Panzer III ausf. N build log

[UltraVargen]

And so it begins. Heng Long panzer III.

I replaced the previous metal tracks with Taigen tracks. The reason was because the metal tracks were missing a link so I couldn't get sufficient lack in the tracks. But these Taigens are a lot more detailed. So bonus there.

I also replaced the exhaust assembly and rear guard for a metal version. The plastic rear guard was broken, and seems a fragile piece anyway.

Finally I removed the plastic side hatches in the turret. Man, Heng Long used a LOT of glue on these. Still need to clean up the edges and print some "buckets" to go behind the holes. Metal hatches will be installed.

The ausf. N aluminium gun barrel 37L/24 I ordered looks like it wasn't meant for barrel recoil. Unfortunately I have no metal turning machine, so I'll have to order a new one. I'm still undecided on going the cheap route for barrel recoil (modify the BB-unit) or the more expensive route (Get a 6.1 MFU and servo recoil unit).

Also still undecided on the Schürzen that I want to do. Buy a kit or make them myself.

[Sureshot]

I was surprised when I got my new Panzer III and the turret doors were glued shut.
Both of my Panzer IV's and my old 27mhz Panzer III have doors that open and close.
Steve

[UltraVargen]

Yeah, I saw from pictures that they were probably glued, but never expected this amount of glue. To be honest, they were generous with glue on this tank throughout.

[UltraVargen]

I got most parts for the Panzer III in, so it was time to continue working on it.
Still waiting on the 6.1 MFU and barrel smoker though. Chinese New Year has kept Toucan from sending it to me yet.
Also waiting on a response from a German website that sells early style notek convoy lights. Sent them a question last weekend and again two days ago through Facebook. Still no reply. I think I'll give up and make something in 3D and try to mount a small SMD led in it.

The shop is called Heike's Modellbaugasse. Anyone familiar with them?

Anyway, bit of progress from yesterday afternoon and today:

- Cleaned up the turret hatches in preparation of 3D printed inserts to mount the metal doors to.
- I got that weird Panzer III antenna from one of the tank webshops. The antenna base doesn't look anything like it's supposed to, so I'm going to modify.
- Opened up the side air intakes. Will be covered by a set of PE screens.
- Dry fitted metal headlights.
- Not pictured: Removed the plastic idler adjuster and dryfitted metal Taigen ones. Only to discover that the metal set is for the older Panzer III, as the swing arms don't fit. So I'll remain using the plastic swing arms
- Not pictured: Cleaned metal wheels with vinegar and coated them in etching primer. Already feels like a smart choice.

[quitcherbitchen]

Can you tell me more about the swing arms? Are you putting in a Mato track adjuster?

[BcuriousR]

Not sure about the barrel that you ordered; but when I converted my PIII to recoil, I used the Taigen/Torro unit. It bolted right in and need very minor modification to get full elevation.

[UltraVargen]

Can you tell me more about the swing arms? Are you putting in a Mato track adjuster?

EDIT: I was confused on what I bought: They were indeed Mato track adjusters. I edited the post below. So maybe Taigens will actually fit.

I used Mato metal track adjusters. But the Mati metal swing arm is too short for use on the 6.0 version Heng Long. It appears the older Heng Long Panzer III had it's idler wheels more to the rear and up. Also it screws into the Panzer side differently, so it's not readily adaptable. So I'll just be using the original plastic arm in conjunction with the Mato set. It appears sturdy enough.

Like this (see picture below):
Black arm is the original HL
Metal arm is Mato
Red circle is the approximate location of the old HL idler position
Red line is the approximate location of the adjuster screw

[UltraVargen]

Not sure about the barrel that you ordered; but when I converted my PIII to recoil, I used the Taigen/Torro unit. It bolted right in and need very minor modification to get full elevation.

I'm still waiting on the correct recoil-ready barrel to come in. But I finally went with the aluminum Heng Long servo recoil unit. Still waiting on the 6.1 MFU to make it work though, but it seems like an easy enough fit.

The Taigen/Torro looks nice too I must say! It does look very wide? No problem fitting it in the small Panzer III turret?

[UltraVargen]

Todays work: Made some brass racks for spare tracks.

The bottom one is soldered. An experiment for me. I got myself a hobby gas torch, as I want to make a brass stowage rack for on top of the engine deck. The track rack seemed like a good way to practice.

Still undecided if I want to add more spare tracks to either the turret top or on the spaced armor plate between the gunner and driver.

[quitcherbitchen]

Your Idler arm is different from mine. Any Idea how to bolt the idler wheel to the new arm?

[UltraVargen]

It's the same arm. But I see you have the older style Panzer III so that's good, should fit.

You'll need to do some surgery to fit the whole contraption. I found this tutorial that should help:

MT030 1/16 Panzer III Tank Track Tensioner (matotoys.com)

[quitcherbitchen]

thanks for the link

[Vaseline]

Thanks good to know
I plan to build an PZ III N too, just collecting parts to get it going.
I'm watching closely how yours is going together Thanks for posting

[UltraVargen]

Vaseline Seeing as you're printing some awesome stuff with your your dads Brummbar: Do you happen to have a link to a Panzer III/IV late style single hatch commander cupola? I'm making a list of stuff I need to draw up and print in 3D, but I'm also lazy. So any time spent not researching and drawing is time saved.

[Vaseline]

Quick search for the single door hatch yielded absolutely nothing so looks like the both of us are going to be spending some time in CAD. The Syrian Panzer IV I just did was supposed to have the single door as well, but because Im using the LegoDEI IR system I opted to just scrape off the clamshell hatch doors and not have any at all. Ive seen a couple Panzer IIIs had single peice loading doors too, not sure if dad wants to muck with that, I wouldnt bother personally, too much work, especially if your going to put a schurtzen collar on the turret.

[UltraVargen]

Thanks for looking. I couldn't find anything either. Nothing digital, nothing physical. Not sure how historically accurate mine will be, but I'll share the file when I'm done.

As for the side hatches: I didn't know that. But I like the look of the split hatches anyway.

[Vaseline]

Depending on how absolutely scale you want to be, what you could do is nip off one sides hinge glue the 2 parts of the clamshell door together with a strip of styrene on the bottom, sand and fill the top smooth. and I believe the side that isnt hinged has half moon cutout for a hand hold.

[UltraVargen]

Without having done much research yet: The cupola mantle is the same as the mid style cupola, the outside difference is just the hatch itself?

[Vaseline]

Near as I can tell yes, the thing I found weird was I could find no evidence of the Panzer III ausf Ms having the 1 peice hatches, only Ns. Of note the Stug IIIs had a similar 1 peice hatch, but being a different cupola Im not entirely certain they are identical.

[UltraVargen]

About the M's: They probably used some factories' production of the L as a basis for the M, and yet other factories' L production as a basis for the N. It could explain the prevalence of the single hatch cupola on the N, but not on the M.

As for the similarities with the StuG hatch: From what I can gather the StuG hatch has the hinged cutout to facilitate having the commander's periscopes stick out above the cupola. Having read that the Panzer III single hatch cupola is the same as the one used on the late style Panzer IV it appears the Panzer (III/IV) single hatch doesn't have the the hinged cutout. At least, not judging from Panzer IV single hatch photo's.