PzKpfw II Ausf L "Luchs"

[SoCalBobS]

Yeah all of the small tank r/c conversions I've done - PzKpfw 1A, PzKpfw 1B, PzKpfw Breda, Renault FT & this PzKpfw II/L - are really only meant for indoor or at least non-IR operation.

[DavidN]

My personal opinion...this kit was manufactured for a purpose of a static displayed tank. The all the plastic parts on the kits are thin and fragile. To convert it into RC was a great task. But to turn it into battling for outdoor, it will be very difficult. We need to deal with the sprocket and idler support areas as they are to be abused significantly. The hull is quite too thin for these two parts to be attached. That was the reason Bob used the screws to keep the idlers stronger from the pull of the tracks. The tracks and wheels won't last long either. I don't have a panzer II in my collection. I got it just to have it, but it will only for my indoor driving. I think because of its small size, and if we put the IR system into it, it will look un-proportional. The tank will probably look funny. It is also a tank with a rapid 20mm gun. I don't know how it can involved with the battle rule you have in your region since it could not damage any of the bigger tanks. My 2 cents :-)

[Vaseline]

David and Bob
The Luchs is one of my favorite tanks.The thread has been a joy to follow. Great jobs
I'm still on the fence if I want to tackle the conversion, as you stated you were not thrilled with the suspension. Wondering if there might be any recommendations or fabrication that may help to make it more robust.
I also would like to IR battle with it and was wondering if the RC 35 system supports that.
A lot of the battling we do is in a large pole barn in the middle of winter so it is really close quarters and is set up like a town or street battle scenario. The Luchs would be great for this since it's small.
The Luchs wouldn't be subjected to the long pounding of high speed travel or challenging terrain as with normal battle area;s that you fella's have down south.
Your thoughts and ideas would be helpful.
Thanks and great thread!

[DavidN]

Now that Bob has finished his Luchs, I will respectfully follow behind and finish the rest on mine :-)

[SoCalBobS]

Congratulations Bob. Just Beautiful. Hope you keep you notes in case I or someone else wants to convert one.

Thanks! Most of the critical issues involve the running gear, which I hope I covered earlier, and the need to coordinate the tank and the conversion assembly instructions.

[quitcherbitchen]

Congratulations Bob. Just Beautiful. Hope you keep you notes in case I or someone else wants to convert one.

[SoCalBobS]

Here's a quick video clip, low production value, just to show how it works:

[SoCalBobS]

Milestone achieved, and some observations....

It's actually working! Now for the cosmetics; more details, weathering, etc.

The conversion kit from 35rctank is a quality product. Everything works, the gearboxes are robust, the main board works without a hitch, the turret revolution is smooth anda suitable speed, and the recoil of the auto cannon is cool. His product interacts with the tank kit well.

All that said, it's been a struggle that I wasn't sure would succeed. Primarily it's because of the suspension. Earlier I showed how the working torsion bars had to be modified. It weakened the arms severely. A couple broke and had to be reinforced. Although the road wheels are meant to turn, The axle design won't stand up to r/c use. And because of the nature of the overlapping road wheels, removing one means removing them all for access. Although the conversion manual wants the torsion bars glued in early, I fortunately never did because I had to remove them a number of times for adjustments. I can't fault 35rctank's conversion, he did the best with what he had to work with.

Building this tank from two sets of instructions presented it's own challenges. The tank has hundreds of detail parts for the interior and exterior. For instance, one headlight assembly has seven parts. Three parts including PE for a strap buckle! One must follow their manual in strict order for everything to fit. However in this case the sequence has to be altered to accommodate the r/c conversion. It's necessary to make the lower and upper hulls separate Selecting which should be included or left off and when to add them led to some frustration.



Notwithstanding the above, it runs. You'll see I chose a Panzer gray scheme. For one, I could never equal DavidN's job, but in actuality, I have too many "dunkelgelb" tanks! the Luchs was apparently operational for a number of months before the three color camo directive was issued. Notice the bottom half has some weathering while the top is still clean. That's a consequence of the issue I mentioned above. The bottom had to be dirtied up as the wheels were added, and the top had to be taken off so many times for construction access, I couldn't add on all the tiny detail parts and therefore couldn't paint until I was satisfied it would run reliably. I still haven't added the four piece clear periscope lenses on the turret!

Would I do this again? No, not really. But I learned a whole lot from the process, so it was a positive though frustrating experience.

[SoCalBobS]

I have an NX8, used to have a DX9. I've been r/c flying for a long time.

I'm very pleased with the mg and cannon sound and action. The elevation takes some adjusting of the control arm on the servo during setup. The only thing I had to get used to is how to shut down the motor sound. It takes nearly 10 seconds of holding the throttle stick sideways to activate, and any up/down movement during this time is not good.

[DavidN]

I am glad you got it working. I finally took the advice from a member in the LA Tank Club and got myself a spektrum transmitter last week to run the Tamiya tank. I was using his radio to test on my Luchs a few weeks ago but we did not get much further than had it running. Which spektrum radio did you get? I got a DX9.

[SoCalBobS]

Finally got the electronics and turret mechanisms working, (No photos). Now to put on all the tiny little parts and paint it. Interesting recoil system on the auto-cannon. It's a solenoid and spring affair. The solenoid snaps the barrel back as it shoots, and a leaf spring returns it to battery.

This my first tank using a 4 channel (Spektrum) radio, takes some getting used to. Slow up and down for the elevation, fast up and down for mg and cannon firing. Throttle stick up to start, fast sideways and hold for 7 seconds to stop. I like flipping switches and pushing buttons better. Maybe there's a way to accomplish that?

[SoCalBobS]

Yeah, I was more challenging than questioning. 👍

[Rob1970]

What parts are you talking about? Do you have a website?

Don't feed the spammers, Bob. And don't click their links...

[SoCalBobS]

This tips which you provide are very useful.ABB HMI CP620It helps me significantly. Our company also provided engineerinf parts which you can buy it. I hope it will help you.

What parts are you talking about? Do you have a website?

[DavidN]

Just solder on your own connectors. I used a 2-cell 850mah with common JST connectors. Haven’t connected the guns yet.

My friend helped me making the connection for the battery. We almost burn the board as the wiring with 35RC is the other way around. We got the tank to run, turret turning, and gun elevation. The rest, my friend told me to take it home and figuring it out myself :-)

[DavidN]

Thanks for the recommendation. Still I don't have any battery under 1500mAh :-(. This is quite new for me. I have to bring this whole tank to a friend so he can evaluate to make it run for me.

[SoCalBobS]

Just solder on your own connectors. I used a 2-cell 850mah with common JST connectors. Haven’t connected the guns yet.

[DavidN]

So David, have you got it running? Does the auto-cannon work? I've been distracted by other projects (T-35, Zik-20 and the camera tank) for the last two weeks.

Not yet Bob. I don't have the type of battery with the two little plugs that was shown in the instruction. I am in process of looking for one. Does it have to be under 1500mAh? I will probably go to the local electrical store and ask them to help me this week.

[SoCalBobS]

So David, have you got it running? Does the auto-cannon work? I've been distracted by other projects (T-35, Zik-20 and the camera tank) for the last two weeks.

[DavidN]

I've gotten the weathering done.