It looks like I'm forced to raise those damn return rollers to their correct positions afterall.

While running the PzIII with metal tracks (and lately Osketten) I could hear a 'ratcheting' noise that seemed to come and go depending on the track tightness. It was very annoying. Well it turns out that incorrect position of the 6 return roller mounts on this hull causes the tracks to rest on and eat away at the front and rear suspension mounts! This also happens with plastic tracks (unless they are tight) but is too quiet to notice. Metal tracks with any kind of (realistic) slack in them rest on these plastic mounts and eat them up.

Has anyone else noticed this? [:@]

It looks like I'm going to have to raise the damn things to their correct positions afterall and this is after I've painted the damn thing! The ausf. H and and the new Stug probably suffer from the same problem.

Are you talking about the shock absorbers, as in this photo?

[link=http://www.rccommand.com/stug12_large.jpg]StuG side profile[/link]

Just trying to clarify what you mean.

Yes. At the top of the shocks is a plastic mount on the hull. The rollers are too low so tracks with any sag in them rest directly on those mounts. It's worse with ostketten because they are wider. Surely someone else has noticed this flaw?

wasn't it gigantohawk who raised his on his PZIII??

I'll have to check mine out. I haven't run it much, but metal on plastic will show wear immediately. I'm running the HL metal tracks, and the tension is fairly tight on them, but I'll check and see what's going on with mine.

I am assuming that the idea to move the rollers is based on wanting the presentation to be accurate, otherwise I'd say it might be easier to relocate the shocks themselves (4 vs 6, and one bolt vs glue?) or make a washer that fits under the shock screw that keeps the track from being able to reach the plastic body. It wouldn't take much, and painted black/shaped to fit, should be unnoticeable to the eye except if the tank was viewed directly from the side.

Or if it will work where the rubbing occurs, use black shrink rap to add a wear barrier.

Scratch that, got a better view of the mount, the washer idea might work, but that's it. Still would have to modify a washer a fair amount to get it to clear the mount design without cutting the mount up a hair.

http://www.rccommand.com/stug4_large.jpg

Yes it does this with mine but not to bad probably because i have home made metal return wheels fitted which are about 1mm bigger in dia but even so it still scrapes the to of suspension lugs next time its in for repair will lift all of them to stop it

regards pete

P.S Rob you are right nick did raise this point

Hi Panzerfaust77,
I raised the return rollers on my PZIII after reading an inpirational build on panzerketten. This build however has for some strange reason been deleted.
If you need any help/advice with yours just let me know.

Nick.

Hi thanks. Yeah I could use anything you could give me. The hull is stripped and ready to go. What's the measurements for each position and how important is it to add support to the return wheel axels?

Someone on a German site suggests starting from the front 2mm 4mm 3mm at the rear I did that to my stug which has Osketten tracks and they dont hit!

Those are tiny offsets. I assume you have to fill in the old holes first and re-drill them? I have the metal mounts but I'm worried about losing the support bracing.

You can fill the holes after you drill the new ones also.
Jom has some good info on raising the return roller, I followed this method and they turned out fine.

Scroll down to post #8
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_71...2Cbuild/tm.htm

You're right those are tiny offsets and those are the ones I used.They do make the tank look better but in my opinion at least another 1mm is required on all the rollers, possibly even more when the rear idler is raised and it's diameter increased by 1mm. I know increasing the idler diameter will detract from scale but I still think it's the lesser of two evils as it's stock diameter is to small.
Here's some pic's of the work done a while ago and you will probably agree with me that more raising is required.

All the best,

Nick.

must admit havent done the correction myself but the more i see it the more i think it's necessary

Do you think you'd go up another mill or two ?

I reckon 2mm in the middle and 1mm front and back

I've been trawling through just about every PZIII/Stug III pic known to man and the internet. When my Stug's arrive sometime this week I'll kit one and start again on the dimensions and hopefully this will be the difinitive conclusion...Here's hoping.

Nick.

Nick if anyone can get it right you can




Kind regards rob