Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan Moore
Morning,
So Chase, let us all in to your secret, what are you planning to build?
Jon
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I honestly don't know... I have don't have enough documentation on anything that makes me feel comfortable moving forward yet. I've narrowed it down to a few tanks and tried to focus my efforts on them.... I've been devoting a large part of my spare time (and spare $$$) to research for the last 3 years with no end in sight.
I'd like to build a replica of a tank that does not exist in the USA, or at least a tank that does not exist in private hands.
I'm very interested in the convertible drive tanks, such as the T3 Christie or the Russian BT Series. I have probably 50-60% of the documentation I would need to move forward on a BT-7... but dealing with Russian archives is an exercise in frustration... I've all but given up moving forward on these. The sole surviving T3 Medium is a "prisoner" at Ft. Lee... off limits to us mere peasants.
I'm also interested in the early British Cruisers, I have everything Bovington had on the A.10... I still wouldn't try moving forward without examining the original... but I'm not confident I could replicate the suspension... which means trying to source Valentine components... might not make me too popular with Valentine owners.
Almost no original documentation survives on the A.13 save for the operator's manual.
I have a decent amount of documentation on the Matilta I infantry tank, but I'm not sure I can physically cram my 6' 2" self into one... and casting a turret would be extremely difficult.
I'm currently focusing my efforts on the Czech LT Vz.38 and variants... Panzer 38(t), Panzerwagen 39, etc. I've requested that the Bundesarchiv in Freiburg digitize all of the manuals that they have for the 38(t) and the Hetzer... they have completed most of them and they are freely available for anyone to download. I'm also currently waiting for a bill from the archive in Prague for more documentation. There is a Marder III and Hetzer trapped at Ft. Lee, and 2 Grille in Oklahoma... but the Grille has very little left in common with a basic 38(t).
For the most part I'm trying to limit my efforts to a light or small medium tank, something with relatively thin armor... minimal castings or bent complex curved plates... with simple (preferably leaf-sprung) suspension.
My only non-tracked documentation project is the Sd.Kfz. 234 series, mostly focused on the 234/3. Very little information seems to be available... and there are only 3 survivors... all in relatively poor, incomplete condition. I know of a gentleman in Europe who claims to have 500 pages of photocopies of original blueprints... but I'm honestly afraid to reach out. I also feel like the suspension and steering actually make the 234 a more difficult project than a small tank.