Hi guys. I have been working on my 1/6th scale jagdpanther kit for about a week now and I have made some progress. The model is a metal kit from Battle Ready Armor. To assemble the Tank's metal panels I soldered them all together. The tank's metal solders well and made a strong bond. The Solder also filled in the gaps between the metal folds that these BRA models have after they are bent into shape. These weld beads were then ground down flush.















To make the model's hull more sturdy and rugged I constructed an Aluminum Frame. The frame also supports the tank's working suspension.











I also created the torsion bar details. I'll be adding these components and other suspension components to the product line shortly





I have filled in all of the hollow road wheel tires with resin to make the road wheel tires solid and giving the wheels more mass.

WOW very impressive build John!!!! Are you building the tank for static display or is it going too be r/c? I wil be following this build very closely. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers Alex

pm sent John

I have made some progress on the tank. I will be working on the wheels and the sprocket in the comming weeks.



I have also added started to add the components to the product line.
http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/germanparts.htm

1. Resin coated Metal Torsion Bars set.



2. All Resin Torsion Bars set. These parts can be used to detail a non functional suspension.



3. Resin Panther Suspension Detail Set. Set includes Bump Stops and track pin aligner.

Always enjoy following your builds. But personally, I think your a bit insane

I have been working on the tank's final drive transmission hubs, and small return roller. I removed all of the molded in bolt head details and will be using real fasteners to install the hubs when ready.





When altering the return roller I rounded off the sharp edges on the tire and I replaced the molded bolt details with fasteners. The roller was installed on the final drive with lubricated Aluminum Bushings to allow the roller to spin very smoothly and centered.





Before I started to work on the road wheels I have filled in all of the hollow road wheel tires with resin to make the road wheel tires solid and giving the wheels more mass



I completed mounting the wheels and machining new Road Wheel bearing / axels for the wheels. The Bearings are designed to allow the wheel to spin freely yet it will secure the wheel to the 1/4 inch steel axel and will prevent the wheel from coming off of the tank while in motion, or a turn. The axels come pre assembled and machined; I have also added them to the product line

http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/germanparts.htm







The Tank now sits on it's suspension

I have made some progress on the tank during the week.







To hold up the added weight of the tank's Batteries and other RC equipment, I added two more rows of springs to the suspension.







I have installed the tank's motors and final drive transmission mounts. The Motors that I used are two Buhler DC right angle drive motors. The resin final drive transmission mounts were improved with ball bearings to further support the drive shaft alignment.









The motor's drive shafts were too short to reach the sprockets, and needed to be replaced. I machined two longer drive shafts that are able to fully reach the sprocket. I also machined into the drive shaft two mounting points for the sprocket lock bolts. The Drive shafts are then mounted onto a machined adapter which will get secured onto the sprocket.







I assembled the kits metal drive sprockets. The Kit drive sprockets are very basic, and will be improved after all of the RC testing. If I were building the model as static I would have used the Panzerwerk sprockets instead. When assembling the sprockets I used fasteners instead of the kit supplied pop rivets. The sprockets were then bolted onto the drive shaft adapters.













I have also created new early Panther idler wheels. The idlers were casted with a gray tinted resin, so if the paint chips or scratches the resin will not reveal any "white" resin areas. The new idlers have been added to the product line. The Idlers were installed with ball bearings

http://eastcoastarmory.com/germanparts.htm











I have also assembled the track links, and have test drove the model under it's own power. I'll have a video up shortly.

I will now be working on the tank's electronics and RC equipment. Once those are complete I will be focusing again on the model's details.

I have uploaded 3 mpeg video clips of the tank running under it's own power.

1. Forward test drive.
Test Drive 1

2. Reverse Test Drive
Test Drive 2 Reverse

3. Obstacle test drive
Suspension Test

While waiting for some of the electronics to arrive I was able to complete the lower hull of the tank.





I replaced the tank's first two piece aluminum drive shafts with a one piece steel version. The aluminum versions did hold up the weight during tests, but I felt that they could be a weak point in the drive train.








I also reworked the tanks drive sprockets to make them more accurate.















