Panzer III ausf L

[Tom Miller]

Hello,
I am building my first Amortek tank. A Panzer 111 ausf L. I have the hull, suspension, tracks, mudguards, etc. all complete and painted. I am waiting for the new option packs to arrive in September before I permanently attach any of the upper hull parts so I have access for installing everything. I am test fitting all the upper hull parts and getting ready to paint them and set them aside until the option packs are installed. My question is, should I allow for some of the upper hull parts to be removed to service the batteries and electronics? If I putty the counter sunk screws that hold the front and rear upper hull parts I will not be able to access them again. If I simulate welds with milliput that also makes them unremovable. Then there is the turret assembly. Should I make some or all of it removable? There is a row of M3 bolts that bolt everything down to a piece of aluminum angle that could be removed for access but they will be rather difficult to access through the hinged hatches on the front and rear upper hull plates. What do all you experienced builders do? Am I over thinking this whole thing?

Thanks for any help.
Tom

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi Tom

Am I over thinking this whole thing?

I don't think you are.

I am also building my first tank so not an experienced builder. I had the same thoughts when I was at that stage and came to the conclusion that I wanted the facility to be able to remove the hull roof and engine deck if required. I used the countersunk screws and did not cover them up. The only thing I changed was to use slotted head countersunk screws. Some people use magnets to hold the hull roof in place. In fact I might be using magnets to my turret roof as I envisage that it might need to be removed.

Vince

[Pete Nash]

Hi Tom

Welcome to the Forum and Armortek builder fraternity.

Firsrst question I ask is Why? Why will you want to remove the top deck?
Lead Acid Gel batteries are reliable and will last a long time before you will need to replace them. There is no need to remove them for charging as one can easily add.re-arange the wiring so charging can be done with extensions and appropriate connectors. All you will need is a 24v Charger.

Once the batteries, loudspeaker and control mudules are in things will be tight but the promise of smaller units will make things easier.

When it comes down to it you will only need access to the electronics rather than the batteries.

The top of the turret is held on with four M3 countersunk screws. That will give easy access to the gun elevation and recoild mechanism
The turret itself is held on with cap screws which will come withn the motion pack, as will the turret bearing ring etc. The cap screws are fitted from beloe so don't fit the superstructure until you have got the motion pack.
Fit a M4 half nut to the cap screw. The turret will drop onto those cap screws and is held in place with wing nuts.
On mine I can only fit two of the three wing nuts as the barrel elevation mechanism gets in the way of the third one.

So it is easy to remove the turret, all the electrics are fitted with plugs and sockets.

When it comes to battery replacement, in the long years ahead, I'm afraid you will be stuck with removing the hull top half which are held on with M3 nuts and bolts to the lower hull.

Pete

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

If you are going to use your model and add or improve items as you go along, a removable deck is a must. I have even worn my screws out and bought replacements with Torx heads!

Things I have done include:
- servos to control the front hatches,
- numerous improvements and experiments with the smoker I use,
- replacement of main batteries to a kind that needs easy access to the top terminals (i e removable deck),
- relocating the modules and batteries to make everything fit (a number of times...),
- fitting of electrical connector for facilitating easy removal of deck,
- tidying up the wiring (a number of times...).
For the future, I am going to build a speaker box as big as can possibly fit, again requiring deck removal.

If you are contemplating doing any of this, I strongly suggest you let the roof be removable. Just painting the screws will make a huge difference. Perhaps you can even use colored stickers to cover the screw heads entirely?

[Tom Miller]

Hello again,
Thanks for the helpful comments.
Peter, you are probably right but with my luck I will definitely need to get back inside. Being it is my first effort I am sure I will want to make changes and improvements later.
Attached are a few pics of progress so far. I decided to try my hand at weathering and camo on the lower hull sides where it is hard to see. I need to learn all these skills before I have to do it where it really shows. Also tried a few welds using milliput. Not totally happy with any of it but you have to start somewhere. I am studying all the pics in the builds by Peter Nash, Stephen White, Iacopo Di Giampietro, and everyone else for that matter. Maybe someday I can work at that level.

[Tom Miller]

Here are a few pics of my shop.

[Adrian Harris]

The obvious place to allow separation on the Panzer III is along the two angle brackets, as that's where the real one came apart, so with a little ingenuity, it should be possible for you to make the whole rear engine deck piece with all the hatches etc removable without needing to leave countersunk screw heads visible or affecting any welds.

Any damage to paint on the bolt heads will then also be prototypical...

Pazer_III4.jpg (32.81 KiB) Viewed 4386 times

Adrian.

[Tim Carr]

Nice Shop. Enjoy the Build.

Later Tim

[Pete Nash]

Tom

As you're in the US of A you might want to look up Field Of Armour. They do excellent after market additions for the Panzer III.

I would suggest you get their Turret Loading Doors. The Armourtek ones are way too big and wrong shape. It will mean some filling in but the end effect is worth it.

They, and other accessories, can be found under the 6th Scale Icons button on their home page.
The other good news is that you won't have to pay import duties like us Brits have to.

Don't know why Christopher has servos operating the front hatches, they were access for maintenance on the brakes and transmission not access for the crew

[Robert E Morey]

Tom,
your P3 looks great, weathering is spot on. Nice shop as well. Perfect for these models. Hope to see your tank sometime at a West coast event.
Best regards,
Bob

[Tom Miller]

Hi Bob,
I am new to all this. Let me know when there is a west coast event and I will try to attend. Is there a west coast club of some sort?
Tom

[Robert E Morey]

Hi Tom
NORDPAC is a tank club in WA and Oregon. They focus primarily on 1/16 scale but several members including myself have 1/6 collections. All are welcome. Its a fun group, but pretty limited in Armortek vehicles (ie not many have them). There are a couple yearly events, Tankfest at Flying Heritage collection in Everett on Memorial Day and Arlington fly in, in Aug which are really cool to attend if you like warbirds and military vehicles. It would be great if WA and Oregon Armortek owners could get together.
Bob

[Brian Leach]

Hi. I did not read the entire thread so what I propose may have been mentioned already.

Some of the guys and gals in the 1/16 groups like to keep their hatches removable, yet realistic. What many of them have done is to coat the deck edge with wax. they then use milliput to create the welds around the deck. The wax prevents the milliput from sticking yet the deck is removable.

I save the magnets from the ends of my replaceable electric toothbrush heads. Just pop them off before throwing the brush away. These are very strong and free.

[David Gray]

Hi Tom I built a panzer 111 a few years ago
Fitting the motion packs , speakers , batteries
And smoke unit is quite tricky ,
They have to be positioned so the upper section doesn’t
Hit anything and also the turret rotates without the motor
Hitting anything
If you look at my old thread , final construction
And assembly you will see how I fitted everything
Regards David