Ahoy. My First tank, a Panzer III, my current project the Tiger I and beyond.
04-07-2015, 11:58 AM
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Ahoy. My First tank, a Panzer III, my current project the Tiger I and beyond.
Hello RCU, this is my first post here, so i thought i'd introduce myself, show some of my stuff, and ask for a little advice if that's okay.
So about 8 months ago, i got lured into the world of RC, initially with a quadcopter, but quickly found out that RC Tanks were a thing, and picked up a cheap 1:16 Tauch Panzer III from ebay, that was a bad idea, and i soon decided that i'd buy a new top plate for a standard P3, that lead onto a new lower metal hull, metal tracks, a few bits and bobs later and id spent lots of money on parts, but hadn't actually worked out what i was going to do to make something half decent.
Now so far i've not got hung up on making anything too historically accurate. Infact i've added parts that i think look neat. As for painting, at 30 years old it's been a good 15 years at least since i picked up a brush and did any sort of modelling at all - this was Warhammer 40k too so a shoulder pad here, a bolter there and a liberal covering of splodgy paint.
I think ive rambled on enough without showing some images. so here's an early picture of the rear top deck of my Panzer III. Painted in Vallejo paints undercoated with red brown, simuated rust colours, chipping medium, colour coat and chipped through.
I decided i wanted to have a post winter whitewash tank so with even more chipping medium and a load of white, i worked on the lower hull,
I'd have more images but as this was a while ago, i didnt document the whole painting process, so here's the final tank as it's sitting on my desk
I'm currently working on a Tiger 1. this is a Taigen Tiger 1 with some modifications, ive stripped the side skirts and filled, (im not too worried abotu the finish as it's going to be mudded up half way up the side of the hull, accuracy isnt too important to me, so it has Late tiger 1 hull mounted tracks, an early cupola, late wheels, and a mishmash of ages for the air filters.
she isn't pretty but i'll keep this updated with progress.
I suppose while i'm at it, i'm looking to purchase a Sherman. and would appreciate a bit of advice please.
I was thinking about picking the Tamiya full option Sherman, but it's mostly plastic construction - especially in the wheel and track department has made me unsure. Another option would be picking up the latest Taigen Sherman, and swapping bits out here and there but supply in Europe of the new Taigen Sherman is a bit thin and havent found a supplier for it yet. One thing i really like about the Tamiya Sherman is the side shelves above the tracks, whereas the Taigen/HL ones are straight and clean. Has anyone got any thoughts on which i should be going for? I have a feeling that from a detail standpoint, the Tamiya should be the clear choice, but like i said, the weight and plasticness of the Tamiya kit is slightly putting me off. especially after owning a more or less full metal Tiger 1 with its ungodly weight and handling.
So about 8 months ago, i got lured into the world of RC, initially with a quadcopter, but quickly found out that RC Tanks were a thing, and picked up a cheap 1:16 Tauch Panzer III from ebay, that was a bad idea, and i soon decided that i'd buy a new top plate for a standard P3, that lead onto a new lower metal hull, metal tracks, a few bits and bobs later and id spent lots of money on parts, but hadn't actually worked out what i was going to do to make something half decent.
Now so far i've not got hung up on making anything too historically accurate. Infact i've added parts that i think look neat. As for painting, at 30 years old it's been a good 15 years at least since i picked up a brush and did any sort of modelling at all - this was Warhammer 40k too so a shoulder pad here, a bolter there and a liberal covering of splodgy paint.
I think ive rambled on enough without showing some images. so here's an early picture of the rear top deck of my Panzer III. Painted in Vallejo paints undercoated with red brown, simuated rust colours, chipping medium, colour coat and chipped through.
I decided i wanted to have a post winter whitewash tank so with even more chipping medium and a load of white, i worked on the lower hull,
I'd have more images but as this was a while ago, i didnt document the whole painting process, so here's the final tank as it's sitting on my desk
I'm currently working on a Tiger 1. this is a Taigen Tiger 1 with some modifications, ive stripped the side skirts and filled, (im not too worried abotu the finish as it's going to be mudded up half way up the side of the hull, accuracy isnt too important to me, so it has Late tiger 1 hull mounted tracks, an early cupola, late wheels, and a mishmash of ages for the air filters.
she isn't pretty but i'll keep this updated with progress.
