This month we rework the suspension arms, add some of the hull details and start on track links.
Summary:
In the last article I noted that the suspension arms were sagging and breaking off of the hull of the model.
This forced me to disassemble the suspension system and work out a solution to the problem.
The problem is caused by the paper delaminating under the shear load of the weight of the model.
The glue joints appeared to be working well but every time an arm was glued back in place the paper would delaminate right next to the glue.
Several methods were tried to cure the problem, but as Murphy's third corollary
of engineering states " the most difficult solution is most likely the best solution".
The best solution was to drill a 3/32 (2.4mm) hole in the suspension arm and one
in the hull of the model. Before you go out and chuck a 3/32 drill
in your 1 hp 3/8 drill gun and start drilling holes I would suggest that you take
the drill and mount it in a � in wood dowel so that you can drill the holes by
hand. If you do not have a wood dowel you can wrap several layers
of tape around the drill shank. The hole in the suspension arm needs
to go past the centerline of the suspension arm and the hole in the hull should
not brake through to the inside of the model. A small wood dowel was
cut to size and glued in place. The joint appears to be solid and
looks like it will hold under the added weight of the wire pins in the track links.
Now we start working on the track links.
Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying "if you give me 7 hours to chop a tree down, I'll spend 5 hours sharpening my ax"
The small white square on the track link should be cut out to form the sprocket
hole in the link and the 1 mm thick base for the links also has 2 of the same
size holes. The holes measure 1.5 mm by 2.5 mm and the distance between
the "arms" on the track link measure 3 mm. To save time and effort
cutting out the links I decided to make some special blades to do the job.
Along with the classic #11 knife blade I find the #18 blade to be useful, the blade is a flat chisel blade and I find that it is very useful for cutting small parts and making vertical cuts.
Using a rotary hand tool with a small abrasive cutoff wheel we cut the #18 blades to 1.5, 2.5 and 3 mm wide.
Please use the proper safety gear when using a cutoff wheel should the wheel break apart the pieces will be traveling at over 5000 fpm and will cause serious damage to unprotected body parts.
Here we see the finished blades, you will note that we have cut notches in the side of the blades to indicate the width of the blade.
You should also have a small fine stone to keep the blades sharp.
Considering the number of holes to be cut these blades make the job easier.
Each track link is composed of 6 parts.
The track link is folded on to the link base to form a series of loops on the side of the link.
These loops form the hinge for the track link.
The track cleat is glued on to the hinge area of the link and the guide teeth are then glued to the link and the link is touched up with paint.
when finished repeat one hundred and sixty two times.
The square holes on the links and the link base block should be cut before the parts are cut from the page otherwise cutting the small square holes will deform the parts.
The Panther is at last looking more like a finished model. Some of the engineer
tools have been added to the sides of the model. The shovel, sledge hammer and
axe will be scratch built using the parts supplied in the kit as guides.
The extra effort to straighten the suspension system appears to have paid off
the model sits on the boggie wheels with out any droop and it does not have a
tendency to fall apart when the model is handled.
The lens of the searchlights and IR optical gear were painted with several coats of future floor wax to produce a glass like finish.
The tow hooks were made from layered paper and carved to give a rounded appearance so that they will look like a forging.
Here we see the rear of the tank with the scratch built exhaust system.
The brackets were also scratch built.
The whip antenna and the "Crows foot" antenna were scratch built using .020 (.5 mm) brass wire.
In the last article we said that we would make the added detail parts available to our readers and we received several E-mails requesting the files.
Because of the size of the files and number of requests, the files will be made available on the magazines download page.
If all goes well I should have the files ready by the next article.
If you have any questions about the construction of the model please use the e-mail pzkpfw5@earthlink.net with Panther in the subject line.
Model:
PzKpfw V Panther 1-2/2002
Kit:
Halinski
Designers:
Marian Sobel
Scale:
1/25
Difficulty:
Very complex, very difficult
Number of Parts:
Over 3000
Instructions:
Polish, German and English
Diagrams:
4 pages generally good
Fit:
Excellent
Coloring and Artwork:
Outstanding
Printing:
Excellent
Resources:
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz4.htm#panther
http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/pan/pan.html
http://www.militarygameronline.com/Panzer/panther.html
"Germany's Panther Tank" by Thomas L. Jentz Published by Schiffer Military History
