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

[Tom OBrien]

Hi Tom, not a bore, don’t worry

With the grub screws i now get your point. During the dry fit it showed it indeed.
My plan for the final build is to start with the swingarms (without wheels on) before mounting the end stops and the four dampers. That way you should have enough rotational freedom to reach the grubs.
I would not loosen up 204 and 205.

If all that doesn’t work i think you can also take the floorplate of again?

I've taken the floor plate apart, which was easy because I'd used loctite blue with the retainer screws.

I should also mention, I drilled and tapped for an additional M4x8 CSK screw to hold the very end of the hull floor bar (CLO111) to the floor (CLO112) at the rear aspect of the floor. This is because I noticed a slight gap there and it drove me nuts to see the gap without doing something about it.

Tom

[yves mouton]

Hello Tom,

You dont have to grind off the trackhorns, if you put the rubber tyres on the trackhorns will be ok,
they dont come deep into the wheels.

About the M4 pins to keep the wheels together, i dont think that there comes mutch stress on the wheels,
so the pins will be ok. You can always put 4 pins in instead of two.

Best regards Yves

[Tom OBrien]

Hello Tom,

You dont have to grind off the trackhorns, if you put the rubber tyres on the trackhorns will be ok,
they dont come deep into the wheels.

About the M4 pins to keep the wheels together, i dont think that there comes mutch stress on the wheels,
so the pins will be ok. You can always put 4 pins in instead of two.

Best regards Yves

Yves,

Thank you for that insight. I suppose I can always grind the inside of the wheel halves if the track horns become an issue with fitting into that space between.

I considered adding a third pin but I think I will wait to see -- after running it, if the wheel halves begin to separate, I should be able to remove the wheels and add screws.

cheers... Tom

[Roy Beukeveld]

...I drilled and tapped for an additional M4x8 CSK screw to hold the very end of the hull floor bar (CLO111) to the floor (CLO112) at the rear aspect of the floor. This is because I noticed a slight gap there and it drove me nuts to see the gap without doing something about it...

Hi Tom, closing the gaps is always a good thing
Speaking of gaps, I wonder if any of you take any precautions in sealing of the lower hull?
To close it a bit more off for dust/sand? Some sort of sealant to be used in the lower hull parts?

I drilled and tapped four extra M6 holes in CL0111 and CL0109 too, but those are ment to bolt an inner floor into which will house the batteries and electronics.

Mean while in the workshop... not much building going on... still painting parts...

[Tom OBrien]

I thought about sealing various parts with a bit of silicon including the wheel halves.

The inner 608 ZZ bearing for the wheels (the bearing closest to the swing arm) is exposed, or at least I cannot see a washer or other means of keeping dust and water from the bearing. I thought about adding a thin washer as it might help. Any thoughts?

Tom

[Roy Beukeveld]

Hi Tom,

I have been thinking about some silicon sealant too, haven't decided on how and where yet.
A thin washer next to the bearing, I don't know. Not sure if it will do much. On the other hand the bearings have a sealing ring which will always keep some dirt out, and since the wheels can be taken of easily, changing a few bearings if needed can be done quite easily as well. It depends of course on the circumstances in which you drive the model but I don't expect any excessive wear on them.

Do you have other experiences/expectations on this?

[Tom OBrien]

Roy,

Regarding bearings, I like to protect them from dust and water mainly. But then, I don't expect to take it out much into that sort of environment, so it's probably not going to be an issue. However, if I can find a very thin washer to help protect the bearings, I'll include it so long as it doesn't interfere with how the bearing sets onto the axle.

Looking again at how the floor is affixed to the lateral bar (in which the torsion bar system resides) you would have to add an additional counter sunk screw to assure any silicon sealant doesn't cause a gap between the floor and bar. Again, if you plan to take the vehicle into water, I would recommend going the length to add the silicon but otherwise, it probably won't matter.

I've tapped the holes in the torsion bar mounts on the right side of the tank (see previous note on why I had to do this). Now I can align the torsion bars and fit the floor and side hull pieces. I'll complete this part of the build with securing a 20-25 degree angle for the swing arms. I'll then paint it after de-greasing the surfaces.

And then, it's on to the wheels. I'm still undecided about securing the wheel halves with bolts rather than pins.

cheers... Tom

[Roy Beukeveld]

...Looking again at how the floor is affixed to the lateral bar (in which the torsion bar system resides) you would have to add an additional counter sunk screw to assure any silicon sealant doesn't cause a gap between the floor and bar. Again, if you plan to take the vehicle into water, I would recommend going the length to add the silicon but otherwise, it probably won't matter...

Hi Tom, yes you got a point there, an additional screw would be necessary indeed, but on the other hand, I don't think the model will encounter any water or mud, so good chance I'll leave it the way it is for now.

[Roy Beukeveld]

Hi, I did some more painting the past days. The plates that make up the lower hull are painted now in a satin light grey paint only on the inside.
When the inner floor plate is added and all components are installed this will make up a nice and tidy technical compartment of the model.
Plan is to paint the now oxide red surfaces in sand yellow next week.

The shape and layout of the inner floor plate is something I will do when the option packs arrive. I did foresee some additional M6 holes already to mount it into the hull.

[Tom OBrien]

Roy,

Just as a note, I used M3 x 16 CSK bolts to hold the thicker front and rear plates to the hull as the longer bolts gave me room to include a lock washer with each.

In addition to the lock washers, I added thread lock BLUE.

Tom

[Marco Peter]

Clean build!

[Phil Woollard]

A very clean build and that takes some effort! Your going to scratch it though Roy.

[Roy Beukeveld]

Roy,

Just as a note, I used M3 x 16 CSK bolts to hold the thicker front and rear plates to the hull as the longer bolts gave me room to include a lock washer with each.

In addition to the lock washers, I added thread lock BLUE.

Tom

Hi Tom, yes indeed, I already stocked up on some longer bolts as I do like to see them a little bit longer and with a washer underneath the nut too. Although the manual in several cases states that the nut should be on the outside, I prefer them inside where they can

Clean build!

Hi Marco, thank you! Past few weeks I have been spray painting a lot of parts, right now I'm waiting for new paint to arrive. Unfortunately that takes a bit longer than expected so the build is slowing down a bit. In the meantime I started working on some parts of the superstructure, but will continue on the lower hull as soon as the paint arrives

A very clean build and that takes some effort! Your going to scratch it though Roy.

Hi Phil, thank you for the compliment! I'm sure you're right about it will getting scratched sooner or later, but I just like building it this way

[Roy Beukeveld]

Hi guys,

A little project update from a cold Holland, so i spent the morning at the kitchen table assembling a few parts of the lower hull.
The past weeks I still have been busy with mostly painting, but now the first parts in sand color are finished.
All hull parts are now painted grey on the inside, and sand yellow on the outside. All parts now have three layers of paint.







Next step will be the wheel arms, the inner eight wheels are already painted in red, the connection of the damper strut on the outer four need a little bit of milliput around the mounting and will then be painted as well.

I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far

[simon_manning]

very nicely put together, the photo's look superb, regards simon manning.