Modelling German WWII Armoured Vehicles E-Book

Robin Buckland

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Modelling German WWII Armoured Vehicles is an essential reference for wargamers and modellers who build and paint World War II German armoured vehicles. It provides extensive information on the vehicles, describing what was used and when, and how the vehicles evolved and were adapted to perform specialised functions. Photographs of vintage vehicles have been included to enable the creation of realistic models. This new book encourages both young and old to get into the fascinating hobby of modelling military vehicles. It provides a history of German Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), looks back at early AFV models and the development of the hobby over the last 50 years. It provides detail on how to assemble plastic, resin and metal models, including etch brass detailing, and covers colours and markings, plus the various paints you can use to finish your models. A practical guide to the techniques used in accurately modelling World War II German armoured vehicles in any scale, fully illustrated with 195 colour images.

Leseprobe

MODELLING

German World War IIArmoured Vehicles

MODELLING

German World War II Armoured Vehicles

Robin Buckland

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2019 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2019

© Robin Buckland 2019

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 516 9

Contents

1 Introduction

2 Historical Background

3 Tools and Materials – The Basics and Beyond

4 Choosing Your Models

5 Out of the Box – Building Basic Models

6 Painting and Weathering

7 Taking the Next Steps – Adding Extra Detailing

8 References – The Real Things

9 Lifelong Learning and Sharing

Bibliography

Useful Contacts

Index

Chapter One

Introduction

From the time when I started making military vehicle models back in the 1960s, there has been a continued and significant interest in building German equipment, from World War II in particular. Back in those days, there was only a limited variety of models on the market, with the leader being the range of smaller 1/76 scale kits by Airfix. In the years since then, so much has changed and the market today is a modeller’s paradise compared to what is was like some fifty years ago. We have seen manufacturers come and go, though have also been fortunate that most of the kits from those we have lost have been taken on by others and are still regularly produced. However, it is not practical to keep all of the kits in a range in continual production, especially for the long-established brands where their product catalogue has grown so much over the years, so kits may have to be scheduled for production runs over time. This not only applies to the big plastic kit manufacturers, but also the small resin kit producers. With resin, the rubber moulds wear out relatively quickly, so new moulds may have to be produced. This then opens the question of demand and the time that takes to build up, so kits may be unavailable for some time.

Therefore if you want a kit that is perhaps not available through the manufacturers and their distributors, keep an eye out for what is available through second-hand kit dealers, or perhaps on the bring-and-buy tables at the various model shows around the country. The other option is to wait until the manufacturer does a new production run. I have known one or two over the years that have been advertised as ‘rare’ for extortionate prices, only to find that the kit comes back on the market at its normal price a few months later. Tamiya’s LRDG truck is one example from one of the major kit manufacturers that comes to mind.

The other thing that I think is worth saying is that when I started, those early Airfix kits were on sale at genuinely ‘pocket money’ prices, so youngsters (as I was then!) could afford them and get into the hobby. Many kits these days are priced way too high for youngsters (or for their parents to buy them for them), as over the years the adult model-maker has asked for more detail and the manufacturers have answered those calls, recognizing that their market is more the adult modeller, so prices have risen accordingly. Obviously that is not the entire story and there are some kits which can be used to encourage the younger modeller. I am a keen supporter of anything that will encourage new modellers to get into our hobby and perhaps away from computer screens for a while.

One of the most important advances in modelling has been as a result of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Warsaw Pact. The opening up of Eastern Europe saw the emergence of a host of new information that was accessible to all. One of the most notable results was the information that I think came first from David Fletcher, the well-known armour historian who worked at the Tank Museum in Bovington, and his trip to the Russian armour collection at Kubinka, when it emerged that contrary to previous information, an example of the huge German Maus had survived the war.