The Lower Hull and the road wheels were primed and painted in its base coat. The Transmission final drive armored chin was also added. This piece was made out of PVC

I have made some progress on the tank's rear details. I have started on the rear storage bins; I should have them ready shortly.



I completed the tank's functional exhaust system. For the exhausts I used the supplied kit metal exhaust covers, but scratch built the rest of the mufflers.

























The kit supplied resin tow hitch / starter plate was reworked and re detailed









I also re worked the kit supplied resin U shackle mounts.

I completed the tank's rear storage boxes. I replaced the kit supplied box lid and resin hinges. The X crimp, and mounting braces were also added.

Stock BRA Boxes folded and soldered together







Bins reworked













The bins have been installed and the tank's rear wall has been completed.









I added the tank's rear tail lights. The lights are powered by LEDs. They will be connected to a circuit shortly. The LEDs were turned down to have them fit in the small spaces of the light canisters.





I have also added scratch built the tank's Jack mounts. The mounts are fully functional. and are soldered directly to the tank's hull



I will now be working on the tank's lower front.

I have made some more progress on the Jag.



I have completed the lower front of the hull. I scratch built new lower transmission final drive mounts, The kit supplied resin versions were too large and didn't fit properly.



While working on this portion of the tank I added the tank's weld seams in the correct locations. The "Puzzling" was engraved into the steel and the weld seams were added with the solder technique.





I also added the Kit resin front U shackle mounts. The way that the mounts are installed allows me to lock the tank's hulls together. The whole upper hull front plate slides onto the lower hull. This is similar to the way the Old Tamiya and Academy 1/25th scale motorized Panthers would fit together.





When installing the resin mounts I added the torch cut lines and the U shackle Bosses. The Bosses are made out of turned Aluminum. I have also added the Bosses to the product line in a set of four.

http://eastcoastarmory.com/germanparts.htm









I have started on the tank's Gun Mantlet and other front details. I should have them ready shortly.

That's an incredible build. It's fascinating watching your progress. Congratulations and make sure you finish it! Thanks for posting.

I have completed reworking the tank's gun Mantlet. The Kit supplied Gun Mantlet is comprised of a three piece Vacuum Formed Styrene components. The Vacuum Formed Mantlet back mount was very thin and needed to be reinforced.



To make the mantlet mount more ridged I filled in the Bottom portions of the mantlet with resin





To Reinforce the thin back portion I used Fiberglass Cloth and Resin.



The Completed mantlet with casting marks added

















I have also adjusted the suspension to have the tanks sit at it's proper height.







I installed the tank's main power switch. The switch is hidden inside of the tank's rear storage Bin. The other storage bin will be used for the tank's Battery recharge Jacks.



Currently I'm calibrating the model's speed controllers, once they are calibrated they will be installed. For testing purposes I have wired the tank so it is motorized. Click on the Lin to see the Video clip

[color=red]JAGDPANTHER RUNNING TEST CLIP[/color]

I have made some more progress on the the tank.





I reinforced the tank's upper hull with fiberglass cloth and resin at the inner seams. I have had no strength problem with the tank's original solder seams however; I felt that with the added abuse and wear and tear from the RC, and the need to have access into the lower hull the joints needed to be reinforced. If the model was static I would have omitted the fiberglass reinforcement.



I completed the main gun details; the kit supplies you with two straight lengths of PVC pipe. For the main barrel I made the pipe more accurate by turning the PVC pipe down to have it's proper taper. I also reworked the kit supplied Resin Gun Muzzle. The Kit supplied muzzle is a two piece assembly with very basic molded in details. I added the Baffle rings and wrench slits









To connect the two lengths of pipe together I machined a new more detailed Gun Barrel adapter ring. The adapter installs in seconds, and will work for any other vehicle with the 8.8 cm KwK 43 Gun. The Ring has been added to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/germanparts.htm







After the barrel was installed the gun barrel was too heavy for the pivot and the gun drooped. To fix this I added a small length of PVC pipe with two extension springs mounted to the pipe, and the tank's gun mount. The simple addition fixed the drooping gun.





