Pz III New Build

[Adrian Harris]

That's a great addition to the part

Looks as though you will need a load of locking tabs for the bolts as well

Adrian.

[Jim Fowler]

YES, I agree with Derek! Awesome work.

[Stephen White]

Adrian - any advice on how to mass produce lock tabs? I can't face cutting them out individually from sheet. Regards. Stephen

[Adrian Harris]

I've never used them but I wouldn't have thought it would be too hard to cut them from thin sheet with a stanley knife and steel rule.

A leather punch should be able to make the necessary bolts holes.

Adrian.

[Mike Stannard (toyrific)]

Hi Stephen

I produce three sizes of nut lock tabs, two are used on my Tiger 1 hatches which fit 1/8" (Small) and 3/16" (Medium) wide nuts and the third size (Large) fits Panther wheel bolts.

Do not know which size or how many you need, but I can sell to you for between 25-50 cents each depending on quantity.

Small and Medium size are .005" brass, large size is .010" brass.



Regards
Mike

[Derek Attree]

Hi Stephen
How far under the rear deck is the panel with the cone nuts?
I am going to remake the panel on the STUG and I am just
interested how far you moved it back.

I can see the new angles that you have used but I am not sure I want
to go that far, with the top deck.

Thanks

Derek

[Stephen White]

Derek

The new top back panel is 4mm thick to represent 25mm armour and the lower panel is just under 9mm to represent the 50mm armour. The horizontal gap between the rear face of the top panel and the front face of the lower panel is 7mm, having changed the angles.

Sorry to take so long - I can only get to my model at weekends.

Good luck - I think it's a mod well worth doing.

All the best

Stephen

[Derek Attree]

Hi Stephen
That's great ,
Thanks a lot.
I am going to make the lower panel again but I am not
changing the top deck as I have got too far in that area
with the stowage frame round the rear.
I was also looking at the pipe position from the exhaust
and it needs to come out from the side so I will plug the bottom hole and make new output pipes.

Derek

[Stephen White]

I'm catching up on a number of tasks left half finished whilst starting the machining of profiling the road wheels as Derek did.

Firstly the engine deck hatches. I thought I'd check the Bovington vehicle to make sure I get the male and female halves of the hinge the right way round - and didn't get a straight answer! In this photo you can see two hinges on the same hatch either way. On the basis it is unlikely the hatches have been removed for restoration, were these assembled incorrectly in service?






Back on the lower hull, I've put on the chamfer on the towing eyes and completed the hub boss on the first of the suspension arms. Jenz and Doyle show a large flanged washer at the back of the hub, abutting the hull but that will have to take it's turn. The suspension arms are now correct to dimension.





Regards

Stephen

[Stephen White]

With the Open Day nearly on us, I've been hiding all the bits I'm not very proud of. At long last, I've finished all the suspension arms - now primed and installed:





The Jenz and Doyle drawings are a fatal attraction. Every time I look at them, something catches my eye and another few weekends work is added to the list. Engine hatches for example. The two large hatches on the rear deck had offset hinges - I've repositioned accordingly:





The upper brackets for the shock absorbers were rotated from the vertical by 2 degrees. It is almost impossible to spot on the real thing but quite obvious on the drawings. I've done the mod because, like Everest, it's there. Can't see the point really:




I have to thank Lawrence Godson for the next one - nothing is so obvious that you don't see it until someone points it out. The hinges for the transmission covers on the upper front deck were huge. I've made a start on making some to scale size but the shapes are quiet complex and require a lot of machining.





Roll on the Glorious Twelfth. I hope Gill has fixed the weather.

Regards

Stephen

[Stephen White]

I forgot to sing the praises of Steve Winstone's marvellous catwalk brackets. I've done a trial installation but will leave them off until I'm ready:



The bottom bracket joining the upper and lower hull was scalloped and welded to the lower hull on most Ausf. Only on the later models was a bolted plain version instroduced to simplify production. So I've removed the bolts and filled the holes. I've joined the upper hull plates and can now remove the whole upper deck. Unless I've missed some obvious gotcha, this is how I intend to gain access for maintenance.





Regards

Stephen215

[Allan Richards]

Stephen,

This is a superb build, you clearly have a good eye for detail. please keep the information coming, I look forward to your next progress report.

[Jim Fowler]

Great progress Stephen.

I achieved the tilt on the upper shock mounts by openning up the existing holes. Was this your method as well?

[Lawrence Godson]

Stephen, your work is continuing to inspire me --- and also bring up more and more questions! First, can you tell us how you achieved the smooth profile to the upper part of the swing arms? Is it all by eye or did you come up with some sort of mold to create the excellent uniformity?

You mentioned joining the upper hull sections --did you add additional brackets to the inside?

And finally, did you have any sort of a problem with the bend in the middle of the steel rear deck plate? Mine is not bent enough so that at the rear it has at least a one half inch separation from the sloping upper rear hull side plates. I don't have any sort of a metal bending break so I'm puzzling over how to get it bent correctly. Perhaps some sort of home made thing using angle iron and c clamps. I don't want to put a curve in it.
Thanks again for your posts!

[Robert E Morey]

Stephen,
Great job on your PIII build. The large photos and amount of detailing is excellent. Even though I'm not building a PIII I enjoy your work and efforts. I'm sure those who are building one enjoy your details and willingness to share your experience. Keep up the good work.
Bob