johann morris Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 We all have our strengths and weaknesses, yours is probably model building mine is.....I don't know but this is just model on a larger scale. You should let us see your models if theirs a home for them on HMVF. As for the finished weight, I wouldn't want to start working it out as I have a lot more immediate details to deal with but as a guess, I would think around 6 tons, the original being around 9 tons. Evening David, I think that you are correct regarding the springs being replaced. I have pictures of other individual axle stations, on other surviving Panzer II's, most of them are not good enough to count the leaves but those that are good enough show some variations compared to the Tank Museums. However, depending on the model the weight did vary, so this may account for the variation. One point that is clear on all the pictures, is that the number of leaves does vary, depending on the position of the axle. The leaf thickness doesn't seem to vary although I wouldn't take that as gospel. As I said I will make them all 13 leaves to start with and go from there. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolling-thunder Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 As promised, I dug out some links to various galleries. There are quite a few detailed photos which I hope will be of help to you? http://www.armorfortheages.com/MilitaryVehicles/PzKpfwII/PanzerIIGallery01/index.html http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2017/08/pzkpfwii-ausf-f-third-times-charm.html https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.1885688051658028&type=3&hc_location=ufi https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/pzkpfw-ii-col2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 20, 2019 Author Share Posted March 20, 2019 Fantastic thanks. I have got some of the pictures but the interior ones from the Tank Museum are perfect. I was told that the Tank Museums Panzer II was an empty shell, so to see these fills me with inspiration. Have you got or seen the German tank interior cd's, they are a real asset to have, full of detail, although you have to be careful as some details are post war adaptions. Thanks again, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Some more pics here: https://www.landmarkscout.com/panzerkampfwagen-ii-ausf-a-sd-kfz-121/ The 'dashboard' looks familiar.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 A lot of external pics here https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/panzer-ii-ausf-c-walk/?afg321_page_id=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Not sure where these are from originally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 Evening All, Talk about high's and lows, this last week has been full of them, it's strange how stressed I can get over my baby. I now have 6 springs cut and drilled and assembled. I was waiting for the other 4 to be delivered, which wasn't due until Monday, today, so I decided to get on with other things and blow me they appeared on Thursday evening. By then I was in the middle of getting 4 suspension arms and wheels on so they will have to wait. The springs have to have 3 drilling operations on each leaf, that's 390 holes, if I only have 13 leaves per spring and the steel is spring steel, so it's tough. Slow speed and loads of coolant. Each spring has a keeper plate with an M8 tapped hole in and a 22mm clearance hole for the main M20 fixing bolt. Then, for each spring set of 13 leaves, each arm requires 4off 80mm x 10mm flat steel packing plates and 3off 3mm x 80mmpacking plates, all drilled with a 22mm clearance hole. As you can tell I have been drilling a lot of holes. Packing plates Keeper plate Land Rover series 2/3 front 13 leaf spring On Friday and Saturday I managed to get 4 swing arms in place and I put 4 wheels on so that we could manoeuvre the chassis under the overhead gantry. I have to say that although there's a lot of weight yet to be added, I was please with how it all sat. The reason for moving it under the gantry, was so that I could fit the steering box and start on the drive train and here's the low point. We tried the steering box, which I knew would be a tight fit but on Saturday I was convinced I was going to have to explore another option. If there was the slightest chance of using the box the front left swinging arm housing was going to need re-engineering. It's funny when you are tired, things seem so insurmountable. By this morning I had the answer and out came the plasma cutter. After all my worrying, I have still got some room to play with, when I have slept on it and decided what to do. All I have to do now, is rebuild the swinging arm inner bearing housing. And what difference did the extra 400kg make to the suspension...….. Very little. The southern comforts now taking effect so Night night, Jon 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolling-thunder Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Very nice work. It's nice to see it coming together piece by piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce_in_Oz Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Regarding track links etc: Try the Czech Republic. They have some impressive manufacturing capability and long experience with that sort of product. Closer than China, for starters. Anyone thinking of a DIY 38T or Hetzer might take a look there, as well. If you have a few parts left over from this current project and can find (or fabricate) a 10.5cm Le F.H 18/2, you could run up a Sd.Kfz. 124 "Wespe". Cheers, Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) Evening All, I have at last finished drilling the springs and I now have 10 complete springs and loads of spring steel left over, so if I need to increase the number of leaves I can. The last 4 springs that I assembled, I used 14 leaves instead of the 13 in the other 6 springs. The engine and gearbox are in place and the mountings all welded in. The exhaust manifold outlets had to be cut off, turned 180degrees, the angle adjusted and welded bock into place. Sorry but I forgot to take any before pictures. They need a little bit of tidying but I will do that once I have made the exhausts. I have been putting off adding some of the strengthening for the radius arm mountings, no particular reason, there just always seemed something more important to do but I have at last added these today. Lastly I have made and fixed in place, some covers over the maintenance holes in the base of the chassis. These holes line up with the engine oil drain plug and such like. This week, if all goes well, I would like to get the engine fire wall, exhaust and the fan assembly fabricated. Some hope. Jon Edited March 31, 2019 by johann morris 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11th Armoured Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Outstanding work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 Evening, I have been working on the engine and radiator