johann morris Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 Evening All, I decided to add some detail to the front of the hull while I was waiting for the vacuum components to arrive, the small maintenance hatch doesn't open, it's just there for show. The brackets either side. are to wrap a tow steel rope around. The locking mechanism seems overly complex to my mind but it was interesting to construct. My version. On the top of the hatch there's a square socket so that one can open the hatch from the outside, I used an old 3/8" drive socket and brazed it onto the end of the main shaft. A bit of a short update but that's all I have had time to achieve lately. Jon 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Again amazing work, what a skill set you have. Soon you'll drive around yelling in German to get out of the way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty2 Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Sometimes I think he is retired, the hours it will take pfff amazing job Edited February 14, 2020 by monty2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzH Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Absolutely amazing work, outstanding attention to detail Keep the updates coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 On 2/14/2020 at 1:47 PM, monty2 said: Sometimes I think he is retired, the hours it will take pfff amazing job Not retired, just very tired. I have always been like it, whether it's at work or home, I want the project finished so that I can start the next one. That's not to say I don't enjoy it, or that I am rushing it, I just need to see forward progress at a pace that I feel is acceptable. I plan each stage, and try to foresee any problems, so I build each component multiple times in my mind and even in my sleep, that way all my workshop time is productive. I still find problems, cock up but that's me just being male. Thanks again for taking an interest and the time to comment. Jon 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 Evening All, On the inside of the hull below the drivers hatch there is a tray that, I assume, holds a rubber seal, I cant find any pictures of the open hatch showing this area so that is purely an educated guess. On the front of the hull there are two towing hitches, one either side, on the original tank these had a tendency to brake off, apparently due to the incorrect towing procedure. As I need to be able to use these for actually towing the vehicle, they need to be strong and as I didn't have any material of the correct size available, I decided to modify a couple to tractor towing hooks. I know that they are not the same profile as the originals but I didn't want to weaken them too much. That's all for now. Jon 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry roberts Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 (edited) This project amazes me. I've been watching for months but had to sign up to comment on it. The amount you achieve in the time you spend in crazy, plus the level of detail going in to it... wow. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us. Do you have a specific build order you are following or do you just build what ever part you feel like, next. Edited February 21, 2020 by henry roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, henry roberts said: This project amazes me. I've been watching for months but had to sign up to comment on it. The amount you achieve in the time you spend in crazy, plus the level of detail going in to it... wow. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us. Do you have a specific build order you are following or do you just build what ever part you feel like, next. Hello Henry and welcome to the forum, I really appreciate your enthusiasm, the interest that you have taken in my project and that you are enjoying the updates. In reality a project sets its own build sequence, but I always think that these things are somewhat organic in nature and sometimes one wanders from the path in order to make a component or section that holds a special interest. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry roberts Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I had wondered if the drivers compartment had been given "special treatment"... I would have focused on that area so I could sit there making vroom vroom noises for motorvation and to think through the stages ahead. Dumb q. I figured about 79 different parts in the hatch/hinges. Close? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, henry roberts said: I had wondered if the drivers compartment had been given "special treatment"... I would have focused on that area so I could sit there making vroom vroom noises for motorvation and to think through the stages ahead. Dumb q. I figured about 79 different parts in the hatch/hinges. Close? Blimey Henry, I have no idea how many separate components are in the hatch/hinges, I am too immersed in the project to worry about such things. When I first stared, when I were a lad, one of my first jobs was to cut, deburr, drill countersink and tap 35,000 8mm square x 200mm long bits of steel, one hole at each end. That one job taught me the art of closing ones mind when doing repetitive jobs and don't count. I have already done the vroom vroom bit but it much more fun having the engine running. My next job is to remove everything from the drivers area clean it out and reassemble everything so that I can test the drive. Jon Edited February 22, 2020 by johann morris added text 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share Posted February 22, 2020 Evening, The steel tow cables and the D shackles turned up, I ordered 18mm diameter tow cables which are each rated at 4.1 tons. There seems to be a number of ways in which the cables were carried on the front of the tanks in period pictures, in fact there doesn't appear to be a standard to how many cables are carried at all. Some pictures show just a single cable, some have two cables, some appear to be about 18mm in diameter, whereas some look a lot smaller and there are even some pictures showing what appears to be some carrying tow ropes. I decided, in the end, not to add extra bands around the circumference of the hub but instead to machine a series of small grooves into the surface to help the polyurethane adhere. That's all folks, Jon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Evening All, Manufacturing the radio operators seat was next on the list, the only picture that I could find of it is this one and I think that this is a pre-production version but it's better than nothing. My version. It can fit in two positions but personally, I wouldn't want to be in either, as it is so very cramped and how you would get out in an emergency is any ones guess. I don't think that you can appreciate just how little room there is inside this tank until the upper hull and turret are in place, it must have been hell in the European theatre, I can't imagine what it was like in the heat of North Africa. That's all for now. Jon 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolling-thunder Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 2 hours ago, johann morris said: Evening All, Manufacturing the radio operators seat was next on the list, the only picture that I could find of it is this one and I think that this is a pre-production version but it's better than nothing. My version. It can fit in two positions but personally, I wouldn't want to be in either, as it is so very cramped and how you would get out in an emergency is any ones guess. Check out this video, the hatch for the radio operator is open at the beginning. