Gruber's "Little" tank
Apr 27, 2007
 

When I started building the Hetzer, I started to like the layout of this tank. It's vintage looks start to grow on me, and it's role in the beginning of the war was somewhat crucial.

The annexation of Czechoslovakia allowed Germany to put the Czech tank into service. It's main advantage was mobility, although the main gun could make a fair amount of damage, making this tank very suited to roles that otherwise would be destined to the much inferior, and by that time obsolete,  Panzer I.

Recently Tristar (A Chinese brand) started to offer two variants of this tank. The quality of the kits is outstanding. The crisp detail and accurate dimensions can produce excellent models in every respect.

I've managed to get a G variant from Tristar and I have to say that after  the first look I believe that It's one o the best examples of modern plastic kits that I have.

Of course, being an aftermarket freak I managed to find a couple of thing for it.

Armorscale, a Polish brand, makes the most exquisite barrels for 1/35th scale and one of them is precisely the machine gun used in these Czech tanks.

The command variant had only one (turret) but the combat variant had another one in the hull.

Much better option than creating the same barrel using plastic rod and brass rings from the Aber PE Set.

The other item ordered was in fact the Aber gun barrel.

It's for the Tristar kit and it shows an amazing degree of detail and quality down to the riffling on the inside.

Last but not the least, the excellent Praga engine from CMK. Since the kit can be assembled with the engine doors open, one has to put something inside, right?

Nothing better than a completely detailed interior from CMK.

Other details include the exterior Photo Etch set from Aber and eventually a set of Bison decals for it.

Why so much aftermarket parts you may ask?

The way to create distinctive models it's precisely in the details. Like Frank Lloyd Wright used to say - God is in the details.

Of course if you mess the paint work or if you build poorly, there's no aftermarket part on Earth that can help you, but if you invest in these items you have to be sure you can keep up producing good models.

I hope I can.

Building starts
15-04-2007

Today I started the Pz 38.

All the after market parts on the table the instruction manual open and the definition of the building strategy was accomplished in 30 minutes.

The only thing I'm not sure about is which version and color I'm going to do. I have 3 options - Dunkelgelb, German Grey or Green. I'm not doing the green one because I don't like this version and because it's not a German vehicle.

The choice lies between a grey or a yellow version. The kit includes the parts needed for the command version of the tank with it's huge overhead antenna, but I'm afraid that doing a German grey vehicle needs some skills to enhance the final model that I'm not familiar with right now.

The CMK engine looks very promising. Good detail and odorless resin. The casting blocks are huge but my faithful Dremel and a cutting disc takes care of that. I the middle of a dust cloud it takes just a few minutes to get rid of those huge chunks of resin.

   

 

 

 

 
   

There are not many parts, but I have to build a convincing replica of the engine because I plan to put two mechanics doing some maintenance work, Of course, the engine doors will be wide open and these two guys will be working on the engine bay.

If you see photos of a close engine model you'll know that I failed miserably on the engine or on the figures (lol).

Although this engine is for the Tamiya kit, the bulkhead fits the Tristar kit perfectly. I had to "convince" it to stay straight using hot water, but very little can be seen after building the engine compartment, so there's no need to be very meticulous.

It produces a very good effect and even more with the engine painted with all the Photo Etch parts for the radiator and engine.

Building of engine
18-04-2007

The fitting of parts is quite good but there's some slight warp on the fenders. Gluing them needs some care so that they wont be out of alignment when the glue dries.

The engine is another matter. The casting block are huge and some parts are very difficult to cut from them. I'm using the thinnest disc from Dremel but a thin modeling saw is probably a better choice. The chances of ruining something with a power tool are very high.

However the result seem to be adequate for what's intended. I'll build the tank with open hatches and mechanics doing some maintenance job on the engine. It's the Maintenance Crew set from Tamiya and I could see just by looking at the figures that they'll need some modifications before painting. If all else fails there's always the unavoidable resin high quality figures from other makers. Not that I want to spend more money, but some things need to be done. eh eh

What will be used in this kit

CMK Praga engine detail set (3049)
Aber Metal Barrel (35L53)
Aber Poto Etch set (35048)
Armorscale MG barrel (B35-011)


Aber
CMK
Armorscale


The Panzer 38(t) was a conventional pre-World War II tank design, with riveted armor and rear engine.

