ATTN: Mod Squad, metal lower hull for jagdpanther arrives. Let's open the box!
 

Hi Guys,

This is the new lower hull and parts for my HL JP that I ordered from DKLM. Let me know what you think and I'll post more later with an update on what Carson plans to do to fix the error. It took 8 days to get the parts. Pretty good from HK, and I had tracking all the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW9-jPdfqLI

Ah MAN!

I've had my eye on that Jagdpanther Rolling Lower for some time...
Looks Very Nice!

Bummer about the Gearboxes, hope you can get Em straightened out...

I'll pick one up eventually...
Once I get caught up on some of my Backlog-Pipeline... ;)

-gus

Did you guys need to pay customs tax when buying toy stuff/parts from another country?

No, I didn't have to pay anything to the government. Including shipping I paid $323.50 for hull, idlers/drivers, gearboxes. I sent an email to DKLM because the gearboxes they sent are not what I ordered an not the same as the photo at the website.

For toy parts I need to pay between 15% to 25% to government.

Bummer you got the wrong Gear Set! But looks like it's gonna be a Good Build!

That's no fun :( usually in my experience when things are sent regular mail I get taxed less than half of the time, so regular mail especially from the U.S. is appealing.

FedEx, Purolator and UPS nail you with duty and import fees every time.

Double post stupid.rcu...

Did you get the metal road wheels? I think you'll need a special axle set if you want to use the plastic HL/Taigen roadwheels.

Edit: never mind...just watched the video. Looks like a nice setup...too bad about the gearboxes. Are the roadwheels one piece? Do they screw together?

Hey Philip, yeah, the metal roadwheels are included in the $167 price, and the search for metal roadwheels was what got me to this to begin with. Started out just wanting metal roadwheels for the JP, ended up with a whole lower hull! Somebody stop me!! :)

The double tire wheels appear to be one piece, the others are at least two, not screwed together but held by the axle pin with a separate hub/cover to go over that. I'll be making more videos of this as I progress so I'll be sure to get you a good look the next time I have it under the lens. That goes for everyone, if there's something in particular you want a better look at just sing out and I'll take care of it in a future video.

I've already gotten an e-mail from Carson and he's being pretty cool about things as far as the gearbox snafu is concerned. Apparently he got a shipment of what were supposed to be ALL 4 shaft boxes and it turned out there were a couple 3 shaft boxes hiding in the woodpile. He's sending me the right boxes and has asked me to return the 3 shaft, which I will gladly do as soon as the 4 shaft get here. Do you guys think I should eat it on the return postage, or should I ask for a future credit, or what? I really need your opinions on this one, Guys, cuz I want to have a good relationship with this vendor, but I don't want to set any foolish precedents this early in, ya know? What would you do and how would you handle it? I'm really interested.

And Kizwan and Strato, you guys got me to thinking about taxes and such, and I remember Erik once saying the customs people give them static because these things shoot so they're kinda in a separate class of toy, but imagine if they got classified as guns instead of toys. That would be a nightmare for import regulations, taxes and duties, don't ya think?

Later today I'll try to post update pix, the brass gearboxes are almost in (I really don't think the 4 shaft boxes are gonna fit, too tall, so I'm just going with the brass right now and I'll get more for the Tauschpanzer whenever that Erik cat gets it in gear on the gears! Just Kidding, Buddy, you know you're my main man). I've decided to do it like a custom bike build and do a mock-up first and then disassemble to paint. Some of this stuff really needs paint pre-installation, as it will be very hard to get decent coverage once it's all together.

Looks good. Let me know how the HL upper hull fits on. I have the Taigen JP with metal drivers and tracks and all it needs is the metal lower + metal road wheels, so I could be in the market for this.

Here's the answer, Greg. It fits like a dream (I already had the Taigen tracks and this has Taigen electronics but it started life as an all plastic HL with the solid tan paint job). I was totally amazed. They have two slots on the sides at the front and the hull slides down into those and then clips in at the rear. The first time I locked it down almost everything dropped right into place just perfectly and I can't tell you how happy I am with that part. The only thing I've found so far is a bit of droop around the midway point on the flanges along the sides. The flat pieces directly above the tracks. I have some of those flat bars that Erik sent me and I plan to use two of them and I think that will help with the droop quite a bit. (side note: Erik really wasn't kidding when he said just email him in that post about motor mounting plates by marc780 (?) I did and he sent me one right out, along with a couple of the upgrade flat bars for the Tigers that go across above the drivers) Here's the videos from today, five of them, and in the last one the top is on and looks just great. The suspension is very good and the stance seems spot on. I can't wait to get her outside, maybe tomorrow if it's dry after work. I still have to get the tension on the idlers right, but I think they're close. It does seem a bit harder to drive and it's much harder to lock up just one track, but the carpet has a lot to do with that, and I'm sure it all has to break in a bit. Anyway, here's progress, still LOTS of work to do. I haven't even started looking at smoke or placement of components or routing for the wires or any of that. But, so far it's been very, very smooth. Get one Greg, you won't regret it. When I got mine it said two in stock and now there's just one.

