Re: FINALLY!!!!
 

Hello from Germany,

I´m Peter from XION and i will inform you about our Sd.Kfz. 234 project:

We will offer 3 Versions:
234/1 tba.
234/2 on Stock
234/3 on Stock

if you like to order an "234/2 PUMA" or "234/3 Stummel" or "234/3 Stummel" Upgrade, choose "selfpickup" (no shipping cost) :)
Put your forumsnick as comment before checkout!

some pictures from 234/3 Upgrade:
https://shop.xion.de/images/product_...ages/135_1.jpg
https://shop.xion.de/images/product_...ages/135_2.jpg

btw.
if you have any trouble with the kit, or defective parts.... feel free to contact me....

-Peter

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Thanks for checking on this Pete. Seriously, talk to El MOd about putting a drag brake setting parameter in.

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Any progess Lynn?

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Lots of progress on chassis just forgot to take pics and post- my bad. It is a rolling chassis now. Steering linkages seem to be slightly out of wack and will need some tweaking to get the wheels in-line and freedom of movement. Will get some more pics today and post for all.

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New pics!
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps1qrbjjr2.jpg
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps6h48nd7t.jpg

Still need to tweek the steering linkages. Waiting on the parts from Germany to finish the drive line. I hope that the body goes together as easy as the chassis. Haven't decided upon a paint scheme yet. Would like 2 color camo but haven't found a pic yet.

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Upper is pretty straight forward. Only thing I found were the bosses used to mate the engine deck to the upper/forward needed to be removed to allow more room for elec/speakers. Just cut them down and used some flanged screws. Post #214 on my build thread.

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Got the parts from Germany to fix the Puma. Lots of things to do before I start working on the body.

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Any progress Lynn? I'm living through your build to try and motivate myself to finish mine.

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Long time between building!! Got the drive line finished and turns easily by hand. Questions for you, Benny. Is your steering really tight-hard to move by hand? I even put bearings in the steering arms. I have some very high torque servos but I am not sure they will even move the steering. Also any problems with the fit of the metal side panels? My side panels do not fit at all. Cutouts for the suspension arms are off by about .100" when trying to fit to chassis. 2 of the suspension arms will fit but the other 2 are way off. Either the front 2 fit with the back one off or the other way around. ??????

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Update!! I have no idea what I did but the side plates went easily today with no problems.????? Steering is still tight due to very tight ball ends on the tie rods. May have to order different kind and replace the factory ones. Not what I really want to due but looks like the only solution for now.

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You guys are a couple of lucky stiffs with a BA Puma kit. ;) But if YOU two find it rough and face obstacles straight from the box I know my effort would be futile. That and the $$$.

Too bad they burned down photobucket... pics sure would be nice.

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Panther Red the post on this forum how to see picture from PB....They ar back if you put in the fix. You must use Google Chrome for this fix to work. Go here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...bifiaedg?hl=en

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Pry the ball links off and on a few times to loosen the fit a little?

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First, I deleted my pics from Photobucket so can't see them with the google upgrade. Sorry!! The upgrade does work if the pics are still in photobucket and you are using google chrome. I tried it and it works!!

Second, Many thanks go out to Peter at Xion.de for his generous replacement of parts for a kit not purchased from him. I can't praise him enough for the help he is giving me on this kit. I highly recommend him on any of the Metal Origin kits and upgrades.

Third, PantherF- you could build this kit. With all of your knowledge of WWII armor and the Tamiya tank kits, you would have no problems. It just takes longer to build as there is more tweaking to be done on it. Cast parts versus molded parts just means more fitting.

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Frissen,

Getting new ball heads from Xion.de. Hope they fit better than the original ones do. Might also try complete new ball ends if not satisfied with the ball heads. found some very inexpensive ones on ebay that are metal and not plastic. I am dreading taking the model apart to work on the ball ends.

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I was thinking I saw once some link ends that didn't bind that helped with deflection and increased the angle range, especially for those high lift front-ends. (if I'm making any sense here) :D

It kinda looked like a brass bearing inside the joint... like a REAL tie rod end on our older cars. :confused:

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Like this?

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Close but much cheaper!! Not going for a heavily use vehicle or I would have found better ones.

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Those are it, thanks! It's funny how much you learn from YouTube videos!

I do know that the geometry of the rod can affect the joint operating correctly just by making a slight bend or angle at the END, not in the middle.

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Lynn, glad you've got things moving. Depending on the preduction of your kit, MO released new ball screws that are smaller making the steering move much easier. You can check my build on post #36. Carson at DKLM puts them in every kit he sells, other vendors may not or MO may have forgotten to ship with the new ball screws.