The front of the tank is mostly finished, For the Bow MG Ball I will be using the Panzerwerk version.



The tank's "Puzzle" weld seams were also completed using the same method I used before.





I will now be moving to the tank's rear engine deck details.

That is insane!!!!! This is the most amazing build I have ever seen hands down. I bet you have way too much time on your hands. And a bunch of tools I'm guessing too.

Words just can't describe on how amazing this is.
Rich

Thanks for the compliments. On the tank's front plate I added the Panzerwerks MG ball. For the inner ball I used the one from my Tiger I MG Ball Set, the MG is also able to pivot. I will be adding weld beads later.



I finished reworking the rear engine deck. Due to the way the BRA kit is assembled the stock engine deck is one flat plate, and doesn't have any of the recessed panels or panel lines.

Stock Kit Engine Deck.



Engine Deck Reworked




The recessed panels were added by plating the entire engine deck with sheets of styrene. The recessed panels also allows for the Engine bay lid bolts to be recessed and flush into the plate.










For the grills I used the kit supplied Resin ones. These grills are very nicely done and were not altered. The only addition that was fabricated was the metal mesh work.








I was also able to add the inner shelf for the engine hatch. The engine hatch shelf is fabricated out of sheet metal, now the hatch won't fall inside of the tank.



Next will be the remaining details to the engine deck, and the fan grills.

Wow! A really exciting project - looking forward to seeing the finished article!

Great build but the only thing is.

Are those torque rods Resin?

Or resin coated?

My friend was the best at building these 1/6 1/8 scale models.

http://www.armorpax.com/Armorpax/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=238&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Well him and Dave

As I mentioned above the torsion bars are solid steel coated in Resin,


I have made a lot more progress on the model. I have completed the tank's rear engine deck details.



Underneath the tank's fan grills I mounted two PC cooling fans. These fans are to keep the electronics cool, but are also visible under the fan grills, giving the model a unique detail feature.





For the fan grills themselves I used the kit supplied resin grills. The grills themselves are nicely casted.





After visiting the real Jadgpanther and Panthers at Aberdeen I have seen that the fan grill edges are rounded off and have a rough cast appearance to them. The corners on the Kit supplied resin grills are squared off. I sanded down the edges to make them more like the real one. Cast marks, slabs and Cast numbers were also added to the grills.









The grills were also scratch built.







The larger Elevated grill required a little more work. The grill itself comes in two pieces. The main grill, and the separate hollow air duct. The main grill too long and needed to be shortened by 1/4 of an inch. I also milled out the portion of the grill that connects to the air duct. The mesh support column was replaced with a new machined one with a taper. Cast marks, numbers, and grill cover mounts were also added to these pieces.















The mesh grill supports were scratch built out of steel strips and a turned own PVC retainer ring. There are a few more pieces that need to be added to complete the grill (grill covers, chain) but these will be after the tank is painted.

















The engine hatch detailing features the kit supplied metal Engine hatch, Kit supplied Resin armored air intakes. Scratch built engine latch key, scratch built Rear loaders hatch bump stops, scratch built brass handle and scratch built hatch stop. All of the metal parts are soldered to the hatch





For the hinges I used the kit supplied resin ones, but reworked them a bit

Stock


Reworked


The Kit supplied resin rear air intake comes as a solid resin piece. The part was hollowed out, a metal brush guard was added, and welds were added to the top plate.

Stock




Reworked






to Secure the tank's upper hull to the Lower hull I modified the kit supplied rear cover caps to conceal two Allen Fasteners, that blend in with the detailing, but also screw into a mount that secures the two halves of the hull together. The parts themselves were also reworked detail wise.









I also added a few small fasteners to secure the tank at the sponsons



The final details that were added to the engine deck were the lift hooks, and the Fuel breather hose.









I'm now off to the rear of the fighting compartment, which shouldn't take very long

jesus H christ..what a fantastic build!..talk about take it too the 8th degree
i want to see this baby complete and moving..keep the posts coming mate

I completed the rear fighting compartment wall. The kit supplies you with all the resin hatches and the radio aerial base mount and aerial base. I reworked the antenna mount giving it some bolt details, and I will be using my own Resin Antenna base. The RC receiver antenna will be run through the antenna base later.



