Egilman

What Exactly is this? It's what they do with all the worn out parts when they rebuild a grand national stock car is what that is.... {chuckle} It's a throwback to the old days of USAC Modified dirt track class... A lot was lost when USAC essentially folded, All the Sportsman classes were hit the hardest.... This is Nascar's attempt to keep the bare bones of backyard homegrown sportsman racing alive.... I'm in....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374822136270?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&srsltid=AfmBOorf3xqekXjD5_B7RKXN_RqiNC9KbTgbxv-Dtfu4BWM2oibY1p4M4oU Best price available I can find.... The big dollars are aimed at the 1/16th scale version... You can still get the 1/24th scale at semi reasonable prices....

{Chuckle} Except for the color... (they were OD green in government service) Although I will say they looked a lot prettier in Chevy Orange... or even black....

Another short update.... Lower Rear Springs.... It was interesting and a lot easier than doing the uppers.... An overall look, Full Frame... Now I have to go back to the Front Springs and adjust a few details, I found a better way of doing them on the rear springs.... Anyway, next up will be an axle, not sure whether front or rear yet.... Onwards...

My pleasure My Friend... Here's a couple of pics of what the trailer looked like... Hope it helps....

Rik, you have a private note brother...

Yep it's a member of the G506 family of Chevrolet 1.5 ton trucks.... It's specific designation was the G7105 K51 Panel Van (Radio) They made thousands of them but only a few hundred radio trucks... Mostly they were bomb or dump trucks.... Lots of variations to the line, it was a very successful medium duty truck.... Plain Panel Van.... G7107 Dump Truck & G7106 Cable service truck... And another... (don't know what specific model... Many many different flavors of the G506 family of trucks....

Of course you do brother, you build fine machinery out of metal, A plastic kit is a piece of cake... {chuckle}

Rik, that is an absolutely gorgeous engine, beautiful job... But I have a question that needs to be asked.... What civilian truck are you going to put it in? In a WWII military truck, everything is green, Olive Drab specifically, there are some peripheral details that are black or metal color, but they for the most part are buried in the overall OD Green... Being historically accurate that is...

Thanks OC... The springs took a bit of work...

Well the Upper Rear Springs are done.... And the bottom side... And an overall view.... Now I have to repeat this but upside down to complete the lower half.... Onwards....

Nice work....

You gots a PN brother... According to my references yes, it is the retracted version of the access step, the reason it is not covered by most model kits is it is flush and practically invisible in it's in flight retracted position... Also when on the ground, it is usually in its deployed position as seen on the USAFM's Hurricane, (thanks Andy) although you will see pics of it released but not fully extended... Looks like a little oval bump... with two edges/ridges across the top lengthwise...

Well another update... Rear Springs, I was hoping that I would be able to use the springs I had already made to build the second version... Unfortunately no That wasn't going to work so I've set about building a whole new set of Rear Springs..... And in measuring it against the detailed photos I now have I found that I also needed to rework the Bracket as well to more accurately reflect it's true position on the car... 3/4ths inch closer to the rear and up at the turn of the curve on the frame rail... Then I added in the old springs and the ends sat way to low, so I was forced to completely rebuild the springs reflecting the correct measured position on the car... The curve is now accurate, 40" long by 2" wide with a 3" drop at each end... I've included two pics showing the current iteration colored in the cars natural yellow color.... And one of the spring itself showing the upper mainspring and first leaf... and it's one solid piece as well.... Next posting when the spring itself is finished... Onwards.....

Monofilament, in the very smallest sizes, yes they make it that small... If you can't find it in black, that's ok you just use an indelible marker to color it.... If the fishing stores don't have it that small, the sewing/craft stores will.... .3mm ferrules for clinching the loops...

We've all been there done that!!! {chuckle} Not bad at all for a firstie..... Well done...

Well you made it, I on the other hand, have a few years to go before they start calling me an old fart.... (if I get that far) Happy Birthday Brother.... (and yes, I as well would like to have just half your talent my friend)

Update; Well starting off the rear springs, First we need the mounting plate.... The spring lays across the top and is bolted through the bottom on all four corners.... It also pivots on the shaft of the Mounting Bracket... Here it is attached to it's bracket.... And in it position in the frame.... Next up, the upper rear spring itself..... Onwards...

Another Update, I know it's been a while, but this part took a bit of time to re-design.... Front Springs... And the bottoms.... All correctly laid out... They might look a little weird when compared to normal leaf springs, this is because they are asymmetric leaf springs... Asymmetric means that one end is longer than the other... This particular set of springs were 2" x 35" with a 15" forward axle mounting point leaving 20" behind the axle.... They have been through 8 iterations before I could finally get them to configure into a solid block and still look like the real thing... An overall view... They do look good if I do say so myself... {chuckle} Anyways, I'll be taking a few days to do some RL stuff before starting on the rear springs... (shouldn't be too bad as I now know how to do them) That's all for now, Onwards.....

I have the Bug and the plate with the aluminum rods for bending curved pieces... (forgot what they called it) Just did a search of their vendors and most have little stock left and eBay has nothing listed in the US... The UK has a few available, but the prices are going thru the roof... The hardest one to get today is the 8" version, good for folding those long tank fenders but the price is over 100.00, there is one shop that still carries their long (4" + 8") blades for the larger hold & folds.... They won';t last long... It's a shame, they were the original, everyone else is a copy or a ripoff... A must have if you do a lot of PE....

