Hey Tankers!

So last weekend Project38 sent two of our guys over to Illinois on a top secret mission that I’m going to tell you all about!

Early on in the project, when we were just getting started, I received an email from a collector which stated that he had seen our forum posts online about a Panzer 38(t) build, and that he had a turret sitting in his barn. I was thrilled of course and over the next year as we established ourselves as a group we maintained contact. He expressed excitement for the project and was happy to have another 38(t) being built in the US. Neither of us know of any other Panzer 38(t) builds among the WWII vehicle community, though I’m sure I’d love to hear about them.

Either way, it had been lamented that there were no existing 38(t)’s for us to measure, and that getting the accuracy properly vetted was going to be a challenge. Hearing this, he reached out and invited us over to take a detailed look at his turret. We gladly accepted.

We left Friday morning to arrive at our campsite that night. 6am sharp we were at the site ready to examine the turret. We met with the curator, Jim, and entered his storage barn.

The turret is painted a reproduction red primer and was the prettiest thing I ever saw. Judging by the rivet patters on the side I’d guess it was an B or C turret, perfect for our use.

And of course, the Turret wasn’t the only thing Jim had in his barn 38(t) related. He had collected not only the turret but every piece to it from viewports to gun sights to episcopes and mantlet covers. We got our greedy hands on all of them.

But wait, there’s more!

Jim had also acquired a Pbv.301, an APC built off of the TNH series swiss tanks. This chassis would have been built during wartime as a Swedish Str.V.41 and as such is practically the real thing itself! Under the false floor can be seen the original holes for the engine mounts of the Str.V, a note to us that it was built using the original Panzer 38(t) plans. He had cut down some of the APC remodellings and was turning it back into the original chassis.

So we ended up getting measurements of the wheels, idlers, tensioner, drive sprocket, as well as getting a close up view of the mounting systems and placement of them all. Overall I’d call it a huge success

We took about 200 pictures, many of which we’ll post on our Facebook page just after this update goes out.

A huge thanks to Jim over at Warbarn for his hospitality, enthusiasm, and help. We’ll be posting prints and comparing them to our previous work as soon as we can. This information will help us assess whether or not our methods are accurate enough or if we need to send somebody to study the chassis more. This was a huge move forward in the design process and I’ll let you know as soon as we do the results of this comparison.

One step at a time, closer all the time!

Thanks for tuning in!

-T.ankmann