Panzer III

[quitcherbitchen]

Thanks again Rubicon for your advice. I was actually leaning towards the Clark 22 board, but the 40 see to be easier to get and has more features. Yes, some of the features are not relevant to WWII tanks like barrel level. TK22 seem harder to find with the Panzer III motor sound too. I might get another tank and need a programmable chip

[Rubicon99]

Thank you Rubicon for confirming kinda what I thought when I bought it. I will order a battery and get it running, but really will end up ripping out the electronics and upgrade to a better board. I will put the IR bulb in the barrel. The Heng Long radios feel really cheap and seem very unergonomic in layout for firing buttons. Would love to put in a lemon receiver and clark or UB2 board to use my better radios. First thing though is get it running and figure out what I really need to improve and then go battling.

If you don’t go with a 6.0/6.1 HL MFU go with Clark. Best supported and most widely used aftermarket MFU in the states. IBUs are not what they once were and for a new tanker not what many including myself would recommend.

[quitcherbitchen]

Thank you Rubicon for confirming kinda what I thought when I bought it. I will order a battery and get it running, but really will end up ripping out the electronics and upgrade to a better board. I will put the IR bulb in the barrel. The Heng Long radios feel really cheap and seem very unergonomic in layout for firing buttons. Would love to put in a lemon receiver and clark or UB2 board to use my better radios. First thing though is get it running and figure out what I really need to improve and then go battling.

[Rubicon99]

Thanks Bob, I come from planes with Lipo batteries so I don't know. I received my Panzer III Austf L today. Bought it used off ebay. The previous owner barely used it and never put on the metal tracks and sprockets which I got in the deal for $125. All the parts were in the box, but one half of the hatch is missing and the left front LED light is broken. Battery is dead and I don't know if it is dead dead or my inexperience with li ion batteries is at fault. All my chargers say connection error. I am charging at lower then 1c on Li Ion mode. Anyway, not sure if the IR battle mast is missing or this tank being an airsoft version doesn't come with it. All the misc parts are still in their original bags

That is a 5.2 version based on manufactured date. Totally different driving feel from the new 6.0 versions. Easy to upgrade in about 20 minutes with some minor wire splicing and a few new connectors. Adding an IR bulb takes a bit more time but is also easy once you determine if you want it in the barrel or elsewhere on the turret.

NOTE: It does not have an IR battle system as the 5.2 version were airsoft only.

[SoCalBobS]

Hiya, QB. I too am a r/c flyer primarily. Here’s what I’ve found about the LiIons with the LVC. Sometimes they get so low that our “smart chargers” get outsmarted. It won’t recognize the battery if the charge is too low. Put your charger on Nimh for a short time until the voltage rises enough then go back to LiIon charge. Keep an eye on it, of course.

The earlier HL Models had either airsoft or IR, not both. When you upgrade, the 6.0 board will allow both. Check the LegoDEI IR receiver on Etsy and the thread about it here.

[quitcherbitchen]

Thanks Bob, I come from planes with Lipo batteries so I don't know. I received my Panzer III Austf L today. Bought it used off ebay. The previous owner barely used it and never put on the metal tracks and sprockets which I got in the deal for $125. All the parts were in the box, but one half of the hatch is missing and the left front LED light is broken. Battery is dead and I don't know if it is dead dead or my inexperience with li ion batteries is at fault. All my chargers say connection error. I am charging at lower then 1c on Li Ion mode. Anyway, not sure if the IR battle mast is missing or this tank being an airsoft version doesn't come with it. All the misc parts are still in their original bags

[SoCalBobS]

I guess I will wait and see what it has. I will modify the compartment if I have to. I realize there isn't much room in these smaller tanks, but if I remove the smoker and cut down the battery box and reinforce the bottom plate and then Velcro the entire bottom of the inside of the tank like I have seen on RCTANKWARFARE I might be able to massage a bigger battery inside.

Sound like a lot of work. MRC sells their Admiral 3500mah shorty battery which works fine. It's a matter of less than a minute to swap out batteries. One nice feature of the LiIon batteries is a built-in low voltage cutoff. I've participated in a couple of club IR battles, and none have lasted so long that I exhausted a battery, even the 1800mah ones. Just my 2 cents.

