Winterketten

[SoCalBobS]

I'm contemplating a project. I have a PzKpfw IV that I'd like to winterize, even though Southern California doesn't have any...winter, that is! Basically, a washable white with chipping treatment. What I have is a Heng Long Panzer IV with metal tracks, idlers and sprockets. My question is, do the Torro/Taigen Wihterketten tracks fit on my tank, and if not, what could be done to make them work?

[DavidN]

I have the HL Panzer III that I installed the Toro winter tracks on. I used the HL metal sprockets and the teeth on the links of the Toro tracks fitted just fine. I kept the plastic HL idlers and wheels on the tank. The links of the tracks for panzer III and panzer IV are the same as you already know. So you will be fine.

[DavidN]

The winter tracks were great when I played my panzer III in LA last week. It was the first time I brought it to the battle. It really ran and climbed well. It left big track marks on the dirt that similar to those big medium tanks :-)


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[SoCalBobS]

Cool(!) Thanks David. I'm committed now!

Before:


After:

[DavidN]

Bob....Nice winter camouflage covering the gray/yellow. If you miss your "before" paint scheme, I can loan you mine to battle :-) And if possible, please rotate the muzzle brake 90 degrees, lol.

[RichJohnson]

I would go with the metal idler wheel for sure if you put metal tracks on. It has a bearing in it and can stand up to the metal tracks use.
I do have one German tank, a panzer 3 which I battled twice. The plastic idler wheels split apart and rolled away in the second battle.

[761st]

Great looking Panzers gentlemen. I still have a PanzerIV project. David I like your camo scheme. What is the color you used?

[DavidN]

Great looking Panzers gentlemen. I still have a PanzerIV project. David I like your camo scheme. What is the color you used?

Thanks! I use Tamiya German Grey XF-63. For the yellow, I found that the Tamiya dark yellow XF-60 was too light and it looked similar to mustard. The desert yellow XF-59 was too dark. So I decided to mix those 2 together 1:1 ratio. I paint all my German tanks with this mix.

[DavidN]

Here are the 3 yellow colors for comparison: left: is desert yellow; right is dark yellow; middle is the mix. Hope you can see the differences :-)

[761st]

Thanks David. You saved me a lot of trial and error. Yes. That is a great looking group of Panzers! There are subtle hue/tone differences.I like the artificial turf. That is on the list for my diorama.

[SoCalBobS]

Well, I got them....

...but I don't know how practical they will be in a rough terrain battle. I know R & R advised having metal gearboxes, sprockets and idlers. I have those on the tank I installed them on. What I found is that in the soft dirt, on turns their edges can dig in and put stress on the road wheels and bogies. Two bogies have broken, and those are already metal, but the pot metal type. Unlike tanks with simpler, more robust suspension, M41 for instance, the Pz IV components are smaller and more fragile. Kinda like the real thing, huh!

On hard ground, pavement or going straight, they're ok, but my jungle trail test track exposed this weakness.

Looks good, though!

[RichJohnson]

Bummer to hear that. Those panzer 4s have little bogies. What brand was the tank/ bogies? I can’t imagine taigen bogies breaking, not sure what HL offers. Mato metal tanks are very brittle zamac. I learned that from the mato Sherman. Parts literally broke apart from shipping.