Another weekend... Another project...
A "paper-panzer". For now, I´ll build the Trumpeter´s E10 Entwicklungsfahrzeug tank destroyer, in 1/35 scale.
History:
The Entwicklung series, more commonly known as the E-series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardised series of tank designs. There were to be standard designs in six different weight classes, from which several specialised variants were to be developed. This was necessitated by the extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors, however their design involved only modest improvements in armour and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Hetzer, Panther G or Tiger II, and as such represent the eclipse of German armoured vehicle design by such tanks as the American M46 Patton, the British Centurion Mk 5/2 and Soviet T-54 tanks, which would have been the Entwicklung series' contemporaries and likely opponents.
The vehicle:
The E-10 design was developed as a replacement of the Panzer 38(t) and the designs based on it. The 38(t) chassis was enlarged and redesigned. This new design was to be called PzKpfw 38 (d), d standing for deutsch ("German") as opposed to (t) fortschechisch ("Czech"). The designs based on this new chassis would all be in the 10 to 25 tonnes weight class.
The intention was to create several new light tank destroyers as a replacement for the Jagdpanzer 38(t), as well as a new family of Waffenträger armed with heavy anti-tank guns.(Wikipedia).
The enigine was to be a rear mounted Maybach HL 100 of 400 HP or an air cooled Argus of 350 HP. The combined hydronamic transmission and steering unit was to be made by Voith and was also at the rear of the tank, easing removal and servicing. This would also free up space in the fighting compartment. The engine deck and rear plates could all be removed to allow access and the engine and transmission could be removed as a single unit. It was expected that the top of speed of the tank would be 65-70km/h. Even though the E-10 designation would suggest a weight of 10 tonnes, the combat weight would probably have been about 16 tonnes.
The gun was to be the 7.5cm Pak 39 L/48, in a mount similar that of the Hetzer. It may have been replaced on the production lines by rigid mounted (Starr) version of the same weapon. The suspension was by bolt on external units which used Belleville washers as the spring medium. There were four units per side, each fitted with a single 1000mm diameter steel tyred wheel. The wheels were alternately offset on the axles to straddle a single guide tooth track. One feature of the tank was the ability to reduce its height. This was achived by rotating the pivot points of the suspension units via cranks driven by hydrolic actuators. The vehicle height could be reduced from 1760mm to 1400mm. The armour was to be 60mm thick on the upper glacis plate, 30mm on the lower glacis plate and the rest all 20mm.
The E-10 did not go into production and its projected role was to be undertaken by the similarly sized but mechanically simpler Jagdpanzer 38(d), based on a re-engined and lengthened version of the venerable Panzer 38(t) chassis.
Building kit:
The Trumpeter´s kit is boxed in a resistant cardboard box , with a very beautiful cover art.
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| Trumpeter kit |
Parts and color chart:
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| color chart |
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| Parts |
I began the build by the suspension, following the instructions:
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| Building the suspension. |
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| On your feet! |
Here, I close the hull, for best alignment...
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| Left side |
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| Right side |
After building the movement mechanism of the gun, I noticed that the gun was dropped by the weight of the barrel
Inconceivable!!
The solutions would be: Immobilizing the gun, gluing the movement mechanism or make a counterweight device...I opted for the moviment...
I made a counterweight with metal rods stuck in the movement mechanism of the gun. Two rods plus a small piece of metal offset the weight of the pipe. I used cyanoacrylate to do this. Five minutes of work.
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| Metal rods in counterweight...equilibrium... |
Balanced!
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| Gun down!! |
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| Horizontal... |
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| Gun up !!! |
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| Aligned ! |
The kit is almost ready. I use vinyl tracks for two reasons: they are very good and I'm full of laziness.
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| Very good vinyl tracks...I saved hours of work. |
Also I have chosen to use the additional armor of styrene, instead of using the metal. I opted for this solution for handling the kit. Bonding the metal with plastic is really fragile.
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| Armour plates in plastic |
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| Notice the MG in top of the hull |
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| Front view |
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| Right side |
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| Rear view. The tools will be glued after paint... |
The kit have two surplus wheels. I decided to use one as a spare wheel. I made a system for fixing the spare wheel on one of the armor plates with Plastruct.
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| Sapre wheel rack made with Plastruct rod |
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| Dry-run with the spare wheel... |
A little metal detail, by RB Models;
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| Metal hooks, by RB Models |
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| In place.... |
Primer coat:
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| Primed |
Details primmed. Notice the spare wheel locker, made in scratch...
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| Locker, MG and spare wheel... |
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| Notice the aerial: Acupuncture needle. The best aerial in the world! |
Really, this was a quick project... I painted the girl in yellow and did the cammo with green and brown strips...
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| Almost ready |
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| Notice the spare wheel |
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| Rear view |
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| Right side |
I applied a layer of Future, to prevent the silvering in the decals:
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| Decals |
And the Destroyer is done and ready for action:
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| E-10 Destroyer |
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| E-10 Destroyer - left side |
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| E-10 Destroyer - notice the spare wheel... |
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| E-10 Destroyer - rear view |
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| E-10 Destroyer - right side |
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| E-10 Destroyer with Kojak, for size comparation... |
In may, 2023, our coleague Lukáš Marek, from Panzernet, made this amazing work with some pics of my model, to illustrate your article
Entwicklungsfahrzeug E-10 in his
site,
Panzernet. Congrats, Marek... Very well done...Amazing job!!!
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American soldiers view from a distance an abandoned E-10 light tank destroyer
in a destroyed German village, sometime towards the end of the War.
photo collage: Panzernet |
Well, Gents...Thanks for visiting....
Big hugs, from Brazil !!!
