Armortek

Here are a few pix to show progress to date. Not sure if i can actually call it progress as i started out with a complete and working tank and now have this.... I tried to remove the swing arms so that i could re-profile them. They have been glued onto the shafts & the cross drilled & bolted which makes them secure but almost impossible to remove without major damage. I decided to leave them in position and use the Proxxon to take the corners off and then add some Mr.Surfacer. Will upload some pix once ive completed them.
The top shock absorber mountings have been re-profiled to make them less angular and then replaced the bolt to improve the look further.
I also replaced the bolt on the lower mount as well.
All the bump stops have been re-profiled to improve them.
All the exposed countersunk bolts have now been filled with milliput and then a light coating of Mr.Surfacer which still needs a light sand to even out.
I made some solid progress tonight as i made the cover for the hand starter crank cover on the rear hull plate. I don't have a mill, so i did it the old fashioned way with hacksaw and files to shape a bit of 3mm ally plate. I then shaped the circular section from 2mm and then hand filed the bevel. I cheated when it came to the securing knobs as i had a couple of rivnuts that were the right size. I just trimmed them down to the right height and then fitted the piece to the back plate.
I have also drilled the back plate ready for those elusive cone bolts.
The last mod to mention tonight is that Ive moved the original antenna mount over to it's new position on the left side where it will hold a 1.4m Stabantenne. I need to order a second antenna mount which i will refit to the right side for the 2m Stabantenne. I have added some weld detail to the mount but need to figure out how i can make a pair of the clamps.
Seeing the rear panel, without an overhang is really bugging me, so i will have to see what i can do.

TBC

Looking good! I do like the 111, regards Phil.

Did a couple more jobs last night to keep nibbling away at the substantial task list.
Modified the drivers armoured visor so that the opening was rectangular rather than oval, and then re-shaped the outer part.
This now looks a great deal closer to the original and even better when a vision block has been added.
I then fitted the hinges to test fit the enlarged drivers hatch. I made the hatch from 3mm ally plate as it was a lot easier to work than the original steel hatches. I still need to decide what i am going to do with the hinges.
That will do for now, but will drop another update soon.

Cheers
Tim

Well done Tim, seems like a real nostalgia trip for me but you're doing it the hard way without machine tools. Thanks for taking the trouble to post, very enjoyable. I'll contact you re parts tomorrow. Stephen

Thanks Stephen, i am sure that some jobs are easier with a mill but i cannot really justify getting one, so will stick to my Proxxon and hand tools.
I am pretty happy with most of what i've done so far, but i will soon have to work out how to re-jig the rear end to get the correct look.
I see 3 main issues:
- The rear plate does not run the full width and fits inside the side armour plates instead.
- The angle of the rear plate is wrong so that the lip on the top deck does not overhang.
- The rear plate is 50mm deep, but i think it should be 56-58mm deep so that it falls below the side plates.

I am thinking that a new rear plate of 8mm x 56mm x 320mm might be the easiest way to go, but don't fancy cutting that out by hand. Found a few places online that offer a cut to size service but they seem very expensive.
Will continue to work this one out until i get a decent solution.

done a few more jobs over the weekend.
Completed fitting the front hatches and then made up the MP-Klappe unit which is now fitted. Have now stripped down the right hand side lower hull so that i can clean up and reshape the same as i did on the left side.
Still waiting for parts to arrive, but plenty to do for another week or so.

Cheers
Tim

Nice thread Tim, your work looks great, thanks for sharing.

Willy.

Made quite a bit of progress in the last week,Some good, and some not so good, with very little that i can show as still not completed.
I did complete the front brake vents after reshaping, adding new 12mm tube cut to a better profile, then added weld lines. I then used the small 5.5mm cone bolts as fitted to the Armortek Pak40 kit to secure them in place. The shanks are not long enough so i drilled an 8mm counter bore into the rear of the glacis plate so i could fit a nut. These small cone bolts are also cross drilled for the Pak40 for locking wire, so i just added a little filler to conceal the holes. These cone bolts are a little too small, but fit perfectly so have decided to use them on the Brake ducts and the side escape doors. I need to order some more of these small cones to finish off the side doors.
I also re-profiled the front towing eyes which now look a lot better. Both of the new drive sprockets have been completed using Stephens method with a minidrill.
I added bolt detail to the outer sprocket ring and then added surface primer followed by a coat of red oxide primer. I was going to add some casting numbers, but could only find a couple of clear pix other that those on the Bovington Panzer 3. I can always add them if i can find a suitable set of numbers.

I have also started on the replacement Vorpanzer spaced armour yesterday. I purchased a new 3mm sheet that was already cut to size. I measured it all out and cut a 32mm hole which was the task that i was most concerned about. This actually went fine and was spot on. I then measured out and drilled the top row of bolt holes.
I then measured and cut out the area around the drivers vision port, i started to use a hacksaw, but had to use my Proxxon mini-drill to cut out the rest. Unfortunately, the Proxxon blew up in my hand with an SAS style flash-bang which tripped the power in the garage and created more smoke than you could think possible. Anyway, it is dead, and i now need to get another pdq as ive still got lots to do.
I then measured out and drilled the lower row of bolt holes, which was when i realised that my calculation had been wrong and i'd put them in 5mm too high, which interfered with the 32mm cutout in front of the MP-Klappe port.
Oh bother, or something like that.

I am now trying to figure out if i can salvage it or i might have to get another plate.