Well one does have to admit that the King Tiger has a Cachet about it that no other WWII tank has... When it was in good repair and full of ammo and fuel it WAS the king of the battlefield in the hands of an experienced crew... Nothing else could touch it for effectiveness... But this is where it became the ultimate failure... Getting it into battle in that condition proved near impossible... It wasn't reliable, it had a weak final drive system based upon the Tiger I which they knew had problems, the weight of the Tiger II exacerbated that... It was a fuel hog with a range at best of 150k.. There were several occasion during the wart where a Battalion would leave their assembly point for the battlefield, around 40-45 tanks and none of them would make it to the battle... Either broke down or out of fuel... It was a handicap in offensive warfare... It really shone it's abilities in the defensive battle though when it didn't have to move very much and fuel would last a bit longer... And this is where most of them were lost... They would fight until disabled, usually by breakdown, occasionally by running out of fuel and every once in a while being destroyed by enemy action... There was never a recovery vehicle that could handle the king Tiger and when the retreat started they didn't have the facilities to being them in for repair consistently and hence when they were in the position where they were fully operational except for fuel, the crews would disable them, (by draining the recuperator in the gun and firing a high energy projectile through it, it would destroy the recoil system, then set them afire where the ammo would eventually explode) Estimates range to 35-50% losses this way.. By the end of the war the allies were developing guns that could handle the King Tiger, (the US 90mm and the Russian 128mm anti tank guns) not enough of them arived to really be tested in combat against the King Tiger... A beautiful piece of engineering when it worked an engineering disaster when it didn't... Overall as a combat vehicle it's history shows it was a poor one.... But it still impresses even today....

Just in case anyone is interested.... Unit History of Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 103. This unit was initially established as II. Battalion of 11. SS-Panzer-Regiment in July 1943. It was first deployed in anti-partisan duties in Croatia in July and took part in the disarmament of an Italian tank regiment in August. During September it then spent September training with the captured tanks and assault guns, before they were once again employed as infantry against the partisans. It wasn’t until February 1944 that they received their first Tiger I-E tanks for training after being moved back to Germany. They received specialist training at Paderborn during February and March. The Tigers were re-assigned to another unit and the battalion was moved to the Netherlands to continue their training with some old Panzer I tanks. In May 1944 the trained crews were transferred to the 101. and 102. Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilungs. The battalion received six more Tiger tanks on 26 May 1944 to continue their training. Another four tanks were received on 22 August, but were quickly handed over to 301. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung Funklenk (Radio-control). The battalion immediately started retraining for the Tiger II. They receive the first four Tiger II tanks in October 1944. They continued to train and received more Tiger II tanks up until the end of January 1945. During this time they are redesignated 503. Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung. On 28 January they detrained in Pomerania and were soon thrust into combat against the Soviets. They fought in the area around Arnswald until forced to withdraw on Zachan in mid February. Some of the battalion was sent to Danzig on 17-18 February. The trains were heavily attacked by the Soviets and the battalion were forced to detrain on a number of occasions. Other elements of the battalion ended up supporting the 5.Jagerdivision during a Soviet attack around Reetz. By 12 March they are operating with I. battalion of the 7 Grenadier-Regiment around Groß Mishau. The rest of the battalion arrived in the Danzig Pocket on 22 February 1945. Their first engagement was around Stargard. On 7 March the Soviets launched a massive attack against the pocket. Two Tiger II, one Panzer IV, a StuG and an 8.8cm Flak 36 gun manage to destroy 57 of the 80 tanks attacking, but the Soviets were undaunted and continued the attack. Soviet attacks carried on throughout March and the Tiger II tanks face off against their Soviet counter part the JS-II heavy tank during many encounters. Later in the month the 503. Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung elements in Danzig support the 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadierdivision “Nordland”. In early may most of the crews in Danzig were transported back by sea to Swinemünde to rejoin the rest of the battalion around Berlin. During April the rest of the battalion fought a number of defensive battles to hold off Soviet thrusts towards Berlin. In one engagement near Bollersdorf, on 19 April 1945, Tiger II tanks under SS-Oberscharführer Körner destroyed an assembling armoured brigade of JS-II and T-34/85 tanks (a company of JS-II tanks and approximately 100 T-34 tanks). By 22 April the battalion has retreated back to Berlin and were engaged in heavy street fighting. On 3 May the remaining troops, after failing to breakout of the Soviet encirclement, are taken prisoner near Ketzin. Those few crews still in the Danzig pocket surrendered on 9 May 1945. So yes, it is possible that there were Tiger II's in Berlin in the final days of the war... (Uunabashedly stolen from the Flames Of War website)

The Germans captured a large number of French vehicles in 1940, they used them for security and police service... (as well as bunker armaments) They were known as the Panzerkampfwagen FT-17/18 730(f) in Wehrmacht service... The Germans never let anything go to waste..... And we captured a few of them back at the end....

There you go Brother Baker is the expert on German Armor... I'm just a bit player.... Well done sir... I knew you would track it down... So the kit is using a fictitious historical location as well... Happens all too often...

Like Darius says there is no "right" Especially in very late war German camo... Looks fine to me... If anyone ask, answer with this question... "were you there" {chuckle} Usually shuts them up.... (but there are die-hards) Looking good my friend, especially for a first build... I don't think I could do better...