It’s a diesel engine so there’s no ignition wiring. Those are fuel lines running from the rail to each individual cylinder.
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Glow plugs or not?
My dads 1965 Mercedes had glow plugs that had to be heated before trying to start the engine.
Quicker and easier start, less smoke, less work for the starter motor …
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Have to guess that if those fuel lines are in the picture, something to make them is included in the kit. Maybe wire. I would like to see a build video that breaks down the construction of the engine, but most don’t go into that level of piece-by-piece construction. Usually, it’s, “OK. I’ve built up the engine…”
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Based on my experience with Miniart, those wires will be on the sprue with all the other parts and made of the same soft plastic. It will be molded as one piece; the challenge will be getting it on the kit in one piece.
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When I try to separate those really thin parts of MiniArt kits from the sprues and clean them up, I consider that I’ve done well if I only break the part once. No sarcasm here. I was breaking pieces left and right building those AEC armored cars.
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My experience with MiniArt models matches that described by 2Far2Go. Plastic used by MiniArt is curiously both brittle and soft such that parts often break and, in rare cases, shatter. Multiple, large sprue gates to fragile and small parts make clean up challenging. A supply of styrene rod and sheet stock is helpful for adding strength and replacing things that break.
The designers at MiniArt tend to break down a model into parts in the same way the prototype breaks down. This results in a high fidelity but very fragile model. Very little effort is made to consolidate, simplify, or strengthen assemblies to ease construction for the model builder.
MiniArt models are often not suitable for people who prefer Tamiya type models. That is not a dig. Different people approach and enjoy the hobby in different ways.
Wade has it right with his Goldilocks analogy. With 4 options available, pick the one that works best for you. If you go the Italeri/Testors route, which is perfectly fine if you will enjoy a fairly easy, fairly fast, curb side build, seek out a well molded specimen .
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Amen!
100% true.
Still have to work up the courage to dig into one of their T-55’s …
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Smaller engines tend to have glow plugs. But in the case of a direct port injection such as this one it would be compression ignition.
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Thanks!
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Looks nice for the most part, but that drivers seat is not right. It looks way too flat, and not real at all. Makes me question everything with this kit.
Do You have pictures of the drivers seat ? The pictures of the PaK version I found online look simmilar.
Ive been in touch with Miniart to ask where they got info regarding interior that I haven’t seen exist anywhere.
The ammo bins and turret interior is a dark spot in research.
They have yet to reply which makes me doubt the validity of this kit
Edit. I have amended my view in a further comment. I know about the panzer farm - I know that there was a turret ring in France which gives us a good steer regarding seat posts (and from that the kind of basket) and the traverse gear which was quite simple. The ammo lockers I have seen nothing of
James, any idea what sort of projects the Panzer Farm in Poland is currently working on? I don’t keep up with research anymore being retired Panzer Police from long ago.
Panzer Farm Tour by The Australian Armor Museum
At least one (unknown to me which) kit manufacturer(s) has a tight relationship with the Panzer Farm. PF shares 3D scan data of actual parts with said kit manufacturer to aid in accuracy. The specifics of such information is proprietary in nature and not available at this time for public consumption.
If some (enough) 234/x scrap parts or relic items turned up at the Panzer Farm, I wouldn’t be surprised if that didn’t “inspire” an aggressive manufacturer(s). MiniArt is hungry and aggressive in my view.
Given what we see with MiniArt kits (Ukraine) and Panzer Farm (Poland) location, I wouldn’t be too surprised if MiniArt has an outstanding source of information. I also wouldn’t be too shocked Ryefield has a connection too.
BTW - if you need a new set of real Panther tracks, wheels or sprockets, Panzer Farm can and do make many new OEM spec WW2 tank parts. I think brand new manufacture Tiger I transmissions are the up coming list of parts offered.
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Thought that somebody might be interested in this:
Although, I do expect an article to published on this here on the Armorama site.
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Guys, I love MiniArt, but I’m very skeptical of this interior layout. First there is no comprehensive reference for puma interiors. Just doesn’t exist, unless MiniArt has access to something no one else has. There are some turret photos that give an incomplete picture of the turret. The hull is a mystery on par with who shot JFK.
I have serious issues with the rear driver position. There is no known photo of a cut out for the steering wheel in the fuel tank. I have photos of existing 234s - not pumas - that indicate no such arrangement. Doubtful the Germans altered basic construction for 101 sub-variants.
We do know what the hull contained in the way of shell stowage. But not WHERE or HOW they were stowed. If MiniArt were to reveal the source of their interior design, that would help.
I do not purport to be an expert on 234s, but I have followed the series closely for a couple of decades. I just need a little more proof.
Kip
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If there are no references, who is to say it is not the correct interior layout? or does it matter? You can’t prove it right or wrong. It does look loke a reasonable layout to me based on other 234s.
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It matters to me as now I am likely to save a bit and go with the RFM over the MiniArt now as MiniArt kits are fiddly and not as fun to build IMO.
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Seriously? You are joking right?
If you aren’t, why don’t we just call it the sci-fi puma?
We do know what other 234 series interiors look like. Are you suggesting the Germans made wholesale changes in the basic structure of the vehicle just to put an enclosed turret on it?
That steering wheel cutout is bogus according to every available 234 reference.
If you, or MiniArt, have different information in that regard I would be happy to change my opinion. I have been searching for interior info on this beastie since the 1980s.
That being said I’ve always been a big proponent of the “if they can’t prove you right, they can’t prove you wrong theory of modeling,” but in this case we have a pretty good idea what that firewall consists of.
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Not sure if you guys watch the Australian Armor Museums Workshop wednesdays you tube(they are awesome), but they get a lot of parts and projects from an outfit in Czechoslovakia - can’t recall the exact name.
In the latest episode, they asked the museum fellows to identify a turret roof they had found. It was a puma turret roof. The question was posed where’s the rest of it, and the answer was we are still digging it up. That posits that maybe in the future we may have a better idea of the puma than we have now.
They also had a very well preserved commander periscope from the puma. So perhaps there is a 1:1 scale puma on somebody’s workbench.
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Not joking at all. First, I could care less as it is not my area, and I am not going to build one. Second, still stand by the point that, as of now, you can’t conclusively say they got it wrong or not. Third, if for some reason I did want to build one, it would look close enough for me.