Panzer III

[quitcherbitchen]

Let my wife play with the tank today and of course she managed to cause a couple of problems. First, she drove it over some rocky terrain and drove the sprockets loose thus jumping the tracks off. Needs better screws or locktite. Secondly, she kept moving the turret and I guess caused the tank to shut off by binding a wire or overworking the turret servo. Just turning the switch on and off on the tank seemed to solve the problem. Not sure what was going on, but nothing like letting the wife test it before battle. Oh she drove off two of the road wheels which I later found. Any tips to keep those in place? She made some comment that the tank "needs work" "so how do you get any fun out of it" Mind you my daughter drove it yesterday till the battery died no problems. LOL

[Justwingit]

Hiya! The additional Panzer armor is stock on HL’s Panzer III Ausf L version. The Sherman is HL stock except for an aftermarket 76mm long barrel. I just liked the look better than the shorty.

You know what's funny...I actually HAVE one of these (the upgraded "Taigen Tanks" version like your yours with the nice paint, weathering, etc.) and have NEVER even had her out of the box yet!!!

Maybe I should take a peek. I also have the upgraded (Taigen Tanks) Jagd Panther (that thing is HEAVY!!!!), M-26 Pershing, and M-41 Walker Bulldog. I keep meaning to shoot videos of these...I'm going to have to one of these days...

[dai phan]

HL, not Taigen. I've been looking for an excuse to post these tanks! 😁

The middle is Panzer IV? All HLs? Dai

[SoCalBobS]

Hiya! The additional Panzer armor is stock on HL’s Panzer III Ausf L version. The Sherman is HL stock except for an aftermarket 76mm long barrel. I just liked the look better than the shorty.

[Justwingit]

WOW!!! Nice fleet there Bob 😎!

Never been much of a fan of the Panzer IV (I just can't get around that whole turret off-set thing), but have always LOVED the Panzer III, especially the long barreled Panzer III "Special" which is what I think the Brits called them. I also really like the Sherman, What version is that?

OH MAN!!! I just looked closer and noticed you put the spaced armor on the Panzer III! Fantastic!

All the best my friend 😁

[SoCalBobS]

HL, not Taigen. I've been looking for an excuse to post these tanks! 😁

[Nfafan]

Hi all,

I have been thinking about getting the Taigen Panzer IV but I have heard it is a very small tank right? Smaller than the Sherman ? Dai

Howdy Dai, to pick the nits; (FWIW: from Wikipedia)
PzIV (not counting barrel lengths) Length = 19' 5" (5.92m), Width = 9' 5" (2.88m), Height = 8' 10" (2.68m)
M4 (minor diffs between variants, no barrel lengths) Length = 19' 2" - 20' 7" (5.84–6.27m), Width = 8' 7" - 9' 10" (2.62–2.99m), Height = 9' - 9' 9" ( 2.74–2.97m)

Assuming H-L and Taigen commit to reasonable scale fidelity, these 2 tanks are close in size.

[Vaseline]

Were it me and it was giving that kind of trouble, id just cut it off and fashion a new one out of brass tube. the tube also lets you set the bulb back so you dont get shotgunning as well.

[quitcherbitchen]

MEK sub, or acetone, or I just scratched around it with a #11 while pushing on the LED with a punch though. Problem with debonders is they can make plastic brittle so im pretty leery about using them.

The LED Holder is now almost broken off the back. I tried hitting it with a hammer and a brass tube(from the other side) to loosen it up and the mantlet broke as well as the LED holder.

[quitcherbitchen]

You need a Panzer IV Dai. One of the most made tanks in the German Army. I want a Normandy late model Version with extra armor. During the Invasion they were the back bone of most of the German defenses.

[dai phan]

Hi all,

I have been thinking about getting the Taigen Panzer IV but I have heard it is a very small tank right? Smaller than the Sherman ? Dai

[Vaseline]

MEK sub, or acetone, or I just scratched around it with a #11 while pushing on the LED with a punch though. Problem with debonders is they can make plastic brittle so im pretty leery about using them.

[quitcherbitchen]

I ended up cracking the Mantelet trying to extricate the LED to put in the IR Emitter. Any ideas on debonder? The glue is tough.

