Panzer II Turret

[Etienne B.]

Sir you are truly amazing !!

[johann mor]

What was the function of the two small pieces of tubing at the front of the seat? They don't seem to have any bearing on any other part of the frame even when folded.

The backrest fits on either end of the seat base but only folds down at one end.

[Eddietheboy]

Your Panzer is coming on a treat. One day it will be finished and you will have the best toy ever keep up the good work.

[Saufaenger kid]

I know nothing about tanks or any military vehicle but this has to be the most enjoyable thread I have ever read through on any forum, simply stunning work, I can't thank you enough for such utter enjoyment, your skills are outstanding.

Gary

[johann mor]

I know nothing about tanks or any military vehicle but this has to be the most enjoyable thread I have ever read through on any forum, simply stunning work, I can't thank you enough for such utter enjoyment, your skills are outstanding.

Gary

Gary and Eddie,

Praise indeed but I am only doing what I enjoy and realising that there are people out there that enjoy my pain is a real plus.

Jon

[Wilhelm]

Building a Panzer from scratch, incredible!! What workmanship!!

[steverobertsbbc]

What was the function of the two small pieces of tubing at the front of the seat? They don't seem to have any bearing on any other part of the frame even when folded.

This is just a guess, but it looks like the seat back could be pulled out and put into them, making a seat that would face into the body of the tank. Maybe just as simple as to allow the crew to face each other during meal breaks or something?

[johann mor]

I would think that originally, the operator sat facing the rear of the tank so that he would have a view out of the vision slot, he could raise and lower the aerial, adjust the radiator cooling shield and operate the radio. Maybe it was found that if he sat facing the front of the tank he could still do all of the above, albeit with greater difficulty but he was in a better position to help the commander with the functioning of the guns, passing ammunition etc. To do this and be able to exit the tank via the rear escape hatch the seat back rest, would need to fold down.
Pure speculation but who knows.

Jon

[W Petz]

Jon,

Absolutely amazing skills and workmanship you have. Not too many people have the patience and skill to build their own Panzer. I've enjoyed this thread from the start. I thnk the real pain will come when you try to get in out of your Panzer. I believe you stated that you are not a small lad....like most of the early Panzermanner.

Gary and Eddie,

Praise indeed but I am only doing what I enjoy and realising that there are people out there that enjoy my pain is a real plus.

Jon

[dragnet]

Jon, keep going bud I'm always interested to see how your work has progressed

[Tony T-S]

Oh no, now I've got to wait for more posts. Speechless, which is saying something for me. And I thought my 1:16 scratch interiors were complicated. You're building a working tank!!! Standing ovation here.

However are you going to do the tracks? Are you having them cast?

[johann mor]

Evening All,

The ammunition for the MG34 machine gun, in the early versions of the Panzer ll, was loaded into saddle drum magazines, these were stored along the hull side behind the driver.

The saddle drums were expensive to manufacture, bulky to store and apparently they had a tendency to cause stoppages, so later models were supplied with Gurtsacs to hold the ammunition. A canvas bag with a steel top, it was still quite complex but easier to store and cheaper to manufacture.

[johann mor]

The Gurtsacs were stored in the same area as the saddle drums but the storage method was far simpler to manufacture, being just a horizontal lip that the Gurtsacs slipped over. You can just make it out on the picture below.
The above picture is from the Tank museums Ausf F and as I have no pictures of the interior of a Ausf C with the MG34 ammunition stored in Gurtsacs I have had to base my work on the information that I have.

[johann mor]

Bolted to the upper left hand side of this structure, would have been a carrier for the radio operators gas mask canister.

That's all folks.

Jon

[johann mor]

Evening All,

I am trying to finish all the components in the area around the radio operators seat. The loading plan shows the gas mask container holder, a water bottle or feldflasche holder ( marked in blue) and a bracket to hold the morse code key (marked in red).

You can see the morse key and the water bottle brackets on these two internal pictures in the panzer ll at the tank museum.