Panzer 1b build (plus what is that pipe from the glacis doing?)

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I have the Empress Miniatures Panzer IB with Breda autocannon upgrade kit and wondered what the pipe running from the glacis/transmission cover was for, and where it leads to?


The white metal pipe can just be made out in the lower left side of the bag, the mounting point is the large socket on the glacis.

Them leicht Panzers at war book has very few photographs of the right side of the Panzer I, one of which has a crewman standing in the way and no overhead shots or plans.

Searching on Google yields vey little, there seems to be a superstitious aversion to photographing the right side of this tank. Where there is a photograph of that side, it generally disappears behind the aerial holster (which I am going to have to build from scratch).

I did find this plan on Wikipedia (for what it is worth).
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panzer-I-B-plans.png

So does anyone know what it is, and does it disappear into the hull or just lie there?

Thanks in advance.

[carlos marighela]

My google-fu is strong

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I am glad it is not just me who cannot find photographs of the right side of real Panzer Is ^__^.

The model shows it disappearing behind the aerial, is that where it ends?

The Tank Museum command version only has the hole in the deck.

The one in Madrid has a pipe ending before the superstructure, and one of the Russian ones has it apparently going behind the aerial holster (no idea what that is really called). Most of the other ones on the Surviving Panzer I pdf are unclear or have either the bend only or a hole in the glacis.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I have misaligned the track. Joy.

Note to anyone assembling one of these, attach the superstructure to the body first. Also use epoxy not superglue

[Captain Blood]

Oh dear. Good luck sorting that out 

[Ballardian]

 Intruiging! I hadn't previously considered what that bit of pipework was - with the engine at the other end it shouldn't be anything to do with it - & yet it's often depicted with the sort of cloth wrapping you find on pipework that gets hot (like the exhaust) - when I get a chance to peruse a few textbooks, (Panzertracts etc) I'll see if I can come up with an answer.
  In the meantime, here are a few pics showing where it goes etc. (It does appear to stop dead just under the aerial trough.)
 Misaligning resin tracks are a bit of a bugger (I did the same with my Comet) - I managed to gradually break the bond with a scalpel, but it did result in some repairs being necessary - if they put a couple of locating pins on each side it would help avoid the problem.

[Lowtardog]

I have misaligned the track. Joy.

Note to anyone assembling one of these, attach the superstructure to the body first. Also use epoxy not superglue

Would a bit of shrubbery, camo help hide it, a bit like this

[Rich H]

Are you on about the antenna stowage?  The aerial folds down into it.  Common on many tanks...

[MartinR]

No, the antenna stowage rail is quite different, the Op means that great big pipe sticking in the glacis plate behind the headlamp.

Bearing in mind these things were training tanks and never originally intended to fight anything, could it be:

1. An Armoured pipe carrying electrical cables from the engine forward.
2. An Armoured pipe carrying fuel back to the engine...

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Are you on about the antenna stowage?  The aerial folds down into it.  Common on many tanks...

That is the "holster" mentioned above (the SDKFZ253 has a similar device but on the Panzer I you can see how it is rotated).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Excellent, that is the best view so far..

It shows it going under/behind the "axle" of the bottom of the aerial. My assumption is there is a lever in the driver's area that rotates the axle, lifting end of the arrival up.

So I need to build the aerial and trough (which will hide the gap on that side) and then tuck the end of the pipe behind it.

Excellent.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Would a bit of shrubbery, camo help hide it, a bit like this

Thankfully it is not that bad, less than a millimetre probably. The gaps between the superstructure, hull and track units should be filled using Milliput. I might have to file the bottom of the tracks to make it stand flat on the ground.

Empress uses an interesting resin that loves superglue. From my experience with the T90, nothing short of a razor saw or chemical superglue remover would move it. Like the T90, I think I can hide the problem (the T90 looks like the driver has performed a crash stop).

http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/t90.html

Thanks for all the help. I should have some more progress tomorrow.

The quest for what the pipe is continues...

Suggestions on a post ^___^

[Westfalia Chris]

I think that on the actual vehicle it continues beneath the glacis plate and links up with the transmission gearbox, and I seem to recall it is a ventilation tube used to evacuate hot air from the transmission, which along with the engine proved to be inadequate for the fully-armoured vehicle (i.e. with enclosed top and turret). I seem to recall this was discussed in a Spielberger book on the subject.

Overheating transmissions were apparently a common occurrence with various types of Panzers, often so in Russia when frozen running gears and engines had to be de-iced and the gearboxes ventilated to render them operable.

Later pics of Panzer Is often only show a curved section of pipe directly opening to rearward above the glacis plate, so it could be as simple as that, but I am unable to provide a direct source right now.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

So, as mentioned earlier, I have misaligned the tracks and the resin is extremely resistant to superglue bonds being broken.

The right hand side gap will be hidden by the aerial trough.


The front and left hand side will require careful filling.




And here it is with the turret added (and some Rubicon jerry cans for stowage)..