted over the factory paint job, which was still using Panzer Dark Grey (Dunkelgrau RAL 7021) at this point. So, it would have arrived in N. Africa already painted in the tropical scheme and the units would have added their markings.

I haven't found any color pictures of tanks confirmed to be in that paint scheme. The closest are the Time Life photos of several destroyed PzIVGs. But, admittedly, they're covered in dust and smoke and the quality of the film and age of the photo play into it. So, I'm trying to use paint chips like the one in my thread and some mixtures that I can find on the internet or in modeling pubs, like Tamiya's painting guides.

philipat

Been doing some test runs on the tank, particularly focused on the alignment of the suspension and the tracks to ensure that everything runs straight. Those test runs have been successful, with the exception of losing an outer wheel to one of my road wheels. But, I was able to source a few new ones.

One problem that keeps popping up is with the leaf springs. The mod I made gets the wheel spacing right. But, now there is nothing to keep the leaf spring in position. So, I’ve had a few slip out while test driving it. I knew this would eventually happen, but I thought I could get away with a few runs before it did. Maybe I shouldn’t have done test runs on the lawn.

Anyhow, I saw two approaches for this on the internet. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the links where I saw them or who did them. So, I can’t give credit where it is due. Maybe they’ll chime in and post a link. One approach was done with metal boggies and the individual fixed the problem by dragging solder across the opening to block it. The other approach used plastic boggies and the individual drilled holes on either side of the opening and glued a wire into the holes that also blocked the opening.

I went for the wire approach. I drilled 1-mm holes into the bogies and used wire cut from a destroyed spiral-bound notebook. I soldered the wire into the holes. The leaf spring can be inserted through the slot and then screwed into the other half of the suspension.

One note: I tried to do this with my Dremel using the drill press attachment. If you do this, make sure that your alignment is good and that you have started the holes already with a pin vise. There seems to be some play in the system when you start to drill and the bits end up getting a little stressed. I broke all of my 1-mm bits before it was done. I had to drill a few of them out from the other side using a slightly larger bit. It was faster than using a pin vise for sure, but also a bit frustrating. Oh, and go slow when using the press.

Rad_Schuhart

Nice job so far!. Im having problems with that suspension too and I did your mod as well. Im considering about buying the tamiya parts, but are very expensive.

Also I might buy those gearboxes for my Panzer III. Is it worth the money?

Edit: Another question: How thick is the brass you are using for holding the front tracks in place? I want to do the same, and also make the skirt mounts with it.

philipat

If you go with the Tamiya parts, post your experience. I'd love to see how it works out.

I'm not sure that these Mato gearboxes will fit in a PzIII. I have the brass gearboxes from Asiatam in my PzIII. It's also in the Asiatam lower hull. Downside to the Asiatam gearboxes is that they really need Speed400s (or larger) to have any real umph. The stock 280s are not very good.

Depends on which brackets...the brackets on the front glacis (flat plate) are using Special Shapes' thinner brass strip (noted by the "1x"). (see entry #43) According to their website it's 1/64" thick. I think that converts to about 0.4 mm thick. The bracket on the front, vertical plate uses their thicker strip (noted by the "-1-"). That is supposed to be 1/32" thick, which should be about .8 mm thick. I've tried the thinner strip on the vertical plate when I built my PzIII. But, it bowed and couldn't handle the weight of the metal tracks.

Their weblink for the brass: http://www.specialshapes.com/flatbarsbrass.html. To make the shipping easier, I ask them to cut the strips into 3x 12" strips.

Hope that helps.

Rad_Schuhart

Hi, thanks for your response. The Tamiya Panzer IV suspension parts are about 120 euros + shipping. Those parts are just the suspension arms, the shafts and the bushings, so I need to meditate long time about that, lol. And also I need to know if I could fit the bushings on the asiatam metal wheels and find any way of preventing spliting (Oh God, I remember your post when you lost a wheel), and need to know if the wheels are the same size as the tamiya ones. Another thing that worries me is if that suspension is resistent enough for driving it over high grass and mud, but it seems is very hard to find people with a Tamiya PIV and even harder to find anybody driving it outside their house.

About the gearboxes, they should fit the Panzer III, the full metal Mato Panzer III comes stock with them. Anyway I must say that the motors from my low profile asiatam steel gearboxes are very good. Im running them in a Asiatam PIV Metal hull with metal sprochets, idlers, road wheels, tracks etc etc and the motors are more than enough for running it. You know it has two speeds, If I run full throttle on the slower but more torque pinions, is still a bit faster than my stock Tamiya Sherman but with much more torque. It came with the black motors that seems to be way better than the normal ones. Ah! I almost forgot, Im using a IBU2, I cant run them on a stock RX18, they stall the board in seconds.



And about the brass, thanks about the link, it is a very usefull one. I was planing to buy an entire sheet of brass and try to cut it myself, but Im sure I wont get very good results with that. I think I will order something between 0.8 - 1mm due to I need it to be as strong as possible.

Thanks for your help and If I finally decide to buy the suspension parts I will let you know

philipat

ouch! expensive! Henn-Tec will install bushings you. He modified my road wheels and the suspension. I posted somewhere another link for someone that does the same work, but with bearings instead of bushings. With the last mod to my suspension, it works well for tall grass.

