Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A"

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Aug 18, 2015 3:02 pm

Great Jordan, I elect you exhaust maker for the club! LOL! I need 3 more sets of pipes for Panthers please.... Very Happy

you heard right and a little birdie tells me the postman brought you a surprise...

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"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Aug 18, 2015 4:17 pm

Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 94694_lhfievvxymq42bd

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Tiger I - Panzer II - Panzer III - Panzer IV - Chi Nu Kai - Panther G - KV-1b 756(r)
M4A3(76) Sherman - T-34/85 - M3 Grant - SECRET PROJECT

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:40 pm

_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:47 pm

I have been updating on my other forums but have not here so I thought I would try and catch up quick so you al can see the "A" as it is close to paint finally!

Well this certainly is taking a while! Now that summer has come to a close I hope to really get on this damn tank and finish it! did some more PE the fire extinguisher. This little ******* took over 4 hours. The little clip on the lid, yea, that thinner than a human hair! But man, compared to stock HL it is awesome.... Basically you take the stock one and sand everything off so all you really have left is a plastic tube. Then you go nuts with the PE. The only thing the kit really doesn't have is the handle so I fabricated that and also didn't use the rod that comes with the kit I use some small copper pipe I have for the main stem and used the rod for the secondary pipe. It is pretty incredible to look at. Almost a shame it's going to get paint but I am going to decal it so it catches your eye...
Sorry, the pics are a little blurry, my camera has a hard time focusing in that close...

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Decided to take a little break from PE and do some welding. The method I use is milliput and a flat jewelers or eyeglasses screwdriver. I tend not to do the big welds and try to keep it to scale although older eyes and shaky hands are catching up to me. Also as I did on the lower hull replace the periscope cover with brass so it is more to scale. Removed a couple of bits that are not usually on the "A"'s and sanded smooth. To do a final smoothing I just brush Tamiya thin regular model glue over the area and it gives it a nice finish...

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_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:57 pm

So getting back to the build.... here is the fitting of the other side front tools. It is a different set up from the "G" on both sides so it all had to be scratch built and it took a while! I have some really good little pieces of hardwood to make the jack stands out of and I take some brass strips and using my pin vise drill in a bit to represent the screws on the real thing. I think they turn out not 1/2 bad... I still have to add some PE clamps and general clean to finish it up.

Also tackled the back cable holder. I think it is obvious why they changed this on the "G" . A hollow pipe spot welded vs a solid more substantial post on the G. To try and help secure it better I drilled a hole right through the body, soldered a thicker piece of wire into the tube, put it thruogh the hole and applied the soldering gun to the top of the tbe pushing it into the plastic just a touch to secure it better with the side benefit that it creates a little ridge which looks like the solder line on the real thing. Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 Icon_e_biggrin

Clip it off from the back added a touch of glue and they should stand up not too bad driving around but this "A" will be a bit of a shelf queen me thinks....

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_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:59 pm

O.K. so here is about 14 hours of painful work! Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 Icon_crazy

The second tool rack on the "A" only contains the sledge and one rod tool with large hex driver on one end. (The "G" has 3 tools) I wanted to make the holes on the one end like you see in this pic of the Littlefield Panther. And I must say thanks to Vladimir Yakubov who has an invaluable gallery of at least 500 or 600 pictures of the Littlefield Panther build. If you want to do any kind of detailed build use that source. It is absolutely awesome with high resolution pictures. Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 Icon_clap

Panther A 292.JPG (59.04 KiB) Not viewed yet

So it was really hard to make that hex tool! (Sorry, the actual name for the tool escapes me at the moment) I first tried to form the tool using an old one but drilled it and it was too thin. Broke. Tried a piece of styrene. Broke. finally brass tube about the right size. First one broke. Second one success! Once the holes were successful I took a small hex driver I had and cut the end off to place in the brass rod. This is the one you see here. I didn't mount it because I need to be able to remove right now for paint. Also I am now waiting on wingnuts to finish the frame to match the Littlefield. Also you will see my first attempt at the Voyager buckets. They really are awesome! I find the standard after market ones to heavy and thick. These are great and you get 4 in a pack in 2 sizes. I must also say the Voyager early clamp set is relatively easy to work with compared to Aber. They don't require any solder and only glue for the frame of the clamp to the hull mount. Very nice price too! :-) So like I said, wingnuts, cotter pins, and small chains will all be added later once we paint. Speaking of which I think it is pretty much ready FINALLY!!!

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_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Tue Oct 13, 2015 1:02 pm

So one of the things I have sort of puzzled over almost from the beginning was how to install the early idler. I purchased the idlers and early sprockets but of course they are set up for Asiatam/Taigen. So then I picked up a Henntec idler system. Well it is a great piece of kit I am trying to make this build at least cosmetically accurate as much as possible and there are plates and screws which would be very visible if I used it so had to come up with plan B...

Here is the early idler in case some where wondering what it lookes like compared to the regular Panther "G" idler
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So here is what I decided to do. First, I found some brass pipe that would fit fairly tight on the idler shaft.
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Next I drilled out the existing idler hole just large enough to slide the brass pipe into.

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Next adjusted the brass pipe so that the idler was inline with the center of the first boogie. Well, actually not perfectly centered. On my blueprints it is just slightly out further.

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Next I found some small dia. ( 1.5mm I think) threaded steel rod. Steel is important as I will show later. So I drilled through the plastic and though the wall of the brass tube but not all the way through.

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I then threaded the hole using the steel rod. The steel is hard enough to thread the brass rod.

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I then flattened one side of the idler shaft with my dremel

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I then put the idler in the tube and used one of my drafting fine point marked the shaft

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Into the vice and drilled it out with a bit just a hair smaller than the steel threaded rod.
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And here are the last 2 shots for tonight. Threaded the idler shaft and installed them...

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_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:25 pm

Now the the front sprockets. I wanted to put the early ones on and again issues with Mato to HL.

As you can see here the later sprocket center that comes with the "G" is raised up

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So I had to grind this down. Easy to tell when you have it flush the holes appear on the inner hub. I then primed it.

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Here is the early cover

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On the back side I made the inner ring flush with the outer by grinding it down too. Then 2 part epoxied a wafer magnet into the center

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As you can see the hex bolts are magnetic and 2 of these wafer magnets measure out perfectly for a tight fit! Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 Icon_clap

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so screwed the assembly into the hull then popped the magnet in on the hex bolt head.

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Brought the cover close to it and snap! It went right to it. Viola! You have the early sprocket and no issues getting into it when you need to... Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" - Page 4 Icon_e_biggrin

Panther A 311.JPG (45.75 KiB) Not viewed yet

_____________________________________________
"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem..."
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

Too many tanks, not enough time....

Subject: Re: Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A" Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:48 pm

You clever boy

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» Carson's Panther F
» Late War German Disc Camo
» Tiger I, Late (Taigen from the AFF Museum Shop), to be done in Abt 506 Colours

Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A"

Converting HL Panther "G" to a Late "A"

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