Funnily enough I do too Tom; they just seemed to get bigger and bigger. I can’t quite think of anything much larger, not that I’ve compared scale models or anything as I havent these US beasts in my menagerie. I suppose a comparison with a Conqueror might be interesting.
I must get around to adding these experimental types to the stash - like it needs enlarging(!)
Pennies to the pound difference.
T29 0.5 inch higher
The Conqueror was 7.5 inches wider and gun tip to rear, 0.50 longer.
I built the Takom T29E3 several years ago and it’s a big ol’ hunk of plastic! Absolutely dwarfs any other WW2 kits on the table…
Peter, that’s impressive - not the tanks, but the fact that you know this(!)
I really might have to get some of these - the heavy experimental series.
To be honest, each month my club hosts a trivia quiz. Monthly winner is quiz master the next month. Last time I was quiz master one of the questions was, if the Conqueror, T29E1 and M103 were placed in a rectangular box exactly their height, length and width, and with the turret facing exactly forward, which would hold the most volume… I still had the question sheet and exact answer… and the Conqueror’s width was key. H x L x W:
Conqueror 125 inches x 456 x 156 = 8.892m Cu in
M103 126 inches x 444 x 146 = 8.168m Cu in
T29E1 126 inches x 455.5 x 149.5 = 8.580m Cu in
I don’t quite know what to say!
For some reason I now want to build another Conqueror.
T’aint nuthin’ wrong with that!
If the program had made it to production. M34. T-29E3 turret (steroscopic range finder) , T-30 engine, T-34 120mm gun. Last pic is with an M4A3E2(76).
That’s quite a fine build there Tim! And the comparison pic is truly scary…
Trying to decide what to do. I recently discovered that that the “Kätzchen” APC was actually built. 2 Prototypes had been made, one by Auto Union with a torsion bar suspension and another using the BMM 38t based suspension. The latter:
I have this in the stash…
I’m still partial to doing this one though:
le.FH18/40/2(sf) auf G.W.Pz.Kpfw.III/IV (Alphabet Tank)
decisions, decisions…
I have this though consigned to the half-built holding area(!) It looks buildable enough but interior details are scant, ditto some of the external fittings ie not many. References are also thin on the ground and the Panzer Tracts issue covering this doesn’t, in my opinion, add that much.
My ides was to portray it as a What-if, as a vehicle designed to carry a recce half section; that might be the best way to go, but of course, that’s merely my view.
The Katzchen certainly fits the bill, with only prototypes built, and I’m continually surprised by just how versatile that Skoda chassis was!
Now the tricky bit - I also really like that 10.5 simply because it’s a bonkers idea! None entered service so it’s fine, but would you build it with the gun dismounted? That would make a great diorama…
The Skoda chassis certainly was used for a lot of different vehicles, during and even after the war. It suffered from a spring suspension that could not cope with the higher speed it needed to manage as engine power increased though. That was what sealed the fate of this Kätzchen version - it was the second type designed, but it was determined the type 1 made by Auto Union with a torsion bar suspension would be further developed. That one had different wheels, etc, trialled…
Now that I look closer, I think the first photo I posted may be the auto Union Torsion bar vehicle with 38t road wheels, Idler, return rollers and modified Drive sprocket. Compare the rear end fixtures to the pics above:
I can’t see the spring suspension between the road wheel pairs.
Not sure you’d see springs at that angle. Looking at the side shot you posted, I zoomed in a lot and despite it being grainy it seems there is something between the first and second road wheels, below the line of the hull bottom, that could be the spring. And I wonder if they’d keep the odd return-roller positions if they weren’t using the 38 running gear - surely they’d just let the track sag on the wheel tops like all their other torsion-bar tanks?
Found theTakom T-29E3 kit for cheap and got the Takom T-30/34 kit sprues for the gun and engine deck separate (from beaddreamllc on ebay for $15). Used a decal sheet for the M4 (same as the M4A3E2(76)… both are marked for 476th Tank Battalion.
Here is my kit for this campaign. The E-100 heavy tank.
I Will check if the trumpeter workable track links will work with the dragon kit.
More to follow 
Looking good Jesper! Reminds me I need to get cracking on my own entry… 
