Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

A few months back there was a thread about a 1/16 scale Hetzer (static) kit. Being a glutton for punishment, I went ahead and purchased it. On the sales side, it took a little while to receive the kit, but I did purchase right over the Christmas holiday. This is not unusual when dealing with small run kit makers, but those of you use to 2-day Amazon service might want to make sure everything is ready to go before purchasing. Dave at Blue Star was quick to respond to my emails, and some of the delay was also because he was upgrading a few parts, including an aluminum instead of resin main gun.

I am very happy with the kit. I have yet to go over every last part, but the exterior surfaces of the casting appear to be free of voids, with nice surface detail. I see a slight warp in the rear deck, buy this is not unusual in resin kits. A little careful use of warm water should be all it takes to straighten it out.

RC'ing the kit will take some work. I reviewed Panzer Pauls Hetzer build

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_95...tm.htm#9567545

I do not think the resin tub that come with the kit is up to the rigors of RC. An aluminum liner, or even replacement would be required. The resin tracks included in the kit are quite detailed, but delicate. Track pins are not included. Being a static model, you are suppose to use straight pins. I am thinking of using Paul's idea of utilizing Tamiya 1/25 scale Panther tracks because of their dual guide horns. The kits' resin drive sprockets are probably also too fragile and would need to be replaced.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

I have one as well...the box is coated with drool. But I know it will consume a great deal of time to do it right. I've had a load of fun battling my FO TamLong Hetzer. That low profile is hard to hit and kills tanks. Good luck.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

This will be cool to watch Kevin. :D














~ Jeff

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Looks like a well done kit. Keep us posted on your progress.

What did that have in it for an engine. A small Maybach gas job???

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

The later ones actually had a diesel engine!

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

If you want my 2 cents.....I have thought a lot about making one of these, here iswhat I would do....you have the kit so start with....

1 cheep hl tiger 1
some panzer 4 tracks and drive wheels.....as they do notmake the panthers any more.If you start braking stuff replcements will be hard to find....
a bunch of plastic card....

I would use the lower hull of the kit as a guide and make the lower hull out of 3mm card......I would chop up the tigers suspension points and mount them on the new plastic hull in the right loactions and use the tigers suspension arms with the springs.....for wheels, I would use the inner thicktiger wheels as the base( with the skins of the kits wheels as a hub cap)...since you are using the panzer 4 tracks, you need wheels with the slot for the guide teeth on the tracks...I would use one of the outer tiger wheels, chop it up and mount it on the inside of the tiger wheel.....you will have to mess with the spacing but once you are done, you now havea location for your tracks, that lets you set the panzer 4 drive wheels and with that the location of your gearboxes....I would use the idlers from a hl panther with something on the inside foth the guide teeth on the tracks..........once you have a working lower hull...the rest is easy....I think i would use clark card to run the thing because of the space....

been thinking about making a E-10 or E-25 out of parts I have sitting around my shop left over from my e100/e50 builds....

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Academy still makes their copy of the Tamiya 1/25 Panther and Jagdpantherkit. Also Tamiya re-released their Tiger I, Centurion, Panther, and Jagdpanther. So you could still use those parts. I agree with mustclime that the hull would need to be rebuilt or at least reinforced to take the suspension component stress.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

like this?

http://www.artistichobbies.com/prodd...p?prod=ACA1341

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

What about JB Weld some alu plates into the lower hull?

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Huh? What? Where is the Panther at? I have an old Tamiya Panther A kit in 1/25th and if they have a new release it's the first I have heard of it!!!

I have just about all of the Tamiya and Academy in that scale and a new Panther might be nice. I also have the Centurion and Chieftain too... just waiting to make a new shelf for them.


Ah... memories. Back when I had ALL of them remote controlled. :D














~ Jeff

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

mustclime,

Using a donor HL might be the quicker and more cost effective way to go, but I am going to try and follow Panzer Paul in using the 1/25 Panther tracks. The AAF Museum store has them in stock. Along with the Academy kits available (thanks MAUS45), that should keep me in spare parts if I ever get this working. I need to contact Paul and find out how he handled the suspension parts. The Resin road wheel appear strong enough, if I can keep the total tank weight down, and come up with a good way to add and axle.

