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This bottom view of the hull shows the two
longitudinal 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch square
aluminum tubes, the additional 1/2 inch DIA
cross brace between axles 1 and 2,
and 1/8 inch thick aluminum bottom plate.
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The Hetzer's camo paint job was inspired by the
full-size
reconstructed Hetzer
at the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles. Latex
house paint was custom mixed to match the
German color scheme
for August 1944. Front and rear fenders were also added.
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This rear quarter view shows the rear fenders
and the safety cutoff switch for the battery.
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This is the business end of the Hetzer. A wooden sauskopf
was turned on a lathe from pine to help protect the
gun opening in the mantlet housing. The sauskopf is press fit
onto the gun barrel. A driver's periscope was added
to protect an internal video camera. The Hetzer earned
three barrel rings for solo kills during the Battle for
Middle Maryland.
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The front glacis, top access panel and rear armor
plate were removed for this direct overhead view
to show placement of the gun, CO2 bottle, wireless
remote video camera, R/C receiver and solid state
relay (SSR) mixer.
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The magazine is a simple articulated tray made
from a small steel box. It is attached to the
top of the gun using two socket head cap screws
on either side of the internal wedges. A
special plexiglass box was constructed to hold
the 9 ounce CO2 bottle. The bottle is connected
to the gun with a quick release fitting and microline
tubing.
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An X-10 remote video camera was bolted directly
to the wall of the inner hull behind the driver's periscope.
Although this camera worked well during field trials,
it did not survive the ROUGH terrain at the Battle
in the Badlands. |
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As the gun is elevated or depessed, the articulated
tray magazine pivots up and down where it is attached
to the gun. The aft end of the magazine is held at
a fixed height by a simple wood dowel cross brace.
The dowel can be removed quickly for access to the
gun bolt.
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This rear view provides more detail on the articulated
tray magazine. It also shows a pink cord below the
trigger servo wires that can be used to fire the gun
manually.
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Eight solid state relays (SSR) were mounted to a plexiglass
sheet that is carried directly over the aft battery.
A second smaller sheet was piggybacked on top of the
lower to hold the R/C receiver, the Anvilus SSR mixer
and 4 C batteries to power the servos, receiver and mixer.
The Anvilus R/C mixer uses a Basic Atom microcontroller
to provide right-left track mixing with variable speed
control. |
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