I would like to present my Kugelblitz Project:
So, a little background: (various sources from the I-Net)
The Kugelblitz has been developed jointly by the Army Ordnance Department and Daimler-Benz and the design drawings of the templates in May 1944. Under the plans this vehicle should be the standard anti-aircraft tank. First came here a fully enclosed turret for the application, which was designed as a ball housing. The hydraulic swivel mechanism could be a target speed of 60 ° / sec can be achieved. The height swivel range went from - 7 to + 80 °. In the 20 mm thick armored tower was the commander, gunner and loader shooter. The commander instructed the gunner to the target by means of a downstream device. In the final version, the commander should have a small cupola with a periscope and a spatial image rangefinder. The armament consisted of two adjacent 30-mm cannons MK 103s / 38. It was a modified version of the flyer cannon MK 103, which had a rate of fire of 425 rounds / min and a firing range of 5700 m. As the first gun of the German army they had a belt-fed, which was a marked improvement over the magazines or framework used previously. Because of their relative to the 2-cm gun significantly higher firepower this flakkanone also called "fighter-fright". A total of 1,200 rounds of ammunition were carried. It was planned that the ball lightning was manufactured from February 30 1945 pcs / month and supersede all previous anti-aircraft tank. But during the war and there was not a mass production. By the end of 1944 only a small pilot series of five units were produced. The ball lightning was by far the most advanced anti-aircraft tank of the Second World War and was until the end of the fifties as a trend-setting design.
ahrelang was written, probably the only remaining tower of the ball lightning would be in the study collection of the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham, England. Five Flakpanzer IV "Kugelblitz" to have been made on the basis of a U.S. report and prey almost completed two towers you've found at Mercedes-Benz in Berlin-Marie Felde. Well, the first published photos showed a ball of lightning tower obviously belonged to Shrivenham. But in Rendsburg ball lightning tower is located at the Air Defence School of the Bundeswehr. Meanwhile, also can be read on the internet that after a trial on the military training area Ohrdruf at least one anti-aircraft tank ball lightning still was used and that was at least another ball flash use in Spichra. In the course of advancing American troops around the 1st April 1945 there came the German positions on the mountain spade under constant fire and anti-aircraft tank was hit. His turret ring was until 1999 on a slope, before he was rescued and is now probably should be in the collection of the Military History Museum in Dresden
Mal einen Blick auf die absolut schoenen Antriebsraeder "spaet".
Idlers late, unfortunately, made ??with tamiya wrong. Asiatam is right by the staggered spokes.
conversion and put the Stützrollen
The last support roller was attached to 4 mm and 1 mm deep to the penultimate.
the difference is immediately visible
Etwas schwierig war es die Stuetzrollenblenden genau gerade aufzubringen
Attaching the late exhaust system
Removing the hatch, water deflector, floor panels of the tower, side viewports and the driver of the two peepholes
CROPPING the tower ring. It is important to make sure to move the cut exactly in the middle and a little forward. Now the diameter of 11 cm.
The old clips were poured using Stabbelit, puttied screw holes on the top, Geschossabweiser removed and smoothed and sanded the entire surface included.
The driver / radio operator hatch was installed slightly bevelled, as the Kugelblitz tower compared to the normal turret was greater
After milling of various bracings in the tail was started with the detailing. Maintenance hatches and water drain cover had to be changed.
The water filler cap and got a safety chain.
Interior detail of the exhaust:
Vorher:
Das Ergebnis:
Cut with the Dremel and pressured apart.
Because of the larger tower diameter of ball lightning the tub was the front ceiling raised and straightened.
Hatch for the Lenkbremsen
The Turmauschnitt had to be corrected to the front. Polystreifen eingesetztund was back filled with Stabellit. Forward was milled accordingly.
and primed and sanded, and sanded .... .......... even more gsanded.
at the same time the new poly corrugated sheet is cut to size. The original HL diamond plate was wrong.
Die Klappen wurde mittels Stoffscharnieren befestigt....und beweglich gemacht. Abgeglubscht hier aus dem Baubericht des Pz IV.
soon it goes on ...
greeting ralf
