~Thanks Kenny ~ It’s gunna sit by it self a couple months til the Dio is formed around it.
Indy
Indy, really nice clean build.
I have the same kit though it is the one with the Falshrimjager crew. You should get the RB models PAK 40 ammo set since it contains 9 turned brass warheads and 12 turned brass shell casings.
Hey thanks for that ! Sorry I missed that post entirely. I guess cause the Armor Forum posts move through so fast. I was just in review mode and found it. Nice.
~Mikey, thank you for the link for the ammo. The kit supplied ammo is pretty nice(4 brass rounds, and some plastic rounds & shells & ammo boxes & tubes too.) I’ll likely just go for the challenge of painting these up, as this has gottn to be an expensive build as-is.
~At this point, I’m developing a few custom figures to man my gun, by way of parts barrowed here & there,and sculpting the needed connecting areas. I need a man at the gunsight, but having him bent down to sight seemed to totaly hide him from view, and maybe even suggest I was trying to hide him, so I’m building a pose where he is watching for the rounds impact over the gunshield, while casually puffing a ciggy, to show him very unaware of the incoming attack of foot-soldiers. 
It took some doing to get this position, and it’s obvious it isn’t done yet. The next steps involve some epoxy-putty to the area below the belt, to re-form the bottom of the tunic entirely,as well as replacing some of the top part of the torso’s features, and maybe a change of boots too. 
The lower is from a Dragon tankriders set, the legs changed by heat-bend from an even position. The torso & arms from a nice (but boring) Platoon figure, except the whole upper-right arm which I formed from Milliput. The head is Alpine. Probablly with get some boots from Warriors, both to bulk him out a little, and because the ones he’s got are a bit puny(DML)and of a type seen more in the ETO. 
I’m working on another figure at the gun.This guy is the one holding the follow-up round as is always seen in any in-action shot. I’m trying to model a fieldgun in a loaded & ready-to-fire condition, but maybe not an up-close, fast-fire scene. Given that. the breech is closed, The barrel elevated slightly, and the follow-up-round-guy has taken a knee,and is waiting for word from the targeter. A commander & another crewman(at the front of the blog) stand nearby, both watching down-range. This figure is also from the DML tankrider set, hands removed and sleeves drilled out(still to decide on some new hands for him) the head is Warriors(a bit of wash on it so you can see his sour expression. 
Same cummy boots, naturally. ~I took my que for these from some actual action photos, but still adapted what I wanted with artistic licence, as a full-crew won’t be seen, Im saying in my story(at this point ,at the end of the campaign) some crewmembers have been killed-off and some replaced by varrious personel. Convienient, I know, but I usually like to take the route of mixing up the uniforms as much as possible for intrest, contrast & variety. Here’s a few of those Pak 40 crew shots from history : 
This one from Tunisia. See how "hidden’ the targeter is in there? Full crew lines-up for fast-reloads–my figure’s pose is close to man at front. I’m sure they we’re trained to take that knee, and wait behind the relative safety of the gunshield. 
These fellows in France. Sherman-hunting in Normandy, no doubt.
I found this dug-out set-up interesting, as Im sure there’s no way to get comforable manning one of these, but my gun-position is supposed to be a hasty one, so I couldn’t use this set-up. I’d say that gunner on the right better watch his hand, eh?
Question :anybody know details of the triggering mechanism of the Pak 40? It’ is a lever-type 0n top of the breech, yes? Access from either side? I would guess a pull-cord could be optional?
~Ok, I be back when I get these conversions looking like something. Thanks to ya, if your still there Mateys ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Indy
Coming along nicely Indy! The firing mechanic on the Pak 40 involved a push-button on the elevation wheel if memory serves me correctly (it’s either that or the traverse wheel) that the gunner would depress to fire the gun using a mechanical/spring firing pin. No lanyard/pull-cords used on this particular piece. HTH!
Cool project Indy. Some thing that immediately strikes out to me is that both figures’ have unnaturally long necks. You need to shrink down the neck stubs. They aren’t in normal human proportions to my eye.
And yes, the trigger is on the elevation wheel. Think about it: the Pak is supposed to be a pin point accurate weapon to KO enemy vehicles. The gunner needs very fine control and firing ability.
Keep up the good work: it’ll be nice to see more progress. This is cool
~ Bill ~ Thank you ,that definately helps. If it’s a button than a lanyard would be out.
