BIGMIG

Cleaned off the work bench and starting the next version of my Humvee.This one will be simular as the one in the photo on the left of the two on the work bench.The one on the left being the one I did here on the forum,the one on the right is stock out of the box.
Hope you injoy the build.------BIGMIG



BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Doing this one with a little different twist,it will get a cut down version of the turret off a PANZER III that is left over from a PZ III parts tank.This will free up some space for other modifications that will be done on the interior of the hull.Pictures of the cut down turret to follow. BIGMIG

BIGMIG

The color of the humvee will stay the same as it comes out of the box.I like the stock paint job and will try to match everything added to it.The turret I cut down was just painted with what I had on the bench(so it wasn't gray) and will get repainted.It was even
Tamiya paint.---BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Thought I would post a few pictures of the inside as I'm dismantling it.Kind of a shame in some ways to take out all the guts and I did not even fire it up.These are well made "TOYS" for $60.00 dollars,and even the radio is fairly good.Nice little motor in the tranny
and everything just un-screws,nice to work on no glued parts. Pictures to follow---BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Removed all the internal parts,only cut two wires going to the gun,two wires going to the battery,and 6 wires going to the front and back lights.Every thing else remains attached to the electrical board and is all labeled for posible future use(this is new,never turned on)and every thing else was just un-screwed.Pictures below to show all the parts and the bare hull top and bottom that I will be working with.The gun had three screws to remove to take it out of the roof of the Hummer.Very easy this far.
Pictures to follow---BIGMIG

BIGMIG

In the last photo on the above thread I just set the gun to be mounted on the roof of the Hummer.This will be one of the biggest challenges of the job.I want it to be full function just like on a tank.For those who may have never pulled apart a turret on a PZ III,
the main part I cut off is what contained the motor for elevation control.Also did some trimming around the gun mount.In the stock gun,everything that controls the gun is incompased with-in that part of the turret and revolves with the gun.Now in this case after mounting the gun,geared ring that holds and revolves the turret,mounting the motor that turns the toothed ring,I will need to fashion a bracket to the lower part of the turret that moves to hold and support the gun elevation motor.This will require the most room inside the vehicle.At this point won't know what this will involve untill I get the gun mounted in the roof.
BIGMIG

All the parts in a box and the Hummer is ready for it's new look. BIGMIG

17012345

Hi bigmig, your fiction & fantasy work, belongs on a forum more befitting such daring work, link below.

http://hobbyhavoc.com/SciFi/index.php

Cheers

BIGMIG

Hello 17012345,
Just briefly looked at the site you posted,very interesting looking and fitting to be located in australia.Was looking and reading about the Australian military and how they got hold of some tanks and then took them out and ran the hell out of them,discovered some of the things they didn't like and made them more to their liking and changed things accordingly.From the way I read the article the austrailian military was very adept at modifications and improvments.I believe you fella's had and may still have an outstanding tank of your own.Not very good on the history of tanks but do like to read about them,its fun to see how they have evolved over the years.Thats why I don't feel to bad about some of my far out ideas,if one looks back some of the things that was done in the past hase been improved upon and in a lot of cases may even still be seen today.A good point of this can even be seen in some of the gear for the new foot soldier,their gear looks like something on star wars.In some cases don't even look like military men we have all been accustomed to.Thanks for the site I will check it out. BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Worked on cutting out the hole for mounting the turret today.I cut the ring area(don't really know what to call it)out of the panzer to be used on the hummer.This was done to have a good fitting ring for the turret to ride on and also to act as a trim piece to go over the rough cut hole for mounting the turret,this will be glued in place.Took a few pictures of the procedure and also with the turret setting in place.On this humvee I'm building from the top down to be able to do the interior work around the gun.On the other hummer I did, I used the existing gun and I knew what spaces was avaible for all the controls. BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Glued the top ring and trim piece inplace and cut three of the mounting pegs off from the parts tank for mounting the traverse motor.
These were glued in place for the motor housing.Next the ring gear had to have two teeth cut into what was the stop portion on the stock ring gear.To get this exact I used another ring gear and held it in place and cut the teeth out with the dremmel and a little circular saw blade.(just a note ==If you don't allready have one of these they are very handy and only a few dollars,talking about the saw blades here.)After cutting the teeth mounted the ring gear and then the motor assembly for turret rotation.Every thing is just like in a tank,had lots of room very simple thus far. Two pictures to follow-- BIGMIG