Another major advance has been due to the rapid development of the computer. It’s hard to think of life without them these days, but I for one had already left school before IBM made its first personal computer, which went on the market back in 1982. For modellers, the use of computer-controlled mould-making machines has reduced the time needed to make new moulds; couple that to laser-cut moulds, it means that kit manufacturers can now provide accurate moulds that take a fraction of the time and cost to create. Most recently, though not quite a household item yet, the use of 3D printers will I am sure make even more of an impact in the next few years, as their quality goes up and their cost comes down. We might talk of scratch-building or using plasticard to build new parts for a conversion, but while I did that for many years, nowadays I find it more efficient to utilize the many kits and conversion sets that are commercially available. I know some will still choose to scratch-build, but it tends to be only a minority of skilled modellers who have the time and inclination to go down that route.

Nearly 50 years old, my Jagdpanther conversion based on the Airfix Panther chassis. Not brilliant but it was good enough for me back then.

In the 1960s, the only small-scale tank kits available were the old Airfix ones. They did quite a neat StuG III, but the turreted Pz III was not available until ESCI appeared on the scene with a couple of 1/72 scale models and Matchbox (now Revell) produced the Ausf L (Ausführen: version). So if you wanted a Pz III gun tank, you had no option but to carry out a conversion on the Airfix kit, scratch-building the turret itself. Built when I was still a young teenager, mine was nowhere near as good as the modern kits, but at the time I was happy with it because I did at least have a Pz III in my collection. I also created a Jagdpanther based on the old Airfix Panther.

My surviving example of the early SdKfz 251 in polyester resin by Eric Clarke.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, due to the pressure of costs and an international oil crisis, the rate of new kit releases slowed to a trickle. At that point, we saw the growth of what we have come to call ‘cottage industries’. Some skilled modellers would scratch-build their own model based on a set of scale drawings, and from that ‘master’ they could make a mould and then sell castings of it. These could be moulded in metal or a two-part resin. The very early models by Eric Clark (which evolved into Milicast, the creators of a huge range of polyurethane models today) were done in a polyester resin, which could not manage finer details such as axles and gun barrels. Then new polyurethane resins became available and suddenly a whole new level of detail became possible. The likes of Alain Lafarge in France with his AL-BY models and then Cromwell Models with their modern IDF Merkava I introduced us to the detail possible with the then new polyurethane resin, a material which has since gone from strength to strength. We have also seen a few manufacturers produce models in white metal, with some excellent detail, such as those by MMS and SHQ.

Clockwork SdKfz 222.

Clockwork winder hidden underneath.

Another modelling revolution was the emergence of the 1/35 armour model, whose development was due to the work of companies such as Tamiya, since followed by others like Dragon Models and Trumpeter, who have grown their ranges to sizes and with subjects that modellers once would have only dreamt of. The sheer variety of what is available on the market these days is amazing. As a modeller in my sixties now, there are plastic kits available of subjects that I never imagined I would see when I was younger. When I began, I found it difficult to get examples of simply the Panzer I through to VI. Now I can not only buy all of them, but each version of each one, even the prototypes! Going back to those early days, I still have one of the first 1/35 scale (roughly) kits that I built. I can’t recall the manufacturer (though I think it may have been Nitto), and it is an SdKfz (Sonderkraftfahrzeug) 222, which even has a wind-up clockwork motor. Over forty years later it is still in one of my storage drawers, a little battered with one or two small parts broken off, but generally still all there. Now, where did I put that key …?

The Internet has also had an impact on the model-maker – you can judge for yourself that we have seen a huge reduction in the number of model shops on the high street and are also seeing the sales of paper-based hobby magazines suffering. People shop via the Internet and look around web shops to get the best deals they can; even if the kits are being shipped from abroad, they can check stock, get the best price, pay online and then wait for the order to appear via the post or one of the many courier services. Many people rely on the Internet these days for their information and very often simply expect it to be free. Something for free is nice, but the reality is that people need to earn a living from what they do, or that information you want will not be written in the first place. But change is inevitable and continual, so we will just have to see how the future works out. In the meantime, let’s make sure we continue to enjoy our model-making hobby.

