After having finished a couple of oversize tanks I decided I would like to do a smaller one and I have landed on the Pz I Ausf F.

This thread will contain progress.

Theres plenty of information on the Pz I Ausf F on the net soo I will keep it brief. The Minenknacker ("Mine Cracker") was a dead end developmentof the Pz I resulting from an apparent "need" for a heavy shellproof tank that would support breakthroughs of heavily fortified areas.

1939 saw the start of the project which would have big fat tracks and 80mm of armor in front, 50 mm in the side and was invulnerable to AT weapons of the period. It had wide tracks, torsion bar suspension and two MG 34s in the turret.

30 units were produced throughout 1942 even though the context the design was supposed to address had all but dissappeared (Maginot Line type activities).

As is usually the way, tanks that are badly designed or obsolete ended up in nefarious "police" type duties in partisan areas of the eastern front where the Ausf F did fairly well. A battalion of the tanks was supposed totake part in the invasion of Malta but that didnt work out in the end.

Its a nice tank as it loads of features that pop up in later designes (torsion bars, overlapping wheels, the vision block is very Tiger esque etc etc.).





My plan is to, as usual, make it from scratch as much as possible and from steel. Given the size, it will need a custom gearbox. Which may be a problem.

The wheels will be an issue too...... they have spokes and the two outer wheels have a weird cake tin scalloped hubcap type arrangement. Some compromises will have to be made I reckon. It will also be tough to fit a standard sized 7.4 volt battery in there as it is too long. I may have to seek an alternative battery type.

I got hold of a nice set of Tiger Transport tracks from Asiatam for a great price and they are just about the right width and appearance give or take a mm or two.

I started forming the hull last night and will hopefully keep things up to date more or less.

P