Do yourself a huge favor, click over to full screen.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVgOkpGNAUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUSqT-3CG_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24SQ6COjZq4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUy4zesYVHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcOLcEDkjD4

double post. am I supposed to write stupid.rcu? :)

Gary, could you make a video showing the tank going over some bumps? I've always wanted to see how the torsion bar suspension behaves on this metal hull! :D

Check back about this time tomorrow. Same bat time, same bat channel. :cool:

Nice, it looks great. I thought you can't lock just one track because weak battery.

Gary your tank looks very nice, I have been wanting to get my hands on the metal chassis and the road wheels for some time, the Jagdpanther is one of my favorites and a hard tank to battle with, that's a bummer that you didn't get the correct gears the first time with your order. did you get him to cover shipping on the return part,they should have checked all the items first before shipping.

Looks like a good setup. When you take it apart for mods or painting, I'd like to see a video showing how the road wheels fit together (inner to outer wheel).

Kizwan, the battery was fully charged, still warm from the charger, 3000ma nimh battery.

Chief, he hasn't said anything about shipping just that he wants me to send them back. That's why a couple posts ago I asked for help from you guys in the form of advice. What would you do? How would you handle it? He's been very cool so far so I'm thinking I'll send a very nice email asking for a tracking number when he sends the correct gears, then when they get here I'll take the wrong ones to the post office, find out how much it will be to send them back, then inform Carson and ask him what he wants me to do. At least that's the current plan, but if you guys have suggestions I REALLY want to hear them.

Philip, I'll get a video of the bumpy thing tonight, and when I take it apart to paint I'll get the roadwheel close-up for you.

I've been looking at the Panther G for comparison and the tracks on that are a LOT looser. Right now it's set almost as loose as it can go with these links, so maybe I'll try adding one and then tightening it up. I also have a thread going about idler wheels (not too bright of me), how can I combine them? DOH!!

OK, Philip, here's the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBuTPNxSccM

Still having trouble locking just one track huh? Even when you push the joystick right away to the top left or top right? The Panther use RX18 right? I don't have Taigen 2.4GHz but I bet the electronics to be blame here. With my HL 2.4GHz, the only time it doesn't want to lock just one track is when the battery is low.

MAJOR HIPPIE BRAIN FAILURE! Film at eleven. It was Captain Nemo that wanted the bumpy stuff, Philip wants the roadwheel close-ups. DOH! Sorry guys. My seven remaining brain cells and I will try to do better next time. In my defense, I did say last night that it had been a long day. :)

So I hope that video showed what you want, Skipper, and I hope you'll forgive me for the senior moment. Hey, I'm blond, too. I'm lucky if I can remember my own name.

Kizwan, I have an HL 2.4 in my Mato, maybe I should pop it out and try it in the JP. I'll have to give that some thought.

Gary the way you explained it to me sounds the way I would go about it. friendly and sweet,they say you catch more bees with honey,if not you tried and in the end we will here how he treated you and that will either generate more or less business for him as a good businessman. why each time I look at the add for the lower hull with steel wheels with bearings it is only mentioned in the heading and not with what is included?

I wondered about that myself, Chief, and I had to convince myself that the roadwheels really do come with it. They do, though, and I'm really glad I bought it. I think he expects me to pay the postage, because today I emailed him and asked for a tracking number for the correct gearbox. He said he would post it tomorrow and wanted me to send a tracking number for the set being returned. I'm not totally sure I want to send these until I get the right ones.

Kizwan, tried the HL 2.4, not good. I'm putting the Taigen back in it, as that works much better.

Philip, here, finally, is what you asked for. I'll get a little more detail when I paint. Still trying to get track length and idler tension set right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxS4xarHQ0

Hey Buds, Thanks for uploading the videos and all the in-depth reviews. I am very interested in this setup, really like it, and $200 CDN is good, but I shy away now only cause of shipping and import fees into Canada, just a bit much for my liking....we always get hammered up north. Erik has even sent me a few 'gifts' and our Commie Canadian Government still wants to charge me duty.....buying the whole tank from RCTank.De could be better value for me, I gotta do some research.....

As for your return...I would only send your gears back once you get new ones...and make them pay shipping or very least give you credit or option to buy wrong item at cost.. Shipping back to China probably cost you $30 bucks. They messed up, simple fact....but a nice email can go along way.

Keep up the good work, your mod skills improve my tanks!