THE PZKPFW I

This light tank was the first of the new Panzers for the Wehrmacht built in the 1930s. It was really intended more as a training vehicle that would also enable the armament manufacturers to get some practice in making armoured vehicles after the ban imposed by the Versailles Treaty was discarded. Armed with just two 7.92mm machine guns, it could do little more than provide some infantry support. The design of the suspension was influenced by the British Carden Lloyd designs of the same period. Over 1,100 examples of the Ausf A were built, which are identified by the trailing idler wheel that runs on the ground. It had some issues and a slightly longer Ausf B was made, which is identified quickly by an extra road wheel along with an external beam, and the rear idler is raised up off the ground. Around 400 of the Ausf B were built as turreted tanks and additional chassis were built as Command vehicles (Panzerbefehlswagen). Turretless ones were used as driver training machines.

Two later variants, the Ausf C and the Ausf F, were built later, though only in small numbers. They bore no resemblance to the earlier versions and were intended as heavily armoured reconnaissance machines, but still only armed with machine guns.

The chassis of the Ausf B was used to build the first tank hunters (Panzerjäger), and were armed with a Czech 4.7cm anti-tank gun in a fixed shield mounting. The Ausf B chassis was also used for an early self-propelled artillery piece, where the turret and superstructure were removed and a large boxed gun shield, open on top and at the back, plus a 15cm sIG33 (schwere Infanterie Geschütze: heavy infantry gun) was fitted, complete with full carriage including the wheels. Used by six Panzer divisions during the Blitzkrieg of 1940, a number were still in service with 5th Panzer Division in Russia as late as 1943. Other variants used in small numbers include a Demolition charge-laying tank, the Ladungsleger, which was built in two versions, both with cableoperated arms to lay the 50kg charge, one which laid it ahead of the tank and another which simply let it drop behind it. A few Pz I Ausf A were converted into flamethrowers by the engineer team of 5th Pz Division in North Africa, with the flame projector replacing the right-hand turret machine gun. These were done in readiness for the assault on Tobruk.

In the later stages of the war, no longer suitable for use in front-line combat, the tanks had their turrets removed and replaced by a large box to be used as an ammunition or load carrier. The turrets were not entirely wasted, as they were installed in various permanent fortifications. By May 1944, records indicate that 511 of the available turrets had been released for this purpose. Coupled with the use of the Pz I as a driver training vehicle in basic training for Panzer crews, a design that was quickly found to be obsolete for front-line service proved to be a useful resource for the Wehrmacht well into the war.

Chapter Two

Historical Background

WORLD WAR I

In World War I, the development of the tank was in the hands of both the British and the French. Those early machines were the chosen solution to the stalemate of trench warfare that developed on the Western Front in the early years of the war. Artillery and the machine gun were changing the face of modern warfare and the vast number of casualties demonstrated a desperate need to find a new answer. The tank, an armoured, mobile box that could traverse open ground and crush extensive barbed wire entanglements while providing protection for the crew inside, provided part of the solution. Tanks, in turn, carried machine guns or artillery to bring fire to bear on the enemy trenches and emplacements as they got closer to them. The early British and French tanks were built in large numbers. The German army made use of captured examples, but only designed one tank of its own, the A7V, and only twenty of those were built in total. Just one of these rare tanks, Mephisto, has survived to this day and is now to be found in a museum in Australia, although a few years ago a full-size wooden replica was built and is now displayed in the collection of the Tank Museum, Bovington.

The replica A7V at the Tank Museum, Bovington.

This is the box art for a recent 1/35 kit of the A7V, including the interior detail fittings.

Coming late in the war, two prototype examples of the Leichter Kampfwagen II (LE.II) were built, armed only with machine guns and looking similar in layout to the British Whippet. A few were built after the end of the war for Sweden. Germany did also make a number of armoured cars, but these did not see significant service during the war.

