newbies start 2 scratch built 1/8 Panzer III

[solosyphos]

Hi All
Latest update on our twin tanks.....
After our twin disasters with the 8 bogey wheels that had to be redone and the entire 320 tank track picees having to be drilled twice each to remove, countersunk deeper in each drill hole and then hand redone fitting M3 nuts and bolts we have finally passed that point and manage to advance our builds. The tracks are now finished as seen in the photos. The method that we have now used using nuts and bolts has given a far better and more consistant spacing of the track pieces and maintained the correct distance between the 2 chains underneath. Whilst doing all this Frank has been busy designing and making the main drive and rear drive bearing holders and has had to design a method of altering the rear drive wheel to take up slack in the tracks. He has also tacked the main body together and we have quickly assembled some of the pieces together to give an idea how it has progressed so far. Remember there will be double cogs at both the front and rear once we have cut down the shafts and welded the cogs together at the right distance apart. Hopefully in the next few days we will have the full running gear assembled along with the tracks and then we can start to assemble the upper body and design our power source system.....Any comments welcome....

[solosyphos]

Update time again
hi All
I just want to give you all a quick warning to avoid what happened to Frank yesterday. For those that dont know Frank or myself we have a build in progress of 2 panzer III in steel and alloy 1/8th scale tanks in the large scale section which has been updated regulaly over the last couple of months. Frank is the expert with many years working with lathes, millers, welders etc and I am the beginner who is just learning.
My warning to anyone using these types of tools it to avoid complacency whilst using them. Yesterday Frank was reducing the size of the bosses on the drive cogs in the lathes when the double cog flew out and hit him in the face. Look at the photo and see the twin cuts when the teeth have penetrated. Although the photo is horrible to look at please note Frank has always been this ugly and the majority of what you see is awful to look at but is how he has always been
Seriously though you can see how close to his eye this injury was so please be careful when using electric tooling.

As for the tank you can see the latest photos below We have now joined the double cogs and also finished the shock absorbers. The shocks were a simple design using aluminium bar worked on the lathe and drilled and a spring from a clothes peg provided the damper effect. The finished result works just like a proper shock absorber.

[[ICE]monkey]

looking good, frank had a close one there, lucky it wasnt a inch higher

[solosyphos]

At last we are starting to make progress on these models and am now starting to get a little excited so thought I would share the latest photos

Have just treat myself to a small milling machine so thought i would try it out by making the limit stops for the control arms....Not as easy as i thought but getting better slowly (see photos below)

Also we are now starting to actually fix the running gear together and am pleased so far with the results. Frank has just started to make the 3 top wheels that the track will run on so hopefully by next week we can start to work out what motors to use and how to fit them in the tank..

The shock absorbers on the front and rear cogs actually work using a small spring inside and the middle wheels are gong to have springs on their shafts inside the tank to provide suspension..The limit stops will be fitted in the next few days

[Matdragon]

this is one heck of a project, cant wait to see the upper starting to take place!

excellent work,

Matt

[solosyphos]

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments.....Have just bought some special stuff thats welds aluminium easily so am really looking forward to starting working on the upper bodywork.
Still havent decided whether to do the upper in steel or aluminium yet but want to make it look shiny like the bits we have done already ...just want to try make it look reasonable.....it will never be perfect but as long as it is pleasing to the eye it will do for us ....Keep following the posts and thanks again for the encouragement...it really helps

[solosyphos]

Finally it is coming together to start looking like a tank.. We have finished the suspension stops and fitted them. We have added internal suspension to the 4 middle wheels on each side and we have fixed all the wheels and cogs permanantly onto the tank. Saying that, we are now wondering whether to modify the rear cogs so that they go either side of the chain so you cannot see the chain.We think it will look more realistic.I know it is still a long time until completion but we are already wondering what is our next project and what size to build. We have to rule out tanks that have a lot of curves as we do not have the equipment to easily bend metal to the right shapes.I really fancy the M3 Half track in 1/6th scale. Any of you have any good ideas taking into account our limited metal shaping ability....Any ideas most appreciated and any comments on this project also appreciated.

[solosyphos]

At last after all the problems with the running gear and lower hull we are finally starting to assemble the upper bodywork. Still in the very rough stages we have begun to develop the bodywork on the 1/8 panzer III tanks. Being beginners does make it hard as we are both new to how tanks work so each stage is all trial and error (unfortunately many errors at great costs )
We have tried metal epoxy, alumina low heat aluminium boding wire and have now moved on the durafix aluminium bonding rods. They are great and would recommend them to anyone. Melt them with a blow torch and join aluminium together ! .
The pictures show the first tank with a basic top joined on and a turret template made out of plywood. If you look closely you can see the first pieces made out of metal taped onto the template turret and eventually all the turret will be metal joined together and the wood turret will be discarded.
Have just got our 18v drill motors so will be stripping down and trying to design a method of running them with batteries and assembling a method of driving each track seperately.
Its finally starting to get to the exciting stage but everything will slow down as i am visiting florida for a few weeks. If there are any good tank clubs near tampa and upwards please let me know and I would love to come visit you to see your work

[BREL]

looking good there a superb credit to your skills with the machine tools

[DerStiervonScapaFlow]

Wow, what else can u say, WOW!