16t Panzer "Laupen"

[Mig Eater]

After making the Czech TNH 57/900 I'm still in the mood for some obscure TNH/38(t) designs & came across this while looking for ideas/references.

The 16T Panzer "Laupen" was a 1950's Swiss project to design a new light tank based on the Hetzer/G-13 hull. The upper hull was redesigned & fitted with a cast turret equipped with a 90mm gun, the engine was also replaced with a more powerful diesel powerplant. Development of tank didn't get very far & the Swiss decided to buy the AMX-13 from France instead.

 

There are no model kits of this very obscure tank available so I'll being designing & 3D printing the whole thing. I've started with making the basic shapes for the hull & turret, I'll work on getting the basic suspension & wheel parts done next. Then its adding all the smaller details, some of which I'll have to be a bit creative with as the blueprints doesn't have much detail.   

[Frank3k]

Cool design! It looks like they switched the driver's position.

[robunos]

I'll work on getting the basic suspension & wheel parts done next.

Looking at the blueprint, they appear to be the same as used on the Hetzer, so you may be able to use kit parts, or find an .stl file to use . . .


cheers,
Robin.

[Mig Eater]

Yes they copied the Hetzer's running gear for this design. I already have 3D models of the TNH/38(t) suspension/wheels/sprockets, I just need the Hetzer specific mounts for them. It would be a bit of a waste IMO to use up a Hetzer kit for only those a few parts, so I'll just make them myself    

[Claymore]

Looking good so far and I appreciate how troublesome designing can be especially when the plans you have are vague and contradicting - I note that the plan view (bottom left) does not accurately depict what is going on with the sides of the upper hull and contradicts the other cut-away plan view. 😕

Good luck and I look forward to the final completed model. 👍

What design program are you using by the way?  I really must get myself into 3D printing one of these days! 🤔

[Mig Eater]

Yeah the top view doesn't completely match the side & front views where there is a difference I'm going with the side & front.

I'm using 3DS Max, it's not free & can be difficult for beginners. If you are interested in 3D modelling then I'd recommend trying Blender or Fusion 360, both are free(ish) & have lots of tutorials available online.   

[Claymore]

Thanks mate, much appreciated. 

[Mig Eater]

I'm making some progress with the Laupen's 3D model

I made the suspension mounts, I used the Hezter as the main reference but because the Laupen's rear hull is a different shape from the Hetzer I had to modify the design of the rear idle mounts to make them fit. I already had the wheels & sprockets from a previous project & I found a 3D model of the Hetzer's tracks online, so it didn't take that long to finish the running gear in the end. I also hollowed out the hull, added a base for the turret ring & scribed some panel lines/weld seams on the top of the hull.

There are a few more panel lines to add to the hull & then I'll probably work on sculpting the machine gun ports & cupola on the turret.

[Claymore]

Lookin’ good! 

[Buzzbomb]

Finding the hull shape to be rather interesting on this.

So will this be a full 3D construction then a deconstruct to print and perhaps build ?

[Mig Eater]

Normally when 3D printing a tank I'd design & print it in parts (Here is a Mauschen I designed a few years ago) but as this is a small tank I'm going to try & print the hull as one part, along with the turret, wheels/sprockets & tracks as separate parts.

[Mig Eater]

I've finished the working on the major parts of the turret & hollowed it out. I hate making complex curved parts like this & I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out, After I've printed the parts I'll probably add a bit of putty around the machine gun ports & main gun mount & sculpt it a bit to smooth out the transitions into the main turret surface. I also made the main gun, I though about making the barrel movable but I'm feeling lazy so the barrel/mantle will just slot into a hole in the front of the turret. For the cupola the diagram shows the layout of the view ports but not the hatch mechanism, I decided to make something similar to the Panther tank's cupola hatch as the view port layout reminding me of the Panther I still need to add a hatch on the rear of the turret, a view port for the driver & the fenders to the front & rear. After that the largest part left is engine deck, which is blank in the diagram so I'll have to take my best guess to fill it in.

