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I don't claim to be a great builder but here goes....
I believe that one of the traps of designing with computer software is that it is reasonably easy to develop a 3D object then generate parts to build the object based on unfolding the skin of the object. This procedure will work but ignores considerations of how easy it is to build, the strength of the object created from these parts and examination of alternative ways to creating the object which will be simpler to build and produce a better simulation of the original. I think the author of the Panzer 1F has, in part, fallen into this trap.
The roadwheels of this model took me ages to build because I found that I was either building simple structures with lots of small parts or having to reengineer the designto better approximate the original or simplify the design.
Picking a few obvious problems:
- The axles of the wheels were modelled as cylinders - replaced these with rolled up parts - the original was too weak to withstand much handling.
- The struts supporting the outer drive drive sprocket were replaced by parts cut out of 1 mm card - the originals were too small and complex and also too weak.
- the outer roadwheels were rebuilt using modified parts - the original didn't look very convincing and was very complex.
- replaced the washers on the end of axles with simple dished disks - the original had Belville washers to provide a simple way to get the torque right on the nuts on the end of the axle.
If I built these again I'd also fix up the inner wheels - the fused spokes are complicated to build and aren't very accurate. I'd probably also get a set of the nut shapes used on the reported build of the Draf 1/16 75mm gun - the best I could do was 1 mm disks
Regards,
Charlie
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