Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Sabre on October 14, 2008, 10:02:21 AM

Title: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Sabre on October 14, 2008, 10:02:21 AM
Checkout the video the brand new Panzer-III my buddy's reinactment group recently finished building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L461DQZzKyk

It is outwardly authentic in almost every detail.  Can you pick out the main difference between this replica and the genuine article? The main gun and one of the MGs are gas-operated, and give a pretty good impression real weapons.  The entire thing is to scale, and was hand-built by their group (a 4+ year project).  The engine, tranny, and drive train were taken from an M-113 APC, IIRC.  If you check out their webpage, you'll see they have a rather nice collection of toys.

Sabre
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Nefarious on October 14, 2008, 10:18:28 AM
Wow. Pretty cool, that would come in handy for movies.
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: BMathis on October 14, 2008, 10:30:36 AM
Very cool. Very expensive I assume...

The only thing I can see right off the bat is the lack of track armor?

Thanks for posting!
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: oakranger on October 14, 2008, 12:19:00 PM
Give them a  :salute for a job well done.
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Sabre on October 14, 2008, 12:27:32 PM
Very cool. Very expensive I assume...

The only thing I can see right off the bat is the lack of track armor?

Thanks for posting!

No, but good observation.  However, this is a Panzer-IIIJ.  The skirt armor was a feature of later war models, I'm told.  Keep looking.

Regarding movies, this vehicle has already landed at least one movie role, for a documentary, I believe.  They're planning to dress it up to represent various theaters and models.
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: LLv34_Snefens on October 14, 2008, 02:26:30 PM
The road wheels seem slightly larger than the real thing, meaning it only fields 5 instead of 6.
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: SFRT - Frenchy on October 14, 2008, 03:23:07 PM
 :O congrats to ur buddy.

Wait for GTO to crap his pants. :cool:
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Sabre on October 14, 2008, 03:39:59 PM
The road wheels seem slightly larger than the real thing, meaning it only fields 5 instead of 6.
DING-DING-DING!!! We've got a winner! Yes, the builders kept the road wheels from the M-113, of which there are only 5 per track.  Good eye, mate!
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: GtoRA2 on October 14, 2008, 04:44:04 PM
:O congrats to ur buddy.

Wait for GTO to crap his pants. :cool:

LOL that is pretty sweet!  Luckly I just took a dump! :t
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Rino on October 14, 2008, 07:21:45 PM
     That must of been one heck of a build.  I thought the 113's engine compartment rode higher in the
nose than it obviously does.  I have a bud over in Pa who told me that a group converted a Brit APC
<think FV-432..please don't quote me> into a Stug III.

(http://www.khakicorpsimports.com/vehicles/fv432-1.jpg)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Stug_III_02.jpg)
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Bronk on October 14, 2008, 07:27:28 PM
What ... no spawn campers????
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Xasthur on October 15, 2008, 05:02:20 AM
That's frigging impressive. Outstanding work.
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: crockett on October 15, 2008, 07:05:05 AM
Awesome looks good enough for me. I love to weld and build stuff, sucks though because I no longer have a garage.

I was watching the military channel the other day watching some show about small private companies working on experimental military contracts. One of the projects was a unmanned tracked vehicle like a UAV type thing. lol it made me want to build a tank, now after seeing this...   :P
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Sabre on October 15, 2008, 09:10:37 AM
Rino: Yeah, built an entirely new hull; the only things they used from the M-113 was the drive train, road wheels and most of the suspension.  The drive wheel was custom cast and cut (water jet cutting) to look authentic.  The M-113 was aluminum, where as this replica is steel plate (and considerably thinner, except in certain areas where you'd be able to see the thickness).  If you go to their website, I believe they have a photo journal showing the project from early on through the present.  In addition to the tank, they have two half-tracks, a duce & 1/2, some motorcycles, and a staff car.  They even have a authentic goulash wagon!
Title: Re: My buddy's Panzer-III
Post by: Rino on October 15, 2008, 11:14:59 AM
     They sure did a fantastic job  :aok