Detailed reference needed for Panzers

[A.Alston]

Hello,
I have been building some model Panzers of late and have become quite curious as to the use of the various tools and gadgets strapped to the hulls of these tanks.

Is there a website that anyone knows of were I can find some diagrams of these vehicles that points out details and shows what all these little gadgets are for?

As an example: There is a wooden crate usually strapped to the hull of a German Tiger just above the machinegunner/radio operators position, what is in this crate, ammo for the MG-34?

And what about that odd trapezoid object on the rear hull of the Tiger right between the two exhaust pipes?

I have a pile of questions like these, if anyone knows of a place that explains this stuff I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,
A.Alston

[Panzerbasics]

Is there a website that anyone knows of were I can find some diagrams of these vehicles that points out details and shows what all these little gadgets are for?

Don't know if there is a single site that will answer all your questions. So this topic might be the place to ask the rest of them also.

There is a wooden crate usually strapped to the hull of a German Tiger just above the machinegunner/radio operators position, what is in this crate, ammo for the MG-34?

Your "Wooden Crate" is not a crate but a jack block. These are usually two pieces od wood held together by steel straps. Imagine you have to jack up a wheel on a Panzer and find that the wheel remains in position, whilst the foot of the jack disappears into the ground; That is when the block is placed under the jack.

And what about that odd trapezoid object on the rear hull of the Tiger right between the two exhaust pipes?

On Tiger 1, there is an armoured cover in front of the crank shaft.
When the engine needs to be started other than with the electrical starter, this plate is removed and your starter plate placed at that position. It guides the crank handle or external starter to an inertia starting device. There is a separate "Key" hole, to engage this.
Later versions of the plate have two large holes due to upgraded engine.

Hope it helps,

Rob

[Nick Komiya]

What looks like a crate is a solid wooden block as a jack base. The device in the back is an attachment with a socket used to start the engine. The Book series Achtung Panzer covers such things in detail with many illustrations.

[Greg]

Or, join the Missing Lynx site http://www.missing-lynx.com/ with its discussion groups for armor of different countries, large gallery of models built, etc.

Best,
Greg

[recceboy]

A.Alston

Shoot me a PM and will help you out. I am an ex tanker who knows tank tools and I have a collection of them as well.

Anthony

[A.Alston]

Thanks a bunch guys, I appreciate the help. I have managed to find some info about a few of the tools in a book as well, but it didn't tell about the jack block or the crank shaft cover.

There are two main ones that are still boggling me. The first is this small canister that seems to be mounted on every tank, assault gun, and armored car I build. Its about the size of an Heer gas mask can with an odd fitting on top. I've come to assuming this is a fire extiquisher, but seems like that would be mounted inside the tank or at least in a spot easy to reach from a hatch.

The other is the little round hatch that is on the top of several tanks and assault guns. It is too small for a man to fit through and appears to have a smaller round piece in the center of it. I saw this labeled as a "personal defense weapon" in one reference but it gave no explanation and didn't make much sense how that would work. It looks like something a gun sight would pop out of, but its often not in a good spot to work for this function so it has me confused to its purpose.

[steverobertsbbc]

The thing that looks like a fire extinguisher is in fact... a fire extinguisher. It's usually called the Tetra extinguisher. Good thread with pics here: http://armourworkshop.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=278
The reason it was mounted on the engine deck was so that it was close to hand in case of engine compartment fires - the engine compartment being separated from the crew compartment internally.

The 'close defence weapon', Nahverteidigungswaffe, was a small, angled rotating port from which smoke bombs could be fired into the areas surrounding the tank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahverteidigungswaffe

[A.Alston]

Thanks a bunch for the reply and the links!

So that thing really is a defense weapon, I never would have guessed how that worked without the picture. And considering the engine fire thing, I now understand why the extinguisher is always mounted at the rear of the vehicle, and it makes perfect sense.

Thanks again everyone for the help, now I wont be scratching my head all the time as I'm building these things. I always like to understand what the parts are for when I'm putting something together.

[chucky555]

Jack Block

What looks like a crate is a solid wooden block as a jack base. The device in the back is an attachment with a socket used to start the engine. The Book series Achtung Panzer covers such things in detail with many illustrations.

I want to make a Panzer Block. What are the measurements? They appear to be about 300mm x 300mm, what is the thickness?

[me6_130]

Here you can see some detailed picsof the wooden base for a Panzer IV jack, it's 300mm x 300mm x 100mm:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...329122&page=38


Carles