Schwerer Panzerkraftwagen

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

Hi guys,

It is very calm in the WWI section of the forum.
The last post was a few months ago, and it looks some spider webs are hanging in the corners.

Meanwhile, all attention is back to WWII and modern tanks. So maybe it‘s varied to bring back some memories of the beginning of tank warfare.

As I promised Chris Hall in 2015, I would like to give some impressions of my build.
And now is the time to make good on the promise. Not as a steady report coming along the several stages but as a build diary which shows some episodes during this long and enjoyable journey.

Due to my minimal spare time and the appealing extras, this journey takes a lot more time than expected. – Anyway, the span of enjoyment was also massively elongated.

It‘s my first Armortek model and first radio-controlled tank, after all. So don‘t expect too much.
During the last years, the exceptional builds of the MK IV here in the forum helped me several times when the instruction manual and my brain won‘t communicate properly.

A lot is said about the tricks and mods, so I will mostly restrain to the changes I made trying to build a german „Panzerkraftwagen", a „Beute-Tank“ or Mark IV in german service.

I‘m not related to military history, so what makes one spend his spare time to build a tank?
Not an easy question to answer. Looking back, this bizarre machine, the MK IV tank, attracted my attention. I never thought that I would build some of these metal monsters in my life but „never say never. „ In spring 2014, I stumbled over the announcement from Armortek, and after some weeks of intense ponder and collecting every available information, I took the decision and hit the purchase button.
It is not about fasciation of war, but to get in contact of history in another, maybe more physical way. For me, it turned out as a profound and exciting journey into history. I found several aspects to get a better idea about the first world war and the evolution of the society in Germany after this horrible conflict in the upcoming „Weimarer Republik“.

I hope you will enjoy my fretworks and overlook some rookie mistakes.
So lean back and enjoy my time-lapse of tank building.

Regards
Oliver

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

December 2014

Dear diary ...

... stop, stop, don’t be too private ...

First I checked all the bits and pieces with full enthusiasm and got a general overview of the kit.
Then the build started with degreasing sanding and „U-poling“ the first frames and plates.

At this moment, I chose a suitable red oxid primer which worked very well. Unfortunately, later I realized that grey oxid primer had been the more authentic choice because the base color of these early tanks was grey.

I built the first modifications to duplicate the towing horn and open the driver cabin for a top hatch.
It was hard to find any pictures showing the german version for the top hatch. So I decided to check which size is suitable for climbing out without removing clothes and amputating arms. A one-to-one sample from cardboard gave me an approximate idea of the dimensions.
The escape hatch was made of brass. Some handles like a door handle from a french railway wagon (maybe found in Charleroi ) closes the hatch.

Regards
Oliver

copy and paste

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[Oliver Brüninghaus]

January 2015

reworking the front vision ports


Looking at some old pictures, I knew that additional details would suit the vision ports very well. So stripes and rivets in different sizes took place on the vision shields.

I discovered that the shapes of the covers for the pistol port need to be adjusted. It was tricky to get a suitable shape from the old pictures. The new shields were sawn out from 1,5 mm brass plates.

Regards
Oliver

[William Gardeniers]

Very nice details Oliver.

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

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Thank you William, let's move on with a new entry in the diary.

February 2015
Mirrors and telescopes

„Wouldn’t it be nice that the vision ports showed some reflections?“


Thought and done. I added some mirrors for the periscopes and painted the inside of the casing matte black. After that, the mirrors were pasted inside with Milliput at an angle of 45° degrees.
For the inner color of the model, I chose an off-white hue. For me, it looks more than 100 years of age than the brilliant arctic white, which would be more right.


Regards
Oliver

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[Oliver Brüninghaus]

March 2015
Compass Dome

„Sarge, in which direction we should go, the compass needle seems to be glued.“
 
Some of the „Beutepanzers“ shows a compass dome above the driver‘s cabin. I couldn’t get any measurements, so once again, I tried to get the sizes from two or three pictures I found in books and the web.

After that, I started detailing the first Lewis Gun with additional parts like the gas regulator and the iron sight. The sizes were difficult to catch because the dial of the gun barrel was a little bit too thick. Later, all Lewis Gun barrels were replaced with new ones in the correct sizes made by Adrian Harris. 

Some chains inside the vision ports are only visible when opened but give the model a nice extra touch.
Now the assembly of the driver‘s cab could take a break.

Regards
Oliver

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[Frank Breitenbach]

Hello Oliver
A really perfect job!
Regards
Frank

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

Hello Frank,

thank you very much for your compliment.
It is a pleasure to dive into the details of history.

Oliver

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

April 2015
Muffler and Stowage Box

Spring was coming, and I thought it would be nice if the roof plate got some extra bolts. After that was done, I reworked the muffler‘s mountings. Some dents and new mounts with many bolts give the eyes additional details to discover.
 
I refined the storage box with the axe mounts and some tie-downs.
Thank’s to Steve Stuart for lifting the blanket of history and showing us the measurements of some of these little extras.

Until today I‘m still missing some stuff to fill the box. Maybe it will be a few spuds for the tracks.


Regards
Oliver


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[Oliver Brüninghaus]

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June 15
Assembly of the first Frame


I put the first frame together for test assembling and then the rivet mania started.
The outer armor plates need to be assembled.

Regarding the old pictures, I became aware that at some places bolts with square heads was used in the old days.
With the square nuts from Knupfer and a piece of 3 mm studding soldered together, these unusual bolts weren’t a true challenge.

Since square nuts are also used on the roof, this has also been changed

Best Regards
Oliver

This evil little guy stopped by, gently caressing the well rounded rivets with his suction cap.
Looks he was really obsessed - huh

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[Phil Woollard]

I'm liking your style Oliver.

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

Thanks Phil,

I try to learn from your versatile and varied built logs.

Regards
Oliver

[Oliver Brüninghaus]

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December 2015
Jay – One Year of Tank Building!

The months since June have passed in a frenzy of rivets.
To celebrate the first year of building my first tank, I thought
it would be a nice extra to build a filler neck under the hatch of the fuel tank.
I took a few pictures from „Lodestar“, the tank in Brussels, as a reference.
At that time I was still planning to place the smoker in the petrol tank.
Therefore the upper armour plates were bolted to be removable in the future.

Later I realized that it would be a pain to remove all the rear armor to reach the smoker for maintenance,
and so the smoker found its place between the drives.
Thanks to Steve Stuart‘s detailed measurements, these important extra armor could be made to complete the model.

Best regards
Oliver


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[Oliver Brüninghaus]

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January 2016
Tank building in full swing - well, at my personal, more moderate speed

In the first attempt last year, I glued the rivets of the bottom plate.
I was aware that the glued rivets weren’t that robust during the build and got loose.
Besides, I got some concerns about the stability of the bottom plate if the tank needs to be jacked up – Typical worries of a newbie.

Anyway I removed the glued rivets and additionally attached a 3 mm epoxy plate with round head screws. With this modern sandwich technology, I don’t have any concerns anymore.
Maybe there are some slight tendencies for a german over-engineering in my genes.

Best regards
Oliver

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[Oliver Brüninghaus]

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January 2016
Rear Door Vision Port

Slowly leaving the track of a straight build as I was attracted by the vision port of the rear door.
After researching the web, I made a sketch, and the parts were sawn out from brass plates
in several thicknesses. After a few adjustments, everything fitted together and presents
a fully functional vision port with three settings (open, closed and protected).

Best wishes
Oliver

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