PS: Finally added some proper lighting & shadows to the model

[Mig Eater]

Work on the 3D model is nearing completion, I added the fenders, view port & hatch for the driver, crew hatch to the rear of the turret & detailed the engine deck with hatches, cooling grill & exhausts. I also redid gun mount on the front of the turret so it blends into the turret's shape a lot better now.


I could start printing the parts but I feel like there is something missing from the tank, then again sometimes you need to know when to stop on a project like this Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Mig Eater]

Well turns out there was a lot missing from the tank after all

• Side skirts (I'm going to scratch build them from metal sheet but added them to the 3D model anyway)
• Loaders view port (so he can fire the machine gun!)
• Radio antenna
• Smoke grenade launchers
• Turret lifting points
• Headlamps
• Brake lights
• Tool box
• Fuel cap
• Spare tracks

After looking at photos of the Swiss Panzer 58/61 tank I decided to change the driver & cupola hatches to a split hinge design too. I'm now happy with the design but before I can start printing the parts I need to organize the model a bit & also add some locating holes/pegs to a few parts to make it easier to put together after printing.

[Claymore]

 Very impressive! 

[Buzzbomb]

Very good work on the design.
There is a lot in that design that really works well.
Not quite so sure about the rear facing MG as that, to me, looks a bit anachronistic on a tank in this timeline.

[Mig Eater]

Yeah I'm not sure what the Swiss were thinking with the rear machine gun, the commander is going to have the machine gun's handle poking him in the back all the time. But it does give the tank a unique look tho

[Mig Eater]

Here is a breakdown of the tank into its separate parts. There are a total of 38 stl files but I need to print multiple copies of most of them, a rough count comes to 75 parts for the tank & another 615 parts for the tracks!

I've started printing the main hull which will take about 10 hours, so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post some photos of the physical model instead of just 3D renders.

[Frank3k]

The 16t looks great! I’d like to see your supports and settings for the successful prints. Assuming this is a resin print, are you going to split the hull or just print it as a single part?

[Mig Eater]

I printed the hull as one part in resin, here is a pic of the supports I used. I probably added way to many but after a few failed prints in the past I prefer to err on the side of caution As for the settings I'm not sure as I set it up when I got the printer years ago & haven't needed to changed them since.

[Frank3k]

Are you using Lychee? Do you have drain holes? It looks like you're doing to be trapping some resin near the top.

[Mig Eater]

Yes I'm using Lychee, the entire hull is hollow & the turret ring is a giant drainage hole The print is done now & it came out really well, just need to sand down the areas where the supports were.

[Mig Eater]

I've finished printing the parts (except for the tracks), everything printed first time without any issues, which I think is a first for me normally at least one thing fails during printing or something brakes when removing the supports I still need to sand down the nubs leftover from the printing supports, I'll probably need to sand the locating holes/pegs a bit to get some parts to fit too, after that it should be pretty quick job to put it all together.

The lighting were I am at the moment sucks & the white colour of resin isn't helping with photography. It's hard to see but  all the small details on the engine deck & wheels etc printed fine, some paint & a wash will make them a lot clearer.

[Claymore]

Awesome!! 

[Old Wombat]

It's all Black Magic, to me!

[Frank3k]

That looks great! Are you going to try link and length or individual tracks? Or try for a run of workable tracks?

[Mig Eater]

I'm going to try & print the lower parts of the tracks in lengths & then the upper part as workable. That should cut down the amount of work needed but make it easier to fit the tracks & add some natural sag over the return roller.

