Barbastro tank SCW

[CharlieC]

I don't think the Barbastro creators had much of an issue about routing the exhaust pipes. The Ford side-valve V8 didn't really have exhaust manifolds - just pipes which ran along the lower side of the cylinder banks. Even plumbing in a pair of radiators wouldn't have been difficult since the V8 had coolant header pipes from the top of each cylinder bank.

Charlie

[rockpaperscissor]

Dang, I thought I had something there, but your arguments make sense. Thanks for your comment, SmashedGlass. Yes Tappi, the Minairons tank is all wrong per the rearview photo. The rear hull definitely had a shallow peak that ran all the way to the back, whereas their model is completely flat. The Panzer Garage kit is better, I think. Whether there were removable grates over the engine compartment is pure conjecture, but it's certainly easier to model it that way. The final version of this model will feature the two mysterious bumps. I just have to decide on their shape: flat topped, peaked, curved? I'll see if I can find some additional information using a different search engine. Perhaps yandex.com will provide data from a few alternate sources.

[rockpaperscissor]

The development of the basic B&W suspension is complete.

The first photo is of the enlarged jpeg that I drew the basic shape of the suspension over. To do this I first created a new blank layer. Thus, the lines that I drew were on this layer, and not on the photo itself. Next, I created a new blank Photoshop page and, using the mouse with left click depressed, dragged the layer over onto it. If you go back to the beginning of the thread and open the development1 pdf file, you can see the 3 outline drawings that I used as the basis of the entire design.

Using the 3/4 rear view photo as a reference I came up with a track width that I thought looked about right and separated the outside/inside suspension halves by that amount and then drew in the strip that will later support the track itself. I didn't know how much length I needed, so I just drew the strip to the very edge of the 8.5'x11" page. I mirrored the completed part for the other side.

The second photo shows the basic right-side suspension part. I had already drawn on all the glue tabs using the Photoshop line tool.

The third photo shows the alpha build of the hull and left-side suspension part along with the right-side suspension drawing. The printable area is smaller than the full page, so I lost an unknown bit of length on each end of the track strip, but the two ends still overlapped by about a quarter of an inch.

The remainder of the photos shows the alpha build of the suspension glued onto the alpha build of the hull. I'm very happy with the way it looks.

Next, I'll generate layering parts for the suspension, and fill all the suspension parts with texture, highlights and shadows as previously explained. Also, I need to look for images of tractor or bulldozer tracks that I can modify to fit over the track support strip. If that doesn't work out, I can draw and texture my own tracks if necessary.

[Don Boose]

Fascinating to watch the design process!

Don

[CharlieC]

They might have used or copied tracks from existing armoured vehicles being made in Spain at the time. The city of Barbastro is about midway between Bilbao and Barcelona where the Trubia Naval tank and Benach Armoured (thing) were being built. The Trubia track was, I think, a modified Orion track system but the Benach track looks like a fairly generic track of the period. There's even a surviving Benach OP tractor (base for the armoured things) in Spain.

Charlie