More breech detailing tips from Dirk C.
Good friend Dirk C. went all out on his Pak 40 with more breech details than what I have covered thus far. This portion of the article will concentrate on Dirk’s improvements.
To start, Dirk made a trip to the APG (Aberdeen Proving Ground) Museum and inspected a Pak 40 installed on a Marder tank destroyer. This trip yielded photos and measurements to fall back on later as he detailed his Pak. To start, Dirk fabricated from scratch a new brake, breech control, and firing levers. The brake on 21st Century Toys’ Pak does not match any of the Pak 40 photos I’ve seen, and as such Dirks fabricated brake is much better – it depicts caps on both ends that are much more realistic. There are different end caps – some sport 1 detent area through the end cap to help get a wrench on the nut and some have 2 (a + type arrangement) detents. To begin, here are some comparison pictures of a real brake end cap and that molded by 21st Century Toys.
And here is Dirk's 'in progress' shot of the breech.
As you can clearly see, the end of the breech brake is much more accurate without the “flower” cap that it originally came with. The picture also shows the new levers on the side and top of the breech. You can also clearly see the screw and scribed ‘plate’ detail at the back of the breech opening. This is an accurate depiction of the Pak 40, as you can see from the picture below obtained from Tanxheaven which shows a Pak 40 demilitarized by the removal of the breech block.
Another detail Dirk added and which you can easily see in the first photo is the sloped underside of the breech and the different sized bolt and nut details. Note this weapon has been damaged, and does not have both nuts!
The breech block also got detailed beyond the lever, as you can see in the following picture.
But Dirk didn’t stop with the breech – his modifications included all new erdsporren, functional foot latch/release mechanisms to latch or release the legs for spreading, axle brake levers, all new leg transport locks, redesigned wheel rims to depict the rarer version wheels, armor plating mounting brackets, gear teeth for the elevation brace, all new hand wheels, thickened cradle assembly, more accurate pivot pin traps, cleaning rod brackets, light wiring and muzzle brake details so fine most modelers would miss them altogether. A VERY SWEET Pak!
To be continued....