[Mig Eater]

Slowly making progress with the build I rescribed the weld/panel lines to make them a bit deeper (note to self, should make them deeper on the 3D model too). SSomething I was undecided about when I was making the 3D model was if I should add a weld seam between the front & side armour plates or were to put it, once I had the physical model in my hands tho I decided to scribe a weld seam along the sides. The weld seams were then filled with green stuff putty & a weld bead pattern added with a custom made tool. Lastly I used some Mr. Surfacer to fill in some unwanted marks & also add some texture to the hull, turret & gun mantlet. One of the handles on the engine deck broke off while I was handling the model luckily some CA glue quickly fixed it, otherwise I would have had to replace it with some metal wire & if I had to replace one then I would have replaced all of them to make them match.

With that all the prep work need for the model is done, so I can finally start the building part of the project now

[Mig Eater]

I added the rest of the parts to the hull & turret, starting to look like an actually tank now I haven't added the side skirts yet as I want to test fit the track first, which is the next thing on the to do list. 

[finsrin]

Designing and printing all these parts is amazing to me.     Commendable job.    Going together well. 

[Old Wombat]

Mig Eater: The Dark Lord of 3D Printing!

Fantastic stuff!

[Mig Eater]

lol

[Frank3k]

Wow, the print came out great. Can't wait to see it painted.

[Claymore]

Just amazing and what a strange wee beastie it is too! 

[Mig Eater]

So I spent several days working on the tracks...

I found a 3D model of a Hetzer track link online awhile ago, which I though was great as it saves me the time of having to model one myself. However this 3D model proved to not work very well when printed at 1/35 scale (I think it was originally scaled to 1/16), the links were too fragile & about 50% of them broke when cleaning up the holes for the track pins. To make a complete set I would have had to print hundreds of track links & hope that enough of them survive. To save my sanity I decided to give up on making workable tracks Luckily I could still use the same 3D model tho, I just needed to fill in the holes for the track pins & then I could print the tracks in two long (upper & lower) sections pre shaped to fit around the wheels & sprockets. This was so much easier, taking only an hour to print & then fitted onto the tank in minutes.

Last things left to add are some brass rod for the machine gun barrels, wire for the radio antenna & some spare tracks to the front of the hull (I have about 100 spare track links I could use)


2 days working on individual links...



An hour to print two complete sets of tracks.

[apophenia]

This is truly impressive work (and detail design)! Kudos 

[Mig Eater]

Thanks, this was a very random spur of the moment build, but its turned into my best 3D print so far

[Old Wombat]

 

[Mig Eater]

I've added the last few bits to the model; Brass rod for machine gun barrels, brass rod for the radio antenna, wire for the headlamps, spare track on the front of the hull & side skirts scratch built from a aluminium drinks can. I'll paint the skirts separately & add them later as it would be difficult to fit the tracks with them attached.

Next step is to give the model a good clean to get rid of any resin dust or dirt, then I can start painting.

[Old Wombat]

Looking very good, there!

[GTX_Admin]

Looking very good, there!

Agreed

[Mig Eater]

Thanks

I'm planning to paint it in this Swiss tricolour camo scheme, currently going though my paint collection & seeing what I can use or mix together...

[apophenia]

...I'm planning to paint it in this Swiss tricolour camo scheme, currently going though my paint collection & seeing what I can use or mix together...

Awesome choice of schemes! Although that huge, bright yellow 'CH' does reduce its value as camouflage 

[Mig Eater]

Did a quick doodle to help me visualize the paint scheme.

[Old Wombat]

Looks good!

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Buzzbomb]

Very nice work.

I am a big fan of link and length tracks so the solid print solution appears to be the best way forward for tracks of this size.

[Mig Eater]

Time for some paint!

Black primer


Completely pointless pre-shade 


The first colour of light grey was applied.


Masking putty applied & then painted a olive drab/black mixture.


More masking & then French olive paint applied.


Masking removed to reveal the paint scheme.


I need to clean up a few edges where the olive paint was a bit to thick or the mask moved a bit, but overall I think it turned out ok.

[Old Wombat]

 

[raafif]

  It's got worms !!

