Tamiya Panzer IV rear wheel trouble...

[Xarathustra]

Help!!

The rear wheels on this model have a hollow centre which cause them to be pulled easily out of position when fitting the (overly) tight tracks.
This photo shows the problem in an extreme situation:



The 'pins' that the wheel attaches to seem thin too, so I've tried wrapping a bit of styrene strip around it but it's not really worked as the hollow wheel 'axle' still allows movement.



This has resulted in a bit of a bodge to say the least. My only solution which hasn't really worked is to fill the void within the wheel with filler. this didn't really help either!



I'm at a loss over this. Has anyone come across this problem & managed to sort it out?

TIA

 

[stillp]

Could you drill the axle out and replace with a piece of rod (maybe a bit of sprue) that fits the wheel better?

Pete

 

[Deleted member 5819]

Hi the same idea as Pete's but use brass rod if you have any.
Pete

 

[Xarathustra]

I’d need to get a drill to do this, but to be honest I’m not sure if it would help at least as far as I can envisage...unless I’ve misunderstood?
The outer side’s centre of the wheel basically appears to be a kind of void so unless I could drill through the centre of the wheel & then screw it in place onto the ‘axle’ I think it would always be weak & wobbly....and I can only imagine that could get very messy
I’m just wondering if I can split the wheel in half again I may be able to pack the centre out that way...somehow. Also I’d need to try to soften the glue which I’m not sure can be done?

 

[stillp]

Could you glue a short piece of brass tube into the wheel?

Pete

 

[Xarathustra]

Could you glue a short piece of brass tube into the wheel?

Pete

I see what you mean now. Yes I suppose I could if I had some brass tube, but I may have something else that I could improvise with hidden away in the garage.
Thanks...I’ll have a look/think

 

[Jim F]

Hi George,
The issue you've got goes back to the kits history it was originally design to be motorised, it would have had plastic/rubber inserts to fit in the void that would hold the wheel in place but still allowed it to turn freely What you don't want to do is apply anymore glue at the join as this will weaken it. If you've got any micropore tape wrap it around the axle in small increments until the join is tight and just push fit the idler wheels.
regards Jim

 

[Xarathustra]

Thanks Jim,
I did wonder earlier today about the motorised history of this model & wondered how it could possibly work with such a wobbly wheel!
I’ll have a look at the tape idea & avoid more glue...good advice thanks!!

Of course what would be easier is to just be able to stretch the tracks by 5-10mm but I don’t know if this is possible with the standard rubbery ones I have. Sticking them over a candle would ruin them irreversibly

 

[Jakko]

It gives the impression that you didn’t fit the poly caps inside the wheels, which would hold them tightly to the axles but allow them to rotate.

One fix would be to cut open the back of the wheel and find some plastic tube that fits around the axle and inside the wheel, so you can get the wheel to fit correctly on to the axle. That would require repainting the back of the wheel, but that’s not a big deal.

 

[Jim F]

Hi George,
I have a set of Dragon DS tracks that you are welcome to if all else fails
Jim

 

[Xarathustra]

It gives the impression that you didn’t fit the poly caps inside the wheels, which would hold them tightly to the axles but allow them to rotate.

One fix would be to cut open the back of the wheel and find some plastic tube that fits around the axle and inside the wheel, so you can get the wheel to fit correctly on to the axle. That would require repainting the back of the wheel, but that’s not a big deal.

That's exactly what I didn't do!
I had another look at the instructions after reading Jim's reply mentioning poly caps...stupidly (for once in my life) I followed the instructions...there is no mention that I can see where it tells me to fit the two (spare) poly caps inside the idler (rear) wheels! When I was making them i did wonder why I'd been given two spares & one longer one...how generous of Tamiya, I thought!
To be honest, unless I can split the idler wheels again, I don't recall if there was even space 'inside' for the two short poly caps/tubes to fit.
Is there a way to somehow soften the glue I've used to join the two halves so i can try this again...with the poly caps?

Failing that, I could drill out the centres a bit wider (this will be by carefully using a household drill bit I'm afraid!) to accommodate the poly caps. I've tried slipping them over the exisiting 'axles' & they would fit snugly with a bit of cleaning up of the axle 'shafts'.

Thanks guys...I think we'll get there in the end...

 

[Jim F]

George,
That you've got the poycaps is good news, I wouldn't try to split the wheels again unless you have a decent modelling saw, drilling the axle hole to match the size of the polycap is the way I would go and use superglue etc. to make the joint
Jim

 

[Xarathustra]

I did manage to split them quite easily...I can’t have used as much glue as I thought...phew!
Dug out the filler from earlier which was a mess. Poly tubes fitted & fingers crossed this will do the trick.
Thanks again all

 

[JR]

Well done George.
I think many modellers would have given up.
Myself I would have probely set fire to the model and turned it into a wreak, I'm well known for this according to rumors.
John.

 

[Xarathustra]

Well done George.
I think many modellers would have given up.
Myself I would have probely set fire to the model and turned it into a wreak, I'm well known for this according to rumors.
John.

Thanks John...I'm not 100% confident it'll be a complete cure, but it will hopefully be better than what I was fiddling around with this afternoon!

Believe me...there were a few moments this afternoon when it was A) going to be trashed, or B) turned into a diorama wreck of some sort*
This model has been a real struggle at times, but it's my first one in years, so I just have to (try to) take a deep breath, walk away from it for a while, and look on it as a learning process...and it's certainly been that!
Oh, and don't even talk to me about spraying!

* option "B" is always a good one to fall back on :smirk:

 

[JR]

Thanks John...I'm not 100% confident it'll be a complete cure, but it will hopefully be better than what I was fiddling around with this afternoon!

Believe me...there were a few moments this afternoon when it was A) going to be trashed, or B) turned into a diorama wreck of some sort*
This model has been a real struggle at times, but it's my first one in years, so I just have to (try to) take a deep breath, walk away from it for a while, and look on it as a learning process...and it's certainly been that!
Oh, and don't even talk to me about spraying!

* option "B" is always a good one to fall back on :smirk:

George.
Nothing is worse than attempting what looked to be a simple thing and then it descends in to "I wish I'd never started this " I had problems with some top wheels, glued them on as instructed, went to fit the tracks and the blo**y wheels fell off. In the end I used thick wire drilled through and ca' d them. How come other people don't appear to have problems
John.

 

[Jakko]

Nothing is worse than attempting what looked to be a simple thing and then it descends in to "I wish I'd never started this "

In my experience, often the best way to solve that is to first try to persevere, and if that also leads to frustration, give up and build another model — you can always come back to the first one later on, when you think you’ve found a way to solve its problems. Insisting on finishing a model that only makes you frustrated is likely a form of the sunk cost fallacy. It’s much better to go do something that you do enjoy, than to stick with something you seriously don’t.

 

[Jim F]

Hi George
I'm pleased that you have managed to resolve the issue
regards Jim

 

[Xarathustra]

The (super glue) appears to have held! Stupidly tight tracks now on & awaiting some kind of melting process to get them to hold together...I’ll see if that works...

 

[stillp]

Looking good!

Pete