With the war over, the Treaty of Verseilles prohibited Germany from possessing either tanks or aircraft within the limited armed forces the country was allowed to retain. But they managed to circumvent the prohibition, even before Hitler came to power. A secret tank training school was set up in Russia, the Kama Training school, located in Kazan and opening in 1929. A number of German officers underwent training in armoured warfare, using tanks provided by the Soviets. There were about a dozen officers at any one time, attending a twoyear course. Commanders such as Heinz Guderian and Walter Model were among those early trainees. The situation moved on, however, when Hitler came to power and German rearmament was openly pursued. The school closed in late 1933.

THE 1930S AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, a civil war in Spain turned out to be a proving ground for the newer elements of the German armed forces, both aircraft and tanks. The Condor Legion supported the Spanish Nationalist movement of General Franco. In addition to the well-known involvement of many new aircraft types, there were also ground troops and a number of the Panzer I light tank. The Panzer I was only armed with machine guns, however, and was inferior to the Russian-built T-26 that it usually faced in Spain. Nevertheless, it gave the German crews valuable experience in working together in combat operations, alongside ground troops.

The 1930s also saw the development of the slightly larger Panzer II, which was fitted with a 20mm main gun, alongside an mg. The other ‘fashion’ of tank design in the 1930s was the multi-turreted heavy tank. A lot of money and effort was put into these by a number of countries. In Russia, both the T-28 and the even bigger T-35 were built. The UK built the Independent, though only in prototype form. France developed the large Char 2C, while Germany built a few mild steel prototypes of the Neubaufahrzeug, to which I will return in a moment.

EARLY WORLD WAR II

By 1939, the most numerous tanks in service with the Wehrmacht were the Pz I and the Pz II, plus a small number of the early variants of the Pz III and Pz IV medium tanks. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Wehrmacht also absorbed both the Pz 35(t) and Pz 38(t) tanks, which were added to their inventory for the subsequent Blitzkrieg assault of France and the Low Countries in May 1940.

There was also one other tank design used at this time, though only in very small numbers and only the mild steel prototype rather than the fully armoured production version. This was the Neubaufahrzeug, a multi-turreted design that was deployed briefly in the invasion of Norway. The key to the success of the Panzers during these Blitzkrieg operations lay not so much in the power of the tank, but the combination of tactics, which involved the concentration of the tank units, the speed at which they moved, the close support of mobile artillery and the assistance of Luftwaffe close-support aircraft.

The French tank force possessed far more tanks than the Wehrmacht, with the majority of them also being better armed. The tanks in operation with the British Expeditionary Force were armed with mostly just two-pounder main guns, or, in the case of the Matilda I, just a single machine gun. Despite that, the sheer volume of captured enemy equipment was something of a windfall to the German military and many of the French tanks in particular were to resurface as mounts for self-propelled anti-tank guns and artillery, appearing in North Africa, Russia, Italy and later Normandy.

Following the fall of France, and due in part to his ally Mussolini’s territorial ambitions, Hitler’s Germany was pulled into new operational areas in North Africa and the Balkans/Greece. These were followed in 1941 by the invasion of Russia. As with the invasion of France, the invasion of Russia began with quick victories and huge numbers of troops and tanks being captured. It highlighted the weakness of the older Russian designs, such as the T-26 and BT-5/7, along with the heavy, multi-turreted tank designs of the T-28 and T-35. They were knocked out in large numbers. The surprise that awaited the Panzers, however, was the new design of the T-34/76. This prompted significant changes in German tank designs.

This T-34/76, originally from Finland and now at Bovington, was the tank that had a significant impact on German tank design, leading to the Panther.

LATE WORLD WAR II

Lessons learnt in the first half of the war were calling for improved tank designs and larger guns. This meant that many of the earlier tanks were effectively obsolete, because it was not possible to fit heavier guns into the limited size turret rings of the existing hulls. Only the Pz IV was to remain in production throughout the war as a gun tank, and even that went through a number of developments. The new designs were the Tiger I, the Panther, and then the even bigger Tiger II. But what did the Germans do with all those older and captured hulls?

