German Armour What If?

[Saxondog]

What method do you intend to use for the weld seams? I ask because the method used on my Jagdpanther worked out very well, using Evergreen half round and quarter round strips,glued in place and cut and filed to conform to structure shape.

Just an idea that may be of some interest? I, confident you could do a better job with this method than I was able to accomplish.
http://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/v ... =22&t=6128" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FreakyDude]

this was a test spot with Tape laid down and them Tamiya Putty put on. Stuff is not good for welds. Too thin and it air drys very quickly. I can see the weld line but there is no texture when you feel and would get lost behind paint, even airbrushed. I can't get any milliput which bytes cuz that stuff rolled into a thin round tube is excellent for welds.
I'll go buy some 1/4 round etc and copy your welds Saxondog. I looked at your post and that is the look I want.
Thanks for the info.

[mustclime]

If its going to be a worker, what recoil unit are you going to use in the turret? I ask because I am just about to start my e50 and the hl stuff is kinda bulkie for the small turret.

[The Tank Man]

Great work so far!!! Can't wait to see the end result!!!!

[FreakyDude]

mustclime I'll be building my own recoil unless I can find something on the cheap.
Here is the last few days of work. not much but I am making progress. I think I can show off the entire shape now, it is getting closer to what I want it too be. Comments on the welds please, I am not sure if they look right.
I am very happy on how my fuse box turned out, 2 5A and it will be a 7.5A system fuse, that should protect my boards and motors no problem.

[FreakyDude]

Just when I was ready to give up,
Amazing
I have found one of the critical parts to my build in the wierdest way. My 7 yr old daughter knows what I am looking for for the suspension I want to put on this beast. To her it is a spring. See the top pic as provided earlier in this post by Mustclime.
See I am thinking to make this suspension you take a spring put it in a tube and braze or solder the ends closed. Put a plunger with a gear on it and basicly the suspension is done. When the gear turns it moves the plunger and compresses the spring, BUT where to get a spring right size and strength.
My daughter goes to take a bath tonight, While there she starts screaming for me. I run up thinking something is wrong. She lifts up her bottle of body wash that has a pump on it. ( she uses empty bottles to wash her barbies hair etc lol)
Shows me the pump with a spring in it, I cut the spring out and holy cow for younger ears on here.
The spring is stainless steel and the perfect size to fit in a 8mm round brass tube, not only that but it has the needed softness and strength, compresses the first 1/2" very easily but becomes very tough after that.
Thanks to her I believe I am just a day away or so from making a working model of Mann's Paper Panzer suspension.
Christmas has come ealy for me

[mustclime]

Wish you has asked me.....look at cheep staplers, they have the long springs that are purfect for this. The springs are used to push/pull the staples into the knife that pushes them into what ever you are fastening to.

[FreakyDude]

No updates yet, the next one will be a big one. I have the barrel with about 2-1/2" of recoil available, the turret is almost done and I am working on the ring now. I finally have the motors for both the turret and gun elevation with the wiring soldered up. I have one spring loaded idler adjustment on and working as well, need the hardware store to open up to finish the other. I ran out of brass rod.
hopefully I can get some pics done soon.

[Dietrich]