~ Roy ~ Thanks for confirming about trigger ~ makes sense. Thanks for “cool project” I try. As for the neck thing…I’ve figured out it’s from a slight “fisheye” perspective I get with my cheap digi camara when I get in really close. I get better detail - but it costs me proportion, to demo the effect…here’s the original shot(note the odd perspective :you see both under the hat brim & the tops of the boot in one shot
This picture taken from farther-out and cropped/zoomed in post, softer detail, better proportion, neck looks fine
This guy too. If anything, I’d expect to hear the heads too big for the tiny DML body, but any less neck and the head will definately look too big! I’m greatful for your imput though and to have some other sets of eyes on this at this stage. Thanks again…Indy
I’ve made dragon’s pak 40 gun too, (in late version, undeployed), keep in mind that perhaps the muzzel break might be black from the constent fires.
T-rex touches upon a point that’s well-argued. Some modellers feel that excessive blackening of muzzles is overdone that in actuality, the fouling at muzzles is from the cleaning and swabbing to clear the tube of residue. Gotta remember that the 20th century saw the move away from black powder propellents.
I’m in the camp of minimal blackening if at all.
[#ditto] We have to remember as well that the gun barrels were painted in a specific heat-resistant lacquer primer before the DY or other base color was applied over it. This primer is a dark gray and has often been confused for soot blackening in pics that show a distinct color difference between the brake and the rest of the barrel. Some darkening on the insides of the muzzle brake would be appropriate given the physics of how the muzzle blast is directed out through the baffles but there’s no reason for the whole thing to be soot-black as is often depicted.
That all sounds about right from my research too. T-Rex, we have to take our que’s from the most experienced modelers,from all accounts, and available photos(and a number of posts most of have read on this subject~~ the German powder burned very efficiently and left nearly no visable fouling. That said, the G.P.(general public) does expect to see that blackened muzzle, and I’ve painted that way before and liked the dramatic look of it. It could be further argued that the constant bore-cleaning would scratch-up the muzzles top-coat, and what grime there was would certainly collect there, and a black dirty look inside the brake **definately looks right…**maybe even around the edges. The gun I’m modeling is suposed to be fairly new equipment, and not going to get alot of weathering anyways(though some of the other machines will) ~ Many Thanks for keeping the debates going on topic guys ! ~
Sculpted that missing area of his tunic and pressed in some equipment while at it, Not the most difficult sculpting task, but still not as easy as you think it will be beforehand. [](http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/41116/targeterrough.jpg)Here some thin slabs of Milliput(fine white) are layed in his lap, ect.
It's pressed & kneaded near flat to meet the belt. Breadbag is a 'painted spare'(DML)the straps of it softened to flush-up to the belt, pressed into putty [](http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/41116/breadbagcloseup.jpg)
Cigarette was added from some .013 brass wire, a drop of thin CA to the back, then snipped. This let me make sure I had a square-cut to it's front end, and just the right length. [](http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/41116/makeciggy.jpg)You can see the tunic between the legs here too. Not really going to be seen later.
**Smoking brass WILL kill you.** [](http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/41116/ciggycloseup.jpg)More shaping was done after the Milliput cured, with micro-files, dimond-needle-bits in the Dremel, and sandpaper. When somewhat happy with it, it was surfaced with Tamiya Liquid Putty, thinned with laquer thinner. [](http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/member_albums/41116/targeter2nd.jpg)I thought it might be more interesting to show it here on the gun *before* I primer........ Loads more to do...off to work now!Nice work Adam on the putty resculpting. Would never have thought of the brass tubing for the cigarette, but it achieves a nice in-scale effect! [tup]
Nice!!
I alwasy burned my lips when I smoked brass!
Seriously though looks great Adam!
~Thanks Bill ~ Yeah the wire just gives me something sturdy, the right size. Sure I could use a little styrene rod or streched-sprue, but I’d bend it, break it or melt it with thinner before I had it through painting !
~LOL~ Edmund [8D] (you aren’t talking about the iconic protopipe are you?)not that I know anything about anything like that. I’m old now…& married… & happily boring LOL~
Hi guys , guess what I just got? Yup**…Allied-Axis Issue 16**, including a Pak40 walkaround!!
…And I have to say new information has come to light, and sorry Roy(and Bill) but, that’s not the trigger on the elevation wheel, it’s an elevation travel-lock, as the gun would have to be placed in max-inclanation for limber so the muzzle didn’t drag in the dirt.
