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Donald.

I have the same experience, the primer wont stick well to the bars. I'm going to remove the primer as they'll probably look terrible over time.
I can easily scrape off the primer with my fingernails

Don't forget the torsion bars twist quite a bit during operation, so unless the paint has some sort of flex in it then it's likely to flake off once fully hardened.

Adrian.

Got inspired by Gary's work on his sprockets and went to work. Not quite up to his fine work, but good enogh to give them a new coat of primer. Its easyer to get an impression on the results after primer. I only did the outside of the sprockets and idler wheels, will look at them tomorrow and scratch my head and see if its worth the effort (and risk of Fubar them) to do the rear side. I used a mini mill/router bit to do them, 15-20K rpm. I tried some grinding stones, but they clogged up on me.

Also got the lower tub finally adjusted, locktited and permanently put together. Countersunk the screws on the bottom plate. A big warm thanks to whoever mentioned in a tread, the tips on bolting/adjusting everything first, and then countersink the screws one by one. Doing the countersunk before will risk pulling parts out of alignment. Upper hull panels primed and ready to be mounted.

The wheels are now allmost finished, just missing the small bolts for the hubcaps, and then the final DG paint.

Slowly moving on

A little more done today.

Decided to round of the rear side of the spokes after all , tedious and boring job that's hardly seen. But, benefit is that paint sticks better to rounded off edges. Will use Mr Surfacer 500 to try to add the illusion of casting better, but haven't used this stuff before so some practice is needed.

Got the upper hull bolted together , but are having a hard time aligning it all. Not sure if the rear bulkhead is mounted correctly, it is according to drawings, but are getting the top plate to low at rear. Its flush with the sides at front, but below at rear. That can't be right

This thing is getting big, had to do mock up just to get a feel for this monster

Don't worry as you are not doing anything wrong. You have to remember that the rear bulkhead is also bolted to the engine deck frame. Have a look here:

viewtopic.php?p=62579#p62579

On mine, I did not bother to bolt the rear bulkhead to the hull so now if required I can remove the engine deck and rear bulkhead as one piece.

Vince

Thanks for the tip Vince. I must reread your entire buildblog again, it's a welth of information.

I see the front edges are not square,Soren i left all my plates loose and dressed the corners with a nylon headed hammer,and when squared up tightened up the plates,i found the nuts not really up to the job so swapped them for nyloc nuts which you can really crank down
the underside gusset plate needed a redressing a few times before i got it sitting as good as i could get it
but heres a tip i have not seen mentioned,before fitting the fastening plates,they were sitting slightly proud where the holes were which can cause slight warping,so these were file dressed and etch primed before fitting,so they were square to both hull plates from the start.
i am taking photos as i go but find converting the photos and uploading here very time consuming,hence no update here despite being 8-9 weeks into my build

Donald

Thanks for input Donald
Most of the upper hull is just temporary fitted, and not bolted down. I think I'll pull the parts off and do some check/adjustments off each part. But whats puzzled me the the most was how low the top plate was at the rear bulkhead. I need to figure that one out first

I also need to get the mechanisms for the front visor movment and MG done, so I can bolt down the front plate. Will look into better M3 nuts. Great tip

I found some of the M3 nuts stripped,or were poorly threaded,i also note that the front plate the cap screws are a tad short to get a good grip,so i think a M3 x 20 will be a better size to tighten up this heavy plate,i have also added m3 washers to most of the build,again to get an even tightness on slightly oversized holes
i am currently working on the front drive shafts,and notice that the tolerances are very tight in this area,i even checked the play in the front bearings because any deviation will cause the driveshaft to rub on the hull,the new metal spacer,is a cause for concern because in Scotland that will rust unless greased due to the climate here very quickly,while sitting on the bench it has already started to surface rust
i did order the Oxylube stuff at £60 a tin,but have opted for red grease as i think this will be better for the climate in my area
i will try and get photos sorted as i am away behind posting updates as i build,i know this is NOT recommended by Armortek,but plenty of others have done this and had no real issues

Donald

No progress on build itself. I'm awaiting the next shipment of bolts/nuts/rivets from Knupfer before proceeding on the hull.
Got hold of another sound module, a Beier USM-RC-3. I like the Armortek sound module for its Turnkey simplicity, but I'm totally blown away by the possibilities of the Beier unit. Have spent a few evenings getting familiar with the software and (endless) possibilities. I'm fast realising that 8 channels will not be enogh, but can easily add 8 more As I'm running OpenTx on my Frsky Horus 12, there is a lot to learn. Great fun

Great

Søren, FrSky Horus plus Beier sound = the dream team. Great solution, it'll be interesting to see what you do with it. Have you seen my posts on the subject on my Cent thread, here:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3931&start=1035

All the best.

Stephen

Stephen.

I have read and enjoyed your build earlier, and found my way to Beier this way.

Its a LOT to learn, as I need to understand both OpenTx and Beier simultaneously. Slowly beginning to understand, but have only "played" with basic setups so far. Sound setups so far is:
Engine: cold start-idle-rev-gear change-brake
Tracks: corner squeak when turning
Turret: elevation and rotating
Mg34: slightly different on both MG's + LED
Main gun: boom
Radio: random transmissions

Would like : crew communication, enemy spotting, grenade selection, brech closing-fire-case ejection and so on.

Only imagination is a limiting factor with this set up. And to find the sound files

Søren

I see your email on the Forum so I can at least send you a sound file with breech sound and sound if shell case ejection. If you look at the Danish Aben Heide tank firing on YouTube, there may also be some interior filming which would give you the sounds.

Thanks Stephen.

Please, do send by email
I have just opened the Armortek Red Box sound module, and as expected, I found the Benedini sound module and a power amp. I'll remove the Benedini, install the Beier and use the Amp for the speakers. Will be a clean installation

Still not much visual progress, my day job is quite intense these days, but still able squeeze inn some time to play with my little Tiger kit

Have spent several evenings on the OpenTx and Beier USM-RC-3 sound module. Blown away by the possibilities it gives. Especially love the sequence mode, hver you can get a lot of a actions and sound to happen with the flick of one switch. This module will give a lot of life to the model, and also give me the more adjustability for timing pneumatic recoil, sound and (The unspeakable) fire&smoke from the barrel.

As you can see, I have been playing with Mr. Surfacer 500. Difficult to get a good shot of the intended casting surface effect, but you get an idea. Fun stuff to work with Need to shoot a fine mist of primer before evaluation to see if I need to tone down the effect.

Have a bit of a snag on one of the motors During my first bench test, I thought there was a throwout on one axle, and my dial has confirmed what I saw. I dont think this is useable as is, given how thight the gear works
What do you guys think?

https://youtube.com/shorts/fzvqLn7ldGs?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/QEd_YdUQ1Xs?feature=share


Also have a question on chamfering the drive sprockets. Any recommendations on angles/geometry of the teeths?