[Mig Eater]

Upon closer inspection of the paint work I'm not happy wit the result. It's hard to see in the photos but the paint is a mess of thick & thin patches. So I'm going to try & strip it back down to the resin with an IPA bath. This will be the first time I've tried doing this, however I feel safe knowing that if I really mess it up I can always print another

[Claymore]

Dear god!  Seems an unlikely and unnecessary waste of good beer - or does IPA stand for something else over there?   

[Mig Eater]

Isopropyl alcohol, which you definitely dont want to drink

[Claymore]

Well that makes a whole lot more sense than covering it in India Pale Ale - phew! 

[Mig Eater]

After an afternoon of scrubbing paint I think I could use an pale ale about now

[Kerick]

India pale ale?

[Claymore]

India pale ale?

Not wanting to clog up Mig Eater’s thread, Google India Pale Ale and Wikipedia says it all - British in origin from the early 18-hundreds but 40% of modern craft beer in the US is classified as IPA… 

[Frank3k]

If it's an acrylic paint, you don't need to soak it. Most acrylic paints will dissolve with IPA - use a rag soaked in alcohol and wipe the paint off. Be careful with soaking resin in alcohols; some resins (especially water washable ones) can be affected by long exposure to IPA, especially if there are uncured sections. If the IPA ishaving a hard time removing the paint, denatured alcohol will dissolve or soften almost all acrylic paints quickly.

[Kerick]

Note to self, keep all types of alcohol away from my acrylic painted models!

[Mig Eater]

The paint stripping went ok, there were a few casualties, the handle on the drivers hatch, head lamps, & a few of the turret grenade launchers broke off, but they can be easily glued back on. The Mr.Surfacer that I used to add some texture to the model was removed along with the paint too, so I'll need to reapply that before I can try painting it again.

[Mig Eater]

Idea for a possible future build, anti-aircraft version of the Laupen with the French DCA turret.



The turret from the HS-30 anti-aircraft prototype could be an option too (or I might just make that whole tank ).

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Story]

For what it's worth, I just tripped over this derivative factoid
Twenty vehicles were sold after the war to Ethiopia, who used them until the 1980s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AH-IV

http://ftr.wot-news.com/2013/09/09/the-lion-of-ethiopia-ah-iv-hb/

[apophenia]

The paint stripping went ok ...

I'll say! To my eye, that looks pristine (not that I judge others by my own, inept abilities ...) 

[Mig Eater]

Well here we go again, I primed the model with black & then added a white pre-shade. Last time I highlighted the center of each panel, for round two I thought I'd go with gradients across the panels instead     

[Mig Eater]

I got some colour on the model again & I'm a lot happier with the results My first attempt was my first time using masking putty & I just rolled it up into "sausages" & threw them over the model without much thought. This time around I put more effort into it & sculpted the putty into the pattern I wanted. The Hataka olive green paint I'm using for the main colour is quite thick & difficult to airbrush. Last time I used it as the top layer in the camo & made a mess of it, making me strip the paint off. This time I applied the olive colour first & was more careful with my airbrush, resulting in a much smother surface.

Thinking about the markings now, going to try & 3D print a (paper thin resin) mask for the Swiss emblem. Swiss Panzer 39 & G-13 tanks also had number plates & sometimes unit numbers too, so I'll see if I have any spare decals I can use.

[Frank3k]

The paint job and masking look amazing!

Since you have the files for the tank, can't you design the masks to follow the contours of the surface (ie, mirroring the curve of the turret, etc.) , then print them? You could probably make a single "mask" plate with all the surfaces and markings.

[Claymore]

Lookin’ good! 

[Old Wombat]

Pretty!

[Mig Eater]

I guess in theory you could print a mask/shell that goes other the entire tank, interesting I've never thought about that before... So far I've only printed squares with circles in the middle for wheel masks, the Swiss emblem is going to be my first attempt at something more complex.

[Buzzbomb]

that is looking good. Again