Hear hear what John said, delighted to see you building & posting & as usual something unusual/interesting 
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Thank you John
Martin - Hello Sir and Greetings
How are things on your side of the world?
Fires out? Lights on?
Spouse feeling better? Hope all is well.
Cheers!
Working now on the rear axle and fender set:
There are two hand cranked, screw driven vertical jacks built into the rear axle to allow for the lowering and raising of the load bed. I have not yet attached the hand cranks as they were clearly to be removable. (Would not want to loose these cranks while traveling.)
Also each jack appears to have two crank attachment points on the gear tower. No doubt the bottom attachment allowed for more rapid lowering of the bed when empty (larger drive gear) but then the top attachment point offered more geared mechanical advantage (smaller drive gear) when raising a heavily loaded trailer.
(Sorry for the fuzzy quality of this photo.)
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Reference - ya can’t have too much reference!
Note: the trailer above, for some reason, has one ramp up and one ramp down.
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Great job so far Mike. And great photos too
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The trailer was designed to work with the FAUN tank carrier so somewhere, either on the trailer or the truck there needs to be a set of ramps … wait a minute …
OK, did some image searching, no extra ramps needed, something that looks like a thick plank (possibly short) was used to ease the last height difference.
A better view of the loading process showing the two objects placed at the front of the trailer ramps to lift the tank high enough for the truck bed:
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Super nice photo there Robin - I had not as yet found that one.
Yes the 115 was originally designed to allow a Pz. I or Pz. II to “climb” into the back of the Faun truck and a second tank would then be loaded onto the trailer. As tanks grew in size and weight this feature became impossible/unusuable. However the 115 still soldiered on (post 1939) in lessor transport and recovery duties.
All the necessary ramps were built into and were a part of the standard 115 trailer.
New Photo
Parade Ready!
The unique design features and adjustable ramps of the 115 are what drew me to be interested in this vehicle in the first place. – A rather creative engineering solution if you ask me.
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Working now on this somewhat interesting rear axle hinge arrangement that Das Werk has provided us. The two axle arms are trapped into the frame as you assemble it (be cautious with the glue here!) These arms seem to have 3 position click stops: high, level and low. My only fear is that these click stops will not be strong enough to hold the trailer level and take the weight when loaded with another vehicle. However there is always the option to later glue this assembly in the final desired position.
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Let the Painting Begin!
I said I was going to stay with just a straight overspray of “Panzer Gray” plus some weathering. (As would be on the actual wartime trailer.)
I guess I was just fooling myself - just could not resist!
OK
- On the left we have just a straight shot of Tamiya rattle can “Panzer Gray”.
- In the middle the ramp has now been gone over with a thin coat of Model Masters “Dark Beige” that has been brushed on. Plus a shot of Tamiya rattle can “Matte Clear”. (TS-80) (See footnote)
- On the right I have slathered on two coats of Citadel “Sperhiam Sepia” water based shader (stain).
p.s. The Matte Clear coat gives more of a tooth to the oil based paint so the water based stain can adhere better.
(I just knew I would end up doing this!)
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The above was a test - now I am working on the main deck:
Weathering will follow along later. (Pastel Chalks)
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Michael this is looking amazing. I never thought I’d be this enthralled by a trailer! Your attention to detail (not to mention GoogleFu) is top notch.
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Thank you very much for your kind words.
For some reason I am just sorta nuts about trailers and about enhancing the look of the vehicles towing them???
Off Topic
Opel Blitz with Tool Trailer:
Maultier as V-2 Control Cable Service Vehicle with Generator Trailer:
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I can appreciate that. I always used to make fun of Service Battalion guys, but I’m developing a certain admiration for soft skins and other workhorse vehicles as I get older.
Heavy armour is cool, but it’s nothing but a big block of steel without POL and maintenance.
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I appreciate armor but it is the softskins that I really dig!
Thank you all the same!
Mike
165thspc
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Not at all! Best part about this forum is getting to see and share our passion for this hobby. I love seeing everyone’s work and your pieces are no exception.
Keep up your amazing work!
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Most of us around here are nuts in some way or other …
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In the bad old days the only trailers, apart from some towed guns,
were Italeris (ex someone elses??) small one axle trailers sold as a pair
Oh what joy when I found these, best game in town since it was the only game …
Edit almost forgot: There was a small trailer in a Jeep kit, released by both Tamiya and Italeri.
Tamiya also hooked a trailer to one of their M151 kits.
Tank transport trailers? HAH! In my dreams maybe …
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Thanks so much Frenchy for the additional photo reference - always looking for more reference!
(As you well know.)
Notice how they seemed to have changed over to larger tires at some point, especially on the rear?
My guess here is that they were loosing a lot of these trailers to structural metal fatigue in the long frame members because of not having any suspension on that rear axle. So they switched to a larger tire and ran them on slightly reduced air pressure to give that rear end a little “bounce”.
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