Mark Aldrich Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 OK fellow tread heads, lets test your Panzer III knowledge. I figure if I throw this out someone will know or have an educated guess. Below are three Panzer three photos. The third is untouched and the other two are marked for someone to explain to me the missing triangular undercut that (as far as I knew) was common on ALL Panzer III and IV turrets. Any and all help and guesses are greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Delano Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 There's something not right about this photo - based on the shadows cast by the spare road wheels on the turret and the fenders, it appears as though the source of light is coming from the direction in front of the turret face, BUT, the entire gun appears to be in shadow. Now I know that it could be that the gun barrel was an unpainted replacement, but there is something not right about this photo... I would almost be include to say that this looks like a pencil drawing that was made by tracing an original photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimDarrah Posted January 10, 2009 Report Share Posted January 10, 2009 Mark, That "undercut" just looks like the edge of the turret hanging off of the hull edge, as the turret is turned. Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBridges Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 This tank is a PzKpfw III ausf. J, and this same picture can be seen in the Squadron Signal "In Action" book on the Panzer III, page 30, top left picture. I guess what you're refering to is the beveled edge on the front of a Panzer III turret, on the lower right and lower left front edge of every turret. And as far as I had ever noticed before (and indeed upon looking at my references) all of the Panzer III turrets have said bevels. However, from looking at a better quality image of this tank, it genuinely looks like this turret doesn't have the bevels. It doesn't appear to be a trick of lighting or anything that I can tell. However, I can only determine two possible options: a ). It really doesn't have the beveled edges, and is a fluke one-off for some unknown reason, or; b ). It is a very imperceptable trick of lighting. My $0.02, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Damage + Lighting + Angle of the photo + Photographic technology of the time = One very interesting result but probably a normal Panzer. . . Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 I finally got permission to post on Missing-Lynx and the answers are the same. I still think this is not a normal turret. If the undercut was there, there would not be the noticeable shadow below it. Of course, this is probably the ONLY photo and angle of this particular vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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