Think I will jump in on this subject. I too want a full option Hetzer and here is as far as I have gotten. I bought the 1/16 Cromwell Resin kit and tore into it. The top hull and sides have been cut away until only the top and front/rear ends are left. The front and rear are notched on their sides to accept a metal pan for the bottom hull. I made a card stock template that fit and then cut an aluminum pan. Drilled holes, etc. I found that the Tamiya gears/motors will just fit....can't remember which version but can figure that out if someone needs it. I made a brass mount to elevate the motors to the proper position.

I also will finish up the front and rear side fenders in brass (one is done) and a few other parts.

I have taken a number of the Cromwell parts and made rubber molds and cast resin parts, such as the wheels, drive sprocket and return roller housings, etc. But some parts need to be made of metal to stand up, so high-temp molds were required for the rocker arms, return roller and upper track rollers. These were cast in Pewter.

But the drive sprocket and track needs to be from stronger metal such as bronze and that requires lost wax castings and a foundry.....which is where I have stopped. Need to find someone local that can handle a small order, which i'm betting will cost about $200.

I am not thrilled with casting 150+ lost wax track links, filing 150+ bronze castings of the same and drilling out two sets of holes in each piece, so if anyone else has an idea of how to recreate the proper Hetzer track links with 2 teeth per, I'm open to suggestions.

If any of you guys are "VERY" interested in doing your own model along the lines I am pursuing, I would consider providing the template for the pan, casting a sample of some of the other parts (so you can make your own with RTV) and most important, casting the hull as I have re-done it. But here is the catch.......its going to take at least 1.5 lbs of RTV to make that monster mold and that is about $150 for the RTV. I have no interest in mass producing this beast, but if enough of you want to share in paying for the RTV, I will make the mold, then cast the hulls, and you pay only for the resin for each pour, which also is not cheap (maybe another $50). If this has any appeal, speak up.....send me a private [email protected]

Oh....one last thing.....I am also stuck on how to make the barrel move up/down and R-L. There will be no room for recoil. There is not much room left above the gearbox, but I was thinking about a small servo for each direction, each connected with a 1.5" wire with some flexibility to the barrel inside the hull. It would probably take moving both servos to get the right position. The servos would be glued to the inside of the hull, with wiring that disconnects from the receiver when breakdown is required. Any thoughts on this?

I have fitted the Tamiya DMD and MF units, plus a custom built battery pack and there will be only a little room for a small speaker, so the sound may not be all that loud.

Here are some pictures for your consideration. Panzerpaul