The lower hull, while fine for a static model, is too weak for RC. I'd like to use the resin for it's detail, with and aluminum liner as opposed to fabricating the entire lower hull as Paul did. I think it will depend upon the suspension mounting. Space limits are going to be a challenge. I want to use Tamiya electronics, but trying to fit in the tight space and getting a realistic engine sound will probably dictate something different.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

I also have one. I was supposed to do a kit build review for Dave but life got in the way. Very sorry Dave, I did not live up to my commitment, my bad!. My thoughts to reinforce the lower hull involves 3-4 plys of fine fiberglass cloth/resin with a couple of aluminum or light gauge steel in key areas. I also have acquired 1:25th scale Panther track for rc use. BTW you can still buy the track and sprockets thru Tamiya if you look under parts in the discontinued items. They also have motor/gear boxes and some misc other parts. My project is still in a box behind several years of other projects. Life is getting short!!.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

I did start mocking up a folded ally hull for Dave in Pro/Engineer, with a less sloped hull in order to fit the Mato KT gear set at the time (only gears off the shelf that I could find that had half a chance to fit - you'd have to cut the shafts down tho) - but then the day job got in the way and I didn't have time to help any more [&o]

(Sorry Dave if you're reading this [&o] if you are reading this PM me as I still want a kit!)

Since then the Mato KT gear sets got hard to come by [&o], and my compromises probably won't have made the rivet counters happy anyway [&o]

I'd still love to have a Hetzer on the battlefield :D

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

be carefull on which one you order as you may end up with the rubber band style trackshttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...humbs_down.gif

the single motor affairs are rubber banded tracks and the dual motor ones should be the link style ;)
i also beleive the decent tracked ones retail slightly higher by a few pounds/Dollars

always best to check if you can

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Exactly or on Ebay.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

I think one of these will be more fun to build....

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...0000082051.jpg

I will make the wheels the same way I did them on the e-100

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Not much progress so far... I have ordered the 1/25 Tamiya Panther tracks from the AAF Museum.

Any of you 1/24 VS tankers think the gear boxes might work in this? Can some post some rough dimensions? Artistic Hobbies is still sold out, any other sources?

Attached are a few dimensioned renderings off the Blue Star website for reference.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Lots of plastic in the 1/24 gearboxes, gotta make sure that tank stays light in weight. I was going to go the same route in my Luchs build, but just don't think they would
stand upin battleoperating.Cruising around a patio, or wood floor for sure. Maybe tamiya Gen 1's? For the Luchs it's more about width as I'd imagine the Hetzer is as well.
Adapting any kind of 1/16 sprocket would be some work and add a lot of stress to the output shaft on the 1/24 gearboxes.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Do you have a link to these tracks? I've been trying to find 1/25 panther tracks and sprockets but so far it seems that the only way to obtain these is to buy a whole 1/25 Panther kit...

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

As Kevin did, try contacting the AAF museum to see if they have any in stock.

http://www.aaftankmuseum.com/RC-Tank-Parts.htm

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Captain,

I got the Tamiya Panter 1/25 track part number (8085028) (9335318 - 15 spare links) from the instruction sheet on the TamiyaUSA website (Kit # 56601).

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/ite...oduct-id=56601

Then emailed the info to the AAF museum in Danville to inquire if they can get the part. They could, for approx. $26 & $7.

The sprockets look like they are on the 'A' Sprue - Part # 0003259, along with all the other wheels. You will need the Poly Caps to place inside the sprocket (see Step 7)

[email protected]

I got lucky that they were about to put in an order to Tamiya. Otherwise I would have had to wait till they had enough items to place their next order.


Benny,

If I get this project up and running, I would want a battler. I checked an old pair of HL Panzer III gear boxes,but they were too wide. I will break out my spare Tamiya Tiger Type I's and check it out.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

UPDATE:

The 1/25th scale Tamiya Panther tracks arrived courtesy of the AAF (thanks Natasha!)

The Panther track guide horn spacing around the Hetzer road wheel is snug but workable. As Panzerpaul noted in his build thread, the Tamiya tracks have two small plastic pins he removed, drilled the tracks, and replaced with a metal pins. I am going to wait to get everything else up and running before I commit to that mind numbing task!

(See post #4 for detailed shot of the tracks before and after modification)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_95...tm.htm#9567545

The next step is to get serious about finding gearboxes.

The family is getting ready to move in the next few months, so my slow building pace will get even slower as I have to pack and unpack my shop.:)

(Edit - forgot the photos.....[X(]

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Egads! I hate moving! [:@]


Hope all goes smoothly and we can see some build pics soon!














~ Jeff

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

Like that metal pan idea from Dana's post.

RE: Blue Star Models Hetzer Resin Kit
 

I thought I might have the gear box issue solved (see the first pict) Tamiya Tiger I Type I drives........

Then I put the upper deck on (see the second picture)

Now I see why Panzerpaul had the main gun only move side to side[&o]
What I need are low profile gear boxes that are not too wide. Any suggestions?

Ex Pat Tanker mentions the Mato King Tiger gear set. Also want to check out the gear boxes on ETO - they look low pro