Panther G 2022 #15 Build

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Quite a productive few days

Idler wheels are now finished and fitted to the tank.
Bolts are not Loctited on any of the wheels at this point.

Remember not to loctite the inner bearing to the wheel or you will not get the wheel on the shaft with the roadwheels fitted.

I have also started the hub caps for the road wheels and idlers with a light scuff up and check for bolt fit.

I have decided that some 14mm x 2mm magnets are going to be used to secure these to the road wheels rather than the recommended Loctite.

After checking to see if the plan is going to work these have been epoxied into the cap.

I have managed to get hold of a sheet of Photo Etch bolt locking plates for these caps from Günter in Germany so when they arrive I get these fully assembled and painted.
Some Bolt locking tabs for the Idler wheel caps are also included.

[Jae-seung Roe]

Great building neat and clean! I wonder you would put M2 nut on hubcap as well?

Cheers Jae-seung

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Hi Jae-seung

No, I think I will stay with the dummy M2.5 bolts supplied.
It will probably look OK with these looking slightly larger.
Bolt heads showing in this case and not the nuts.

I will take another look though when the bolt locking plates arrive.

Cheers.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

The PE nut locking plates for the roadwheel hubs have arrived from Germany.

It looks like I will have to use M2 bolts after all if I want to use them as the M2.5 dummy ones supplied with the kit are too big to be able to bend over the locking tabs.

So I've ordered M2 x 3mm Hex headed bolts from China.

While I wait the few weeks for them to arrive I have moved onto the Drive sprockets.

I'm using M2.5 Castle nuts on the outer face of the sprockets so have started clean up of these.

[Jae-seung Roe]

The PE nut locking plates for the roadwheel hubs have arrived from Germany.

It looks like I will have to use M2 bolts after all if I want to use them as the M2.5 dummy ones supplied with the kit are too big to be able to bend over the locking tabs.

So I've ordered M2 x 3mm Hex headed bolts from China.

While I wait the few weeks for them to arrive I have moved onto the Drive sprockets.

I'm using M2.5 Castle nuts on the outer face of the sprockets so have started clean up of these.

I also wanted to know where to find that locking plate.
Also M2 nut does look better in terms of scale wise.
Great detail on your wheel part.!

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Thanks.
I pretty sure that this PE sheet is no longer produced so I was very lucky getting hold of it.

M2 bolt heads will definitely look better and more in scale.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

While I wait for all sorts of different replacement bolts to arrive I have started work on the drive sprockets to be ready.

Only a short time out on the build tonight but managed to get the holes on the rear of the outer sprocket counter sunk to take the M2.5 hex bolts that are going to be used along with the castle nuts.
Next up will be the chamfer on the drive teeth.

How much of a chamfer is recommended here? Just the top edge taken off with maybe 4 - 5mm?

[Malcolm.Plumb]

That's both outer sprockets sorted and ready for a light coat of primer and ring of bolts

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Just a few hours out on the build today.

Still prepping the drive sprocket parts ready for assembly.

Today the bolts with the smaller heads have arrived from Germany for the idler wheel hub caps along with some extra M2.5 hex heads from China. Hopefully the rest will be here tomorrow.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Back to the road wheel hubcaps.

M2 x 3mm bolts now used along with the PE locking plates.
I have used 3mm plastic tube to keep the bolts central in the now over sized holes and to enable them to be threaded in.

Worked out OK I think.

[Jae-seung Roe]

Back to the road wheel hubcaps.

M2 x 3mm bolts now used along with the PE locking plates.
I have used 3mm plastic tube to keep the bolts central in the now over sized holes and to enable them to be threaded in.

Worked out OK I think.

Does look way better in terms of scale wise. hope to see hubcap put together with your roadwheels !

[Malcolm.Plumb]

I have managed to have a few hours painting today and have finished the initial priming of the drive sprocket parts ready for assembly and also get the road wheel and drive sprocket hub caps painted with the top coat.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Assembly has just started on the drive sprockets with the outer ring of castle nuts completed.

The holes in the back of the sprocket have been countersunk to accept a proper bolt and newly purchased 6mm Hex bolts used to try to keep the amount of thread showing reduced.

Pretty pleased with how it turned out

[Damon Resch]

Really nice work, Malcolm, it's that attention to detail that set's some of these amazing builds on the next level of modeling, keep up the great work.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Thanks Damon