Step nine concerns fitment of the steering box, shaft and steering wheel, and the stub axles. This is where you can cut a few corners if you do not wish to show the engine off and close up the removeable engine bay side panels.
The instructions have you attach the steering wheel to the shaft and then the shaft to the chassis so if you follow these steps, you will not have the option to paint the cab separately. Even if you do follow the instructions at this point you are still to turn it upside down to work on the front suspension in subsequent steps, so it is asking for trouble to add it at this stage. At the very least I would advise waiting to fit it, along with the steering linkages (D6, D45 & D50) just before you add the cab assembly in step sixteen.
I like to
keep sub-assemblies separate, if at all possible, to aid airbrushing so adding
the steering shaft and wheel as early as step nine makes painting the whole
chassis rather difficult. If you want to keep both chassis and bodywork
separate, then keep both the steering shaft and steering wheel loose until you
do finally add the bodywork to the chassis.
Steering shaft and wheel alongside the idler axle assemblies
The double wheel stub axle arms (parts B29) did not require glueing into the chassis on my kit. They were a smooth friction fit even after ridding them of mould seams. Keeping them free of glue gives the added bonus of articulating all the wheels if you wish.
The front axle and steering components are constructed in step ten. Here you are instructed not to glue the front wheel stub (part B45) into the stub axles (parts D19 & D20) before connecting them to the axle beam. Instead, you are to trap part B45 with a pin (part B33) to allow wheel articulation Unfortunately, any wheel articulation will be extremely loose as movement is not just in the horizontal plane, so once a road wheel is attached it will move about in all directions. In essence, the wheels will simply ‘splay out’ under the weight of a finished model. Not a good look.
Having the wheels free to position is a nice option but the design of the hub to axle fitment just doesn’t work. In addition, not all the steering linkages rotate unless you went to the trouble of drilling and pinning them. To have a ‘working system’ requires a whole bunch of extra work.
So, what’s the solution? Simple. Turn them to the position you desire and glue them in place. Take note though. If you do decide to turn them, this impacts the layout of the steering linkages shown in the diagram in step eleven.
The process of fitting the ‘moveable’ hubs in step ten is a little finicky too as in effect you must line up the holes in both part D19, D20, then insert B45 before dropping the pin (B33) through them to secure. The kit part tolerances are way off, and the diameter of hole is too small. To avoid snapping the pin whilst inserting I would recommend opening the holes in all four parts with a micro drill making sure the shaft of the pin is sanded smooth.
This CAD drawing in step eleven depicts the linkage layout with the front wheels in the straight-ahead position. You will have to adjust the angles of the connecting linkages if you set the wheels at a turned angle. Confusingly, the CAD drawing in the instructions shows the long linkage to the hub knuckle attached at the bottom when it should be attached at the top! Looking at the Panzer Tracts drawing below it clearly shows that it is attached from above.
My wheels
are turned to full lock and the linkages adjusted to suit. The long steering link
rod is now attached to the hub knuckle from above.
Step twelve deals with track wheel assembly. You have six main road wheel pairs and two idlers. The fit on mine was not the best due to oversized internal locating tabs. They will force the wheel pairs apart. The tubular connection points do align straight so it is simpler to cut the tabs down or remove them all together. I then glued my idler wheels to their stub axles (as mentioned at the start of the build) for a stronger connection. These are engineered to slot into the back of the rearmost suspension arm plates and can be easily adjusted before final fix to optimise the track sag.
Moving on to step thirteen and assembly here will depend on how you like to
construct and paint the wheels. I prefer to paint my wheels separately, but adding the wheels after paint to the
interleaved system on this suspension design makes the process a bit more
involved. Leaving the inner (part B22) and outermost wheels (WB8) separate will make assembly far easier if you do.
The sprocket housings locate onto the chassis and orientation is dictated by
part B40 which depicts a drive shaft which locates into a pin on the chassis
leg.
Next chapter
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