I am looking for ANY pictures or information concerning mounting spare track links on the upper hull beside the driver's port and beside the MG. I have seen two things... One for sure is two vertical brackets the track slides into... but this is on a detailed model. The other thing I think I have seen, but it is hard to make out... It looks like there is a bracket in which a track pin slides through and the spare links hang....

Any help would be appreciated.

THANKS

KT

Not sure about the others the 2nd Kompanie of the 501st in Tunisia had the vertical bands for storing track on the outside of the MG and Vision Block and a bracket to hold PZIII track section between them.

Hello Kabul,

have a look at the attached, how the links were held in position varies for where the unit was serving and wheather it was an early, mid or late model. I think it was more a question of surviveability rather than a specific method of attachment.
For the late mid and late versions - particularly on the eastern front, crews welded hooks on the front plate for a more secure attachment, at service stops or in the field - although any NON STANDARD attachment to the hull was frowned upon as welding weakened the armour!! (- a catch 22 if a 152 is waiting around the next bend for you.)

Particularly with the early versions, strong wire was all that was used to hold the links in position, and as these links were not intended for actual use, the wiring up could be rather crude.

Hope this helps you out somewhat.

Rgds

John

part II

Images 12 and 13 are not relevant for a tiger, but just so the need to attach extra armour in any way possible.

The whole deal is of self preservation...our Shermans and especially the paperweight Stuarts put serious strains on the engines with all the track blocks they had hanging anyway they could get them to stay on, and had the blessings of the CO's. German tanks had thicker armor but poor designs in flat non angled armor and crews added anything they could get, including track blocks from other vehicles. Looking at all the variations, locations and improvised ways of fastening them, one can only assume the CO's allowed or suggested it. Now, with the advent of angled armor on tanks and modern anti tank ammo, it is a severe disadvantage to mount spare blocks, as they tend to trap the round and let it through, as opposed to deflecting it. That's considering standard armor piercing rounds....newer HEAT, shaped charge and super HV Sabot rounds will cut through anything you may have outside. Even in the 50's the trend was changing...I tried to mount extra blocks on the flat sides on my M-46 turret and was ordered to remove them, stating that exact reason. That's why the pistol port and side doors on turrets disappeared, as it weakended the armor at that point. Prior to my arriving in korea, some of the tanks had spare blocks hanging from the side stowage rails on the turret and the Easy 8 Shermans in a unit up the road had spare blocks on the bow plate,,but all came off.

Thanks everyone, James, Tiger 233... those picture are GREAT... EXACTLY what I was looking for. I am now out to buy some thin strips of metal... I will use 00 bolts to attach it to the hull so its there for good. I will post pics in my thread.

THANKS!!!!!!

KT

Also looking at the pics there is a number of ways... one James shows in his pictures with Vertical bars... and two, the one 233 shows with the hooks.... Are they all after market mods... or is one more particular to later tanks?

KT

My pictures are of the 2 Kompanie tanks of the 501st. These are field modifications done in late '42.

So I have decided how I am going to do this... First I do not think Styrene glued to teh hull will hold up. I want these to hold, unlike my tool box tray. So I have decided to use brass stripping, bent and bolts with small bolts to the hull. Then the track links will slide into place. I will use puddy around the edges to represent welds. The bolts I am going to use are VERY small. Once attached I will use red oxide primer, and not the textured stuff. That was only for the general hull. I do not want to destroy detail. I think it should look good. That is my project for the next few days. I will post pics on my build. THANKS FOR EVERYONE'S INPUT!

KT