I suppose while i'm at it, i'm looking to purchase a Sherman. and would appreciate a bit of advice please.
I was thinking about picking the Tamiya full option Sherman, but it's mostly plastic construction - especially in the wheel and track department has made me unsure. Another option would be picking up the latest Taigen Sherman, and swapping bits out here and there but supply in Europe of the new Taigen Sherman is a bit thin and havent found a supplier for it yet. One thing i really like about the Tamiya Sherman is the side shelves above the tracks, whereas the Taigen/HL ones are straight and clean. Has anyone got any thoughts on which i should be going for? I have a feeling that from a detail standpoint, the Tamiya should be the clear choice, but like i said, the weight and plasticness of the Tamiya kit is slightly putting me off. especially after owning a more or less full metal Tiger 1 with its ungodly weight and handling.
04-07-2015, 12:18 PM
#2
Tamiya lower is an aluminum pan as well as all the running gear, sprockets, etc. Road wheels are plastic but have bushings and can be replaced with bearing easily during assembly.
04-07-2015, 12:42 PM
#3
Panzer III paint looks good. Like the chipping and rubbed off snow camo!!!
04-07-2015, 02:51 PM
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Well I got both the taigen Sherman and the tamiya Sherman. Now i won't speak to much n the tamiya Sherman because mine is a project that i haven't really started yet. but i will say that the Tamiya in general are very well made kits. If you enjoy the build process i would recommend them. The taigen sheman is a nice tank though. You can feel the wieght of the tank. I can't talk about the price since i'm in the US and I don't really know what either are going for. But if you want to build a tank. Then go with the Tamiya. If you want a tank that you can pull right out of the box throw a battery in and drive around then go with the Taigen.
This all assuimng that your main goal with wither one is to just have some fun around in the backyard. If you plan to get into IR battling that brings a whole new set of choices to consider and reasons to go one way or the other. But i'll just leave it at that.
I like the paint you did on the PIII gives me some hope about the paint job that I have to do. I haven't picked up a brush in about as long and the last thing I painted was Warhammer 40k also.
This all assuimng that your main goal with wither one is to just have some fun around in the backyard. If you plan to get into IR battling that brings a whole new set of choices to consider and reasons to go one way or the other. But i'll just leave it at that.
I like the paint you did on the PIII gives me some hope about the paint job that I have to do. I haven't picked up a brush in about as long and the last thing I painted was Warhammer 40k also.
04-07-2015, 02:55 PM
#5
My first Sherman was a Tamiya. I put metal T66 tracks from Impact on it and added Daryl Turners upgraded idlers from ETO to cope with the extra load (as well as installing roller bearings on the road wheels from the start). The only 2 issues I've had are:
1) Both gearboxes ate the same gear - these were older DMD ones with the slide selector on top. The replacements had brass gears in place of the plastic ones that broke, and no slides, so I'm guessing Tamiya became aware of the problem and fixed it on newer issues.
2) Several idlers came loose. Turns out that I haddn't pounded in the idler wheel bushings all the way to the end and the idler shafts weren't tightened up against the shoulders properly, leading to them wobbling loose - also an easy fix.
Add in a resin turret and Daryl's motor mount, and its a hefty beast. I also fitted a set of external output shaft bearings, but I'm not convinced they are really doing much of anything beyond keeping the dirt out (which in fairness they do a very good job of).
The build thread: http://dettankcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=574.0
1) Both gearboxes ate the same gear - these were older DMD ones with the slide selector on top. The replacements had brass gears in place of the plastic ones that broke, and no slides, so I'm guessing Tamiya became aware of the problem and fixed it on newer issues.
2) Several idlers came loose. Turns out that I haddn't pounded in the idler wheel bushings all the way to the end and the idler shafts weren't tightened up against the shoulders properly, leading to them wobbling loose - also an easy fix.
Add in a resin turret and Daryl's motor mount, and its a hefty beast. I also fitted a set of external output shaft bearings, but I'm not convinced they are really doing much of anything beyond keeping the dirt out (which in fairness they do a very good job of).
The build thread: http://dettankcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=574.0
