After some sage advice from this forum, I decided to ditch The Tamiya Panther Ausf A and go with a Tamiya King Tiger instead. I want to have ammunition being loaded, I have seen some dioramas where the ammo is being passed through the open commanders cupola. Could you do the same thing through the open rear escape hatch ? My idea for the diorama was to have the turret bustle over to the right side of the vehicle, with the 88 ammo being passed through the open escape hatch. As the ammo racks are right there, with fuse end facing forward, it would seem more logical to me. Another question, would the crew have to move the remaining ammo from the racks to use the escape hatch ? Seems like you would have to clamber over the ammo racks to get to the hatch ?
There was enough space btn the racks to clamber out of the rear in an emergency. I think it was standard to load from the loader’s hatch and not the rear because the shells were meant for easy access out towards the front (and therefore loading from the front would be easier too). But again, I don’t think it’d be an issue if someone were to place a bunch of rounds on the turret rear floor, awaiting the loader to put them on the racks.
If you were the crew man lifting the heavy 88mm ammunition would you rather lift it another 4 feet or just pass it through the escape hatch? The King Tiger was a large machine, just getting the rounds to the engine deck would be a laborious task requiring two strong crew members. Not saying the men were lazy, just a typical person would find the easiest, quickest way to accomplish their job.
Actually, 88mm rounds aren’t that heavy, only about 32 pounds…
we loaded 105mm rounds and 152mm rounds from the left side into the loader’s hatch. i’m pretty sure we loaded the shilleleagh missiles the same way. of course the m60a2 loader’s hatch was not at the top of the turret.