Pz III New Build

[Brian Leach]

Stephen,

Another fine job!

Thanks for posting the profile too, I am sure to use it myself!

Brian

[Adrian Harris]

Excellent job on that wheel Stephen

If you don't mind me asking. what size and power is your lathe

Judging by the chuck it looks to be quite a bit heftier than my C3, which makes me wonder whether mine would have the power and rigidity to take cuts of that sort without undue vibration

Adrian.

[David Makaras]

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for the pics.

[Stephen White]

Adrian

I've got a WM120 from Warco, which isn't a very powerful machine. I turn the wheels at about 250 rpm with very light cuts. I've found that a technique of cutting and backing off repeatedly works well. To sttart with, I was getting a lot of rubbing, shown by a powdery swarf but grinding off more of a relief angle sorted it. Last time I tried, the tool was chattering and digging in, which was probably because I'd ground too much of a relief angle. Once I've got the depth, I've finished at a higher rpm. The detail on the outer rims was cut with a normal tungsten tipped tool. I've also found it better to cut dry. You get a very quick build up of swarf and cutting oil seems to encourage it to build up under the cutting edge.

That and a lot of patience.

Good luck.

Stephen

[Sarah Frazer]

Hi,

Just for reference a photograph of the road wheel from the 2nd batch of Panzer IIIs.



You can see that the profile is not as deep as Stephen's

Sarah

[Stephen White]

Today I finished turning the last roadwheel. Twelve is enough for anyone mad enough to start. I've had a covert look to see if anyone else has done all twenty four (plus spares) and I think I'm safe with just the outer ones.

I made a second form tool to turn the rim which has a distinctive curve. It was a lot easier than the main tool which had to be advanced extremely delicately to avoid digging in.What a sense of relief when the last one was finished.





With the welds and joining tubes added, this is the final effect. Just the bolt heads to add to the hub cap. (And another eleven to do....)





The Open Day is coming up fast.... and Gill keeps saying she's on schedule with the Comet, so no pressure......

Regards

Stephen

[David Da Costa]

They look really good Stephen!

Regards


David

[Brian Leach]

Stephen,

You are truely an artist!

They really look accurate.

Brian

[Sarah Frazer]

Hi Stephen,

Great job on the wheels, the results are worth the effort you have put in. I'm looking forward to seeing it at the open day.

Regards,

Sarah

[Tim Bowman]

Hi Stephen

Incredible effort, incredible results. Your finished wheel in grey primer looks beautiful. As do all your wheels sitting there together. Very very nice. This is getting me "fired up" and inspired to begin work on my Stug III!

Thanks for posting your work.
Best regards
Tim

[Adrian Harris]

First class looking wheels Stephen - I think your detailing of the rims really takes them to the next level

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

The repetition in the suspensions and running gear gives way to turrets and tools and one off bits.. Ah you can dream.

The roadwheels are finally finished and painted with a coat or two of red oxide and RAL 8020:



The sprockets had a rather scalloped profile so I've returned to the form tool and cut a deeper profile. That and some texturing and there are only two of them. All that's left is to mill the indentations where the sprocket ring bolts are and fit the bolts and castellated nuts and job done.





The overall effect is begining to come together:



.

Regards

Stephen

[Brian Leach]

Stephen,

You set a mighty high bar,
thank you!

The surface on the sprockets looks cast. Is that the kit or did you
create that effect?

Best Regards,
Brain

[Stephen White]

Brian

I use a various coarse burrs with my Proxxon drill to create the texture and then smooth it out using a combination of wire wheels and a very coarse polishing wheel by Dremel:



I'll take a couple of photos when I do the second sprocket.

Best regards

Stephen

[David Da Costa]

Very nice Stephen, I look forward to your "lesson" on making the cast effect.

Best Regards

David