Good luck!

philipat

Time to finish installing the power train. Completed:

- Glued in the styrene stiffeners in the front of the lower hull
- Installed drive shaft bearings (height was adjusted slightly as a result of switching to the Mato gearboxes)
- Gearbox attachment points were reinforced using aluminum tubing (1/4" ID, 9/32" OD, .014" wall thickness)...their lengths extend an extra 1.5-mm (total of about 5.75-mm long) to replace the washers that were used as spacers to raise the gearboxes.
- Gearbox mounting plate is secured with #4 (#0 drive) self-tapping, square pan head screws. They’re ½" screws that have been cut down to about 7 mm. (possible source: http://www.mcmaster.com/#tapping-screws/=10t9c2g)

I’ve put some lithium grease and 3-in-1 oil into the gearboxes following thecommander’s guide (http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-t...gearboxes.html). I tried using some M3 PTFE washers in gearboxes (source: http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/122/3251/=10t9gqc). But they didn’t seem to work. They seemed to cause the gears to bind.

philipat

Some more work done. Some of it you can see and some you can’t.

- Glued in the battery cover and puttied the edges.

- Installed the return roller mounts with thread lock on the bolts. Clipped the bolts shorter.

- Test fitted the electronics to see how it would all fit. It’s crazy tight inside the PzIV.

- Put a small layer of clear epoxy in the bottom. It adds a little weight and stiffened it a lot. It’s almost like having an aluminum hull. I saw this from someone else...totally ripped off the idea. LOL I used about a half a cup total. Any more would have covered my gearbox lifts.

- Installed a front brace that will also be a splatter shield between the gearboxes and the electronics.

philipat

I put together the electrical. There are now small rocker switches on the switch platform for the power and the smoker. The volume knob is there, too. Cabling is tight, but the tube should keep it close to the side and away from the turret wiring.

Still need to tidy up the turret wiring...

Note: Switch source: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also got a set of these, but they stuck down into the hull too far to fit with the smoker under them. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

philipat

So, today was texture day. I tried my hand at creating a cast texture for the first time using Mr Surfacer 500. Using a brush in the tighter areas was a bit more difficult. But, I happened upon the idea of using Q-tips to stipple it on. It seems to have worked well.

The armor plates had a little texture added using a technique that was suggested by someone on a forum from across the pond. Using a finger, I smeared gel-based super glue around on the armor plates. After it dried (and I removed a large growth of glue from my finger), I sanded it with 220-grit paper. The idea is to introduce some random patterns on the surface so that it’s not perfectly flat and smooth (rolled steel vs plastic sheet). Sanding it flattens it and gets rid of bumps and ridges. We’ll have to see if it still shows after priming and painting. This method was cheap enough, but I think if I were to do it again I’d try Testor’s Metalizer paint.

Still trying to figure out if the commander’s cupola was forged or cast. It looks forged in most of the photos I’ve seen.

philipat

Time to start getting the tank ready for primer and paint. That means replacing some of the bits that broke off the fenders while I was testing the tank. A couple of straps came off, and I decided to use this opportunity to make a few of the brackets that hold the track tension wrenches and the handle of the digging bars. The digging bar brackets are angle and channel brass soldered to brass strip and glued using JB Weld.

Next step...wash and clean everything!

philipat

Washed and drying...

philipat

Masked and time to prime!

philipat

Pre-shading...not sure how effective it will be given the dark shade of the primer. I pre-shaded with Tamiya’s German Grey (XF-63). I figured that since these came from the factory that color, then the pre-shading would be realistic. They were painted at sites in southern Europe en route to North Africa.

MAUS45

The German Grey should work just fine. I would shoot the Afrika yellow on in thin layers until you get the shading effect you want.

philipat

Good idea. I'll keep the paint layers thin. I'm going for RAL 8020, though. So, it will be more brown in color.

MAUS45

Really looking forward to seeing it in the base color!!!

philipat

Here goes!

philipat

Internet research was going nowhere. So, I decided to just go with Tamiya’s recommendation exactly as it is. Here some photos of the base color. Some are in the mid-day sunlight from different angles and some are in the mid-afternoon shade.

This brown has a redder hue in the light and a browner hue in the shade or dim light. I’m liking it.

philipat

Playing with some mixtures for RAL 7027. There is some disagreement on the internet about the shade and hue for RAL 7027. I’m leaning towards the references that indicate some amount of green in the color. That would make it a grey-brown-green color. Given the lack of distinct camoflouge in the photos, most of which are black and white, it’s quite possible that the dust covered it, the shades were similar enough to disappear in B&W photos, or both. Probably both. Anyhow, did some experimenting with colors. Tamiya calls for straight Buff (XF-57). But, that lacks any green and is way to light in terms of contrast. So, I’ve played with adding Khaki (XF-49) and Khaki Drab (XF-51). Both of those are two green with too much contrast as pure colors. Mixing them Buff works better.

These were taken in mid-day sun (first two), evening shade (third), and under flourescent lighting (fourth photo).




I really like the Buff:Khaki mixture. I might play with a 2:1 mixture (Buff:Khaki). But, right now, I’d say the 1:1 is about there. Interesting what it does in a B&W photo.