Many were converted to other uses. I suspect the most famous of all was the Sturmgeschütz (StuG) III, no turret and a 75mm long-barrelled gun fitted in a fixed superstructure, with quite a low profile. There were other instances of converting tanks for similar assault guns and Jagdpanzers (‘Tank Hunters’), such as the StuG IV, the Marder series of anti-tank guns fitted on to the Pz 38(t) hull, the small and agile Hetzer also based on the Pz 38(t) chassis, along with a variety of anti-tank guns and artillery pieces fitted to a number of French tank hulls captured when France was invaded. These are best known for being used by the German 21st Panzer Division in Normandy, though many were used in North Africa, Russia and Italy.

It was the second half of the war that saw the introduction of the Panther (the Panzer V) and the Tiger I, which became among the best and most famous designs of the war. The Tiger I and the even larger Tiger II were amongst the heaviest tanks to see combat during the war. The reputation of the Tiger remains to this day and the sight of Tiger 131 moving in the arena at Tiger Days or Tankfests is still a huge draw for visitors from around the world. Many World War II unit histories and diaries record reports of seeing enemy ‘Tigers’, even when none are now known to have been in the area. It does suggest that when reading some memoirs one needs to be a little careful in interpreting comments, but it also shows the effect of just the thought of being up against a Tiger.

This photo shows the 1/35 kit in the Cyber-Hobby range by Dragon, showing Michael Wittman’s final Tiger I Befehlswagen. DRAGON MODELS

1946 DESIGNS

A number of plans were on the drawing boards of the German arms manufacturers at end of the war. These designs utilized many common elements, which would have speeded up production, but very few reached the prototype stage. The best known of these were the E100 (just one chassis built) and the super heavy tank, Maus (two built, both knocked out in the final stages of the war). The E100 chassis was brought to the UK at the end of the war, but sadly scrapped in the 1950s. For many years it was thought that both Maus prototypes had been destroyed, but with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold War, it was discovered that the Russians had kept what appeared to be the chassis of one and the turret of the other, and combined them into one complete example, which is held in the collection at Kubinka. The remaining designs, as they were not built, are commonly referred to as ‘Paper Panzers’, a topic to which we will return later.

The battered prototype Schmalturm turret that would have been fitted to the Panther II design on display at Bovington. It was recovered from ranges where it had been used as a ‘hard target’.

KEY TANK DESIGN FEATURES

The design of a tank, which remains true even with the latest MBT (Main Battle Tank) designs of today, revolves around the balance of just three key elements – mobility, firepower and protection. The thicker the armour, the better the protection. The bigger the gun, the bigger the tank needs to be and the heavier it becomes. A bigger, heavier tank, may not fit on bridges or railway wagons, while the weight will put more strain on the engine and transmission and reduce mobility. In simple terms, it is not possible to have all three maximums together; there has to be a balance and some clever designs to get the best. One or two of the German designs at the late stages of the war went beyond what was sensible. The Maus weighed in at over 180 tons (182,888kg). Two prototypes were built, but what railway or bridge could have coped with that kind of weight? Mobility would have been extremely limited, even though firepower (12.8cm main gun and 7.5cm coaxial) and thick armour would have satisfied the other two requirements.

There was even an intention to build the vast 1,000-ton Landkreuzer P.1000 ‘Ratte’, which would carry two naval 28cm guns in a naval-pattern gun turret. Presented to Hitler in 1943, the design might have gone ahead but was cancelled by armaments minister Albert Speer. No railway could have managed it; it would have been too big to use tunnels, too wide and heavy for bridges; and would still have been a huge target for allied airpower. It is incredible that such a waste of valuable resources could ever have been under consideration.

A modern German tank, a Leopard 1, sectioned at the Defence College, Shrivenham, showing how everything is fitted into an armoured hull.

Detail of the turret and basket of the Leopard 1.

Here is my build of the Takom Ratte, with the two Maus tanks alongside it, built but as yet unpainted.