[quitcherbitchen]

I guess I will wait and see what it has. I will modify the compartment if I have to. I realize there isn't much room in these smaller tanks, but if I remove the smoker and cut down the battery box and reinforce the bottom plate and then Velcro the entire bottom of the inside of the tank like I have seen on RCTANKWARFARE I might be able to massage a bigger battery inside.

[SoCalBobS]

I saw a video where a guy modified his Panzer IV to have 360 turret Rotation. Looks like he was using a 5200mah 2 s battery. So that will fit this tank?

The IV has the full size battery compartment. The III does not. Is the battery the same size as the supplied 1800mah full size pack?

[quitcherbitchen]

So I bought one of the older used versions off Ebay yesterday. It has the older MFU 5.0 2.4 radio. It also comes with metal tracks that the previous owner never put on. I guess I will have to upgrade the electronics, but figure that being my first tank I should get a fixer upper to tinker on and not go down the path Dai did and buy up the german Arny I'll know more once it arrives. I really like the Africa DAK schemes and really like the Panzer III. I want to IR battle so I might disconnect the Airsoft and go with a barrel flash unit. The fidelity aspect is still lost on me as I really don't know much about tanks as I do airplanes. Been reading the RCTANKWARFARE threads and those people know tanks. I read that the Stug and Panzer III are pretty reliable so I wanted one.

[quitcherbitchen]

I saw a video where a guy modified his Panzer IV to have 360 turret Rotation. Looks like he was using a 5200mah 2 s battery. So that will fit this tank?

[Rubicon99]

So do you run Lipos in these tanks or Nicads? Would the Lipos extra voltage hurt the controller?

The MFU is rated up to 12.6v so even a 3 cell Lipo will work but will heat the MFU up rather quickly if you run the tank wide open or under heavy torque turning loads for any real length of time.

It is best to not exceed 9.6v which provides a solid balance of extra torque power and speed. A 2 cell Lipo only has a peak power output of 8.4v so you will be fine IF you have experience using Lipo batteries.

Otherwise stick with NiMH batteries in the 7.2/8.4/9.6 voltage range for their simplicity and overall ease of handling. Tanks are not like aircraft where weight is a negative not a positive. Heavier the tank the better it tends to drive.

Note: It is common practice to have to enlarge, modify or remove the stock battery box in order to make room for larger or odd shaped batteries. Overall this does not effect the tanks strength.

[quitcherbitchen]

So do you run Lipos in these tanks or Nicads? Would the Lipos extra voltage hurt the controller?

[GregH]

SoCalBob - It will be interesting to see what you do to the P3 DAK. We will be watching

[Rubicon99]

What is the difference in run time with the 1700mah battery on these smaller tanks compared to the bigger 5000mah? That Toucan website is interesting, but does it really ship for $25? I am still holding out for Motion to have Tiger 1s back in stock for my first tank.

A 5000mah battery will last a rather long time if run with stock 380 motors. 30-45 min

[SoCalBobS]

So far, my T-72, StuG III and Panzer III use the smaller compartments. I've never actually timed it, but 15-20 minutes seems like a reasonable guess. Heavier the tank, the harder the run, the shorter the run time, of course. I also have a couple Admiral 3500mah shorty's, never bothered to time them either.

[quitcherbitchen]

What is the difference in run time with the 1700mah battery on these smaller tanks compared to the bigger 5000mah? That Toucan website is interesting, but does it really ship for $25? I am still holding out for Motion to have Tiger 1s back in stock for my first tank.

[SoCalBobS]

P3 has always been one of my favorite subjects. Also, HL’s smaller tanks are fun. Of course, who are you kidding? You’ll own them all soon enough! 😉👍

[dai phan]

Just received an HL Panzer III Ausf L from Toucan, the pro version with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers and I presume internal gears. I'm posting this because I was pleasantly surprised to see it had adjustable tensioners! Mine will eventually be in a DAK scheme, although I don't know if the up-armored Ausf L was in North Africa.

Edit: I guess it was.

Thinking of ordering one. How do you like it ? Dai

[dai phan]

It looks close enough like a Panzer III to me, but I don’t have a real one to compare it to. Vaseline knows more than I do. Yes, the mold looks the same as earlier versions. Maybe Rubicon knows this, but I don’t remember them having the truncated battery compartments as this does. Did they alter them to fit the newer electronics?

I think truncated battery box comes with new tooling. I do not like them because I cannot use my 7000 mAh battery. Dai