I noticed that if I look at the chassis from the underside, the axles the wheels attach to, are not symetrical to each side, the left is offset somewhat, I seem to recall this on some very old Tamiya kits, but I don’t recall the reason…
…seems to me having wheels that aren’t symetrical would be aproblem, are the built models different, do I have a defective kit or what??
Are you referring to the axles alligning in different directions (on the left side of the chasis from the right side). If so, it is correct for the Panzer III Chasis.
On most real tanks with torsion bar suspension one side is mounted a bit forward of the other, just so the bars can lay side by side across the hull.
so in reality, the wheels are not symmetrical, like on an automobile…I never knew that!
Obviously the tank designers know something I don’t, but it seems to me it’d make turning to one side easier than turning to the other…
Is this the same reason why Tamiya’s Tiger I Late Version which comes with indy tracks uses only 99 links on one side and 100 on the other (as written in the manual and as I discovered it by myself when I assembled the tracks without reading the manual)?
Dwight,
First, I’m not sure that there is a consensus as to how many individual tracks were on each side of the Tiger 1. It seems that each reference I consult has a different number of tracks.[?] I have read anywhere from 100 on both sides, to 96 on both sides, and what seems to be every conceivable combination in-between. I imagine that the reason the Tamiya kit has a different number of tracks on each side is because of the track tension mechanisms attached to the idler wheel. The idler wheel could be moved to adjust the tension of the tracks. Indeed, perhaps the number of tracks varied from tank to tank depending on how the crew set the tension.
I do not think that the different number of tracks would be due to the offset of the torsion bars for the suspension. Even though the torsion bars are not lined up, I do believe that the wheels were symmetric on both sides. I just eyeballed it with a ruler on a cad drawing I have, so I could be wrong here too.
Hope this helps, but remember that I may be wrong on both accounts here.[:D]
Thanks for your info edog.
Even if the road wheels were off set a little from each other, the drive sprockets would probably have been in line with each other as they were both connected to the transmission. The idler wheels might or might not have been even as they were tensioned individually. Since the road wheels were riding in the closed loop of the track, it should not have mattered if they were across from each other or not. The only effect I can see in having one side 100 and the other 99 links long is that (all else being equal) the short side would wear out one one hundredth faster than the long side. Hmmm, I think I’ve been thinking about this waaaay too much!
Bill
don’t know about the stug but wipw is right about the offset. its for the torsion bars. and that is the reason for shorter track on one side.