Panzer 1V upgrade.

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Hi Chaps.
I have finally got around to upgrading / modifying an old brand new P4 that i have had lying around, and i have a question for all you P4 experts, i am building the spare wheel carrier to go on the left hand hull side and need to know if the wheel retaining bar fitted is square or round and how it fits into the two ends of the box, if anyone knows or has any detailed photos i would be most grateful.
Cheers
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[jarndice]

Shapeways sell a well detailed PZ4 Wheel Carrier.
The latest PZ4 from Taigen has the wheel box as standard with a set of wheels,
It is held in place by a pair of self tapping screws on the inside of the Tank body BUT for some reason it does not have a retaining bar or the oblong holes in each end of the wheel carrier.

The retaining bar is oblong with a tang at one end and tapered at the other,
It slides through an oblong entrance on one side of the carrier and barely touches the wheel centres as it passes through a narrower oblong exit at the other end of the carrier,
The tang on the fat end butts up to the side of the carrier preventing the bar from being pulled through,
The narrow end of the bar has a hole through it where a padlock keeps it in place.

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Hi.
Thank you for your quick response.
However this has raised another question in that i now have 2 different styles of box ends, the shapeways one has a longer diagonal from the hull deck down to the cross piece yet i have seen others P4 on here with a shorter diagonal piece with a higher box end above the cross piece ?, is it a case of both were used or is one style incorrect, if i make the wrong one im sure this would be pointed out on here so any info please.
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[jarndice]

The first thing to know about PZ4 spare wheel carriers is the PZ4 "A" "B" "C" did not have them,
The second thing to know is that their were many PZ4 of any variant that did not have them fitted and those that were fitted could be built to carry 4 spare wheels or built to carry 6 wheels and of course the carrier was not exclusively for the carriage of wheels, Jerry cans often were to be found in them as well,
There are many photographs showing low end plates as well as high end plates and there was no particular variant that favoured one or the other,
The PZ4"H" had the two types of wheel carrier in the same unit so you have a free hand in whichever you decide on,
I should add that in fact there were THREE different end plates in service on the PZ4.
The third sloped all the way to the treadway and had no front panel.
I hope that helps or perhaps just adds to the confusion

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Hi Mr Jarndice.
Many thx for your time and information, most enlightening, i am converting mine from the short barrell to a long one from an Ausf A (i think ) to an Ausf (f2) which i believe to be the G.
So your explanation is exemplary, and now i can continue with the mods, i did wonder whether the carrier was not of a set standard due to the variations.. thank you.
Onwards and upwards.
Cheers
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[jarndice]

I am sorry you are going to convert from "A" to "G" there are a lot fewer of the "A" Variant around,
Your query about the "F2" is well observed, The "F2" ( The British in North Africa called the "Ausf F2" "Special's") certainly did exist but it was for a very short period before the title was changed to Ausf G,
The "Ausf F1" was the last of the "Short" Barrel PZ4s and using "F2" which was pretty much a totally new design just caused confusion in stores and workshops so it was dropped.
I have never understood why the Chinese makers ever chose the title but they do have a history of poor research in the early days of1/16 Tank accuracy.