GPM Platforma Ursus + TK3

[PacificWind]

Originally Posted by Mike1158

Definitely looking good. It seems to me these tankettes were really not much use for anything but as an old Lancashire native once said, "Third class riding beats first class walking every day of the week".

These tankettes were widely used during September Campaign 1939 as a recon and support vehicles. At that time we had 7TP as a main tank.

Originally Posted by Neilio

(although the truck is not the same, I think the truck in the picture is maybe a Fiat?)

That's right. It's Polski Fiat 621.

Your model looks really nice now and I hope you'll achieve outstanding effect at the end.
Ask me about anything related to Polish Army if you'd like to get some kind of information. I can also help with some sources which are only in Polish.

[elliott]

Yours is a very generous offer Kacper and I hope our members will take notice of it. Thank you for your interest in our forum and your willingness to help make it better. Much appreciated!

...with apologies for the momentary hijack, we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread...

[dje]

interesting project of yours.
as don I have too several model of this era (late 90,'s, beginning of 2000) at different build stage. The low definition make them hard to build. I'll probably resurrecting one after finishing the neubauf; at least your project advance well !

The figure look funny, still a nice add to the model. I looked everywhere to get some in 1:25, paper, plastic or resin and can't found any, not even at panzer hobby.

[hetzer]

Originally Posted by Mike1158

Definitely looking good. It seems to me these tankettes were really not much use for anything but as an old Lancashire native once said, "Third class riding beats first class walking every day of the week".

You could not be more wrong... these <no good for anything> tiny vehicles, armed with nkm - najcięższy karabin maszynowy - 20mm gun were able to stand against panzer 35t, panzer 2 and even 3's (do a bit of research and find one name - Roman Orlik . they were never designed as tank to tank fighting vehicles but a reckon type vehicle (also used combined on a rail platform with armored train units). Despite their original role, tankettes played their part very well... what also was proved by jerries, using captured units as police vehicles across Europe...

cheers

[Mike1158]

I thank you for the lesson, Sir. I stand corrected.

[Neilio]

Originally Posted by hetzer

find one name - Roman Orlik

Ok, I'll bite...here's a bit of what Wikipedia has to say about Mr. Orlik:

On 18 September 1939, during the skirmish of Pociecha in the Kampinos Forest, Orlik's half-platoon, composed of three tankettes TKS (only Orlik's one had a 20mm cannon; the others were equipped with machine-guns) destroyed three German tanks, probably the Panzer 35(t) from the 1. Leichte Division.

Sometimes small & scrappy wins the day!

Originally Posted by hetzer

also used combined on a rail platform with armored train units

That's an interesting bit, too. I have some armored train kits in my unbuilt stack; I am fascinated by the armored train concept.

Thanks for pointing us that direction Hetzer! I find the stories & histories of the objects we are modeling to be one of the most interesting aspects of the hobby.

Been busy, so work on the TK3 has been slow. I did manage to get a bit done last night; I'll post progress once I've a made a bit more progress.

[hetzer]

Originally Posted by Neilio

That's an interesting bit, too. I have some armored train kits in my unbuilt stack; I am fascinated by the armored train concept.

Thanks for pointing us that direction Hetzer! I find the stories & histories of the objects we are modeling to be one of the most interesting aspects of the hobby.

Very much so Model built with historical research is even funnier

GPM issued a kit of rail platform for TK's. Also for FT 17 - which were combined into Tk - FT - TK units assisting trains (mobile reckon able to dismount and scout). Lets throw some more into that mix - Tatra armored draisine

There are couple kits of Polish armored trains, also by GPM... big models, Piłsudczyk and Śmiały.

cheers!

[Neilio]

Progress is slow on this project-- I think this will be a much longer build than I anticipated.

There's a couple of reasons for this. First, like many of you (I'm guessing), I end up with multiple projects going at once. Over the last few weeks, my modeling time has been varied:

• I've been doing some test builds & experimenting with scale and paper type on some Murph's Models aircraft. I'm not much an aircraft builder (yet), so that's been interesting & fun.
• I've started a 1:25 scale armored train car (Soviet WWII). It's a really nice kit and I'm really pleased with how it's turning out-- build thread coming soon.
• I've also started the Micromodels Gates of London Series. I really like Micromodels; the only word I can think of to describe the design and completed models is "charming", and I find working on a Micromodel oddly satisfying. Perhaps I'll add a build thread as I work through the Gates series.
• I also started a 1:400 ship from JSC. I have a bunch of these in my stack, but have never built one. So far its a real learning experience. Not sure how it's going to turn out.

The other reason progress is slow on this TK3 is, frankly, it's not fun. Or at least it's not as fun as the other projects I have going right now. I may be re-discovering why I abandoned this build a decade ago.

As I've been re-immersing in the hobby after a 10-12 year absence, I've been acquiring some new kits (collecting is a big part of the hobby, right?). The production values found in more recent kits is simply amazing. This kit is from 2001 (I think), with hand-drawn design and thick lines. I really like the look of hand-drawn design in kits like Micromodels and WDS/Minibox, but for detailed 1:25 scale models, I think the computer-aided design found in the more recent kits is hard to beat.

Anyway, thanks for listening. On to the build progress.

I inherited the 2 the bogie & springs assemblies from my earlier start of the build. Looking at them now, I'm not too impressed with the job I did "back in the day" (they're a bit messy), but it's what I've got. There was a bit of minor repair needed in a couple of spots.

The idler is an 8-spoke wheel-- it's a bit of a complicated assembly. The spokes provided some frustration. As the second picture shows, there are 16 tiny pieces that make up each 8-spoke set (so 32 total), and here's where the precision of computer design and printing would have helped. For the assembly, I utilized the grid on my cutting mat to keep the spokes lined up.

The 8 total return rollers were pretty straight forward. I cut the centers of the outer disc first, but left the discs in the card. I glued the inner discs in place to the back of card, and then finally cut the outer disc/inner disc assemblies from the card. This kept the discs more rigid while I cut them out-- I find this method better for these types of assemblies. Cutting out tiny rings can be difficult and prone to disaster.

The drive sprocket is already attached to the hull; the bogies, idlers and return rollers are assembled with some frame pieces before attaching to the hull. Unfortunately, there's a couple of these frame pieces missing. I'll have to go back to my "archive box" and see if I can find them. Or improvise.

[Don Boose]

Your images and narrative are exceptionally helpful to one like me who hopes to build this same kit one day.

Excellent work so far!

Don