John,

Below are photos from the 2 current 35th scale E100 model kit manufactures drive and idler wheels along with the Atelier Infinite cast resin set for comparision.



Close up of the Atelier Infinite cast resin 2 piece drive sprocket set and outside idler wheel. The resin wheel set comes with 2 sets of what is shown here to complete both track sides.



The Atelier Infinite E100 drive sprocket and idler wheel set is designed for use on both Dragon or Trumpeter E100 kits. The parts come in a zip locked bag with enclosed color photo step by step assembly instructions in Japanese. The photo guide will have you using the 2 inner model kit idler wheels with the supplied outside resin wheel to complete the idler wheel assemblies. The castings on my example came with some light casting flash on all the wheels that took a while to clean off as the casting material is a little tougher than what I am use to. This actually is a plus considering that you may have to assemble the tracks a few times on the sprockets during fitting to get things right running the risk of breaking off a tooth on the drive sprockets should the cast resin parts be of soft quaility.

The overall diameter of all the wheels shown here are basicly the same. The Trumpeter and Atelier drive sprockets are identicle in diameter with the Dragon example appearing a bit larger. This is due to the notches created in the sprocket ring from removing 9 of the 18 sprocket teeth as on the Tiger II sprocket rings. The Dragon sprocket rings are rendered with 9 large sprocket teeth free of notches between the teeth (was a spocket ring machined with only 9 teeth the correct configuration for the 1000 mm wide Gefechtskette (combat track) set? This is not covered in the Panzer Tracts No. 6-3 book. The profile dawings of the E100 show an 18 tooth Tiger II sprocket drive wheel. The Tiger II sprocket ring is dimentionally the same. Incidently, the box art on the Trumpeter E100 kit shows an exact likeness to the Dragon kit drive sprocket wheels.

The width of the Atelier drive spocket set is noticably narrower than both the model kit sprockets sets but could be fixed with a plastic disk to match the width of the kit sprockets. This may be intentional to fit the cast resin workable E100 track links also available from Atelier Infinite?

The Atelier Infinite wheels come closer in detail to the photos in the PT 6-3 book less the outer sprocket rings as these are not shown. They have a noticably grainy texture that could be softened with a little sanding to better match the photos in the book.

Thanks for posting photos of the Cammett turret resin kit . . . looks teriffic!!!
-Eddy

Thanks for that excellent review and comparison Eddy!!! For now I'm gonna stick with the original drive sprocekt and idler.Now if only Friul would come out with a set of tracks for this beast, that would be cool!!

J

Time for another update and some more info on the modifications one needs to make to have Dragon's E-100 match the PT plans.

The engine deck plate with the ventilator lines up with the grilles in the Dragon kit while the plans show an indent towards the motor hatch...



The guides for gluing the lifting hooks are wrong too.
I'm going to replace the ventilator plate with a plastic card one. Here's already a picture of how it should more or less look dimensionwise:



I'll try to post new updates this weekend.

John

I put in some extra work last night. Here's a pic of the scratch-built ventilator plate:



With cover (not glued yet), a spare from the Panther F box:



I also had a closer look at the rear deck. I noticed that one of the ermm things on there - I think it's for oil drainage?? - was too large in comparison with the PT drawings and the pictures. So I decided to try and scratch-build a replacement. What do you think, does it look good enough to replace the original one on the lefthand side?



John

Really good progress John. Looks like you are pulling out all the stops with this one. I got my Cammett turret in the mail from Sprue Brothers the other day, and you were right. It is AWESOME!! For those interested I shot these comparison pics of the Dragon/Cammett turrett. Don M.

Very interesting build to follow. And great scratchbuilding work!

Would the reason for going for a different turret with a flat front face be the same as that for the Tiger-B? Being easier and cheaper to manufacture and assemble?

Easier and cheaper, certainly. In the case of the E-100, the original Maus turret would have presented a major shot trap on its lower front face, as the E-100 hull had no armored deflector coamings to protect it, as found on the Maus upper hull.

Two more progress pics: while examining the rear deck I also found the other oil drainage thingy to be located in the wrong spot. I ended up redoing the whole rear deck except for the plate in the middle:


I'm going to use King Tiger exhaust covers (the kit ones being too large), but I need to add some scratch lifting things on the sides first. I've already sanded the bottom of the exhausts a bit otherwise they end up far too high.

