Been working on the crew compartment today and got a good bit done. There's still so much to do. The Bergepanther is so busy inside and out, you really get your monies worth with this vehicle.
I do have a 20mm cannon to fit which I think came from the 222 kit. I do like the Ausf
A with that cannon and a pair of mgs poking out the front. makes it look like it could look after its self!
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I think it needs pressing to get the wrinkles out!
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
Getting on with the crew compartment. The entire assembly believe it or not slides in at 45 deg quite easily.
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The scratch built crew compartment assembly slots in over the motors.
This whole piece simply disconnects from it's power supply via a 2 pin plug, enabling work to be carried out on it or access to the motors and gearbox units below
The radios now have power on lights which double as battery on indicators and or crew compartment lighting.
The driver dash panel is next.
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
Drivers side now has a little more detail,like drivers dash board. Iv'e also added a bulkhead light for the crew compartment and changed the radio leds for smaller blue/white examples
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Looking in through the drives vision port.
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
Forgot to say, the lighting system has 4 settings, all on, half light for night time tactical , full light for daytime non tactical, driving lights off/ instruments on half light only. All controlled by the Futaba rotary position switch channel, a very useful function indeed.
I found some cool images that I have never seen before of the Demag Bergepanther, I have more but will post another time.
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The winch house tarp was used an awful lot, so I will have to make one of those I suppose.
Armour following a rail line was tactical suicide but convenient!
The next two photos show the amount of stores that were required to keep the Panthers operational.
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What ever happened to this example after the British evaluation was complete?
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Notice anything strange about this photo? (its reversed or flipped, a useful tool to confuse things)
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
Not an easy job the winch house floor but worth the 8 hours to plank it, mill the grab handle recesses and make the grab handles and brackets.
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Well you know I'm not keen on the wood work, so instead of cussing at the wood splitting out as I used hand tools, I milled the recesses for the grab handles with an end mill cutter, so nice and neat and no splitting or much cleaning up to do either.
I shall rub back the paint once top coated has been applied to reveal the timber.
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
Thanks Bob, always the gentleman Weld seams and lots and lots of them, the spade has around 50 individual weld runs.
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I do like the glasis plate stowage, now do I add the 20mm cannon or not? Maybe later... I often wonder if the view from the glasis mg and drivers port was compromised with all the spare road wheels and track but obviously as the vehicle was not front line the crews just piled it on, I have only placed one road wheel on there but most had two.
As the "A" has the intricate interlocking plates the welds are tricky to say the least, after all the milliput beads are in place I undo the deck fixings and lift the hull top plate to free the two pieces, then gently reinstate the deck and fix down in the hope that it all looks as one but in fact the two are separate, if you get me?
Thats a long heavy thick weld seam.
Milliput all over the place, even the crane fillets.
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
The spade weld seams take for ever, the top coats now going on, It's very subtle but I am using three shades of dunkelgelb, darker around the hull bottom and around the winch house and fittings. The rear plate gets another darker shade along with the belly.
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Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.
The green, the second of the tricolour camo pattern. If i'm painting for someone else I will ask if they would prefer the tools and fittings sprayed over with the contrasting camo colours, personally I like the tools to be removed, painted separately and then fitted after the camo is applied, just ads a little more interest I think.
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Spraying over the zimmerit and getting a neat edge is not easy but I have a method.
And how the colour will look in period film format.
Mechanical engineer.
2 Youtube channels, Phil Woollard and Magpiespyro. Facebook/ Phil Woollard.
Commission builds considered. Pm for my email.