Sturmgeschutz III - don't do this at home, kids!

[SoCalBobS]

Never ordered a HL tank from China - scary, as you’ve found out. However, Toucan has warehouses in the US. If you see “US Stock” in the eBay description, and the shipping origin is New Jersey, it’s them. They use various seller names, but US and NJ are the keys. Pros: never had a problem with them, tanks or parts. Cons: no custom orders, your choices are confined to their offerings. You can haggle up to about a 15% discount.

[DavidN]

Sorry to find out you had trouble with them. You can just buy from other Ebay sellers. They are very competitive in prices.

[solo403]

Hi ya guys, Old-timer RC buff, new to hobby squawk. Finally venturing into the RC TANK world. Can anyone recommend a reliable Heng Long supplier in the US, OTHER THAN TOUCAN HOBBY. Bought my 1st tank through them. Upgraded M41A3 Walker Bulldog. TK 7.0. Did not come as described. Toucan told me i misunderstood what i was buying, Until i offered to send them a copy of the SCREENSHOTS i took, (always when buying from china seller.) at the time of my purchase, then "No problem, we send parts right away." 5 weeks later i received missing parts.
OK. The tank is great and i love the 7.0 controller. Lets give them another chance. I went big and ordered the much more expensive Fully customized Leopard 2A6. TK 7.0. Asked them to VERIFY DESCRIPTION on toucan hobby website and they send me a link to an eBay ad. They wouldn't verify in email. OK. I let it go, i want that tank. I paid for the tank and waited a day to hear something from them..... Nothing. I email and ask about my order. I get a copy of my paid invoice and, "we got your money." nothing else. I email again. They reply "we got your money, did you not see last email. Several emails later with no ORDER STATUS, I canceled my order and demand my money be refunded. After threatening fraud and my bank getting involved they reply, "Oh too late tonight , we ship tomorrow , OK". NOT OK. TRUST ALL GONE. Finally got my money refunded..........Sorry guys, didn't mean to write a book. Just thought people should know.
Again main question - are there any more reliable H.L. distributors in US. Motion RC was official distributors but they appear to be dead. Was hoping to find quicker shipping other than China direct.

[SoCalBobS]

Aber sells them on eBay.


Search “1:16 Torro Panzer III or Stug III RC Tank Photo Etch Grills Copper”

(My original inquiry was back in January!)

[Rob1970]

Anyone know of a source for photo etched brass grills that can replace the decals there for the Panzer III or StuG III?

What size grills do you need? I may or may not be using a stainless steel collander/sieve/strainer from Ikea as my source of metal mesh. And if SWMBO asks; no, I haven't seen that thing...

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/idealisk-strainer-stainless-steel-76113785/

[Timbo68]

Anyone know of a source for photo etched brass grills that can replace the decals there for the Panzer III or StuG III?

I know these are on the wrong side of the pond, but they would deliver it seems...no idea how long that would take though. I used some of their diamond mesh for the grilles on my T-55, which I think looks OK.

https://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Raw-Mat...rass?orderby=1

[Rob1970]

Well, I just manage to finnagle a Stug III with all steel running gear, tracks and whatnot with a V6.0 installed. Took a bit of negotiation, not in the least to get the price where I want it, and the payment split between AliExpress and Paypal to avoid the VAT for a big part and the Import Duties in total. But I did it...

Ye Gods... what have I done? Another tank? SWMBO is gonna kill me... especially when she finds out about the T34-85 that is coming in right behind the King Tiger...

I commend my soul to any god that can find it... It was nice knowing you gentlemen...

[DavidN]

Hello all, I have been looking for a while now and I haven't seen a 6.0 StuG online yet. is there any news on weather or not we will see one with 6.0 or 7.0. I'm not afraid of the conversion, just lazy.;-)

Here is the update from Toucan Hobby:

"Hello David, the customized Stug III 3868 RTR tanks are on the way to the U.S. stock, it may arrive at the end of August."

[DavidN]

A rep from Toucan emailed me and stated that the Stug III will be available in the US warehouse this August.

[HorribleHarry]

OOh that's pretty... I guess I should have said 6.0 or newer NEW from HL I heard that was in the pipes a couple years ago.
I could only hope mine looked half as good!
HH

[borntoolate]

Hello all, I have been looking for a while now and I haven't seen a 6.0 StuG online yet. is there any news on weather or not we will see one with 6.0 or 7.0. I'm not afraid of the conversion, just lazy.;-)

This one was found online and my tanker buddy upgraded it to 6.0 I think I bought it from Toucan. A little re-paint and the upgrade work later...


Bob

[HorribleHarry]

Hello all, I have been looking for a while now and I haven't seen a 6.0 StuG online yet. is there any news on weather or not we will see one with 6.0 or 7.0. I'm not afraid of the conversion, just lazy.;-)

[SoCalBobS]

Anyone know of a source for photo etched brass grills that can replace the decals there for the Panzer III or StuG III?

[UltraVargen]

To those who have the StuG III: In relation to making openable hatches to fit some crew figures. It looks like there is very little room between the upper hull and the running gear and maybe even between the top hatches and the airsoft unit. Any idea if this is even feasible to do?

Inspired by an order on a couple books I placed with The Tank Museum and a video of theirs on the StuG, as well as the nice hobby project both Bob and Karl showcased here.

[karltrek]

See I knew something was wrong. Thanks Karl. So do you bother with the adjustable Mato track tensioner as a upgrade or will the PanzerIV wheel solve it? I am just using the plastic wheel for now and don't see any issue so far. I have metal tracks

All you need is the Panzer IV Idler wheel. Get the Mato version because it has a bearing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-16-Scale-...EAAOSwdzVXnF-~

[quitcherbitchen]

All my kit showed up from RCTANKLegion. Stanlley shipped really fast. Now I have to figure out how to set up my Horus 12 in Opentx to match the configuration of the TK 40 board. I already had an S Bus FrSky receiver.

[quitcherbitchen]

See I knew something was wrong. Thanks Karl. So do you bother with the adjustable Mato track tensioner as a upgrade or will the PanzerIV wheel solve it? I am just using the plastic wheel for now and don't see any issue so far. I have metal tracks

[karltrek]

I have the same problem with my Panzer III which is the same chassis. I have the upgraded Idler wheel with bearing. It doesn't solve the issue. What solves it is keeping the stock plastic Idle wheel. I noticed the tension gets thrown out of whack using the metal idler. Gets really tight and without a track tension adjustment. You are at the mercy of removing or adding links which make it too tight or too loose. Nothing in between. It is like the metal idle wheel is slightly larger diameter.

What I did to make removing a link work is to replace the Idler with one from the Panzer IV. It's slightly smaller in diameter. So it is now the perfect tightness. And looks very similar. The Panzer IV Idler is on the left in the picture.

[quitcherbitchen]

With 91 links in the track and metal sprocket, Idler wheel it is tight, really tight. Pulls the idle wheel slightly out of center to an angle. If I add one link I have 2.6 cm sag and tons of slippage. plastic idle wheel with 91 links gives 1.5 cm and with only 90 links 7 mm sag. Both seem to work better with plastic idle wheel. I am considering making the tracks 90 link and keeping the plastic wheel. I think I want dependability.

[SoCalBobS]

I have a Stug III with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers with no tension adjuster (a 5.3 upgrader to 6.0), and the Panzer III 6.0 with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers. Both work flawlessly, on concrete and in dirt and sand. The track slack, if I pull it down taut, is about 1cm at the center of the sag. How does that compare to your tracks?