ARMOURED FIGHTING VEHICLES OTHER THAN TANKS

The fully tracked tank provided an ability to ignore roads and travel cross-country. With more reliable engines and faster speeds, these tanks needed more support, as an infantryman on foot was too slow and vulnerable, so the requirement arose for APCs (Armoured Personnel Carriers). The German army opted for an armoured version of its medium half-track, the SdKfz 251, sometimes simply referred to as the ‘Hanomag’ after the main manufacturer. Artillery was also needed, so the army began to mount artillery in a tracked chassis to accompany the advancing Panzers. This provided a better cross-country performance than the horse-drawn artillery units supporting the bulk of the German Infantry divisions throughout the war. With the huge developments in air power, there also came a requirement for AA (Anti-Aircraft) defence equipment, which led to the mounting of AA weapons on tank chassis and half-tracks. The half-tracks were fitted with armoured cabs, so as to provide some protection for crews as they accompanied Panzer units in combat areas.

The other main type of AFV was the armoured car, again in a mix of variants. These were used for reconnaissance duties in particular. While there were early four-wheelers that were little more than a car chassis fitted with simple, open-topped armoured bodywork, that was soon replaced with the small SdKfz 221 series of four-wheel drive armoured cars which had a turret on an enclosed armoured body. Also used in the early part of the war was a series of six-wheel (six-rad) armoured cars, later followed by the bigger eight-rad series, which was in service to the end of the war.

As can be seen, there is plenty of scope for the modeller, even without including soft-skin equipment and artillery. However, as we will see later on, combat experience led to interim designs where the vehicle types crossed over to provide an answer to a particular problem.

THE PZKPFW II

This light tank was the second of the new Panzers built for the Wehrmacht during the 1930s. It was a bit larger than the Pz I and was armed with a turret-mounted 20mm gun, plus a 7.92mm machine gun coaxially. Experience in the Spanish Civil War had shown the lack of any anti-armour weapon on the Pz I and while the intention was already there to build the Pz III and IV medium tanks, delays meant that a gap needed to be filled. The result was the Pz II.

The Pz II was first produced in 1936 with a series of development machines that tried different road wheel arrangements. These first ones were referred to as the Ausf a (the lower case ‘a’ differentiates it from a later production variant). With a number of modifications, the Ausf b (again, with a lower case ‘b’) was built with modified running gear and wider track. The six small road wheels were strengthened by an external beam and there was a rounded transmission cover on the front of the hull. The final version of the development series was the Ausf c (lower case ‘c’), with further modifications that were carried into the main production versions, the Ausf A, B and C (the production versions are identified by the use of the capital letters). The production versions saw the use of the five larger road wheels and springs, which became one of the main recognition features of the Pz II. There were various modifications made while these were in service, as over 1,100 were built.

A small number of the later Ausf D were built, with a completely redesigned hull but retaining the same turret. These saw limited service and were withdrawn for conversion to Flammpanzer (flamethrower tanks), or the Ausf D chassis was often used to mount captured Russian 7.62cm anti-tank gun in an armoured superstructure and gun shield. These were referred to as the Marder II, along with others carrying the German 7.5cm Pak 40 using hulls from the main production variants. The Ausf F was the final main production variant, with over 500 being built. The main physical features were: the flat front plate to the hull and the full-width front of the superstructure; a one-piece 30mm flat plate; and a new conical design of the idler wheel. A later version, the Ausf L, commonly referred to as the Luchs (Lynx) was built in 1943–4 for use by reconnaissance units and this had a completely redesigned hull and turret and a new suspension design with interleaved road wheels.

The Pz II chassis was also used for other variants. One of these had a lengthened hull and an extra road wheel and carried the 15cm sIG infantry gun, this time without the full carriage. Just twelve of these were built, with all of them serving in North Africa with the DAK (Deutsches Afrikakorps). Over 600 examples of the Wespe were built, fitting the light field howitzer, the leFH 18 10.5cm. The hull was slightly lengthened and the engine moved forward, leaving space at the back for the open-topped fighting compartment for the gun crew. One other interesting variant to mention is that a small number of armoured bridge layers, or Brükenleger, were built and used by 7th Pz Division in Belgium and France in 1940.