belugawhaleman Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 While looking at friulmodel tracks today for a StuG today I noticed that there are many variations for panzer III/IV tracks . Solid horn, horns with a hole through them, ostketten, winterketten, and etc. Some of the types for different years, some years overlapping. Where there problems with the tracks, different manufacturer types. Why so many types? Just curious.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Paul Good question and things like that must drive armor builders up the wall. But still nice to have all the options. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PanzerWomble Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 Marketing…..12 versions …..more sales to those who just have to have them all . all this first batch/ middle prod /end prod /1946 is the same , range extension at low cost , the Hasegawa syndrome my cynicism aside there are variants in production esp during war but I wouldn’t trust Chinese manufacturers to have done much real research, Eduard tend to be quite creative/ imaginative as well imho 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullArmor Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 On 9/11/2024 at 3:45 AM, belugawhaleman said: While looking at friulmodel tracks today for a StuG today I noticed that there are many variations for panzer III/IV tracks . Solid horn, horns with a hole through them, ostketten, winterketten, and etc. Some of the types for different years, some years overlapping. Where there problems with the tracks, different manufacturer types. Why so many types? Just curious.... Why?>>German engineering explains a lot. Have you seen stug III transmission workshop wednesday youtube episode? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belugawhaleman Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 3 hours ago, FullArmor said: Why?>>German engineering explains a lot. Have you seen stug III transmission workshop wednesday youtube episode? Yes, I have been following that YouTube series. I recently purchased the AFV modeller StuG III driving compartment for the big Das Werke kit and was able to get detail pointers from it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count0 Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 (edited) On 9/10/2024 at 5:45 PM, belugawhaleman said: Why so many types? My understanding is they modified parts as they went along. Updating items found to be lacking, or simplifying them as and when they could. Limited resources towards the end of the war dictated this to a large degree. I.E. Panzer IV's going from four return rollers to three. Parts were simplified to facilitate manufacture. Also, and this is especially notable on aircraft paint directives, the German's, despite being very technically sophisticated, seemed to deviate widely from a given set of instructions. See Tadpole tail 262's as an example. There are many others. Parts were also changed or deviated from earlier versions as a materials savings. Again, Panzer IV's and derivatives with metal rimmed road wheels meant to save rubber. The germans also used a system of adding newer/redesigned parts as they became available, rather than at a fixed date. Off the top of my head I haven't an example, one must always check references as a given vehicle may not have the parts associated with a documented production date. You will have encountered this if you have ever worked on an old Type 1 Volkswagen. The listed date a part was modified/added rarely coincides with the actual VIN number. Edited September 12 by Count0 spelling 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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