This will be built out of 1.5mm steel and whatever else comes to hand. Tracks will be PzIII I reckon as they are a reasonable approximation and especially as the Romanians were getting stuff from the German factories.

Dividing it into two major pieces, top hull and bottom hull, I set off laying out, cutting and shaping the bits I needed. 

The next major challenge was gettingthe top hull bits together as they form a weird turtle like carapace that is not amenable to normal work holding methods I use like welding magnets etc.

In the end, I just laid them out flat and slowly adjusted them until they all came together. I used brass rod to beef up the joins and form a backstop for the inevitable gobs of filler Im going to need to smooth things over.

Sorry for the scabby nature of the photos.

Pleased with the result. Scabby it is but more importantly it lies flat and there are no obvious wonky bits or "thresholds" from one panel to the next which are always a pain to fix.

Curiosity being what it is, I had to check if the top was ever going to line up with bottom. If not...scrapbin is the next destination.

I wiped off the worst of the mess and lined up the main panels of the bottom bit in the corresponding locations. As luck would have it...I reckon Im half a mm out in some of the lengths and maybe half a degree on an angle or two which is more than acceptable for me. Pleased as can be with that. Assuming my measurements are correct.

That looks neat! Nice work. 

Guess the slab-sided look is a little easier to replicate than the cast designs the Allies used as the war ground on. As far as I can tell from here everything looks nice and square. 

You Know;

 The " Hetzer" always reminded me of a Rhinoceros Beetle with a Bad attitude!!

Gamera

Guess the slab-sided look is a little easier to replicate than the cast designs the Allies used as the war ground on. As far as I can tell from here everything looks nice and square. 

It is Im afraid. Casting is out from my side due to a lack of any experience and the lack of any capacity. The wife wouldnt be too happy about molten aluminium and green sand flying around the spare bedroom!!

Its a shame really..... there are a lot of nice tanks that require casting something.

P

Super work. Interesting vehicle.

I did some reading following your post. The first four had the 122mm howitzer, presumably somewhat the same as that of the SU-122. Not a direct fire weapon and not capable of using AP ammunition. The latter prototypes did use a higher velocity direct fire weapon, similar to a PAK-40.

What's really different is the armor. Sources list the armor as 10-20mm thick. The Hetzer is listed at about 10-60 mm and the Stg 3 at 20-80 mm.

It that sense the 'Maresal" was a tin can. 

Bill

I guess the ferocious slope on the sides of the casemate would increase the effective thickness to something less butt clenching?

All the same..... I wouldnt fancy sitting in one myself.

P

It didnt go entirely to plan however as when I placed the hull on the tub, there was a 2 mm gap which I dont know the cause for (apart from being bad at measuring).

So the rear back plate had to come off and the lower hull had to be reshaped and then resoldered.

And after that it all lined up nicely.

p

Next were the suspension assemblies. These were striking me as a waste of time as they are essentially non-visible but I need some kind of suspension as the tank is supposed to move in the future..

The assemblies were tricky as there are a number of bits: a mounting plate on the side of the hull, multicomponent swing arms, the spring mount and the springs themselves.

To start, I approached the mounting plates. I first cut out some rectangles of 2mm steel and squared them all up. I need four but made six as there will be some casualties along the way.

There are then three important holes - two that line up (hope so at least) with the marker holes on the hull and which form the pivots for the swing arms and a central hole which forms the bottom mounting point for the spring holder. So I marked off the positions and drilled and chamfered the holes.

Then some corners needed to go so I marked the lines off and used a bit of square tool steel as an edge to file against.

Then there were some curves which I simply roughed out with a Dremel cutting wheel and finished off with a half round file. I then lined all four up using the two placer holes and made sure they were all the same (!) by filing all at once.

The basic part of the swing arms is relatively simple, its a rectangle with two holes at the centres of two radii, one on either end.

I cut out the rectangles (more than I need) and marked off the two holes necessary.

I then used a hardened filing button to put the curves on each end of the swing arm.

p

The holders for the springs were a bit fiddly. I cut out the basic shapes from some brass bar stock and the drilled the one important hole in each one as this acts as a reference point.

I then stuck them in the vice and filed out a deep slot to a cetain depth. The slot is too deep but I will shorten the arms of it once I know how deep it should be. 

Once I did figure that out I simply shortened the arms and fashioned a cap for the arms from 2mm steel. This was then silver soldered to the arms and forms the top of the holder.

The springs are being made from junior hacksaw blades which are already hardened and springy.

I used a dermel wheel to cut off the required lengths using water to ensure they didnt too hot and mess the hardness up.

Then I used a mini belt grinder I was given for christmas one year . Dont use it very often but it works, the belts are cheap and available and it was suited to the job. Used it to grind off most of the teeth and round the edges. I think they cost like 20 euro on fleabay or alibaba or wherever. Quite nicely made little thing actually.

