Looking good Jonathon do you have estimated finish time or is it when its done its done.

Evening All,

After my last post, fate intervened and stopped me getting to the victory show or really achieving much at all, however on Friday I decided to do something to take my mind off of life. I have started tackling the steering brake mechanism, obviously it's not going to perfectly replicate the original but I will make it look as near to the original set up as I can. I still need to machine the ratchet teeth in but I will wait until the whole mechanism is bolted in place, to see where they need to go,



Jon

Evening All,

For various reasons I have achieved jack since my last post but this afternoon I managed to finally complete and connect all the brake, steering linkages. How efficiently it will all work, is yet to be seen and I still have to machine the ratchet teeth into the quadrants.

Jon

Evening All,

I thought that I would make the drivers seat so that I could test the driving position before I finish things off with the steering /brake levers etc. I can't believe that anyone could clamber into the drivers seat if it had a fixed backrest, so I fished around and found several designs of Panzers drivers seat and came up with this. As the steering / brake linkage is my design the seat had to fit around it.

………..…………………..

Nice to see more of the interior filling out, Jonathan.

Were the Panzer seats equipped with simple pads, like our carriers? Not much wiggle room for sprung cushions, I would think.

David

Hi David,

I am going to put a simple foam pad covered in synthetic leather on the base and the same on the back rest. I really don't know how the original would have been constructed, the only picture of the interior that I can find, that I know has the original components still in it, doesn't show enough detail to copy. I have found pictures of drivers seats in other marks on Panzers but even those do not seem to be consistent. As for wriggle room, there's bugger all, especially if you consider the drive shaft across your shins. I am 5ft 11" and when the turrets on, getting in is going to be fun, I would hate to have to try and get out in an emergency. I think tank crew must be a special breed.

Jon

A wild and crazy thought, Jonathan.

Might the seat cushion in this case be a one piece design?

The seat cushion could have a wood board base with a pad of horsehair etc., on the top, sized so when complete, the board ‘locks’ the seat cushion into the steel pan. The back is just a soft pad with no hard backing. The oil cloth, or similar material, would run from the front edge of the seat back across the seat cushion and then run up the back cushion, forming a sort of hinge between the two section at the bottom rear junction of the two sections.

At the top of the seat back, a light weight cotton or canvas layer is added to the mix. This is stitched in to enclose the seat back pad and prevent it from sagging to the bottom of the seat back over time. The oil cloth material then wraps over the top of the seat back pad and down the back of the seat back cushion to the junction of the back pad and seat pad. It is stitched down the sides only, staying open across the bottom.

This forms a pouch down the back portion of the cushion assembly that is pulled down over the seat back frame to the point where the seat cushion portion can drop down and lock into the steel seat pan.

I notice the seat back can adjust and has a noticeable recline ability. The recline mode might be to make entry to and exit from the drivers seat easier for the driver and the one piece design would enhance sliding in and out of the seat quickly.

Then again, I could be totally out to lunch! :confused

David

Well done. This is a Pz I seat and your is very similiar.

Attachment 109178

This is from the Pz Is at El Goloso.

David,
Good theory but my prior research pointed me in roughly the right direction.

Tony,
Nice picture, I wish that I had had that earlier.

Firstly and I have no connection with this product but if you are interested in Panzers there are 2 DVD's entitled "GERMAN TANK INTERIORS" if you haven't got them they are a really good source of information and especially pictures.

The first two pictures below are from a Panzer IV, well one version of the drivers seat. They gave me a good indication of the construction but I have to admit, I missed the bar running across the back of the back rest.
The last picture is from a Panzer II, if you look carefully and this must make me really sad, you can just make out the edge of the seat cover retaining strip, much the same construction as on my version of the commanders seat back rest.( shown in the middle picture)

The base of these seats is obviously a pad resting on springs, this wasn't an option for me, as in mine, the steering / brake mechanism is under the seat.

Thanks for the input I really appreciate it and if anyone has any pictures that may help they will all be gratefully received.

Jon

If you wish I have a few pictures of the interior of the Pz I and many more of the seat. They are probably helpful for you build

Attachment 109198

Thanks for the offer Tony ,I will gladly have any pictures that you post, they all help.

I decided that now I had seen the bar across the backrest, I would have to alter my seat. The dear long suffering wife, said that she knew that it would just irritate me otherwise.

Attachment 109212
Same tank, but photo from the web.
Attachment 109213
Attachment 109214
Attachment 109215

Thanks Tony, lovely pictures.