bay surrounding walls, if that's what they are called. I have had to make a modification to the area of the fire wall where the gearbox protrudes into the crew compartment, originally the gearbox was a separate unit situated next to the driver. In order to be able to remove the engine and gearbox, I have had to put a removable section in this area of the wall. I don't think that it will be noticeable once the interior details are added. These pictures show a little hinged door, behind which sits the radiator. The door can be folded to change the air flow in to the radiator. Also, in the engine deck above this area, is a hatch for the radio operator that has adjustable baffles incorporated into it so that the amount of cool air can be regulated. Sorry for the amount of pictures but hopefully they explain what I can't. Jon 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Pictures are allways welcome. It gives a better idea of the work involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolfg Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 Fantastic work and great series of photos. I really love following your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 Thanks for response, it's nice to know that I am not typing to myself and I am glad that my project it interests you. Jon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FW200 Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 It's a brilliant thread Thanks for the photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 (edited) Evening, I have been working on the radiator / fan assembly and it's become quite interesting, if that's the word. I am making it as one unit, so that it can be removed as one unit, once the coolant has been drained, leaving the oil coolers in place. There's lots of parts, so lots of pictures. The first pictures are of the fan outer bearing housing This is then welded into the fabricated fan housing. The fan isn't attached I just placed it there so that you can see where it will go. The actual fan bearing housing, which gets bolted into the outer housing. It's made using the same sequence of processes as the outer housing but is machined all over. As a complete unit it has a bearing and oil seal in each end. The beginnings of the cooling unit. The oil coolers will sit under the radiator. I can't do much more until the fan pulley turns up, when that appears I can make the fan assembly shaft and the get the position of the fan pulley in line with the engine pulley, then I can finish the main unit. Other than that, there are a myriad of holes to be drilled for the coolant pipes etc. and of course, all the air ducting covers. I think I need a drink now. Jon Edited April 6, 2019 by johann morris missed something out, i think it's called a brain 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Hi Jon, Interesting stuff! Does the cooling system bare any relationship to the original vehicle or are you designing it from scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Morning BRDM, As usual I have no real information to go on only this drawing. I will follow it as far as I can but I have and will make some modifications to suit my own constraints. Interestingly, well to me anyway, I assembled the cooling unit into the hull, I then took some scaled dimensions from this drawing and compared them to my version and they were almost spot on. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolling-thunder Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 I'm going to take a guess you've already seen the link i'm posting? On the off chance you haven't http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2017/08/pzkpfwii-ausf-c-c-at-spearhead-of.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-boy Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 26 minutes ago, rolling-thunder said: I'm going to take a guess you've already seen the link i'm posting? On the off chance you haven't http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2017/08/pzkpfwii-ausf-c-c-at-spearhead-of.html Thanks for posting, even if just for those of us cheering from the sidelines. That is interesting stuff. Steve. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonBrown Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 5 minutes ago, Ex-boy said: Thanks for posting, even if just for those of us cheering from the sidelines. That is interesting stuff. I can only echo that. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 (edited) Evening All, Thanks for your continued support and I am glad that I am not the only one that is enjoying the process. Thanks Rolling thunder and yes i have seen the site. A lot of the information is contained in the Panzer tracts 2-1 book which has been a most useful source of information but please, if you come across any information or pictures don't feel shy, post them. I am always surprised how much information can be gleaned from seemingly ordinary pictures, especially if the vehicle has been blown up. A few more pictures from todays playtime, all self explanatory but if you have any questions then fire away. Once the warm air is blown out of the rear of the cooling unit, it is blown up this channel and out through a vent in the hull roof. There's still a lot of missing pieces to add to the jigsaw in this area but I have it all planned. Jon Edited April 7, 2019 by johann morris many thanks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johann morris Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 (edited) Morning All, Somewhere in this thread, I said that I didn't want to have too many engine electrics in this project, just hold that thought. I have been plodding along manufacturing the cooling unit, although I had made the bearing housing the other components needed to be manufactured. The fan shaft. Then there were a couple of spacers for the shaft. The original unit appears to have had a fly screen, for want of a more descriptive word, in front of the radiator. Not wanting to restrict the air flow, the one that I have made has a bigger mesh size and in reality is there more to stop the radiator from getting damaged by the movable cover in front of it. The other items that I have been trying to finish are the air ducts in the main cooling unit, so far I have only finished the rear one. I have been dealing with a company called Alders Classics in Norfolk for the engine and transmission, I think they were a bit surprised to find out what I wanted the components for but they have been really helpful and the electrics...….. Anyone good at jigsaws! Jon Edited April 12, 2019 by johann morris remove ramdom picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 really coming along now john, excellent work. i think i might have the steering box to engine propshaft somewhere as well as the half moons that connect it to the final drive. let me know if you need them and i will have a shufti for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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