The RED arrow points out the Trigger(according to this widely respected publication), below it(not visable in pic)is a Safety. That makes the (GREEN arrrow) the Trigger-Guard. I had thought it was just to protect the gunner during recoil, but, ah ha…NO. It protects the gunteam from accidently destroying the WRONG tank, giving away thier position, and wasting ammo. The(BLUE) arrow DOES point out the Traverse Wheel & the (WHITE) arrow the Elevation Wheel and the (Yellow) arrow the lock-stop for the Ele-Wheel. {If YOU think about it Roy, that red button is WAY too easy to hit accidently} ALSO ! That LARGE HOLE in the trigger-guard was where the gunner routed the LANYARD through, from that trigger-lever(which kept his hand out of harm’s way.) The lanyard is clearly pictured in this Allied-Axis.
~ What else ? That canister on the left side…ISN"T pictured in ANY photos I’ve seen of this fieldpiece, in this book or anywhere else, with it’s cap, or without. so I’ll remove it from my gun.
The cleaning gear tube is located on the gunshield(bottom, right, not pictured). The box on the top center of the gunshield is for “oddments”, I read, such as a spare firing-pin & an oil can. As best as makes sense from all I’ve seen, the 4X Panaramic sight was stowed in another, smaller tube(with a likely small leather strap & buckle, not pictured here by me), located near it’s mount, on the left, inside of the gunshield. {I’d show these photos but these are the just the sort that someone might mind reproducing here, I reccomend you spend the $12 if you wanna build this gun. {Also some amazing shots of the Nashorn in use in this one}
Ok guys, thanks for trying, thanks more for your other comments…Indy
Indy,
Ironically, I have that exact same volume in my references but only paid attention to the sections on the Nashorn. Reading through the captions in my copy though, none of the information you mention is described there aside from the info on the box at the top for the oil can and the cleaning supplies in the lower tube. I’m not refuting what you are saying but I’m curious to know where you got the other details on the various gear and their use since it’s not in A&A #16? I wouldn’t be so quick to remove the cannister on the right side though, if you look on p. 69 you’ll see it’s very prominently there on guns captured in Feb. 1, 1945. This same cannister also shows up on RSO-mounted PaK 40s undergoing trials so it’s clearly not a post-war addition. [;)] While it doesn’t show up on every in-field shot of Pak 40s, it does show up in enough to justify it being there if you choose. From a quick survey of pics it would appear that earlier versions seem less likely to have it vs. older versions but there’s no clear-cut delineation there IMHO.
As far as information on the Pak 40, Nuts & Bolts #17 on the Marder III M describes the firing mechanism (the same mechanism was used on the regular Pak 40) as being integrated with the elevation wheel and connecting up to the firing lever via a Bowden cable. See pics, posted for discussion purposes only, below.
Looking good, INDY !!!
I’m not sure I agree that the stamped and perforated shield was a trigger-guard…much more effecient and smaller ways to protect the trigger than that large thing. All of my refs state that its primary function was a recoil guard…the holes are just there for saving material and lightening…Also agree with Bill about the mystery piece—many post-war examples of equipment have items missing or added that weren’t on the originals…
Looking Good !!!
I’ll soon be starting DML’s “Premium edition” (a misnomer: no turned aluminum barrel!) PaK 40 so I’m checking all the references here and online I can find. Here’s a website from a couple of guys who restore artillery pieces: good stuff here!
Hope it’s useful!
Hi Indy: I’m at a loss to where you see any reference to a lanyard-type triggering mechanism or the so-called “trigger guard” and from which the lanyard flows through the lightening hole cut into the recoil guard.
All German PAKs operated under the same system: a trigger button for the gunner.
Note that on the larger 8.8cm Pak 43/41 where the recoil guard is solid and the breech is about two feet behind the gunner’s head – how would they have arranged a lanyard pull mechanism?
I looked at the Allied Axis book you cited. The “lanyard” is a piece of errant string/twine. Note the junk jammed into the slide behind the breech.
Also along the lines of Bill’s discussion of the Bowden cable (which flows from the elevation wheel to a triggering box at the bottom left or below the breech), this same assembly is present on the 3.7cm Pak 36/37 and the 5cm Pak 38 and the 7.5cm Pak 97/38. It’s the silver cable that’s in the photo you cited Indy. As a matter of fact, pristine restored examples of all four are found in the Littlefield Collection. None have any evidence of any pull lanyards. All have a cable running from some sort of trigger on the elevation handle to some sort of triggering box beneath the slide.
I consulted photos that I have from a CD from Chris Toadman Hughes. However similar pics can be found here:
http://svsm.org/gallery/AT-guns
If you can cite some more sources, I’d be terribly interested in revising my info.