Hi mustclime,
Reading through the thread I am not quite sure what it is that you have against German Armour...so I thought that I would just write this piece.....in support of it
Yes alot of it was destroyed by the crews when they were forced to retreat rather than to let a complete tank fall into enemy hands due to lack of spares or simply fuel.......you specifically mention the ' M26 Purshing tank' I think that you mean the Pershing tank.......having looked it up....it is not really a particularly good tank.......
.....Development of the M26 during World War II was prolonged by a number of factors, the most important being opposition to the tank from Army Ground Forces (AGF). As a result, only the initial 20 M26 (T26E3) tanks deployed to Europe in January 1945 saw combat in World War II.[1] The M26 and its improved derivative, the M46 Patton, both saw more combat in Korea. The M26 was underpowered and mechanically unreliable and so was withdrawn from Korea in 1951, in favor of the M46, which had a more powerful engine.[2] The lineage of the M26 continued with the M47 Patton, and was reflected in the new designs of the later M48 Patton and M60 Combat Tank.
.................... Hardly a glowing report.....
.
For its time...the German armour specifically the Tiger 1 ,the Panther and the King Tiger....have to be classed as TRULY outstanding vehicles....this is a Quote from the Soviets about the Panther......
.
Soviets held Panthers in high regard and considered captured Panther to be a prize.Captured Panthers were then given to successful crews as a kind of reward.In order to keep them running captured German mechanics were pressed into service and in 1944, Panther’s manual was printed in Russian for distribution among tank crews. Captured vehicles temporarily remained in theiroriginal colors but with markings of their new owners. Later, some were repainted in dark green and were marked withlarge tactical markings and white stars for indentification purposes.
.............So if you retreat..destroy the tank rather than let the commies get it and just fill it up with fuel and then use it against you !

Another quote...about the 'BAD' Panther......
Panzerkampfwagen V Panther was a very successful design and two could be produced in the same time as a single Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger tank. Panther revolutionized tank designs and influenced post-war western tank designs and is considered to be the first MBT (Main Battle Tank). Overall, Panther proved to be an excellent weapon when commanded and operated by people like Ernst Barkmann. Panther was liked by its crews, best summarized in statement by Lieutenant Berger of "Grossdeutschland" - "We were shot three times - I owed my life to the Panther…".
After the war, many French Army tank units were equipped with Panthers (eg. 503rd Tank Battalion in Mourmelon had 50 Panthers in 1947 and 501rd Tank Battalion used Panthers from 1946 to 1950). Other post-war users included Bulgaria (Bulgarian Panthers), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia.
After the war, modified Panther’s 75mm KwK 42 L/70 gun was produced by French as 75mm DEFA and CN75-50 gun. It was used by them in a number of light tanks (eg. AMX 13) and armored cars (eg. EBR 75). Also, Israelis used the gun to upgrade their M50 Super Sherman.
Between 1949 and 1952, French also worked on AMX-50 tank, which was heavily influenced by the Panther (and powered by Maybach engine), but it didn’t enter production in favour of American M47 Patton Medium Tank..
...............................So they are not THAT BAD.......there were also outstanding commanders...Carius, Wittmann, Barkman and of course the number 1 tank killer Kurt Knispel
The TIGER 1.......a LEGEND...and it always will be.....everyone who is remotely interested in tanks knows the Tiger.....at least 6 Shermans sent to kill one and recon to lose 5 of them to do it , even in confined spaces like the Bocage.....Sherman...AKA ' The Tommy Cooker' by the Germans and also as 'The Ronson,by the British crews because it' Lights first Time, Every Time'.....one penetration shot and bye bye Sherman.
The German tanks were Very expensive to make and made in too few numbers.......BUT they could fight....... Guderian himself said..."Wir werden Sieger - durch unsren Tiger" (We will be victorious - thanks to our Tigers)
Just my 2 cents worth as the saying goes......Yes I am a bit biased as I like the German tanks....the only other ones..are the T34..for being so revolutionary a design..and the British sherman firefly for its gun.......
By the way tests were carried out by the German army and having the driven spocket the Front DOES actually give better grip..but I accept that it also means that the transmission has to go through the crew compartment, unless you put the whole transmission at the front as well.
Alb

[magmer]

I have to agree with everything that Dietrich says, from what I have read in my collection of books about the subject the Panther was an outstanding piece of engineering. It may not have been as technically advanced as the Tiger 1 but if they had been produced in the same number as the T34 the outcome may have been different.
Fortunately for the free world the Nazis through competitive tendering and diversification made too many variants of vehicles that did not have interchangeable parts. On the battlefield it is imperative to keep your vehicles in service with spare parts and fuel.