Steering / brake lever assemblies finished

I had a very informative and enjoyable conversation with a forum member this morning, the reason for the phone call was to give me the benefit of his experience regarding the brake / steering levers, in other words I had dropped a boo boo. I had produced the levers to operate as a standard handbrake does, in other words the ratchet locks as the lever is raised, to unlock it you depress the knob on top. I didn't realise, because I have never driven a tracked vehicle, that the levers are free running, for the application of the handbrake, once the levers have been raised into the correct position,you depress the knob on top which locks them into position. The assembly has now been modified and I would just like to thank said gentleman, for his time and extensive knowledge.



Jon

Evening All,

Things have been happening rather slowly at the moment due to influences outside my control but i am making progress.

I have managed to get the throttle fabricated and the linkage made up to a point but I need to complete some other items before I can connect it all up to the engine. The original linkage, as far as I can ascertain, was a series of steel rods routed around the front and over the gearbox and then a steel cable, in conduit, from there to the engine. It would be difficult to replicate that on mine, as the steering box takes up a lot more space, so I have used a cable from a cam on the end throttle shaft, up along the side of the steering box to an intermediate shaft, across the top of the steering box and then eventually to the engine.

The clutch and brake pedals are just there to try and replicate the original but they don't do anything.

In the original vehicle, the steering / brakes are on either side of the hull, I am going to make dummy brakes, on the left side where they will be visible, just to make it look as realistic as possible.

Fake brake bands, obviously not perfect but they give the right inpression i hope.



Jon

Evening All,

I have been trying to complete all the components around the drivers seat before I raise the crew compartment floor to the correct height but it's been a very time consuming process and I am not finished yet. The first part of the drive shaft cover, shin protection, is on and the fake brake drums are now secured in place, the vertical bracket securing the drive shaft cover wasn't on the original and will be hidden by a cover that goes over the area.



That's it for now,



Jon

Well done Jonathan its looking great. Keep up the good work

Thanks Karlos.

I managed to get the brake drum cover finished today.



Jon

You are doing a fantastic job and I love the updates :thup2:

Evening All,

I have done a bit more work to the brake drums, just to try and make them look more realistic really.

There is a plate, that is bolted to the hull just behind the brake drums, it carries items of equipment, I need to replicate this plate and bolt it into position before I finish the brake drum linkage just in case it causes clearance issues.

Jon

Evening All,

This is the plate that I was referring to in my last post, having made and fitted the plate it answers a question. One thing that has always bothered me was, what would happen to all those bolt heads should an impact occur on the side of the tank, in the real tank world. One would have thought, that some would have sheared off and ricocheted around the inside of the tank, causing injury or death. Now that I have made this plate, I think that I understand. The plate, along with several others, are not bolted directly to the hull side but stand off by about 20mm, in other words there is a gap between the hull and the plate, if there is an impact and the heads are sheared off the plate would stop them from flying around.

The plate should hold a first aid kit, that's the horizontal box, a tool kit, which I have yet to make, a spanner, feldflasche, and a magnetic lamp. I need help with the magnetic lamp, item "a" in the first picture, I cant find any pictures of one so, HELP!!!!

Jon

Morning All,

Someone on another forum provided me with the information regarding the magnetic lamp and holder, I couldn't find a canister of the correct dimensions but I did have a piece or tube, so...……

The canister is much bigger than the light but I assume that there would have been some felt or equivalent in the top and bottom to stop any damage and apparently the lamp had 6 meters of cable attached so that would of had to have been wrapped around it.

For some reason I can never load 5 pictures at a time, so this is the bit of tube before I started the canister.

I managed to complete the brake drum linkage, that is apart from 5 springs, which are currently inbound.

The holding bracket for the magnetic lamp canister.

Sorry about quality of the pictures, I must try harder.

In the original tank between the brake drums there was an extraction pipe that was connected to the radiator cooling fan via hoses, the idea was that the suction caused by the fan, would draw heat and fumes from the brake drums.

I know in my vehicle none of this works but I made it because I wanted to.

Jon

Evening All,

I have managed to get the drive shaft cover finished. It took two attempts, as I decided that although the first design looked more in keeping with the original, it would have been a right pain had I had to take it apart for maintenance.

Jon

Evening,

I have achieved bugger all this week, part from adding the floor supports in the crew compartment. The floor is raised to allow for services and a rotary connection that attaches to the commanders chair support.

Jon