Any tank nuts here? WW1, WW2 Korea, Vietnam?

[71airgrabberRR]

Here are a few more photos:

- - - Updated - - -

Late war "King Tiger"

 

[polywideblock]

sturmtiger

 

[71airgrabberRR]

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

German Jagdtiger:

Not "Officially" a tank, but a beast none the less. Porsche (yep that one) used up 15 prototype chassis that they originally build during the King Tiger trials.

Porsche lost to Henschel, and they started using these running chassis by building things like the early Jagdtigers and Ferdinand / Elefant vehicles.

- - - Updated - - -

All of these except for side number #323 are the Porsche chassis vehicles. They used a different road wheel and suspension arrangement.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This is a model of a standard production Jagdtiger. It uses the same suspension and road wheels as the "King Tiger".

- - - Updated - - -

The hull was a little longer than the King Tiger, but it shared a lot of things like the front slope, side armor & rear deck.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

These last 4 pictures are of a "Porsche" Jagdtiger model I built a while ago. If you look close you can see the difference in the suspension.

- - - Updated - - -

The Porsche system used 8 road wheels and 4 "trucks" (each with two wheels). The wheels were slightly smaller in diameter.

The Henschel system used 9 road wheels.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

 

[snakeyes]

 

[Photon440]

71airgrabberRR didn't the Porsche designs use torsion bar suspension?

 

[71airgrabberRR]

71airgrabberRR didn't the Porsche designs use torsion bar suspension?

I'm not 100 % sure but I think they used a design that incorporated a "truck" with two sets of road wheels on each. That's why the Porsche variants had 8 road wheels on each side. I think this Porsche system used a leaf spring type of suspension. (not 100% on this though) There were documented cases of one set of the "trucks" snapping off due to the excessive weight, thereby leaving only 6 wheels on the affected side. The early Porsche Jagdtigers also had an 88 MM gun instead of the 128 MM.

However the Henschel design that had 9 road wheels used a torsion bar system.

- - - Updated - - -

I was able to finally finish up the model of the Jagdpanther I was working on. Here are a few finished pictures.................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

Here are a few of the "Late War" Panther G. You can see some of the similarities.............

- - - Updated - - -

 

[71airgrabberRR]

71airgrabberRR didn't the Porsche designs use torsion bar suspension?

I did some on line research and found these pictures for you. Hopefully they will answer your questions.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This is a good photo of a Henschel type

- - - Updated - - -

it has 9 road wheels and a torsion bar suspension.........................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This is a Porsche type and in this photo you can see where one set of road wheels has snapped off.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This is from a plastic modelling website. This picture shows the truck assemblies as they were mounted on the hull.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This is a close up of one of the truck assemblies.

- - - Updated - - -

After looking at these pictures I'm thinking the suspension was a combination of devices. Coil springs, hydraulic cylinders and it "may" have had a single torsion bar at the center of the truck pivot. I really don't know .......................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

These two also have had a center truck assembly snap off...................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

So has the one in the Bovington tank museum.

Hope this helps to shed some light on this. But I'm afraid I may have created more questions than answers.

 

[Photon440]

Thanks for looking for those sources. I also found this document which has some interesting torsion bar history: http://ciar.org/ttk/mbt/armor/armor-magazine/armor-mag.2002.ma/2torsion02.pdf

Porsche himself liked to incorporate torsion bars in his designs, an idea he himself copied from the Czechoslovakian Tatra that influenced the original VW.

Your closeups of the tank suspension are also in this Tiger page talking of torsion bars:
http://www.tiger-tank.com/secure/history2.htm

 

[polywideblock]

from memory , Porsche suspension has the torsion bar inside the large cylinder on suspension. the elephant has a similar setup. the one at Bovington is the one in previous pics

 

[polywideblock]

a couple of pics of the sturmtiger model that the earlier pics were for and a hetzer I'm making now, believe it or not this is a bandai brand 1/48 from the mid 70's that I found unopened online . think the hetzer was one of the most under rated tanks of the war . small , low , well sloped armour ,powerful gun (L48 75mm) . If the Germans had of made hundreds/thousands of these instead of the few jagdtigers etc things could have gone a bit different , lots less metal/machining involved per unit just for starters

 

[polywideblock]

a few hetzer pics

 

[polywideblock]

this is going to be the next project , hetzer ( maybe an ammo schleper )with sdkfz 222 turret late war eastern front



or a late war pz iv H-J chassis with panther schmalturm turret
again a "what if " . a few factory's turning out one turret for both medium and medium-heavy tanks , one lot of ammo to be made for all "medium tanks , yada yada .I think the Germans were finally getting their act together by 44-45 by way of "standardisation" , way to late to make a difference .but the E series (E10_ E100) would have replaced ALL "current tanks" and standardised road wheels, engines , drivelines etc. :eusa_think:

 

[71airgrabberRR]

You're on target about the Hetzer........................

American Aero Services painted this one a while ago. These photos are from their web site..................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This one is in my "Build Pile" of kits ......................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

This picture came from Sprue Brothers on line hobby store....................

- - - Updated - - -

it was easier than digging out the kit....................................

- - - Updated - - -

You have built some nice models Polywideblock.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

I just started my next "Panzer Projekt"

It's Tamiya's 1/35 Panther D.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

 

[Auggie56]

A great thread you have started. My second cousin, Frank Jackson was a tank commander in a Sherman, in the Bulge. He told me the basics of his experience in the tank corps, but left out any fighting details. I learned from a ww2 veteran to not ask questions of these men. Only to offer an ear if they wanted to share their experiences.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Great words of wisdom Auggie56.

My Dad was also a Commander in Sherman's (and M-26 Pershing's & M-46 Patton's) but he was in the Korean War. He NEVER talked about what happened, until the end, and only then in little peices. Some of the things he shared with me were horrific to say the least...................... Needless to say I was not allowed to practice my Trumpet at home, since it sounded too much like a "Bugle". Whistles were not allowed in our house either. I never knew until he was on his death bed why....................

Sorry dad.

Almost every kid wants to be like their dad. That's why I joined up and served in Armor to be "just like Dad".

- - - Updated - - -

We owe a LOT to these men who sacrificed SO much for others.

- - - Updated - - -

Most people don't have a clue...................

 

[polywideblock]

don't you just love painting road wheels :frustrated: my favourite thing

some pics of a mid production tiger 1 eastern front summer 44 that I've just finished , will be in a diorama with a German sidecar BMW and a MP giving directions

and a stug iv late , L70 that's a work in progress . :eusa_think: co-axe mg ,remote mg , nahverteidigungswaffe ,and will have full schützen skirt armour

 

[polywideblock]

thought this was cool , can't understand any of it but seems old ww2 su 152 started and running from in a "park"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_aDMqFrUV8

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Cool posts Polywideblock !!!! Thanks for sharing...................

Your Tiger tank looks GREAT !!!! (so does the Stug) Is the L70 the Tamiya kit or a Dragon version ??????

Speaking of road wheels..................... I did some work on the ones for the Panther D last night.

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

I found some original photos in a book I had that show how the center guides wore the paint off the inner road wheels..................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

So I used some "Bare Metal Foil" in Matt Aluminum shade to simulate the wear marks....................

- - - Updated - - -



- - - Updated - - -

It changes color as light hits the foil from different angles.