Then I stuffed some of the spring blades into the holder. I had to drill and tap the top cap for an M3 set screw to keep the springs where they should. These dont look great but they aint visible and they function as suspensions so Im OK with them.

It was time to start on the wheels which, for a nice change, there are only eight of. After much to-ing and fro-ing I decided on one guide horn Pz III tracks for simplicity. This was a mistake for a number of reasons. Mostly the sprocket being way to big.

So the wheels I made had a groove for that single horn. But then I discovered the sprocket problem which necessitated a change to a Sherman type sprocket. Which uses two guide horns (which the M-05 did in reality use) so the wheels I made were not suitable any longer. But I had an idea to pull back from the problem. I will get to that.

For the wheels, I am using a set of aluminium pulley type things from an old Hewlett Packard plotter thing (large sheets of paper) I think. Its been a few years since I got them. They had a plastic rim type of thing which had to come off and a plastic hub which also came off. Then all they needed were sanding and a minor trim here and there.

Around the outside, 36 0.6 mm holes were drilled. The actual wheels had a load of rivets or bolts or something around teh edges. Buying tiny rivets (300) from some modellbau is crazy expensive so Im using shirt pins which cost essentially nothing. They have a shaft diameter of 0.6 mm and I simply cut off most of the shaft and press fit them in. Tedious work indeed.

I then got brass discs I had from a previous project and just centre bored them to 3 mm. Then I drilled holes around teh edges and stuffed picture framers tacks into the holes. I trimmed off the pointy bits and simply peened the backsides.

Lengths of 6mm OD brass tube were cut with a tube cutter. These had to be soldered on dead centre to the back side of the brass discs. I centered the rotary table on the Proxxon and then inserted a centre (a deburrer actually) in teh chuck. This then allowed me to centre the brass tube over the centre hole on the disc. Then I soldered it on.

These hubs were then press fit into the aluminium wheels.

The way Im going to solve the slot bit is to just cut single tyres the entire width of the whole wheel . These tyres will be cut froma  black delrin pipe of the correct internal and external diameter. I will get back to that as I have not done it yet.

P

This is the current state of teh tank. I have some minor bits and pieces to finish on the hull but not much actually. 

The seams all need finishing with filler and sanding but that usually comes at the end. Everything on it is either stock diameter rod or tube. The louvred air vents are trimmed down heatsinks from a  PC I had scrapped. 

There are things like headlights to make, I bought a Notek light, and then the rest will primarily be the idlers and returns rollers as well as sorting out the internal bits related to the gear box etc.

I will get to those.

P

This is a really cool project. Will you end up making this motorized?

So cool! I hope you motorize her! 

Hello

I think I have spent a couple of hours per evening, 3 or 4 days a week for a few months I guess. Shaping the pieces takes the most time as I am not in possession of a mill or lathe. 

I got some more done - mostly bits and bobs for the top hull. Apart from cleaning and flling some holes - the top is done.

I mounted my wheels and the gearboxes. They all seem OK. The sprocket and track will be from a sherman. The sprocket should be unrecognisable as I can mod it into something approaching what the M-05 appeared to have but the track is what it is. 

I may in the future buy a set of metal sherman tracks and modify them by grinding off the chevrons/grousers or whatever. Its not really a concern for me as 99.9% of people who see the model will not know a sherman track from a chicken egg.

P

So she is motorized- very cool! And Sherman tracks sound fine by me. 

Hello 

Im finally finished (as far as I am concerned) with my Maresal. Some photos witha  Stug III for size comparison which is appropriate as it was against the Stug in tests that the Maresal caught the Germans attention. Now it goes in a box awaiting paint and electronics. Along with a worrying amount of other tanks I might add.

P

You Know;

       When I built for a lot of clients in the early years I built in metal. There's a ton of satisfaction in the finished product. and Operational? Kudos times 4, Plus based on your comments,your thread PROVES you don't NEED ( Although they would be nice to have) All the tools folks think you do. It caused by this strange Gene called a Desire to Create in Miniature. Luv it!

    Oh! and concerning your comment about Sherman Tracks and Eggs. I did a Crawler crane for a client. The Tracks were similiar to a Sherman's. I used the tracks from a D-9 Cat I had laying around.They loved it. Therefore, it proves that comment!

Having seen Nick Moran's Insidethe Hatch on Hetzer, I can't imagine how cramped that vehicle would be.

It's a gorgeous model and an exquisite build.

Amazing engenuity and craftsmanship! All the more so considering the tools used to accomplish this build. Thanks for sharing your work.

I'd never seen or heard of the Maresal, what in interesting design, I can see how it could have been a Stug killer. . I can see how it would have had a defensive advantage, if not flanked.

Totally love the Stug III BTW