Armortek

Big improvement to the scale look , Stephen . I will be doing this mod as well on mine . It must have been to hard for Mark to machine the drop arms round in the production of the kit... Dale

Hi Stephen

Wow, I've been traveling and came home tonight to see your great work on the PIII. What a treat! Suspension arms look super and your attention to the small details is really going to be fun to watch.

Merry Christmas
Tim

Hi Stephen
That looks great.
Just one question have you tried the wheels and tires on the axle to make sure they don't rub the extra material you have added to the arms ?
Also as I am doing a Stug I am making the Tamiya kit for a guide first and on that the rollers are spaced the same as Mark has them does any one know if they differed between the Stug and the PzIII I know in principal they are the same chasis but???

Regards

Derek

Derek - the roadwheel clearance is fine - I can measure it for you at the weekend, if you wish.

The answer to the return rollers on the Stug III is probably "it varies". I believe the Stugs were constructed from a variety of chassis, some based on earlier variants of the Pz III. We know that the position of the return rollers developed between models. I measured the Ausf L in Bovington and the results are on this thread:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1130

There is also an earlier thread with comparison pictures for most of the variants.

Hope that helps.

Regards

Stephen

Derek - the second post mentioned above is this one:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=983

Regards

Stephen

Hello,

here a few originals photo of the tank.

Panzer III

http://www.arcor.de/palb/album_popup_bi ... width=1680

http://www.arcor.de/palb/album_popup_bi ... width=1680

Sturmtiger:

http://www.arcor.de/palb/album_popup_bi ... width=1680

Wilde Sau :

http://www.arcor.de/palb/album_popup_bi ... width=1680

Regards
Jens

Thanks Jens. Unfortunately, I couldn't gtt the two Pz III photos to open. Stephen

Jens - forgive me, I should have added: "herzliche willkommen". Stephen

Hello Stephen . We miss your build photos , any chance of some more , plus an update of where you are up to . The mod's that you where doing are very good .How did the suspension arms turn out ??? .. Dale

I really appreciate the interest in this build, Dale and all who've taken the trouble to comment and swop ideas.

I suppose all of us have experienced the one pace forward, two back situation. I seem to have spent the last four weeks working hard and not making visible progress.

Removing the grub screws on the side I had completed in order to modify the suspension arms has given me weeks of entertainment. I had to drill one out and the others responded to heat after a struggle. In the process, I had to disassemble one hull side. Four weeks later, all is back together. Moral - don't use red Loctite on something that may have to come apart.



I've been busy working on the remaining suspension arms. Derek asked about clearance between the modified arms and the roadwheels. I think this photo shows that there is plenty. I've still got some work to do on the upper boss and I will cross drill on the left side arms as Lee suggests.



I've been taking heed of the very useful ideas Lee has been posting and have incorporated his ideas, including removing the return roller housings and drilling for access from the hull interior in order to allow disassembly for re-greasing. I've also reversed the roller mounting bolts so that the nut is on the outside. On the Bovington Ausf L, these are actually castellated nuts with split pins but that is probably a step too far for the moment.








I've also been working further on the modified hull transmission hatches and have now shaped the hinges to represent the actual shape.








I'm working through the remaining torsion bars and have still to modify the suspension arms on one side, so there will be little visilble progress until that's complete but I'll highlight anything else that may be of interest.

I hope the various builders' reports continue to grow our collective knowledge, it all helps, and we can't let the KT folk grab all the headlines.

Regards

Stephen

> castellated nuts with split pins but that is probably a step too far for the moment.

Roland Mann has shots of some excellent castellated nuts in his Gallery. They look like they might have started out as Nyloc nuts but with luck he might be persuaded to show us how he achieved the effect...

Adrian.

Nice work Stephen. The suspension swing arms look GREAT! As does everything else. Nice hinges.

Kind regards
Tim

Hi Adrian,

my castle nuts are custom made to my drawings in a small work shop specialised to make bolts and nuts after I gave up to get it in modeller shops. However, not to recomend because of the high price.

Probably your idea of making castle nuts from nylon nuts is a way to go.
Never tried.

Roland

A sense of progress after wading through treacle......

All the torsion bars are now complete and one side of modified suspension arms are done. Also reversed all the bolts on bump stops and return roller housings so that the nuts face outwards. Now just the other six suspension arms to do.







Regards

Stephen