[dai phan]

Simple answer is, you really can’t. Unless you buy multiples of the same item. Then the shipping is not bad. I buy a lot of bulk spare parts but multiples of each which keeps the shipping cost down.

If you only buy singles of different items each has a shipping price based on that item. Buy two or three of the same item and shipping does not go up most of the time.

Its a Chinese run company and they have very different ideas on passing on shipping costs. It is what it is, they have the parts so you have to pay the price if you want them.

That is too bad. Good prices but you end up paying 100 bucks in shipping :(. Dai

[quitcherbitchen]

Just in case anyone is interested. The stock speaker is really tiny itsi bitsi I cut it out to move it to my battery compartment. I'll order a 2" one later.

[Nfafan]

Any reviews on the H-L PzKwIII H "Tauch panzer"? From pics it looks the closest to a typical DAK PzIII..Thanks!

[quitcherbitchen]

I got everything working now on my Horus 12s with OpenTX. It works. I even got the three guns, MG1, MG 2, and the Cannon to use the same momentary push button switch using the SWG 3 position switch as a toggle between all three. It can be done. I will try and get the airsoft to work now. I also now just need to 3 d print up a barrel recoil and dump the crappy barrel elevation servos that HL uses for some decent metal gear proportional micro servos. Smoke barrel unit to follow.

[quitcherbitchen]

I fixed my tracks by adding a link back to the side that I took it out of and then swapping sides. I guess my tank isn't straight and the one side is longer then the other. Seems to be even now. Drove it hard this morning and no issue. Yaaaayyyy! I also research anyone using the clark board without the Flysky Radio was having issues. Mine only revolves around firing the cannon now. I figured out everything else. The Airsoft gun requires as solder link to the daughter board to get it working. You also need to reprogram the Clark board to Airsoft. I will wait till my IR battle receivers show up before I mess with it.

[quitcherbitchen]

I drove the Panzer around today with the Opentx software on my transmitter and it worked, but I still have a problem throwing tracks.. The tight left side didn't throw a track, but it is noticeably effecting the steering, I had to constantly correct. The right side would throw a track every once in awhile. Using Opentx is also a bit of a headscratch too. I could get the lights and mg to work, but not the cannon sound. I know it is a program issue, but now I know why Stanlley told me to get the Flysky radio. I didn't because I was thinking that the Frsky system I already own can work and it is pretty powerful. Ease of use it is not.with this board. It will work if I keep fiddelying with it.
I still don't know how to get the airsoft unit woriking. Actually don't know were to plug the gun into the board

[Rubicon99]

I got my Horus 12s using Opentx radio hooked to my Clark TK 40s Board. I programmed it using some quick suggestions from the RCtankaus website. Very few people have actually made any videos. My knowledge of Opentx is average, but I got it working. I had trouble initially getting the motors to move until I read the directions more thoroughly and realized that my battery was too low voltage. Just got noise and no motors. I charged my battery, initially too hi rate. Lucky I was watching it. Max charge on these Li Io is 1.75 amp. I started at what I thought was 1 c 3.5amp. battery got hot but I was watching it and shut it off quickly. I don't think I hurt it. I then charged it up enough at 1.75 amp to get the tracks running and everything works except the airsoft. I don't know were to plug it in the clark board. It isn't clear. I'll figure it out. The Clark board is AWESOME. Huge upgrade in sound. Low speed is a crawl. I had an issue with the tracks slipping still. I tightened it one less link. I'll test it on dirt tomorrow. My Panzer being a 2015 model had the old 5.3 MFU which I can tell was just too toy like. These Clark boards are a work of genius. It will take a few evenings to get everything worked out. With Opentx I can tweak things even more.

The TK 40 is quite a step up from the old 5.3 Heng Long MFU. It is not as good as the new 6.0/1S Heng Long MFU in general drive handling, but the TK 40 is superior in sound and for use in IR tank battles.

Personal sound quality is not high on my list, but IR battle performance is. I have used the TK 20s, 40s.and 60/80s, I like the TK60/80 best as they have higher power limits that allow for larger motors and input voltage. All the TK systems are fully Tamiya IR battle protocols compatible unlike the 6.0/1 Heng Long systems that are “mostly” compatible.