Mick's Panther A

[Marco Peter]

It's really coming together.

Now find a way to keep it in the living room haha!

[michael hilton]

Hello Marco, thank you, it helps to have an understanding wife, flowers and chocolates are advisable.
This is my tank workshop, presently used for the Panther tools repaint. Most of the Panther winter effect is now complete, most satisfying,
We are, as requested, self isolating, the thought had crossed my mind....maybe just one more model... Whisper it quietly...someone has large ears.….Mick.

[Marco Peter]

Wow... so neat haha!

[Bob Carr]

Hello Mick,

First and most importantly of all, I have to express my deepest admiration and gratitude for your postings over the build of your Panther A.

Having been a great fan of truly low-level WWII modelling (Airfix from a boy, moving to a few Tamiya as a bored middle aged man), I retired a couple of years ago and thought, as a present to myself, 'Why not; go for the real thing and buy one of those beasts I fell in love with at a Bovvie day - Armortek!" I've always thought the Panther was the best looking of all WWII armour and went overboard and duly got the kit with all the goodies.

The number of boxes that arrived and a quick glance at the manuals left me catatonic. I'm not an engineer, have NO experience of RC stuff and, while I've always liked painting for realisation at the 35:1 level, was dumbstruck by the quality and professionalism of the real Armortek aficionados.

Suffice to say, I froze and shamefully the boxes stayed unpacked for 18 months out of sheer fear. I felt sick every time I looked at the garage where I'd put them thinking '...what have I done?'

Finally, I thought 'don't be a coward - make a start'. I needed to find something like your blog as a pathfinder. So, for the last 10 weeks I've been following your postings (making the same mistakes as you (e.g. what would it have cost Armortek to have printed 'only put the dummy nuts on the OUTSIDE of the wheels before you run out', or to have printed slightly higher resolution diagrams to make parts and and numbering more easily identifiable?).

With your postings help (and Adrian!) I've cracked the mechanicals (I'm hoping the moly spray will work on the slightly stictiony recoil barrel bit!) and am now awaiting the batteries to allow me to power up all the electricals. I'll be following the instructions (albeit slightly 'distributed') to the letter but have no idea what to do with the fancy transmitter Spektrum GS8 that Adrian recommended. I don't have the vocabulary to be able to make sense of the manual. Hey-Ho!

So, I've learnt to handle a file, fine wire wool, a Dremel, tell the difference between caps and buttons, decipher exploded diagrams BEFORE assembly, use a spray gun (remembering to masks ALL threads and sliding joints first), think at least three times before using loctite, etc... and am now on the last push.

I bought this kit as a 'toy' but have realised, from you professionals, that I can upgrade it to a true 'model' later having got the thing built. I suspect I'd enjoy that. I fancy your winter wash, Mick. Looks great.

So, just a heartfelt word of thanks to you and your colleagues on the Users Forum. I suspect I'll be asking for a few last bits of advice, but hope I don't need to.

Last task is to find a way of broaching the subject of kit #2 with the wife. I tried this a few weeks ago when I'd made some real progress and received what can only be described as a 'very old fashioned look'. Laugh.

You're right however, this is a heavy bit of kit and I must soon think about moving the bloody thing off the bench without wrecking myself. Assuming, of course, I don't totally screw up the electrics.

[michael hilton]

Good morning everyone, while I await and look forward to the deluge of Tankfest photo's, and reports. Dear me, it was cold last night, completely forgot to bring her in doors. Have a nice day....Mick

[michael hilton]

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, having moved my Elefant and Churchill models to pastures new, I decided to recommission my Panther A .
It is early days, however one change I would like to make is the steering from two stick onto one stick.
I have the Spektrum DX6 and matching receiver. I followed the setup for single stick mode outlined in the ''Knowledge Base ''. For some reason the one stick setup does not take place.
Before I start pulling leads out and getting frustrated, there may be a simple answer.
While I am tinkering, are the newer Red Boxes compatible with this Panther A. All being well I have entered the model in our local show this September. Oh, and I have a pre-op date in July for my cataracts.... Mick.

[Adrian Harris]

> For some reason the one stick setup does not take place.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the menu, there should be a Monitor page, which will show you what the transmitter is sending out to each channel.

That should show whether the transmitter if doing what you expect. If it isn't then the transmitter set up is wrong. If it is, then there's something amiss in the tank itself.

Adrian.

[Armortek]

Hi Mick - this is how we set up the DX6 for 1 stick

GO TO THE FUNCTION LIST

SCROLL DOWN TO SYSTEM SETUP

SELECT YES (MAKE SURE YOUR MODEL IS POWERED OFF!!)