And here's the patient on the operating table in preparation for its donor parts:


John

Another update: I've integrated the King Tiger front section in the E-100 upper hull. Still needs some clean-up and completion, but that will have to wait because unfortunately there's some more major surgery ahead (as you will notice in my last pic here)



Rear deck with King Tiger exhaust covers (the ones in the kit seemed much too large to me):


Having integrated the front section of the KT in the right place made it possible to check if the turret (ring) is positioned correctly and ... It's NOT I've indicated where it should begin according to the PT plans:


For fixing the turret ring and the other major challenge ahead: redoing the attachment points for the sideskirts I'm gonna have to wait until I can get my hands on an E-100 'wreck' my buddy Alex is willing to sacrifice. This young fellow has been a lifesaver for this project! Cheers for that!

John

Hey John,

I see that the parts I sent to you become very usefull for this project.
This is a very interesting build. The fact that you are making this E-100 as it would probably appear on the battlefield makes it even more interesting.
I'm going to follow this build carefully.

Can't wait for more...




Regards,
Alex

Hey Alex,

Yes! The KT upperhull you sent me is indispensable for this project! Next to the front section I also cut out the antenna mount on the engine deck. I'll try to merge that with my scratchbuilt radiatorplates in one of the coming days.

Further progress will slow down a bit now until we can meet up for your E-100 'wreck'. That will enable me to cut out the turret ring in both my and your model, but in a different way so I can move the turret ring immediately forward. And of course the attachment points for the skirts. I'll cut those away on my model (gently) and on yours (quick and dirty, but with the intention of having the attachment points and 'destroying' the rest) and I'll use yours to reposition them.

Cheers,

John

BTW: I see it's your first post here. Welkom!!!

Thanks, John

John,

Been following your build. You are doing some excellent work with this kit. Great step by step photos with clear process dialog that will be of help to me when I put mine together and for anyone else that has a simular build in mind. Keep up the good work can't wait see more.

Don,

Thanks for posting the comparison photos of both the Dragon and Cammetts E100 turrets. Hope to see your build log on the Maus II here soon.

Alex,

Welcome and gald to see more modelers join in on the fun! Everyone has something to bring to this site that can be of help to the rest of us. Lots of good people here, hope to see some of your suff here too!

-Eddy

Thanks for the kind words Eddy. New updates may take a while now since my meeting with Alex yesterday fell through because I was really ill. I'm better now luckily since tomorrow I'm off to Holland for a couple of days, visiting a friend.

John

Sorry for the long silence. Not much has been going on buildwise. I just want to show a few things quickly before I'm off on holiday. Normally I shall be working on this project a bit in France so by the time I return I hope to post some updates.

The sides with the attachment points removed, at least until I realized that two of them were actually in the right spot:


Cut-out attachment points from my friend Alex' E-100:


During my holiday I'll try to completely clean these up. This will involve some major sanding. Oh yeah, moving the turret ring forward is also on the list.

Cheers,

John

While in France I managed to cut out the middle section of the hull with the turret ring, flip it and reintegrate it with the turret ring in the right place. I'll post pics when I'm back home on Tuesday.

I stopped cleaning the attachement points. I first need to saw off some of the thickness anyway (the actual sides of the vehicle). Otherwise not much progress, but tons and tons of new magazines and books. Sometimes I wished I didn't speak French too.

Went to the armour museum in Saumur today. Well, it's simply jawdropping...

That's it from rainy France for today. Cheerio,


John

Ok, just got back home.

Here's a pic of two hulls that shows how I handled the turret ring being in the wrong place. It had to be moved 7mm to the front. I simply cut out a piece that was 15mm from the ring on the one side and 0,8mm on the other and flipped it around. I actually tried it on my friend Alex' hull first just to make sure.



Made some support material for the cutout piece with Evergreen...



France was great and ermm informative


Went to 'la Grande Caroussel" in Saumur on Sunday:


and to the museum in Saumur on Thursday:


And finally in Paris I had a 'Blast' :



John

John,

Glad to see your back and well. Looks like you had an awesome time visiting with your friend. Super idea on cutting out and reversing the turret ring from its original location by doing a little math to get the turret ring in the correct location.

