New owner from Hampshire

[David Wiltshire]

I thought it might be a good idea to introduce myself and say hello.
I've recently bought a Panzer1V from David Brady that originally belonged to Nick Farrugia.
I only went to pickup a Tamiya 1 16th tank I'd won on e-bay and when David showed me his tanks I was gobsmacked, I've always been a fairly keen radio control model fanatic but I'd never seen anything like these Armortek tanks before.
I'm a bit of an impulsive person and after seeing the half track and the Panzer if it wasn't for the fact that the half track had sold I'd have bought both on the spot. Anyway eventually David sold me the Panzer which I really marvel over and enjoy fettling/messing around with.
So if there are any social gatherings of owners around Hampshire and surrounding areas let me know.

[duncanallender]

Welcome to being an Armortek owner.Yes the tanks are great fun, hope you enjoy it.
Regards
Duncan (too far from Hamps to travel there I'm afraid)

[simon_manning]

welcome to the club david, there's not many of us in hampshire but one more is a bonus, regards simon manning from hampshire.

[David Wiltshire]

Thanks for the welcome and hope to meaty up with you in the future.
According to my sat nav I'm 90 minutes from Bovington so will plan a visit soon.

[Dennis Jones]

Hi David,

There is a group of us called the Southern Armour Group mainly based in the Dorset area. We have about 20 or so members spread far & wide, Weymouth, Gloucester, Cirencester, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Oxford and M/Keynes. We meet up at least once a month at Bovvy. Next meeting will be at Tank 100 on 17th Sept. If you are interested let me know and I will forward on further details.

Dennis.

[Chris Hall]

David -

Welcome to the gang ! Although I'm confused between your residence and your surname ....

A visit to Bovington is always a Good Thing. There's a Panzer IV there (amongst many, many other wonderful things) so you can compare your new toy to the original and marvel at the level of detail and accuracy that Armortek put into these models.

I'd echo Dennis's suggestion of joining the Southern Armour Group. The subscription includes Public Liability insurance, which is a Good Thing in these litigious days .... and we're a nice friendly helpful bunch. Panzer IV's are pretty rare on the 'circuit', so you're assured of an audience !

All the best, and hope to meet you soon,

Chris

[David Wiltshire]

Thanks again, I'll check out the group and join.

[Bob Carr]

Hi, Having just put down a deposit on a new Panther A (I admit to being terrified, never having done anything remotely as big as this (ex-Tamiya stuff)!) I'm another newcomer from S Hampshire. Looking at the forum, I'm so impressed with the depth of knowledge and skill evident I just hope I'll be able to do the thing justice in comparison.

I know I only joined this forum today (!) but I've already spent the last 2 nights awake thinking about my Panther and have a couple of staggeringly premature questions. Has anyone any experience of winter camo from the Eastern front (were there Ausf A types there?) that I could base my beast on and secondly, how would I put Zimmermit on my Panther? And would I want to?

So looking forward to talking to you guys - I've just booked for Tankmod in 3-4 weeks time so I can give myself a real fright about how much I have to learn.

Cheers,

Bob Carr

[Chris Hall]

Bob -

Welcome to the gang ! Trust me, there is nothing to fear but fear itself - just follow the instructions and you'll be fine. I was a newby once, as were we all ....

As you'll have worked out, there are a range of specific sections on this forum, so you might want to direct your historical questions to the Panther crowd. There is also the Knowledge Base, where you can learn lots of arcane things, such as zimmerit.

Come and introduce yourself at TankMod ! Mine's the WW1 tank in German markings ....

All the best,

Chris

[dennypatterson]

Hello. what part of Hampshire,I always like to know where people live could be next to me!!!!!!! and could help, I do have a few A.T. tanks. Denny.

[Bob Carr]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm based in Fordingbridge so not too far from Bovvy.

Will now find and explore the Panther mob and Zim specialists. Thanks for the hints .

Cheers,

Bob

[Derek Attree]

Hi Bob
Look in the panther section there you will find some
pictures of my winter panther from 2008 its about 20 threads down
the list. Title winter panther

Derek

[mark lawson]

Bob, Panther A was used on all fronts bar North Africa, as for Zimmerit, the Panther A, that is being produced is the early type without the Kugleblende it’s known that a small number of Panther A, produced by MNH and Daimler Benz didn’t have zimmerit, if you want to have zimmerit then there are 3 main types by far the simplest would be the “tile” pattern used by MNH and Daimler Benz, there are a number of books on Panther to study.

[Bob Carr]

Hi Everyone,

It's been literally years (2.5) since I signed up to this forum having ordered a Panther A. When it arrived I froze in fear. While I'm an instrument science guy, I left had the electronics and machining to others who knew what they were doing. When presented by Armortek by something which looked more like a NASA project, I simply panicked and didn't open the boxes for a year and a half. Now, thanks to this Covid19 nonsense, I've run out of things to do which previously gave me an excuse to not look at the stack of boxes in the garage and, lo and behold, I've cracked them open and am now on a roll. I've now got my eye in w.r.t. the drawings, recognising that the alignments need a CAD engineer's viewpoint (you guys need treatment!) and that not everything fits as well as it might. Fine for you buggers who have spent a lifetime translating plans into reality, a shock to us others with no machining skills. Anyway, got the hull built, Etch primer and red oxide on (aren't spray guns fun when you learn how NOT to acid-etch the roses!), wheels going on, tracks done, etc...
Now: the horrible bit: Electrics/electronics.
PLEASE will someone suggest which battery (-batteries) to buy and which radio controller would be best. I've zero experience of RC kit so, unlike you lot - from what I can gather from the forums - I have no previous likes and dislikes re. single stick/ 2-10 channel/ nuclear powered reactors/etc.
Just give me a link to a) a beginners controller but with enough oomph to run the full complement of accessories (motion control, recoil, motion pack with turret rotation and elevation, sound pack, smoke generation - the works (spot the idiot who bought the lot without realising what's involved!) and b) which batteries I would be best advised to buy (this is essentially a toy and I don't envisage high mileage - Poland is out) so I suspect I won't be needing high performance (£££!) batteries. While I not suggesting money is no object, I don't want to overspec this aspect.
Seriously, I've been following a number of you (in awe of the degree with which you have overcome apparently insurmountable problems (don't laugh, I'm a virgin) and have made every one of the mistakes to which you have confessed (Love you, Mike), but now I need advice about RC controllers and batteries before I lay out all the electronics modules, make the connection, test with the 'new' controller before trying how the hell to fit it all into a space the size of a shoebox.
I do hope one of more of you will give me a hint as to my next steps.

Thanks guys

Bob

(especially to those Southern Armour (?) blokes I met a Bovvie last year who said 'just go for it '-

[Stephen White]

The Knowledge Base - Written just for such a request:

RC Systems -how to choose.

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... 432c369b3d

Some stuff on Batteries:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... 27c190dbdb