BIGMIG

The next step was to trim and cut out some of the old mounting posts and the moulding that was for the original gun mount.Some of the posts were just shortened because they will be used later for attaching flat pieces of sheet plastic for mounting motors and electrical components.Will make the inside bottom as flat as I can for ease of installing components.Old battery box was left in tact but may be removed and a bigger one installed.The next stage will be to cut out all the filler pieces that will go into the wheel wells and new sidewall pieces will be cut that will go from front wheel well to the back wheel wells.This will help protect the interior because the tracks will pass through the inside of the hummer when they are mounted.The next few stages will start being a little more time consumming because a lot of parts to cut and fit.Most of these will be cut from black sheet plastic on a band saw.
--Few pictures of cut out unwanted pieces to follow---BIGMIG

OOOOPS--forgot the pictures--

BIGMIG

Thought I might add at this point the Hummer body and under-carrage or bottom hull what ever you prefer to call it is very well made in my opinion.Myself I think the over-all Hummer has nice lines,and is neat looking.I know some don't like the paint color and the original gun it came out with.But I would add there is a multitude of different things that could be done with this great little hummer.Its over-all size is very close to a 1/16 tiger with the gun removed.With the gun removed it is about 1 & 1/2 inches taller than the top of the turret on a Tiger tank.Just a little added info for anyone who may like the looks of it.
Thanks BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Cut out all the filler pieces for in the wheel wells and two aluminum stringers that run full length of the lower hull.Before I glue and screw these in place I put the two hull halves togeather to maintain integridy of the lower hull shape.If this is not done it is very easy to get a twist or warp in the lower hull,causing alignment problems with the upper hull.Now all pieces are glued into place and the two stringers put in place,drilled and screwed.Just hand brushed the stringers with paint,very little of them will be visable after installing wheels and tracks.Waiting now for the paint to dry,two more stringers will be placed in an inverted position from the others that will be used for mounting all the wheels for the tracks.Internal work will be next,more plastic parts to be installed inside lower hull. Pictures to follow BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Not much progress today got side tracked building a auxiliary power supply pack for my radio transmitter.But did finish all the fill in pieces for the lower hull.Next will be to cut a piece out of sheet plastic for front and back floor section of lower hull to have a flat surface for motor mounting and to build a battery box for a bigger battery.At this point thinking about buying another PZ III for a parts tank.Need the PZ III tracks so might as well steel all the parts out of the same tank.I have one that is new but has already been moddified by moving the switch and adding auxiliary charging plug so don't really want to tear that one apart.Wish Tiger tracks would work but they are to wide.Got lots of tiger parts.Before and after picture of lower hull moddification. BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Well I'm back at on the Humvee.After a lot of debating on what tank to use for a parts tank,and looking at all the Tiger parts I had on the bench that was the choice.It is a lot easyer to use PZ III tracks and I think they do look good on the Hummer,but finally figured out how to use the Tiger tracks.This required a lot more cutting and support pieces to add for strength.Unlike the PZ III track that passes through the inside of the tank,the Tiger tracks are to wide and had to pass under the body section of the hummer.This required a cut-out much different than on my other hummer build.These cut outs would allow rollers to be installed at each corner of the side body of the hummer.These are support rollers in reverse of a typical support roller system,they ride on top of the tracks to keep it below the under frame of the body.For these rollers I used 2 sets of PZ III road wheels for each roller assembly.They were drilled out to 1/4 inch and a 1/4 inch insert was pushed in as a bearing for the mounting screw.Very solid and works great and seeing this is inside a cut out,the sides of the cut out keeps the roller on place.There is about 1/8 inch clearance on each side of the roller so it can move laterly a slight bit in eather direction and is very free wheeling.Installed the track and test run the motor directly off the battery at full speed and my alignment was perfect and it tracks perfectly.I have one side completed and will paint the sprocket,rollers,and the road whells before I continue on to the other side.I set the body on the Hummer for some pictures to see what it looks like,Its different and looks good to me.This has been a fun one to do so far,but got a lot to do yet.Don't think there is anyone yet that has done one like it.Because I had to run the track under the body,this one has to set a little higher than the other one I did because of the additional room needed for the upper rollers and clearance between them and the lower road wheels.
Pictures to follow---BIGMIG--

BIGMIG

Forgot to add the pictures---pictures below BIGMIG

BIGMIG

Wanted to add a few more pictures of the project up to date---Will post the original picture out of the box and the way it looks now.
BIGMIG
P.S. now at this point if anyone cares to comment,if you like it,don't like it----Feel free to have at it if you wish.This was not ment to replecate anything in particular,just something different and fun to do.I hope this will inspire someone else to do a build on one here on the forum,they are a neat little vehicle.If you like any part of what I did use it,If you see a better way to improve it show us your way.They are fun with tracks and operate just like a tank.I will continue to post pictures of the rest of the build until it's completed. Thanks guys--- BIGMIG

swathdiver

That's pretty cool BIGMIG! Looks like a giant snowmobile. Be sure to post some video of it moving when you're done! In snow would be cool too! [sm=thumbup.gif]

pzrwest

Talk about SNOW!!!! well I awoke today with the gound covered with the white stuff, have about 3-5 inches of the stuff on the ground here. Hmmmmm has me thinking maybe the great opportunity to try the tanks out in the snow

