Hello everybody, I am thinking about getting to work on an Asuka Panzer II Luchs. I’ve got the Aber basic set for it, and this comes with a big grille to cover the rear air intake/outlet on the engine deck, however, neither the Mirage Hobby, Tasca/Asuka, or Border Models kit comes with a grille to cover this. Were they actually mounted or not?
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The kits don’t come with screens because they don’t supply photoetch in the kit. All three of the grills on the engine deck of the Luchs had screens on them.
I believe the rear area did not normally have a screen as air is expelled there.
I’m pretty sure the Panzer Tracts book shows no screen here.
Can’t vouch for Mirage Hobby, but Border Models and Asuka kits do all come with photo etch. They only include screens for the side intakes.
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For what it’s worth, and maybe I should have put my assumptions on the original post, the air outlet grille seems to consist of three distinct portions that can each be flipped up invidually, probably as they are very heavy pieces of steel. That would seem to preclude having a single, big mesh covering all of them. None of the photos where I can catch a glimpse of the engine deck look like there’s a mesh there. It also seems that kit manufacturers don’t provide a mesh to cover the engine deck, and for the most recent reviews of the newer kits (Classy Hobby for 1/16, Border Model for 1/35 and Flyhawk for 1/72), no one complains about the rear mesh screen missing. I guess I have to assume that Luchses didn’t have a mesh over the air outlet on the rear.
The Bovington staff thinks differently 
H.P.
Aber and Eduard think that it belongs on the Luchs.
I’m not saying one way or the other, but I would not jump to the conclusion the museum put it there because it’s what the original had. I have seen many examples of mesh being placed over larger openings to prevent birds and animals from taking up residence.
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I have the big Aber set. It includes the mesh, but alternatively also includes more louvers for the exhaust grille as an alternative.
The panzer tracts text might be more definitive proof. The Germans did have a propensity to put mesh over air intakes and exhausts.
Might be? Why do you continue to doubt in the face of photographic proof?
I don’t actually see a mesh over the exhaust opening in the panzer tracts photo, nor a frame for one, unlike the intake openings in the same photo. The earlier B&W photos also aren’t very definite. The Bovington Museum unit could have had the mesh placed over the opening by the museum staff to stop people from throwing trash in there, or to stop small animals and birds from entering.
I also still find it odd that none of the newer Luchs kits have this mesh if it’s supposed to be there, when they include the intake screens.
Fine - don’t use it then - don’t believe Jentz & Doyle - I’m outta here.
Do you always act so belligerent? You asked a question and I answered truthfully.
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No, you asked a question and I answered truthfully. All three grills on the Luchs engine deck have screens on them. That is a FACT corroborated by Jentz & Doyle, who had access to the original photographs and used magnifying glasses to confirm the existence of the screens, thus stating in print, " Both the air intakes and exhaust (at the rear) were covered with a woven wire screen." There it is simple as day, in print for the world to see, and yet you continue to defy logic and posit fantasies “…mesh placed over the opening by the museum staff.” I’m not being belligerent, I just see someone who won’t accept empirical truth, someone who just doesn’t get it, for whatever reason, and I am done wasting my time.
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Now, I am willing to believe Jentz & Doyle, and nowhere intended to call into question their methods or validity, all I was saying is that I have not seen a period photo of the engine deck with the mesh installed. Having looked at Bovington’s videos on their Luchs, I am agreeing that the mesh is original. I have also tracked down a copy of Panzer Tracts 2-2 to read for myself. It seem the prototype version definitely did not have a screen on the air exhaust, even Doyle’s drawings show this. I would have liked to know if all production versions of the tank had this screen/mesh installed.
I would also prefer to use the mesh, since I think that would look better. I’m just afraid to death of people who know better smashing my work when they see it and want to be absolutely sure. I am also chronically insecure, so my text is bound to contain a lot of ifs and buts. I feel like you are attacking me personally without a reason.
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And in their Tank Chats #114 on the Luchs, at about 0:30, you can clearly see wire mesh over all the grilles in the rear:
In a subsequent video showing off the interior of their Luchs, the Tank Museum mentions that they have performed no significant restoration on the vehicle because of its relatively immaculate condition, and they wanted to keep the vehicle in the state in which they received it, in order to preserve the original condition for future research. So it’s highly unlikely that they would have added the screens to the rear decking to keep birds or rodents out.
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Just for the record Saumur have a Luchs too:
Panzer II Luchs Walkaround - Saumur Tank Museum - Musée Des Blindés. : r/TankPorn (reddit.com)
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“the Tank Museum mentions that they have performed no significant restoration on the vehicle because of its relatively immaculate condition, and they wanted to keep the vehicle in the state in which they received it, in order to preserve the original condition for future research.”
That’s a bit rich from the Tank Museum; they slathered the exterior in a gloss sage green back in the early 60s! Perhaps they’re referring to the interior - the exterior colour scheme is not the original.