so after getting my Pershing squared away, I started converting my Pz III/IV form a HL Pz III.

I started by popping off the front plates and removing the side boxes.  i also removed or shaved off the the tools. most of the tools were unfortunately unrecoverable so if anyone has any German tools, let me know.

I leveled out the more drastic of the slopes on the rear engine deck using a razor saw, and then proceeded to add  the slopped armoured plates to the front and sides.  on the front sloped plate i fitted the styrene around the existing front plate as to not have to re-sculpt the MG bubble or Drivers view port.



once that was done, i used the overhang thing on the back to build the top of the rear face.  I left the exhaust in place for now, although i may rebuild it later.  I'm going to remove the smoker to reduce the weight a bit(they make a horrible whine, so i plan on disconnecting them in my other tanks anyway)  and when I do that i may add the exhaust pipes facing upward.



then i made all the front-end modifications.  the front section is a little squished, but any further modifications would have required an almost complete rebuild of the upper hull.   if i get a decent paying co-op in January I may digitally sculpt the upper hull and get it printed off.



I still have some putty work and sanding to do, but there isn't a lot more to do at this stage. Curtis is currently awaiting the arrival of my 75L48 barrel, so that is the last major part needed to complete this.  While I'm waiting i think i'll get  the electronics sorted out.

fyi the barrels will be here in time for me to ship them before next weekend, wait till u see them swwwweeeeeeeeeeeetttttt is all I can say

Great work on the tank too

Hmmmmmmmm Sloped armour very interesting i will check for some tools ....nice job on the tank

more progress on the PZ II/IV.

got the hull don and painted.  I used a combination of Vallejo Model Air and AK paints. the colours and highlighting was done with an airbrush, everything else by brush.

I used the panzer grey weathering set on this one.  i was a bit worried that the blue filter and blue-brown wash would look weird on the brown, but it turned out quite good..

here is the painting at a few steps:

grey base and highlights


Camo


Markings and filter


final with wash and streaking grime & slime



tracks should be arriving this week(got the metal winter tracks).  with a little luck this should be battle ready for this Saturday.



Cheers,

Steve

Will you repaint ALL of my tanks for me?

I'm not sure but this might be the first Panzer III/IV conversion out there, at least in 1/16 RC. 

I'd suggest the track adjuster kit for this little guy, otherwise it seems perfectly good to go.

very nice, surprising how much the paint changes when the filters etc are applied.

whoa!!!!

Strato50 wrote:

I'd suggest the track adjuster kit for this little guy, otherwise it seems perfectly good to go.

I'm not sure you really need the adjuster for the P3, It a good runner out of the box.

I've never had a problem with mine and I've ran it with three different types of tracks. I currently run with the metal winter tracks with no issues, and all I did was remove one link from them.


Oh ya, nice looking tank.  

Since I just think it's fun to have, cheap and easy to install and use. On this and the panzer iv, the idler mount is the biggest weak point :p

so the track tensioners now are installed.  i used the old plastic tIdlerr arms with the tensioner itself, which solved the problem if the screw being the wrong size for the metal idler arms, although it did require some "remodeling" of the sock arm to fit.

I also set up the red LED Hit indicators.  these are located in the front-most 4  slots of the commanders copula. there are 5 slots, and one is directly to the rear, so it's the only one without an LED.  I tested them and they are quite visible, even in my well-Flourescent-lit basement.

the PZ IV will get the same treatment this weekend, as well as the late tiger for my friend Jon.  the early tigers are going to be more problematic, since the vision ports in the copula are very small. i may have to widen them a bit.

I found that having the LED's in the vision ports of any tank makes it very hard to see regardless of the brightness of the LED's.  

I am in favor of using the Tamiya receiver regardless of what system your running as these are the most visible and you don't need to go looking for a light.

"hey bud, gotta light ? "

Stinger

And if you don't feel like forking out that much dough for Tamiya, you can use hammerheads which are around $25.00 from Michael!

pzkpfw_steve wrote:

I also set up the red LED Hit indicators.  these are located in the front-most 4  slots of the commanders copula. there are 5 slots, and one is directly to the rear, so it's the only one without an LED.  I tested them and they are quite visible, even in my well-Flourescent-lit basement.

the PZ IV will get the same treatment this weekend, as well as the late tiger for my friend Jon.  the early tigers are going to be more problematic, since the vision ports in the copula are very small. i may have to widen them a bit.

Steve, I would test this outside on a sunny day, before you going making holes.  

Natural light is not the same as artificial lights. At work we have very bright LED lights, the industrial kind, and the signs we do still look different when outside.

dgsselkirk wrote:

And if you don't feel like forking out that much dough for Tamiya, you can use hammerheads which are around $25.00 from Michael!

That's not a bad idea but I think Steve is trying to stick with the HL sensor option, he might just have a conniption fit at the notion of re-wiring 6 tanks (since he's chief maintenance officer for the time being hehehe)

I think Stince has the right idea. If the LED's are nice and bright red or orange mounting them in the cupula should work provided they're completely exposed, so basically nearly sticking out and fully visible. Sunlight is our worst nightmare here