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| Type: |
Panzer II |
Armament: |
20mm |
| Built: |
May 2011 |
Armor: |
80mm |
| Builder: |
Paul Pittelli |
Rating: |
30/4 |
| Status: |
Operational |
Battles: |
28 |
| Owner: |
Paul Pittelli |
Points Earned: |
59,100 |
| Call Sign: |
UNKNOWN |
Points Given: |
55,000 |
| Notes: |
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Aluminium HullCogged TTS TrackRight-angle drill motorsC12C Control System
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Click Photo For Enlargement (46 Kb)
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During the last two years, deep within the secret laboratories of Nottingham Maryland, the latest in Pittelli engineering has created a highly compact deadly Panzer II Ausf J. At the heart of the beast is two right angle motors connected directly to cog-based drive wheels. The theme for this tank is compact yet reliable. With the retirement of T018 (KV-1 Crazy Ivan), the new Panzer II Ausf J is built from an all aluminum body with 24v driving the motors.
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Another innovation in the Panzer II is the simple but effective tensioning arm. The solid rear axle will be tensioned by the swing arm designed by Frank “I think that will work” Pittelli. Although unproven in combat, the mathematics of the design is undeniable!
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Click Photo For Enlargement (57 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (62 Kb)
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With the motors mounted in the front, the battery box, switches and fuse reside in the rear of the tank. Shown here is the only wooden structure in the entire tank. Yes, while the KV-1 was primarily wooden, I’ve made the move to aluminum (almost). The battery box holds two 12v 18amp batteries standing up and has two side pockets for 12v battery packs of AA batteries. One of the 12v battery packs will be used to power the turret rotate, gun elevate and trigger motors with the other battery pack dedicated to the main controller board.
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And now the brains! Keeping with tradition, just as the KV-1 proudly ran with the latest in MAG designed technology, so too is the Panzer II. Chinese motor controllers are connected to relay boards and reside in the front of the tank between the two drive motors. A dual relay board is used to control the gun elevate and trigger. A single prototype (e.g. this means Frank was in the process of designing a new board so I got the prototype) relay board (henceforth referred to as “custom built”) is used to control the turret rotate. All of the boards connect to the main brain, the latest (at the time of installation) Cheap Control Systems controller board.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (73 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (72 Kb)
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With the front hood and turret platform attached, the tank starts to take shape. Here you can see the cogged tracks installed with the main road wheels, idler and internal road wheels. Two additional outside road wheels will be installed prior to the battle. They overlap the internal road wheels.
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A little old school was included in the Panzer II. After a couple attempts to find a small compact motor that could have enough torque to raise and lower the gun, again we turn to mathematics for the solution. Another creation by the mad professor Frank, the swing arm sits underneath an arm connected to the paintball marker and raises/lowers the gun as the motor rotates.
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Click Photo For Enlargement (61 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (73 Kb)
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On the flipside of the elevate motor are micro-switches that stop the motor at the desired low point and high point. So while this is an old design, we kept it under a total height of 3.25 inches. We could probably get the height down to 2.75 inches, but that will have to wait until we see how the tank fairs in battle.
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And now the majority of the turret components are together. You probably can’t tell, but the marker in this tank is a 50cal marker. With the goal of being compact, it will be interesting to see if the 50 cal marker is as efficient with CO2 as the reports indicate. The gun is attached to the front mantle and is held down by two springs between the mantle and the front of the turret. The gun trigger is the battle tested door actuator. The cylindrical object on the right is the CO2 bottle holder. Turns out that a nice plumbing sleeve complete with hose clamps will hold by 5 oz. CO2 bottle perfectly. What isn’t shown is the paintball magazine (will be kept secret until after the upcoming battle).
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Click Photo For Enlargement (70 Kb)
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Click Photo For Enlargement (61 Kb)
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The Panzer II is ready for a shakedown test drive and looking for a battle!
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