SELECT MODEL TYPE

SELECT AIRPLANE

GO BACK TO THE MENU AND SELECT AIRCRAFT TYPE

SELECT THE ONE SHOWN ABOVE AND THAT SHOULD ENABLE 1 STICK.

.
TOUBLESHOOTING:

- IF PUSHING THE STICK FORWARD MAKES THE TANK TURN, THEN GO TO SERVO SETUP IN THE FUNCTION LIST AND REVERSE THE DIRECTION OF ONE OF THE CHANNELS.
- IF PUSHING THE STICK FORWARD MAKES THE TANK GO IN REVERSE, THEN GO TO SERVO SETUP IN THE FUNCTION LIST AND REVERSE THE DIRECTION OF BOTH OF THE CHANNELS.
- IF TURNING THE TANK TO THE LEFT MAKE THE TANK GO RIGHT THEN SWAP THE RC LEADS THAT GO INTO THE RECEIVER. WE NORMALLY HAVE IT SET SO THAT:
ELE - RIGHT TRACKS
AIL - LEFT TRACK

IF YOU FIND THAT THE SPEED OF THE TANK HAS SLOWED DOWN THEN GO BACK TO SERVO SETUP AND CHANGE THE TOP AND BOTTOM RANGE OF THE CHANNELS FROM 100 TO THE HIGHEST THEY CAN GO TO. I THINK THAT IS 150.

[michael hilton]

Good morning Adrian and thank you for your reply. I followed your advice this morning, without solving this problem. I decided to go back to square one. The Panther is now upon my workbench, on a motorcycle jack to allow movement. The plan, with the help of your latest post is to start again. Checking each move as I go.
I need a rest/break so tomorrow is D-Day, and yes I am of an age to remember, God bless them all .... Mick

[Adrian Harris]

Good luck Mick. You're still knocking out models faster than most of us here !

Adrian.

[michael hilton]

Good morning Adrian, 'ommering down outside....update as follows.
From scratch. Silver Boxes.
Mode 2 selected on Tx.
From the motion control module, pin numbers 3 and 4, I have connected two Rc leads to Elevator and Aileron on the Rx.
Power, bind, test. Right stick is now single stick control U/D, R/L, L/R. Thank you.

Also, on the Tx left stick, I have connected the 'Viper' Rc lead to Rx Rudder for turret turn, and Motion Control lead No 1 to Rx Throttle for Gun Elevation.
Power, bind, test, All working ok. Turret turns L/R R/L. Gun elevate up/down, on left stick.

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE...I have now linked the Audio Module To the Motion Module...and Pin 6 on Audio Module to Gear....I now have sounds, recoil, and gun flash.

So just the M/G and lights to add , stay tuned guys ... Mick

[Adrian Harris]

It sounds like you have the Motion Control Module (MCM) pins 3 and 4 going directly to Ele and Ail on the receiver.

In order for the sounds to work, the Audio Module also needs to be connected to these outputs from the receiver.

There are two ways to do it:

1) In the RC CONNECTIONS block on the Audio Module, numbers 1 and 3 are linked together and numbers 4 and 5 are linked together. So you plug a lead between Ele on the receiver and number 1, then from number 3 on the Audio Module to pin 3 on the MCM. Similarly, you would run a lead from Ail on the receiver to number 4 on the Audio Module and then another lead from number 5 on the Audio Module to pin 4 on the MCM.

If you ever need to remove the Audio Module, this can be a pain, as you have to rewire the connections between the receiver and the MCM.

Alternatively:

2) Plug a Y lead into Ele on the receiver, take one leg to Audio Module number 1 and the other leg to pin 3 on the MCM. Plug another Y lead into Ail on the receiver, with one leg to number 4 on the Audio Module and the other leg to pin 4 on the MCM. Numbers 3 and 5 on the Audio module are not used when wired like this.

Finally, you will need to run a lead from Gear on the receiver to number 6 on the Audio module. This is the connection that allows you to control the Audio module sounds. You will need to configure a 3 way switch to control the Gear channel, but it's a long time since I've used anything other than Taranis, so I'm not sure how you do that. There should be something in the Knowledge base to help you.

Adrian.

[michael hilton]

Hello Adrian, thank you for this information, as I had no sound on acceleration. I will check tomorrow and add the Y leads. Slowly getting there. I never really understood the earlier system, mostly trial and error. The Red Boxes and instructions are a huge improvement. Thanks again, Mick

[michael hilton]

Good morning everyone, update on my Panther issues. All is well, the drive system is ''one stick'' all the sounds are working as are the gun elevations, turret turns, even front and rear lights, etc, etc,. I down loaded her ladyship from the bench onto my trailer this morning. Hopefully in September I will display her at the local Forden Show.
All's well that ends well. Have a nice day guys.... Mick