BIGMIG

Worked on the left track today,two road wheels left to mount but track is mounted and they can be put in place with track installed.Test run this track at full power straight off the battery,and runs very true just like the other side.I will be using non smoke and sound board on this Humvee,will use it this way until a later date or until the board burns out.The gun will be full function like a typical tank turret.I did repaint the turret and rollers and road wheels,its a lot closer but still not the right shade yet.Posting a few more pictures of lower hull to show rollers and roller cut outs.Still a cosmetic piece to be added to the front and back of the lower hull,kind of like a bumper.Pictures to follow--BIGMIG--

blitzkrieg65

Thanks BIGMIG,

It's very unique, you can probably run through 6 inches of water no problem? I have the 1/12 Humvee to many projects right now but you have given me some inspiration to get it in the schedule! I don't like how high they sit so high, but you have made yours even higher! I may try to put in four wheel drive and lower, but I love the turret additon! HMMMM!?

The Blitz

BIGMIG

Hello Blitz,
It does sit fairly high,about 2 1/4 inches of clearance under the belly.A typical HL tank has around a inch or so.This one I'm doing now had to be that high and is 3/4 inch taller than the hummer with the PZ III Tracks.On the first one with the PZ tracks,I could have droped that down close to the ground clearance of a tank if i had made cut-outs for the road wheels.The PZ tracks realy look like they were made for this model and are easy to use and fit well with out doing a lot of cutting.One thing I like is the fact that these are a (one of a kind),no one else has one like it unless they modified their own.I hope you post your build on your's when you get to it.I hope to see other's giving it a go,and look forward to seeing their build.Posting some size comparrision pictures below with----
1/12 Panzer,the two 1/12 Humvee's,1/16 Panther and PZ III. BIGMIG

blitzkrieg65

BIGMIG

Cool Pics and nice motor pool, I never realized how large 1/12 Panzer is! One these days I'll have to do a family shot! But there is a few of you out there that are putting them on the dinning room table,,.. my wife would ------ my butt! How do you get away with that, oh I guess that is for another forum![sm=wink_smile.gif]

The Blitz

BIGMIG

Hey thank you,
The table was the only place in the house that would hold 5 vehicle's for size comparrision,other than the floor and outside.
Should have taken them all outside for a picture today,beautifull fall day out today.

Going to take an opertunity now to show the new guys and those on a budget that this don't have to be a super costly hobby.Was tempted to post this on another post here on the forum but decided to do it here.As a lot of you know I like to show that you can get lots of tanks and toys with-out getting another loan on the ranch.This hobby is just like all the rest,how many do you want and how much do you want to spend.How big or how small,all sizes out there.

This is what $1,128.00 dollars has bought me up to date.The dollar amounts are rounded off and most all of these were bought here on the west coast and shipped to me from a distance of about 800 to 900 miles from my home.This cost only applies here in the U.S. and would vary to other people depending on where you live.All the scale size is 1/16 or 1/12 for the models listed.

(2) HL 1/16 PZIII tanks $80.00 & $77.00 dollars (1) HL 1/16 Sno Leopard tank $77.00 dollars (3) Heilong 1/12 Panzers $80.00 & $80.00 & "$20.00
dollars,last one bought used". (1) HL 1/16 M41A3 Bulldog $77.00 dollars (1) HL 1/16 Panther $70.00 dollars (5) HL 1/16 Tiger's
$70.00 & $77.00 & $70.00 & $70.00 dollars and the number 5 Tiger was sent to me free for one received damaged. (2) 1/12 scale
Humvee's $60.00 & $60.00 dollars. (1) 1/12 scale Jeep $60.00 dollars.

This is a total of 16 vehicles for $1,128.00 dollars and this amount also includes all the shipping costs.(3) of these tanks are being stripped for parts for up-grading some of the 1/12 scale vehicles.These were all bought new except the one 1/12 scale Panzer which was bought used.As you can see these are within just about anyone's budget who wants one.To fill up my pick-up with gas at todays prices costs as much or more than the price of a HL tank.The price of these HL tanks are a bargin to me,and have had a lot of fun along the way.There are good prices out there if you shop around.If you are just getting ready to get into the tank game,hope this will be benifical to you in what your dollar can buy. Good luck and happy tanking---BIGMIG

blitzkrieg65

OK BibMig,

You motivated me to do a little Photo shoot, And I too am only down about 1500 to 2 K I have a lot of upgrade parts on there way! It will be good to document the look of the tanks now becuase I have plans to change about half of them![sm=shades_smile.gif]

The Blitz