John the OFM | 20 Jul 2014 3:11 p.m. PST |
Yes, I know how many there actually were. I am only assembling one. Honest! But anyway… What the heck is that piece that goes over the super long 90mm gun? On their website, they call it "extra turret armor". But, with those wings that just hang out in space? Could those wings be a counterweight for the super long gun? And those springs on top, are they to balance the weight of the gun too? For those still puzzled, I am referring the the Battlefront Flames of War plastic kit for three Pershing tanks. Parts are provided so you can make one (or all three!) a "Super Pershing". |
Doms Decals | 20 Jul 2014 3:21 p.m. PST |
I'm not sure why the turret applique "wings" were so oddly shaped, but they were a modification by the depot unit, hacked from a knocked out Panther , so definitely intended simply as armour, not about balance. (They'd not really help at all on that front – anything forward of the turret middle isn't going to counterbalance the gun – there was a designed-in thicker patch on the turret rear to help with that.) The two tubes above the gun were indeed down to the gun's length though – they contained balancer springs. |
Chalfant | 20 Jul 2014 3:21 p.m. PST |
You mean these after-factory upgrades? link Beats me. I'd guess the spring was to reduce recoil. Panterh piece on the mantlet, spaced plates on the glacis? Chalfant |
Chalfant | 20 Jul 2014 3:23 p.m. PST |
So the springs were to balance the gun, so it remained in a more horizontal position? Strange looking beast. Chalfant |
Doms Decals | 20 Jul 2014 3:29 p.m. PST |
Yep; the springs were a designed component as it were, not a field mod – here it. Is without the cobbled together turret armour. The springs don't connect directly to the gun (so nothing to do with recoil) but rather help keep the mantlet up, by connecting the mantlet top to the turret roof.
Only the sole combat-employed one had them – the later batch of two dozen or so dispensed with the springs, having a better balanced turret. |
John the OFM | 20 Jul 2014 4:15 p.m. PST |
Here is what I am talking about. link |
(Stolen Name) | 20 Jul 2014 4:28 p.m. PST |
Looks like some kind of spaced armour |
Doms Decals | 20 Jul 2014 5:16 p.m. PST |
Hmm, looking at it there, the thickened patches on the "wings" would suggest you were right about them being for balance – not to help balance the turret, but to get some extra weight aft of the trunnions, to compensate for the extra weight of the added armour on the mantlet, and avoid overstraining the compensator springs, which were designed to cope with the weight of the gun, but not someone bolting chunks of Panther on there as well. |
MAD MIKE | 20 Jul 2014 5:32 p.m. PST |
In Belton Cooper's book Death Traps he talks about these and they were intended to counterbalance the muzzle-heaviness of the longer barrel. Just going from memory here but I believe he was directly involved with their manufacture and fitting. IIRC they made the initial "elephant ear shape and then clamped the additional weights in various positions until they could elevate the gun properly then welded them in place. My copy of the book is boxed away somewhere so I can't give you the chapter and verse |
John the OFM | 20 Jul 2014 6:03 p.m. PST |
If I were a German and saw that thing, I would aim for the springs. |
Etranger | 20 Jul 2014 11:06 p.m. PST |
Front on view, again without the 'wings' |
Doms Decals | 21 Jul 2014 5:05 a.m. PST |
If I were a German and saw that thing, I would aim for the springs.
I'd definitely agree with that, assuming they could figure out what they actually were – definitely a significant weak point, but you have to know what they are in order to make a point of aiming for them. |
Lewisgunner | 21 Jul 2014 12:09 p.m. PST |
That's a laugh. Can you imagine the gunner on a Tiger II reacting to being told to aim for the springs when he is in mutual range of this beast?? Aim high and miss more likely. He's going to put one in the middle and hope to get in under the mantlet. 800 yards away the springs are the size of pins on a matchbox sized target. |
John the OFM | 21 Jul 2014 1:02 p.m. PST |
They are the most likely spot on the tank to put it out of commission. Damaged springs = no gun. If you have the luxury of aiming (meaning you are much closer than 800 yards). |