yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

My Asiatam wheels have bushing in them, but they are very good quality...no slop and they always worked since installing them. Only thing was initially they had smoe burrs that needed cleaning up..after that, and lube all is good.

MAUS45

Thanks, Joe. My set of wheels didn't come with bushings, but it looks like Guido is going to make a set at some point. Know anything about these, will ETO carry them?

MAUS45

I found these working wing nuts at 6th Scale Icons. They are so close to 1/16 scale that I am using them on my StuG's and other German Tanks. I have attached a photo that compares them to the Impact PE set for the Panther G, which has wing nuts that are just for looks non-working representations of wing nuts. The wing nuts I used are the GENT009B Wing Nuts size .080 Tread Qty 10 (On Tree). They are $20 for 10. Look under the catalog page.

http://www.6thscaleicons.com/

I will try loading the Photo later, I keep getting a Server Error, "500 Internal Server Error" when I try to upload the photo.

MAUS45

Ok, got the wing nut photo to load finally!!!!!

MAUS45

I tried 1sgt's(Jim's) White Vinegar treatment on some of my StuG III G upgrade metal parts. I also treated these parts with Blacken It after they had dried over nit from the White Vinegar treatment. The parts treated were the Asiatam Drive Sprocket, Idler, and Track tensioner. I also tried some spare Impact Panzer III/StuG early track links as well. I have included before and after photos except for the track links, oops, but I did pull a photo of them from Impact's store site. The effect is very cool.

1sgt

Did the vinegar give you the rust effects on the tensioners? I never thought of doing that to mine. I just painted them. Your look much better.

jim

MAUS45

Actually it was a combination of the vinegar and the Blacken IT. I soaked the parts in the vinegar for an hour. Then I rinsed them and and used paper towels to dry them off, as much as I could, then let them dry for 24 hours. Next I dipped the parts in the Blakin It solution for about a minute and this is how they turned out. The vinegar gave the parts a sort of gray look and then the Blacken It gave them the more brown/rust look. I think it depends on the metal as well. In the pictures you can see, especially on the track tensioner, that the colors vary based on the type metal.

1sgt

I think the colors you achieved look great. I'll have to remember the " blacken it " next time. Glad I helped in a small way.

Jim

MAUS45

Yes, you did help! I am always looking for better ways to do things and it seems someone is always doing something different. Thanks again for sharing the Vinegar process! great stuff.

1sgt

Maus 45

Your more then welcome. On my tracks I did use gun -blu after the vinegar soak and they came out rather nice, but now wondering if I used the Blacken-it it I would have achieved that rust color. I'm sure after some running ( just as the bluing did it would wear off the exposed parts but leave the unexposed parts rusty. HMMMM something to experiment with. I also used my oven to dry the parts. Just set it on 200 degrees and let them bake about 30 mins and you can go on from there.

Jim

MAUS45

Just wanted to share a new process I tried yesterday on a scrap part from an old Bandai Stug IV. I have seen others on this forum use Mr. Surfacer from Gunze to change the texture of parts from smooth to look like cast or rolled steel. So I bought me some Mr. Surfacer 500 and did some testing. I used a small sponge paint brush and a tooth brush to work the surface after applying the Mr. Surfacer. Here are the results. the first two photos are sponge only application. The next four are sponge and tooth brush application. I am going to use this process on the two StuG's I am working on now.

MAUS45

Finally had a chance to work on some Stug parts. Here are some photos of the Schruzn rail I was able to finish yesterday.

DaveBcool

Looks great.
Totally a project I want to try someday.
Love the bolts, which should add some strength.
The issue that I rattle around in my head is whether to strongly mount the rails to the hull and risk damage,
or to some how use tiny magnets and have the rails and/or schurzen "breakaway."

ausf

Now that is sweet. Nice clean joints and it looks superb. That said, you're out of your skull with the bolts.

Dave, I went with the soldered brass frame that included round brass stock 'pins' that go into the upper hull and are anchored with epoxy putty. You can lift the hull by the frame and it's actually the stand for it when there's maintenance or battery change. The brass rail will bend before it will come loose from the hull and the angled channel isn't going to bend easily. As long as the schurzen themselves can pop off, they should deflect any force incurred short of dropping the thing.

MAUS45

Yes, the bolts were crazy! But are worth it. I soldered the hangers to the angle stock. Next I drilled and tapped the bolt holes. Screwed the bolts in and added the nuts. The nuts and bolts are 90 size. I have some 1.5 mm nuts and bolts to attach the angle brackets to the upper hull. Will have photos soon of the brackets. How could we live without a magnifier that has a light?

MAUS45

Ok, here are the the superstructure brackets that the angle part attaches to. The first photo is of the bracket that was the most difficult to solder!
I palced them together to give you an idea of what the completed assembly will look like. Now to the drilling and tapping of bolt holes!!!

ausf

Looking good.

Make sure you pre tin the bracket where it joins the rail and apply heat from the back to avoid remelting the solder on the schurzen holders.

MAUS45

I am going to tin them and then bolt them together and apply the heat after they are bolted together.

MAUS45

Ausf, do you have a good photo or know if there is a decal for the Vehicle Identification stencil that the Germans used on the StuG's for rail transport?

Here is a partial photo on the real thing

Captain Nemo12

Great start on the metal work! Did you use an electronics soldering iron with flux?

ausf

I seem to remember Archer having a general set like that, but I don't think it was 1/16. I don't have my StuG book at the moment, but being that the stencil is black, you could make your own with decal paper and an inkjet.

MAUS45

Ausf, that is what I was thinking, but I need to know what it says and what it looks like for the StuG? I will keep searching.

Nemo, I wish I had an electronic soldering system!!! see the photos I attached. First I tin both parts where they will attach to each other. Next I put them in my helping hands and align them to fit. Next I add heat sinks in the form of extra alligator clips to draw heat away from the other solder joints. Now I take an old fashioned soldering iron and heat the parts up until the solder draws them together. Slow I know, but it works.

ausf

That's exactky how I did mine. Great minds think alike.

A resistance solderer is great for small PE, but I'm not sure it would be up to this, it's more like a brute strength type of job. A small torch might be quicker but far more unwieldy.

MAUS45

I agree, a torch would be to much. I need to reverse the bolts. I found some good detail photos of how the triangle parts were bolted to the rail. Bolts go up through the bottom with the nuts on the top of the rail. Sucks that I have to take them all off!!!

philipat

This looks really great. You can put bearings in the road wheels. Check my PzIII build. You have to bore out the wheels a little and sand down the axle a tiny bit, but it will work.