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 Brilliant, thanks for posting. The crew members certainly couldn't be chunky monkey's if they wanted to get in and out in a hurry. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolling-thunder Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 I think the driver drew the short straw when it came to bailing out of the Tank. I have a photo of a crew member stood up in that hatch during some down time.... I just need to find the photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry roberts Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 A little off topic, but once this is done, whats next? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty2 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 12 hours ago, henry roberts said: A little off topic, but once this is done, whats next? driving it to Egypte 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 15 hours ago, henry roberts said: A little off topic, but once this is done, whats next? That's a very good question, I have a 1942 Steyr to restore and of course the Bedford but long term, from scratch, I am looking at several different ideas and every time I think that I have made a decision, a late Panzer iv keeps haunting my dreams. First I have to finish this one. Jon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 2 hours ago, johann morris said: That's a very good question, I have a 1942 Steyr to restore and of course the Bedford but long term, from scratch, I am looking at several different ideas and every time I think that I have made a decision, a late Panzer iv keeps haunting my dreams. First I have to finish this one. Jon What about a Schwimmwagen? Possibly easier than a tank but with its own challenges, I should imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry roberts Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 (edited) The schwimmwagen is a totally different animal to a tank. I would estimate an absolute minimum of 4 + times the work in a schwimm. Every panel is sheetmetal with compound curves, which require a lot more time and a totally different skill set to the tank build. If you are sticking with vw running gear building a reasonable approximation of schwimm running gear but in 2wd would be fairly straight forward, reworking 50's parts, but 4wd, ouch. For 4wd your only option for a swing axle transaxle (like the original) is an original KDF box or a custom reworked 2wd box. Reworking a vw box for 4wd has been done but... For the rear reduction hubs the bolt on options are KDF or barndoor kombi which are in a similar price range to KDF parts. The 3rd option is vw australia built Country Buggy reduction hubs, but they only made about 2500 of them for the australian and phillipine markets, so they are less common than the others, plus they are based off later kombi parts so are bigger/heavier looking. The more accessable 55-60? kombi reduction hubs don't bolt to the beetle style trailing arms. To make them bolt on you either need to make an addaptor block which won't look right or weld an addaptor to the redux hub that looks like the original. If you want to use the original style torsion bar front suspension but 4wd, a later front beam could be modified to look right but for front kingpin carriers and spindles your only option is again original KDF or total custom fabrication. The suspension geometry means the machining cuts are not all parallel/linear/concentric. I'm not saying it is un-achievable, it is just a massive undertaking. Edited March 8, 2020 by henry roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels v Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 (edited) I know it’s most likely not the purpose of such project, but Henry and john many of the schwimmwagen parts are directly available from Lehar in Cz http://www.leharmilitaryvehicles.cz johann if you thinking Pz4 have you seen the one currently being built in the US ? https://www.panzerfabrik.net/blog/categories/panzer-iv Edited March 8, 2020 by Niels v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 Henry, Please don't take offence but have you ever built a tank? A schwimmwagen would be relatively easy and I have already considered it but want something more challenging. Personally I would buy all the profile panels, the drive components aren't a real problem as I already encountered this issue when building my Kubelwagen, although the 4wd would be an interesting problem to overcome. Jon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry roberts Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Hi Jon, please don't think i was belittling what you have achieved, it is amazing and is the reason i signed up here. No i have never built a tank, or ever really thought much about them, till reading this thread inspired me to learn a bit about them. There is currently no chance i could do what you have done as I have basically no experence welding, on a lathe or a mill. With the schwimm comments were based solely on the thought of building the body from scratch. I have tried making compound curved stuff from sheetmetal, it takes time to get it to even look roughly close, let alone making dimensionaly tolerenced parts that fit together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Morning Henry, I know that you ment no offence, I just wondered what you based your comments on. I have to agree with you regarding compound curves, but it's something I do not have the knowledge or experience to achieve and so I wouldn't attempt such a complex project. However apart from that, it is quite a simple construction and as you can buy all the relevant panels, all you need is the available cash. A company to try for Kubel and swim components is https://en.kdf.cz/ I have found it to be a less complex route for my purchases. Jon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Anyway, I digress, so onwards. The ammunition for the MG34 machine gun, in the early versions of the Panzer ll, was loaded into saddle drum magazines, these were stored along the hull side behind the driver. The saddle drums were expensive to manufacture, bulky to store and apparently they had a tendency to cause stoppages, so later models were supplied with Gurtsacs to hold the ammunition. A canvas bag with a steel top, it was still quite complex but easier to store and cheaper to manufacture. The Gurtsacs were stored in the same area as the saddle drums but the storage method was far simpler to manufacture, being just a horizontal lip that the Gurtsacs slipped over. You can just make it out on the picture below. The above picture is from the Tank museums Ausf F and as I have no pictures of the interior of a Ausf C with the MG34 ammunition stored in Gurtsacs I have had to base my work on the information that I have. Bolted to the upper left hand side of this structure, would have been a carrier for the radio operators gas mask canister. Jon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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