I’'ve got the Fruil tracks for my StuG III WIP from Lou Sterner Armour Models here in the UK (he is highly recommended if you need Fruils in the UK). I’ll be assembling them tomorrow so the Stug will be 90% complete by the end of the weekend. All I’ve left to do is paint the M. Wittman Commander figure and when the 46 LPI finescale chain arrives from Lou early next week the build will be totally complete!
In the meantime I’l be cracking open my new DML Panther G to see what’s what and start a bit of cleanup etc. What I would like to do with the Panther (and maybe the StuG) is to mount some T-34 track links on the outer turret walls and any other vunerable spots. Unfortunately Lou only has complete Fruil kits in boxes and no open boxes of links so he can’t sell me any. I’m certainly not going to buy a full box of T-34 Fruil links particularly as Russian armour isn’t my thing and I don’t have any future plans for a Russian build.
I’ve posted a thread on another UK based site to see if one of my buddies on there have a few spare T-34 links that they could sell to me. I’ll track some some down from somewhere! Even Vinyl tracks cut to size might do it?
My question is: how would the Germans have fixed these spare links to their turret armour for example? Would they have welded them on, bolted them on, hung them on or used whatever they could have at the time to fix them in place…?
For the Panther, they typically didn’t use T-34 track links as extra armor…they used Panther links. [;)] You’ll often see Panther Gs with extra links on the sides of the turret for example but they didn’t attach them to the hull since the hull already had sloped armor and adding links would’ve negated their benefit, not helped in the protection. Something to think about. When they did attach them to the sides of the turret, they used small hooks welded around the top of the turret edge and hung the links there. Had the added advantage of allowing the links to be used as spares as well as providing some added protection.
For StuGs, they typically tack welded them or used similar small hooks depending on where they were mounted.
Wing Nut: Last time I looked the UK was slightly closer! [;)] Tbh I’ve not sent anything abroad so was expecting it to cost a fortune-I’ve checked and it’s not! Many thanks buddy, pm on it’s way…
wBill: Thanks for that info. I’ll be using Fruil tracks on my Panther so the spares will be hung on the turret and the T-34 tracks from WingNut will go on my StuG.
Probably. I read the the metal in tracks is actually softer thereby making it easier for the round to get a “bite” and not just bounce. and rubber tracks- fuggedaboudit.
On Shermans I think it was a case of it didn’t really matter much since the armor by itself couldn’t stop rounds to begin with, especially when those rounds came from a Panther or Tiger whereas the armor on the Panther could hold up on its own. Accounts abound as to how shocked the US Sherman crews were in terms of how easily the armor could be penetrated at range when they first went up against German armor vs. what they’d been told about their vehicles’ capability. Hence the many different styles/approaches to add-on armor from concrete to sand bags to spare tracks.
Hi Hinsky, I have some photos of Stag III. Want to share. Perhaps can be useful… The next one has a extra tracks in the wheel section on hull side… Also gunner periscope…color looks like is a original…but edged…dust, dirt on some chipping ideas…
A bit off topic but still within the realms of armor- I have read (on wikipedia) that a Sherman’s gun could penetrate the side armor on a panthers hull. Is this true? It did not mention if this was a 75mm AP round or a 76mm HVAP round…
Apparently for the out-gunned Sherman crews it was an attempt to elevate a sense of security while projecting an image of macho aggressiveness to the enemy.
The next one has a extra tracks in the wheel section on hull side… 
Also gunner periscope…color looks like is a original…but edged…dust, dirt on some chipping ideas… 