The riveted armor was not sloped, and varied in thickness from 10 mm to 25 mm in most versions. Later models (Ausf E on) increased this to 50 mm.

The two man turret was centrally located, and housed the tank's main armament, a 37 mm Skoda A7 gun with 90 rounds stored on board. It was equipped with a 7.92 mm machine gun to the right of the main ordnance. Interestingly, the turret machinegun was in a separate ball mount rather than a coaxial mount. This meant the machinegun needed to be trained on targets independently, rather than being aimed with the main gun. The driver was in the front right of the hull, with the bow machine gunner seated to the left, manning a 7.92 mm machine gun. As with many 1930s tanks, the bow gunner was also the radio operator. A total of 2,550 rounds were carried for the bow and coaxial machine guns.

The engine was mounted in the rear of the hull and drove the tank through a transmission with five forward gears and one reverse gear. It drove a forward drive sprocket, with the track running under four rubber tire road wheels and back over a rear idler and two track return rollers. The wheels were mounted on a leaf-spring double-bogie mounted on two axles. Despite the large wheel size, the tank did not use a Christie suspension.

 



In 1935, the Czechoslovak tank manufacturer ČKD were looking at as replacement for the LT-35 tank they were jointly producing with Škoda Works. The LT-35 was complex and had shortcomings, and ČKD felt there would be orders both from the expanding Czechoslovak army and for export.

ČKD decided to use a suspension with four large wheels for their new tank. It resembled the Christie suspension outwardly, but was actually a conventional leaf spring unit. The resulting vehicle was reliable, and an export success: 50 were exported to Iran, 24 each to Peru and Switzerland. Latvia also ordered some. Britain evaluated one tank, but rejected it.

On July 1, 1938, Czechoslovakia ordered 150 of the TNHPS model, although none had entered service by the time of the German occupation. After the German takeover, Germany ordered continued production of the model, as it was considered an excellent tank, especially compared to the Panzer I and Panzer II tanks that were the Panzerwaffe's main tanks. Production of tanks for Germany continued into 1942, and amounted to more than 1,400 examples. Examples were also sold to a number of German allies, including Hungary (102), Slovakia (69), Romania (50), and Bulgaria (10). In German service the 38(t) was used as a substitute for the Panzer III.

A modified Panzer 38(t) chassis was also the basis for a number of self-propelled gun mountings and tank destroyers, including the highly successful German Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer tank-destroyer.

The Panzer 38(t) was manufactured up to the middle of World War II. Manufacture ceased because the small turret wasn't capable of taking a weapon big enough to destroy the latest tanks. However, because the chassis was mechanically reliable, turretless versions were built with a weapon mounted on the superstructure. Assault guns, anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns were mounted on the chassis. A Swedish variant, the Sav m/43, remained in use until 1970, which is probably a longevity record for a pre-WW2 tank.



Panzer 38(t) Aus. A-C

General

  • Role: Medium tank
  • Crew: 4

Armament and armor

  • Main armament: 37.2 mm Skoda A7 (L/47.8) gun with 90 rounds
  • Secondary armament: 2 x 7.92 mm MG 37(t) (Model 37) machine gun with 2,550 rounds.
  • Armour: front 25 mm, side 15 mm

Power and weight

  • Engine: Prage EPA Model I inline six-cylinder liquid cooled petrol
  • Transmission: 5 forward, 1 reverse
  • Power: 95 kW (126 hp)
  • Weight: combat: 9.5 tonnes, dry: 8.5 tonnes
  • Power/Weight: 10 kW/metric ton (13.0 hp/short ton)

Performance

  • Speed: 56 km/h (35 mph)
  • Range: 200 km (125 miles)

Dimensions

  • Length: 4.61 m
  • Width: 2.14 m
  • Height: 2.40 m


 

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