johann morris

Afternoon, I am feeling a bit crappy so I decided to follow the Governments advise and self isolate myself in the workshop. I finished the lining panels along the inside of the hull and made the box for storing the radio operators head set, other than that there nothing to report. Jon

Maybe, just maybe, I am going over the top on the detail but I am enjoying it and it really brings home how cramped these tanks were. I wouldn't have wanted to be in this one when it met it's end. Thanks for commenting, Jon

Evening All, I am trying to finish all the components in the area around the radio operators seat. The loading plan shows the gas mask container holder, a water bottle or feldflasche holder ( marked in blue) and a bracket to hold the morse code key (marked in red). You can see the morse key and the water bottle brackets on these two internal pictures in the panzer ll at the tank museum. And my attempt. I have two more items to make and then on to more important items. Jon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Earlier in this thread I posted a link to the WAF forum I don't know if you could view it but this was in 2016. Hello, i have the same problem but not in Ukraine instead my problem is in the United Kingdom. I have Ordered an replica PAK40 for around 4500 UK Pounds and paid 100% in Advance! We now have 2016 and i still did get no PAK or my Money back! This guy is still ripping other people as well but as i live in Germany it is to difficult to get enough pressure which makes this guy react and pay my money back! He has an Website called ; http://www.elitemilitaria.co.uk/ He produces lots of replicas for reenactors like me! His Contactdetails are; Nelz Nelson ELITE MILITARIA 120 , OXFORD STREET HULL. EAST YORKSHIRE HU2 0PQ Phone +44 7413 707 121 email: elitemilitaria@live.co.uk If anyone outhere who is able to help me getting my Money Back i would show an big THankyou and pay 10% of my Investment in the PAk!!!!

There is no actual date on the article but it is in the March 2020 edition. I suppose you could contact CMV at key publishing on 01780755131 email: cmveditorial@keybublishing or facebook @CMVMAG and ask the question. Jon

I had stopped my subscription to CMV but the last two issues have been excellent so I am going to restart subscribing to it.

Someone else in the same predicament posted a letter in CMV March edition, Page 15 but this Person is from New Zealand. It looks like this Nelz bloke has been a very naughty boy. I hope that someone soon, takes legal action to stop him soon. Jon

I told the love of my life about it over tea and she said "why don't you get it", that was until I told her how big it is.

It beggars belief that they would even consider scrapping it, I hope that someone comes along and saves it. Jon

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

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

Thanks for posting, any idea what happened to it?

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

No problem, I will give the guy a link to this page and let Hanno know that you wish to register. Jon

I know that you are few miles from Bordon but reading on the Maple leaf forum http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=30908 They are bemoaning the fact that there is no museum dedicated to this training area, maybe it would be worth your while having an area within your museum for this purpose. It may well attract the relatives of those who trained on this area. Just a thought, Jon

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

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

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