2023 Jagpanther New Build Part 10/2

[graham pipe]

Hi all,

Just a quick update on what's been happening over the Christmas holiday period.

Santa was very kind this year (courtesy of Mother-in-Law) and left in my stocking an Armorpak 20 tonne jack kit. Just what I needed to finish off the JP - how did he know...

It's a fine little model in cast resin, finely cast brass and whitemetal fittings, copper rivets and hand formed brass carry handles.It went together very well and quite quickly. A little bit of fettling to remove resin mould flash, drilling deeper holes for the copper rivets and making new lifting handles from 2mm annealed copper wire to replace the kit supplied brass items which were slightly too wide.

The operational tiny brass butterfly clasp on the upper bracket is a joy to behold as are the '44 and 3 digit manufacturer code stampings on all the brass parts. So thanks to Dave Dibb at Armorpak and Mark Lawson for such a great addition to the model.

So, just need to degrease, prime and paint. The small flat brass piece screws onto the rear hull panel just above the round starter plate with tiny countersink head screws and supports the foot of the jack.

Included in the photos are some shots of the real thing plus a Panzer 4 jack. I came across these on a Normandy farm back in the 1990's where they'd been in use since 1944. The advent of modern hydraulic jacks saw them relegated to the back of a barn and, following the death of the finder, the next generation had no use for or interest in them. I managed to get them for scrap value which would never happen these days. Oh, if only one could go back in time armed with the knowledge of today...