AgentG Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) I picked up the CyberHobby Orange Box kit of the Pz III E/F on sale and set about converting it to a rare Befehlswagen E, some of which did make it to North Africa with Panzer Regiment 5. This old kit was updated with Magic Tracks and figures. The tracks are scale representatives of the 38 cm. tracks on the originals. They don't intermix with 40 cm Magic Tracks from my recent Pz III L Trop build. I found many photos that show this was one way to carry spare tracks on the Pz II series of tanks. References indicate additional vision ports and antenna mounts. I made molds of kit parts and cast the required parts in resin. I used some styrene rod sheet and brass tube to replicate the mounts for the large frame antenna. Here's the armored antenna cable cover. I made it from styrene tube. [/url] Here's my main reference found on the internet. I post this for discussion purposes only. G Edited March 18, 2014 by AgentG 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Some quality work going on with this build, looking forward to seeing more. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Looks good - Do you know did the mast's connection work in the real world? I don't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Thanks Dan, I'm back to work tomorrow so we should see more progress Sunday. Mike, I'm not sure. I do see in a lot of photos that it was all removed. Makes me think it was quite problematic in the desert. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 I raided the bead section at Hobby Lobby today and found some 2mm plated brass "crimp beads". They were a perfect fit for the antenna rod. I added aluminum tube to the upright stantions, CA'ed the beads to that then threaded the rod through. The aluminum tube has a thicker wall so it looks more like the actual fitting. I got the turret mostly finished and mounted. The real tank did not have a cannon. It was a dummy and the only weapon was a single machine gun in a swivel ball mount. I cut a hole in the mantlet and scratched the MG mount from a spare engine piece, sheet and putty. I drilled the sight hole and a hole for the barrel. I'm using my trademark covered barrel. You can also see where I used one of my resin castings for the armored bolt where the hull MG was mounted, it was deleted on the real tank. They needed room for all the radios. G 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 very nice work... dont think i have ever seen this adaptation - wonder if it wasnt used much cos the tankers didnt like having a turret that didnt swivel!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 First, Thank You sir! Rob, I'm thinking the fortunes of war as well as advances in radio technology led to the demise of the dedicated unarmed command tank. The "E" model was very rare, maybe 45 or so were built in total. You can see where the fixed turret was an adaptation of the Panzerbefehlswagen I's purpose built supersrtucture. The "H" was predominate in North Africa until the end in 1943. Also, these had the turret moved forward about one foot to clear the engine deck. A standard gun tank simply rotated the turret about 80 degrees to remove the engine deck. That's a lot of purpose built machinery for what is in truth a small number of tanks. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Grumpylee Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Looking good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Excellent job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 She's sealed up and fenders are mounted. I received my stowage box from Tank Workshop so I scratched the mounts for it. I'm leaving it unsecured until after painting. I'm playing around with the fenders and what is mounted on them. These all seemed to have a different configuration due to the watercan mounts. G 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jherek Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Nice build, what scale is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thank you sir! She's in 1/35th scale. G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Ok moving right along I did manage to get a few more items completed. I scratchbuilt the antenna troughs. I made a jack block as the kit piece looked more like a stowage box. Some right angle strip serves as the locator fittings. More to come. G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaia1984 Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Very nice! and inspiring! Looking forward for updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Looking good thus far. Very inspiring. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thank you gentlemen, look no further for updates. I had the house to myself all morning so some painting got done. The final mockup shots. My favorite Panzer Gray enamel, Floquil's SP Lark Dark Gray. It's a shame Floquil is out of business now. I added the spare wheel holder to the right rear fender just befoewe painting. I raided my spares for the fitting and used the same right angle strip for the fender mounts. Stowage box. Fuel and water cans. This will now sit for a while and the Pz IIIL will be up for weathering. G 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vally G Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Excellent work, G! Kind regards, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Thank you Adam. With the Pz III L mostly complete, I moved back to the Befehlswagen III. I used my stencil set to create The palm tree insignia. I sprayed those in Tamiya Flat White thinned with Tamiya Laquer Thinner. That gave a good bite into the enamel basecoat. Now I needed to replicate the unique colors used early on in North Africa. I mixed Tamiya Dark Yellow, Flat Earth and Yellow Green as a start. This got me oh so close so I added a dab of Tamiya Orange. Bingo! RAL 8000,Gelbbraun (yellow brown). Tamiya Khaki and Olive Drab mixed gave me RAL 7008 Khakibraun (khaki brown) which is the other color. Now the magic happens. G 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Grumpylee Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Looking very nice, great work Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Simply brilliant G Await the magic happening with great anticipation! Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Coming along nicely mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Loving this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Here's where we're at as of this morning. Prodigious application of pigments yields a severely dusty finish. This is a vehicle from early on in the campaign in North Africa. I depicted what a tankk would look like due to the conditions in Libya. It's a lot different from the Pz III L in Tunisia. These are some of the "accessories". Cans with white crosses are water cans, the others are fuel. The four gray rhomboids are to depict the early war marking plates for the panzers. The tank number was painted on the plate and attached to the vehicles sides and rear. The rhomboid was the tactical symbol for armor in the German Army back then. Remember the crew? G 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 EXEMPLARY workmanship .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubster72 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Very nice G, the pigments have really added that worn workhorse look! The crew are excellent! Cheers Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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