RC Tanks Australia Forum

Bergepanzer III Conversion

In my grand plan, May is Bergepanzer Build Month. Despite the flurry of web activity the Bergepanzer build has started. Actually, TWO builds (maybe 3) of the 'pickup tank' as my boys call it have started. How did a multiple build start? Well here's how....

The Bergepanzer III Juwa Conversion Kit

Believe it or not this was one of the first resin conversion kits I ever purchased and have only now got round to building it. At the time it was one of the cheapest kits available and remains so to this day.





Also around the same time Profiline also produced a Bergepanzer conversion kit which was more expensive but that kit to the best of my knowledge is now unavailable.



The Juwa kit contains both resin and brass parts along with some metal bolts and chain. Unlike Profiline kits there is an actual paper construction guide included which gives DIMENSIONS where needed.



What I like best about this kit is the distressed/weathered look of the wooden box along with the large wooden beams. I was inspired to build a berg from all the examples of heavily weathered and beaten up examples out there. The Profiline kit looked far too nice but it did have a much better crane assembly. When I finally got round to starting the build I must admit I was feeling a little tired of filling in resin imperfections. Unfortunately, for me there were a few areas on the resin parts that needed addressing. This is normal for ALL resin kits and by no means a reflection on the overall kit quality. Somewhere along the line I got it into my head - Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to replicate wood by actually using WOOD?

As a conversion the Bergepanzer is probably one of the easiest to do from scratch. There are many scratch built conversions in all scales out there on the web and in magazines. Basically just a big wooden box and a crane plonked on top of a Pz III chassis.

So...... ta-daa...



A Bergepanzer made of WOOD (she's a witch, BURN HER!). Using the Juwa parts as a guide it was very simple to recreate the wooden box out of wood and styrene. I had thought of using brass and may still do so. The problem with using brass angle is that the cheap stuff from K&S is folded and DOES NOT have a nice sharp right angle. MIlled brass angle from Albion metals would have to be used BUT it is not produced in the size needed. Suitable milled angle is available from some O/S stores but I doubt it will get here by the end of May.

Well it it May and as it was in 2011, it is Bergepanzer build month? Can't believe I started this 3 years ago.... Anyhows time to do something for myself and get back to some builds and bugger making electronic boards for all you unappreciative lot I'm going to let some machine do that for me now.

2 Bergepanzers on the go so that I can finally have some dedicated repair tanks on the battlefield. Starting today (or restarting today) here is the JUWA kit on what will be a late panzer iii chassis.







Pretty basic stuff up to this point, however the crane assembly will need some custom made clevises as the instructions for the JUWA build involve simply notching the brass tube.

Update again in hopefully a bit less than 3 years.....

Cheers all
KG

Clevis Assembly 101

Without a doubt the support arms for the crane need clevises of some type to allow for movement/adjustment in all 3 planes. The JUWA kit provides 4mm diameter brass tube for the support rods so I chose 5mm tube to make clevises from. I'll let the pics tell the story of how to make some up really quick.

















Clevises or should that be clevii DONE!!!

Cheers
KG

Oh yeah after 3 years the scratch built wooden bergepanzer top looks like this...



I have painted it like this as I plan to lightly spray the camo over the top such that the various shades of the wooden planks comes through (that is the idea anyway)

Peace bro..

Crane is assembled. With a few changes from the JUWA instructions. The clevii worked well as you can possibly see that the hull attachment points needed a slight angle (bout 10 degrees) this would be nigh impossible if the 4mm tube were simply notched. Also making sure that the nothes at both ends were at right angels would also of been tricky.

A new hook type attachment for the chain at the top of the main post was also made and there is a rubber O ring at the top just to keep it all in place.











Cheers
KG

Just time for a quickie today.....

Here are the beam fasteners. Again the JUWA instructions were for a lot less detail so this is what I came up with using some size 2 long shank hooks (whiting hooks), some brass strip and 1.2 mm blots, nuts, and washers.






The rush is on to get it ready by June 14th

Cheers
KG

And for today..... Some new headlights, hooks for spare track and a nifty little table to put stuff on...



Cheers
KG

As the JUWA berg is going onto a late PzIII chassis it will need a late muffler type and appropriate rear doors. The commercially available muffler looks great but I was a little disappointed with the actual product. The biggest issue is that the exhaust pipe bends are too tight to fit the supplied resin back doors and are not long enough to put the muffler in the right position. If I was to do this again I would forget about the resin back doors and so that the muffler could sit in postion without the pipes being a factor. BUT the resin back is there so off came the pipes for a rework.

There is no mounting bracket supplied for the muffler and because of the conical rivets the main body must sit off the back plate. Yah for trusty styrene scrap. I used some scrap to mount and will fasten the main body to the hull using screws for a stronger /safer attachment.









With the mount for the muffler set I can keep going with the build and fashion those tricky pipes a little later

Cheers
KG

Due to a severe lack of time I really need to cut down on the detailing. But I had two Aber clasps already made up so I put them on the tool box. I'll probably fit some Voyager clamps on some tools, again just because they are already made up.



It wouldn't be a PzIII without a rack of some sort on the back. Because of the crane a small rack right towards the back of the hull would be most appropriate.



I designed the rack specifically for the snug fit of extra jerry cans.



I think the upper hull is ready for painting. The tools I will add afterwards.

Cheers
KG

First up for painting was the Juwa resin box which was previously just sporting a light grey undercoat. There is is now sitting next to the real wood box for the second bergepanzer



I used my favourite method of painting wood which I gleaned from some model railroading source. It is quite easy and quick and gives I think nice results.

In a nutshell using the Floquil range of model railroad paints

1. Over a light grey undercoat apply another "undercoat" of Foundation colour and let dry (24hrs)

2. Use either Roof Brown or Railroad Tie Brown (or even mix the two together) and prepare a wash so that it is almost like a stain. Paint/stain a few individual boards with you intial mix.

3. Vary that mix by adding a light grey or a different brown and stain a few more boards

4. Repeat step 3

5. Keep repeating Step 3 until ALL boards are painted.

6. Apply a standard black wash

(The box above is at this step)

7. Get some sand paper and 'rough up' some boards to expose the foundation underneath. If you go too hard then the grey will show which is fine also

8. Choose a wood colour and make up another thin mix - using a spray gun spray the entire piece to help with blending in all the colours.

Cheers
KG