Armortek

The lower hull brackets on some Pz IIIs were plain and some were scalloped. The reason is not obvious but I've decided to model the scallops although they will largely be hidden by the tracks and catwalks.





The reshaping of the rear hull plates is making progress. The two hull side plates need a small change of angle:




I've made two new rear plates extending to the full hull width and with a rebate to represent the armour interlocking. The bigger lower plate is yet to be chamfered in this pic:



This is the kit unmodified:



Here is the new top plate and the remaining engine deck having new chamfer cut:






This is a loose fit of the new top plate:


Regards

Stephen

New side plate angles cut:



Some additional help:



New plates with cone head bolts:



Finished new back end, awaiting weld seams:







Still to add the cover to the access port for the hand starter crank, to follow.

Regards

Stephen

Looking great Stephen, your suspension arms and hull are looking great. Your putting the new mill to good use - well done. Your P3 is coming along nicely.
Bob

Now I can see how you can get carried away with an Armortek model...........

Had an entertaining day making the cover for the hand starter crank cover on the rear hull plates. The plate itself was milled to shape and the boss turned on the lathe. The little knurled knobs which secure the plate took a delicate touch on the lathe but the overall result is worth the effort:









I've now started on the Seeklappe 30 - the vision ports on the hull side walls. I'm using the Armorpax parts, which need some modification because the left and right covers differed in shape and only the left one had a vision slit. I've started by cutting and milling the aperture. If I'm not careful, there will be a temptation to reproduce the opening mechanism.



The rear hull plates are more or less finished now and with a coat of primer are starting to look respectable again:





Regards

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

Fantastic work on the hull, keep the photo's coming

Your Panzer III is going to be stunning. Well done

Thanks Antony

Hi Stephen this is so good !!!! I feel like puting my king tiger away and starting on my PZIII ... I noticed where you have filled the bolt holes on the rear plate , how hard it is to fill them without them showing through the primer .. This was the same on all my models to date . The only way , I have found to cover them , was after I used Mr surfacer 500 and block sanded it ... Great work ...Dale

Beautiful looking work Stephen

I love the work you've put in on the crank cover - I spent some time today making new idler retaining washers for my Sherman and I was quite happy with them till I saw that

Were you able to do the whole rear plate in one go on the mill or did youhave to do it in sections

Adrian.

this is a must follow build stephen,very interesting,

simon manning

Thanks everyone for your interest - I appreciate it. Dale - yes, after your inspiration, the Mr Surfacer and welds come next. Trouble is that every time I touch it, I think of more mods to do. Adrian - my mill won't cope with one pass on the rear plates, I had to do each in two goes so setting up accurately to start with using a dial test indicator is important. I used an angle plate set to accurate to help. Stephen

Stephen,
Fantastic job on the details you have put on your PIII. You are putting your new mill and lathe to good use. The hull looks great. Keep up the great work!
Bob

Stephen
That rear plate and the crank cover look great.

Derek

Been off the site for a cuple of weeks but this build look great, a lot of good work, excellent stuff keep it coming

Hi Stephen

Excellent modifications all around! I like the vision ports. C'mon, now you have to make them functional! You are going to have a masterpiece. I probably said it before but your swing arms for the road wheels look GREAT!

Thanks for posting your progress, a joy to watch! Might just push me over the edge on a purchase of the next batch of Panzer IIIs.


Kind regards
Tim

Tim set the challenge, I started thinking, went to the references and ......... after two days at the milling machine, not a lot to show. I only had some bright steel available and would have preferred to use aluminium, which would have been much quicker to machine and lighter. The main carrier plates and backing plates with lugs have been machined and the swing arms and shafts shouldn't be too difficult once I've worked out the shape. The Dragon 1/35th kit has working Sehklappe so I'll start by copying them.









Regards

Stephen

Hi Stephen

You can't see it(obviously) but I'm grinning ear to ear. Those parts look AMAZING! Excellent work. I'm planning on some parts for the Tiger and your work is great inspiration.

Thanks again for the great posts.

Tim