Still looking at paint schemes, but have made a few more decisions about the tank.
I have decided to do it as an 11th Panzer Division Abteilung command tank with II02 on the turret. The 15th Panzer Regiment had a lot of Panzer iii at Kursk in 1943 and (on paper) had several Befehlspanzer.auf.J there.
As all the production Ausf.J command tanks were converted from Ausf.j tanks built by Henschel and then converted between September and November 1942 at the Daimler-Benz Werke40, they would all have been fitted with the 50mm L42 gun and (I assume) painted grey from the factory, and i assume then whitewashed over winter if used on the Eastern front.
I have some pix of Eastern Front Befelpanzer iii ausf.J at Kursk and these all have the tanks painted in Dunkelgelb with either green or green and brown camo.
Anyway, I am now thinking that i might use this colour for mine.
Cheers
Tim

hi all, been making steady progress over the last week or 2 on the lower hull and have been making some of the replacement parts for the tank.
I made up a pair of mounting brackets so that i could fit a pair of 1/16 Panzer III headlights which scaled about right for the sidelights fitted to the fenders on the ausf.J.

I made up and fitted 2 of the covers on the rear lower hull as well as the domed housing on the rear lower plate, and i decided to do mine without a tow hitch.
I scratched my head for a while trying to work out how to make the domed housing and in the end i cast it in white metal using a plaster of paris mold.
I will take some better pix and upload later.
And here is an original one on the PIII at Bovy.
Ive also re-fitted both of the lower hull escape hatches using the elusive cone bolts.
I am using a mix of the Steve Winstone 6.5mm cones and the small Armortek 5.5mm cones as used on the pak40. These are cross drilled to accept a wire but look fine with the holes filled and then fitted.
Both of the hull vision ports have also been fitted and the cone bolts added.
These 2 vision ports are purely decorative and will not open.
Cheers
Tim

Hi Tim
Impressive work your doing on the P3, I always liked this kit but it does need a lot of work to do it justice.
Looking forward to more updates
Regards
Steve

Cheers Steve, It will never be close to the masterpiece that Stephen created, but it should look pretty tidy when complete. It has certainly been a lot of fun so far and is keeping me busy.
Cheers
Tim

Hi all, about time for another update on my Pz.Bef.Wg.III Ausf.J.
I had a mad few weeks getting it all back together and working for the South West Model Show at the Tank Museum in Feb.
Completed my mods to improve the suspension and lower hull and then refitted the wheels & tracks.
All the electrics were refitted with a new panel and relays. The Sound unit is still not working and I plan to send this back for Benedini to sort out.

I overhauled the turret as it was mishapen and there were lots of gaps, so i pulled it apart & re-assembled so it is now much improved. New weld line detail was added and i then added the grab rails above the hatches, door stops and the rain gutters which were all scratch made by me. I also added a pair of the Armorpax turret side vision blocks that were fitted to most of the ausf.J.
You can see in this photo that ive also added the missing pistol port from the side doors. This is not a part that is not included in the kit, so i decided to make a pair of them cast in white metal. I am please with the way they turned out, but i now see that i need to add some Mr Surfacer so that they match the rest of the door fittings.

Finally, I have also fitted the base for my Star Antenna which is a Werkstatt-5 product. This really helps to set it off, so a big TY goes out to Mark for a great job making these parts for me.

Paintjob - the secret revealed.
I have been looking without a lot of success for period photos of a suitable Pz.Bef.Wg.III Ausf.J on the Eastern front in early/mid 1943.
I am wanting to add turret schurzen if possible as i think that will add another dimension and most of the pix of 11PD Panzer III gun tanks at Kursk seem to have it fitted.
So, based on the info I have found, Ive decided that i will do my tank as it would have looked with the 11th PD at Kursk. This will be an overall factory applied Dunkelgrau, which i will have to fade and weather as it would have been on the tank for aprox 15 months. I will then apply a light coat of Dunkelgelb to simulate a field applied paintjob in May/June 1943. This will also have some light weathering and hopefully some places where the Grau still shows through. I will finally add a fresh camo pattern in Olivgrun patches to the upper surfaces only. I can then add the specific Kursk markings for the 11PD.

I am still trying to work out the best number for the tank, but at this time, i am thinking of either I01 or II01 to be the Kommander of the 1st or 2nd Abteilung of PZ.Reg.15.
I will need to do a bit more research before that decision is made.

Cheers
Tim

Hello Tim,

may be this can complete your view from the sprocket, it is from the Munster Pz.III M.

That's coming together quite nicely Tim, you certainly have put some thought into this project

Had a bit of a break from all things 1/6 over the last few months whilst ive been sidelined on other projects and re-enacting.

Got back onto the Panzer III in the last week to complete a few outstanding jobs before it gets a coat of faded Panzer Grey as it's base colour.
It will probably remain in this colour at Tankmod in October, but could have the field applied Dunkelgelb if i get a bit more time.

Anyway, I have now completed all the planned work on the gun mantlet and the turret bin rivets and wood strips has also been completed, although ive still got to add the catches. Now it is completed, i think that i should have gone for an even smaller rivet but cant change now.

I have also fitted both of the very nice antenna mounts from Dave @ Armorpax which really set it off a treat.

This tank is a Panzerbefehlswagen Ausf.J and as such has a 1.4m antenna on the right side of the hull that folds rearwards and a 2.0m antenna on the left side that folds forwards into the antenna troughs. It also has a Sternantenne or star antenna mounted in an armoured housing on the rear deck.

There remains one big outstanding job that (I think) will be done over the winter. That is to make a set of turret Schurzen as several sources state that the Pz.Bef.wg.Ausf.J started to be fitted with Schurzen in May 1943.
I have seen quite a few photos of Panzer III at Kursk with just turret schurzen fitted so this is my target.

I will get a few photos uploaded later in the week to show progress.

Cheers
Tim