Page 14 of 15

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 4:34 pm
by Roy Beukeveld
Nothing technical to write about this time, but I thought it would be nice to share some nice pictures.
Today my StuG went out to the field for the first time, great experience! It was awesome to see it driving around in the woods 8)
I was surprised with the ease in which it climbs uphill and finds it way through the terrain.
There were some steep long climbs and the current didn't get above 17 amps over the entire driving session.
I did run off a tire so that one has to be glued back on, but other then that all went fine.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

So now its back in the workshop, plenty of things still to do so back to work :D

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 5:52 pm
by Robert E Morey
Looks fantastic - love the ground level pix! Are you going to paint the cone points? Or leave em shiny for extra "bling"? :D
B

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2021 6:15 pm
by Roy Beukeveld
Robert E Morey wrote:
Tue Aug 10, 2021 5:52 pm
Looks fantastic - love the ground level pix! Are you going to paint the cone points? Or leave em shiny for extra "bling"? :D
B
Hi Robert, haha extra bling :D

No they will be painted too, still lots to do before the model is actually finished. This is one of those items.

Tomorrow I will continue with the gun mechanics, they are all in place but not yet connected and wired in.
My commander needs power to make his 'moves' again, wires are already in place but the Arduino has to be built in again.
The MG34 still needs a mounting, and one of my return rollers doesn't roll very smoothly, so plenty of things to do :)

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:18 pm
by Björn Johansson
Great inspiration :P Roy thanks :D it looks so 8)

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:15 pm
by Marco Peter
It's so squeaky clean! :mrgreen:

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:51 am
by Roy Beukeveld
Marco Peter wrote:
Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:15 pm
It's so squeaky clean! :mrgreen:
Haha yes it is… well, i can always try to say i modelled it after the state in which they left the factory ;)

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 5:20 pm
by Marco Peter
Any plans for camo? :mrgreen:

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:25 pm
by Roy Beukeveld
Hi guys,

I have been working on the gun mechanics lately. And me too ran into some issues with the gun elevation.
In the original setup I haven't been able to get it working. I have tried a lot of things but no succes.

It got me thinking if maybe it could be accomplished some other way.
When extending the length between the power input point and the pivot point of the gun, the forces needed reduce. So I started with a gear (virtual centerpoint aligns with the pivot point) and placed the motor direct next to it.
Force wise this did the trick, the gun elevates fine although a little fast. But gravity made the gun lower as soon as power was cut.

Image

So i added a worm wheel, the gear ratio is now further reduced, and the worm prevents it from lowering when power is cut.
I'm still fiddling with it, but the prototype works... :D

Image

Image

Image

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:04 pm
by Christoffer Ahlfors
Awesome! :D
You could still add a counterweight to put less strain on the mechanism.

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:21 am
by florian rudolf
I prefer to install sprngs instead of a counter weight. - Did this allready successful at my SdKfz 251/9.

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:51 am
by Roy Beukeveld
Christoffer Ahlfors wrote:
Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:04 pm
Awesome! :D
You could still add a counterweight to put less strain on the mechanism.
Hi Christoffer, yes that is possible, but this way there is no need to :)

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:08 pm
by yves mouton
Hello Roy

Good work on the elevation system 8)
I used a counter weight ( 1,8 kg ) and put another gearbox on the elevation motor.

Best regards Yves

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 10:09 am
by Roy Beukeveld
Hi guys,

A technical issue with the StuG unfortunately... I'm a bit puzzled at the moment, maybe someone knows what it might be.

I drove the StuG out of the garage this morning and it functioned fine. When I tried to drive it up the ramps (backwards) into the car I noticed it started pulling to the left.
Drove it off and manouvered a bit on the driveway. Forward drive all normal, reverse drive it pulls to the left without giving any steering input.

Powered it all off, transmitter too, powered back up and it drives normal backwards and forwards.
Drove up the ramps again, issue returns. I also noticed it doesn't have the power to drive up the ramps like it normally does. In fact, it won't climb up at all.

Batteries fully charged, checked. Trims are all neutral. Resistance in the tracks, road wheels, nothing I could find out of the ordinary.
Fact that it runs okay after power up tells me the mechanics are fine.

What do you think guys? Any clues? Anything I can check or try?

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:11 am
by Adrian Harris
Does it make any kind of noise when it's pulling to the side ?

Does it go up the ramps OK forwards or once it's having problems is the pulling the side in both forwards and backwards ?

Adrian.

Re: Roy's StuG III (no. 2020/10)

Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 1:01 pm
by Roy Beukeveld
Adrian Harris wrote:
Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:11 am
Does it make any kind of noise when it's pulling to the side ?

Does it go up the ramps OK forwards or once it's having problems is the pulling the side in both forwards and backwards ?

Adrian.
Hi Adrian,

No it does not make any noise when driving, driving up the ramp, or when pulling to the left.

I tried some more combinations, and the same problem occurs in forward direction.
No power to climb the ramp, and after having it tried forward, it then also pulls to the left driving forward on a flat surface.
The tendency to pull to the left is stronger in reverse than forwards but it's both there.

Power down and back up, everything is fine again until the climbing in either direction is attempted again....