The Kit supplied rear hatch comes in 4 pieces The hatch, the large Hatch hinge, and the two extending hinge bolts. The parts have some hex bolt details.



The Tank's stock rear wall has the rear hatch holecun into the plate. The hole itself is too small on the side edges by at least an 1/8th of an inch. There is also a notch cut into the plate where the hatch hinge would be allowed to pivot. The wall sides were extended and the the notch was deleted.

STOCK



REWORKED


On the Real tank the bolts are mounted on the inside of the hatch. All that you see on the outside of the tank are holes and the back end of the bolts. I decided that it would be easier to scratch build a new hatch rather than reworking the resin one. The hatch is made out of several layers of styrene. The lower hinge was used and the molded in bolts were removed and in their spots the holes were milled into place. The interior detailing of the hatch is all scratch built. For the Hinge lugs I used two 1/4 inch Aluminum shaft. The hatch locking lugs work and will keep the hatch from opening during running. The Two end bolts were also not used and new machined ones were used in their place.















The kit supplied shell ejection hatch comes in three peices the hatch, The hatch hinge, and the main hinge.





The hinge is nicely shaped and the hatch has a nice bevel to it, but I felt that the Kit hatch is too large. A new hatch was machined and used in its place. I'm still doing research on what the interior of the looks like, if there are any locking tabs handles...ect. The tank's rear plate doesn’t have a hole for the hatch cut into the plate, so a hole was added into the plate.





I have now started on the tank's roof. Once that is complete I will then be on the Tool Posts... then off to paint :-P.

I have completed the tank's roof and Roof details. There was a lot of work that was done to this portion of the tank.






The tank's top roof was one flat plate with the holes for the hatches and other component mounting holes cut into it. On the real Jagdpanther the roof armored plate sticks over the side panels. Similar to what was done to the tank's engine deck I plated the entire roof with two layers of styrene. The styrene plate was cut with the exact same hatch holes, periscope slots, and sliding periscope slots as were on the tank. The plate is smaller that the tank's roof by 1/16th of an inch on all sides to allow for the armor recesses and to allow for the weld seams. The portion of the front glacis plate which intersects the roof also needed to be built up with sheet styrene, only a slope was added.

Stock Metal Roof





Completed





For the roof details I pretty much used all of the kit supplied resin components. These components were a good start for reworking.

The first was the front gunners Periscope mount. The Kit mount is made up of four resin components. The armored ring, the center portion, the flip hatch for the gunner's scope, and the secondary periscope guard.





A taper was added to the main ring, along with casting marks and cast numbers. The gunner's scope flip hatch was made functional and will hold the location for the receiver switch. The secondary periscope is my own casting and is from a scrap set of my Resin Puma hatches.







The Kit supplied resin small air filter was also altered. The top was reduced in size, a bevel was added. The four divots were machined into the top portion, and rough cast marks were added. The bottom portion has the correct footings so there was no need to alter the bottom portion.

Stock





Reworked

http://eastcoastarmory.com/forumPic/jagdpanther/roof/DSC00058.JPG

The kit supplied Resin large main air filer comes in two solid pieces. The bottom portion and the top portion





The top portion was too thick and was too large and was not used. The bottom portion has six pegs for the air filter top. The pegs are in the right spots and have the right number, but the air filter top is not mounted on pegs, but several fins that surround a center hole. The hole was drilled into the center, and the fins were fabricated out of styrene. a new top was fabricated and the side mounting brackets were also scratch built.









The Resin kit supplied rear periscope comes as three pieces. The center, the Retaining ring, and the periscope guard





A bevel was added to the retaining ring, and the molded in bolt heads were removed and small reverse bolts were milled into the retaining ring. I was able to make the resin periscope center rotate.





The Kit supplied Resin smoke grenade discharger was reworked by removing the molded in bolt heads, and placing a styrene plate over the oval mortar hole.

STOCK



Reworked



The Kit supplied Resin crane bosses were fine as is and were not altered in any way. They were added to the tank, but with weld seams added.



