dyeager535

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May seem like a silly question, but does anyone by ANY chance know what was the size of the nuts used on the Panzer III/StuG III's bolt on front armor?

I checked my reference ( German Late War Armored Fighting Vehicles: World War II AFV Plans), but I can tell you that the drawings have some discrepancies against actual photos, so I don't trust that the nuts are drawn in scale either.

As the metal hull doesn't have the bolt on front armor, but the upper does, I need to add the lower armor and nuts/bolts. Problem is, none of the bolts out there (scalehardware.com, smallparts.com, etc) that I can find have the right flat to flat measurement (.110"=2.8MM) and/or the right height (roughly .043"=1.09MM) to match what is on the HL upper. So I might as well replace ALL of them with metal, right? I'm hoping the nuts HL cast in are dimensionally wrong, and the actual nut size will scale down to something that exists. Since I will likely have to replace all of them, even if they are a bit off-scale it will look ok I'm sure. But unfortuantely a size difference of even .020"/.5MM is readily visible when laid side by side with what is there.

I'd LOVE to be able to use something like these [link=http://www.scalehardware.com/simulated-hex-nuts-c-7]simulated hex nuts[/link] but I've not found any in the area of 2.8MM. I've sent them an email inquiring about larger simulated hex nuts/bolts, as they appear to be the makers/suppliers of what exists out there on the market. If others are interested in the idea of larger scale nuts/rivets/bolts and simulated of the same, please keep your eye on this post, and I'll update IF I get an answer.

I would imagine many of us would be interested in true-to-scale nuts, bolts and rivets for our tanks for various projects like hinges, fenders, etc.

sevoblast

You can also check the various scales of Walthers Train Parts catalogs from Milwaukee. They have tons of goodies I use, chain, rivet heads, etc.

sevoblast

Oh yeah, and wecohe makes, or usta make, the cone head bolts as in the Sturm etc, to scale. Need a little cleaning up, but for cone heads it's the only game in town.

dyeager535

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I did check Walthers, the problem is, very few companies (except those I listed, and even those aren't 100%) list the dimensions that are critical in at least this application, as far as I could find...the "height" of the nut is the main one that I don't find listed. Based on some pictures I've seen, some of the nuts are nearly as wide as they are tall, which in reality may be correct. Based on how HL cast the ones though, they should be more than twice as wide as tall.

In Walthers case, some of the ones linked (for instance) show 1.25" for O Guage. But still need to know what the real size is you are trying to replicate. Apparently "G" is the largest train size, but due to the real deals immense size, G is 1/22.

Just can't get my hands on a real StuG to measure with my dial calipers!

Cone head bolts? Are those the ones on the rear shield that is just above the exhaust?

sevoblast

Cone head are found on the Sturmtiger down both sides and the rear of the fighting compartment, bolting said compartment to the lower hull. Also found on Elephant and Ferdinand, and in photos from time to time on various versions of the Stug.

guhei

I used 1.6 mm bolts and 2.5 mm/1.4 mm ,nuts

dyeager535

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Those look good, thanks for the post/pictures!

Are all of the nuts/bolts on the front armor (zusatzpanzer?) "real"? By the looks of it, I'm guessing they are all real bolts/nuts.

Sometimes pictures are deceptive, how do YOU think those nuts/bolts compare to photos of the real thing? IMO those are definitely "close enough" to the real deal, whether dead-on accurate or not.

Scaling up the nuts, that would be 48MM, and sounds/looks to be a reasonable size.

Did you get them anywhere specific? The nuts look thinner (not as tall) as the ones I've been able to find online.

guhei

Yes, they are "real", I bought a lower tub from Asiatam without bolts and nuts.
I ordered them from http://www.knupfershop.de. BTW a real good shop!

Gunnar

Sorry, the nuts were 2.5mmx1.4mm

dyeager535

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Again thanks!

Heading to a hobby shop this evening (I hope) so maybe they will have what you used, if I'm lucky.

Dorian