Bulgarian site for German Panzers

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Dietrich
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Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by Dietrich »

Hi Guys,
I have just found this Bulgarian site which has some incredible photos of all the German Panzers that were buried in concrete or simply buried in the ground with either the turret left exposed or in the case of the STuG's / JagdPanzers buried so that just the limited traverse of the gun could be used......
http://www.airgroup2000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30326
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This single thread is 85-: yes :- Eighty Five !!! pages long and contains some amazing photos of German armour that is being dug up and restored or I guess sold to be restored. The site is available in English but I could not then find the particular thread and I wanted to copy the pictures, just in case the site vanished... I took about 340 images from the one thread.
One excellent thing that it DOES prove....Is the answer to the question of 'Rusty Tracks' on a tank....The answer is a no they do not turn into solid red/ brown rusty strips.. as the photos show. They are rusty ( but NOT the horrible rust that we see on cars) , even after being buried in soil for 60 odd years.....a quick trip down the road and they would be shiney and dirty but Not solid rust !!
The site also shows the quality of the armour plate AND the welds on the armour......Even though the armour plate is showing surface rust some of the welds have turned a bright silver !!! ...at first I thought that they were new welds done by the restorers but the silver welds are present even on the Panzers that are still buried !!...do we have any welders who could come up with a reason why the welds are silver ??
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Does anyone fancy opening their 'Piggy Banks', hiring a low loader and just popping over to Bulgaria to pick up a 1:1 scale STuG or a Panzer IV as their next project ?? :haha:
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FreakyDude
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by FreakyDude »

Dietrich
To answer or attempt to answer the question on the silver welds I would think it is because of the weld rod composition. I am not a welder or metalurgist but I do know that tungsten was used in WWII for welding purposes and welding itself took some major leaps forward. TIG was instituted in 42 I think. anyway back to the question.
The silvering would come directly from the tungsten/Silicon or some other material in the weld.
And that is my shot at the answer.
Great find though, almost makes you want to live in Bulgaria.
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streetfighterjeff
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by streetfighterjeff »

found the thread, and eastern, if you just leave it in bulgarian it stays on. if you change the language it takes you to the home page. pictures start at about page 5 i think.
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magmer
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by magmer »

What a fantastic find just need my pick, bucket and spade then its Hi Ho Hi Ho its off to work we go!
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Dietrich
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by Dietrich »

Hi Guys,
I am glad that you like the site.. :D ..Its an incredible piece of history that more by luck has been preserved..probably because the tanks were 'buried' then the value in scrap metal was out-weighed by the costs involved in digging the 'scrap steel' / tanks out of the ground. Some of the tanks have clearly been 'Robbed of parts' by trophy hunters but the large parts are all there.....
Hi Eastern Front ...The link is a good live one.....If you ignore the top of the page an just scroll down, to the bottom you will see that in the very right hand corner the page numbers are displayed...and that does go up to 85.....just keep going !! the photos start a few pages in as 'streetfighterjeff' has kindly said.I did not attempt to translate it because that takes you off the page...and I desperately wanted to get the images 'Just in Case' the site disappeared !......Magmer I agree entirely...we just need to 'Speak to' the right people( With Money probably changing hands)...dig 2 out...put them on a low loader and then drive them to our houses...dead easy !!...Lets book the next ferry with our spades and off we go... :haha:
FreakyDude :-..Your explanation of the 'Silver Welds' seems to be the answer to the question....Thank you very much for that, and for answering it so quickly.
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maxmekker
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by maxmekker »

Whoa great find.

on page 37 I found some great info in English that explain's alot

http://www.airgroup2000.com/forum/viewt ... &start=540

And some txt under another pic

Mauthausen, 09. Oktober 2007 The last T-34 reaches the sunafter decades buried within a defensive fortification. The Zone-defense concept of the 70's and 80's separated Austria into defended regions and bottlenecks. Fixed fortifications were built in these areas.
Pillboxes and turret-mounted bunkers embedded Soviet T-34's along with other types to protect key passes and valleys. A total of 76 fortifications were built, including 19 with T-34's. These tanks were part of an aid-package presented by the Soviet Union in 1955 for the formation of the Austrian defense forces. Today the last was freed from a 60cm thick reinforced concrete bunker.
Cossing over railroad tracks to the transport loading area en route to restoration. This T-34 is to be presented to the public at the Bunkermuseum at the Wurzenpass next Spring.
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streetfighterjeff
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Re: Bulgarian site for German Panzers

Post by streetfighterjeff »

in answer to to the silver welds. when you weld, the rod has to be a higher grade steel than the parent metal. So armour being a very high grade quality steel the welds would have to be better, hence less rust on the welds.
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