The Kit's AT swivel plate is laser cut and looks like the proper shape. The part also comes with a small resin slide plate.



The Resin slide plate was too small and was not used. New slide plates were scratch built. The kit also doesn't come with the AT scope. One will be added after the tank is painted. To install the part I soldered a brass rod to the bottom of the plate. The rod is bent in a hook so the AT scope will plug into position.









supplied Resin periscope guards are also nicely shaped and casted. They also have a nice rough cast texture to them and were also used as is.



The Kit supplied resin hatches come in six pieces. The two hatches and the hinge components. The hatches have a nice bevel to them, but have no interior detailing.





A scratch built interior was added, as were the fastener details on the hatch tops.





When installing the rear Commanders hatch I realized that the hatch was too close to the rear wall. The hole needed to be moved to the front by a about 1/2 an inch.



The new position of the hatch was marked in green. The black markings were the size of the hole that needed to be made.





Using a large drill mounted sanding drum I ground away the plastic and metal to cerate the new hole.



Once the hole was made I needed to replace the portion that was on the opposite end of the new hole. I used sheet styrene to fill in the gap and sanded the top to a smooth finish.



The Rain gutters were also added. These didn't come with the kit per say. The Kit does supply you with laser cut strips of steel that are used for the X crimping on the rear storage bins and front fenders. I will not need these strips for this purpose so they were spares and were a perfect size and thickness for the gutters.









Welds were also added to the MG ball and Driver's vision port





I'm now working on the tank's sheet metal fenders and tool posts. Once these are complete the tank's detailing is finished and the model will be ready for paint!

I have made a lot more progress on the model. The model's exterior is 98% complete. I'm currently waiting on some parts to finish up the tool posts. Once they are complete the model will head into painting.



I have also completed the last of the model's electronics.





The tank uses two 4QD Vortex speed controllers. To cool off the Speed controllers I recycled a Pentium II and III processor motherboard Heat sinks from two old scrap computer motherboards. The speed controllers are mounted in two plastic project boxes. To aid with the air flow holes were cut into the boxes.



The tank's exhausts are controlled by another separate speed controller that provides throttle control for the model. This way I can have the exhausts simulate engine idle and acceleration.



A battery powered fuel pump has been added to the tank to refuel the smoke generator. This is the same system that I have in my other 1/6th scale RC tanks. The in tank refueler systems eliminates any smoke fluid spills that can ruin the tank's paint job.



As I mentioned earlier the tank's main power switch is located in the let hand rear storage Bin. In the other storage bin I have the switches and small batteries for the Radio Receiver, and other functions.

On the tank's exterior I have completed most of the tank's side details including the spare track racks and the side fenders.



The tank's spare track racks were the kit supplied laser cut sheet metal ones. The only extra detail that was added has been the soldered mounts for the lock pin chains.





The Kit supplied fenders were not used a new sheet metal ones were fabricated. The Tow Hook hinged portion was also made to be functional.





The Kit supplied transport cable rack and tool box racks were not used a new metal replacements were fabricated out of sheet metal and spare kit supplies metal strips.



I also fabricated the tank's gun cleaning kit / antenna storage tube out of PVC, brass, and my own resin latches.







The two rear upper hull armor holes were filled with a piece of scrap steel that was soldered into place.



The road wheel hub cap axel holes were plugged and sanded smooth



The kit supplies you wit laser cut sheet metal side skirts. These skirts are nicely done and no alterations are needed to be made







The kit supplies you with a solid resin Bosh head light. The head light itself is acceptable, but I replaced the kit supplied version with a hollow panzerwerk Bosh light. I was able to wire an LED inside of the head light making it functional. Also the level of detail on the panzerwerk headlight is phenomenal! To access the light I was able to make the black out cover removable.





For the cooling Fan and front head light power switch I was able to conceal the switch in the front gunners periscope hatch.





Once the tool posts are complete the tank will head off into painting, which will probably be after the holiday. Have a safe and fun 4th of July everyone

What a brilliant build. Words just fail me so sorry for the lack of words.

p.s. would love to see some photos of your workshop and some of your gear.
of course this last part is only a request.