Thanks for posting and sharing a little of what you saw there in France. Actual running WWII tanks . . .Nothing like being around the real thing. Can't say I have had that experiance yet! But glad to see you have. You also have a future project in the works and some nice referance books to boot.

Too cool,
-Eddy

Hey Eddy,

I'll try to share a bit more pics with everybody here. I've just sent out a mail to see whether Armorama would be interested in a small event review.

I'm still working on the attachment points. I'm really not enjoying this part of the build. Pfffff. After this build and the E-25 Kügelblitz I really need something more straightforward.

The T34 is one for the stash. I simply couldn't resist getting it because of the interior. It's gonna be great material if you want to portray a knocked out one. But that will have to wait (several years at the current tempo) until a bunch of other kits have been built and my skills have improved.

So, what's happening on your end? What are you building?

Cheers,

John

John,

I'm also a partisipant in the 'What If campaign'. For this campaign I've almost finished with the final touches on an E-10 before beginning with the painting. You can find a few pics of that build in Forums / Campaigns / What If Campaign / page 3. And while your there Check out Andrew Spence's E-100 with scratchbuilt turret . . . and that huge gun attached to it just waiting to spoil someones bingo party. Lots of interesting and awesome builds there too!

Currently putting together Dragon's 72nd scale Initial Production Tiger I for the 'Lets Get Small Campaign'. Adding the final weathering to a VK45.02 (P2) for the 'Mighty 88 Campaign' and just in the beginning stages of painting the prototype V1 Tiger II that I'll post in the WWII Axis forum.

Work has really slowed down here for me and just keeping my fingers crossed that I'll still be employed? My wife awaiting for her cosmetology license test date? Hoping that things are looking good for you in the job market place?

Keep hammering away on that E-100, it's coming along just great. Sure would be nice to check out that event review here online that you attended . . . hoping for the best!

-Eddy

Thanks to the encouraging words of Eddy some more progress pics.

Pic of the turret ring moved forward (7mm)


Location of the attachment points for the side skirts marked on the hull side:


The perforated parts at the front of the hull in Evergreen. I need to add another 'layer' at the 'bulge' at the bottom, but that I'll do when the whole chasis is put together.


Eddy, your E-10 is simply the coolest and most interesting one I've seen in ages. Looking forward to more of this creative work!

John

Since I'm gradually getting closer to finishing the modification hell of the hull and chassis I took a closer look at the turret. Now Panzer Tracts and Cammets provide a very rudimentary turret. I'm having my doubt about the lack of periscopes for the commander and gunner although you could say he at least has the range finder. I'm seriously considering adding the Maus turret periscopes. What are your thoughts on this?



Thanks,

John

And the modifications just keep on coming. This build has given me tons of extra grey hair.

The filler caps in the original kit are simply too much off so I modified them with plasticcard.
Pic is orginal versus new version:


John

Sorry for the long pause, but I have been rather busy with other things.

Finally, the most time-consuming and frustrating work has been done. The attachment points for the skirts have all been added in the correct location. This is really a task I never want to do again.


The location of the filler caps was not correct either. Dragon provide a guide for adding the filler caps, but I had to cut those in order to add my own filler caps in the right location. I actually modified my own filler caps a bit with an additional 0.25mm disk at the bottom to correspond fully to the PT drawing. Now I will use Vallejo putty and some Mr. Surfacer to have all layers blend so I can achieve the filler caps I see in the pictures. I'll post a pic of this when it's done.


Went to a hobby fair today and bought an old Dragon Hetzer with a New Connection conversion kit to make the Aufklärungs 38T. And so the collection of paper panzers and prototypes grows...

John

About adding periscopes, I personally would say no to that. I take the info in Panzer Tracts as being very accurate.

Plus, the turret has the stereoscopic rangefinder, and located in front of it is the armoured cover for the periscope.

Taking this into perspective with the other similar turret, the Schmalturm, that too has this arrangement. Granted, the cupola has additional periscopes, but we are talking two very different roles for each vehicle.

And if you are looking for detail-shots, I can recommend Spielberger's Spezialpanzer book. It has a lot of very good detailshots of just about every area of the hull as it was found, and it confirms your work on the filler caps.