[MoMo]

One Maus, many Mauses ...?
Cardinal

Mices, meeces, mauses, mouses, maus ( as 'sheep' ; i.e. one sheep; two sheep ), moose, mausen ? Take your pick!

[MoMo]

Apart fthe SU100, the most interesting of Dragon's impending releases, as far as I'm concerned, is this pioneer version of the 251/D which features the short-lived 2.8 cm.squeeze gun. As I recall, the gun was a great idea for combating threats from AFVs, but was never used extensively because the ammunition consisted of a round which had a tungsten core. Because of the drastic shortages of exotic metals in the German Reich, there was never enough tungsten to satisfy the demands for the metal, and so this gun never saw wide usage.

This begs the question : how many 251/7 Ds were supplied with this rare weapon? Did the gun ever see much action?

( the 'squeeze-gun' principal is a simple idea. To enjoy a high velocity effect without the need for a longer gun-barrel, you use a high charge, but effectively stop the round from exiting the gun too quickly by tapering the bore. The ammunition has to be highly engineered so that the outer core of the round is stripped off as the round processes the bore--and therefore the outer core of the round has a soft metal jacket--which leaves the hard-core round intact, exiting the bore at a tremendous rate, creating an affective armour-piercing tapered slug. )

The Sd.Kfz. 251/7 was a vehicle used by combat engineers (also known as pioneers) and so carried bridging sections and engineering equipment such as explosives. The Ausf. D version was the final production version of the Sd.Kfz. 251 series with simplified construction. The vehicle also mounts an sPzB 41 antitank gun. This squeeze-bore weapon had a caliber of 2.8cm, with mass production beginning in 1941. It was employed on the Eastern Front since the commencement of Operation Barabarossa, and also saw action in North Africa and Western Europe. The addition of this weapon on the Sd.Kfz. 251 halftrack gave German pioneers a useful antitank capability.

[MoMo]

Here's a pic of a 250/11 which mounted the squeeze gun. Also some pics of the gun on various mounts and some data.

Here's some official German data which compares various anti-tank weapons :

Pz B 41:

penetration (Pzgr. 41):
100 m: 60 mm
1000 m: 25 mm
shell weight (Pzgr. 41):121 g
muzzle vel.:about 1400 m/sec
rpm: 10
barrel life: 500 shots
price: 4500 Reichsmark

4,2 cm Pak 41:

penetration (Pzgr. 41):
100 m: 100 mm
1000 m: 40 mm
shell weight (Pzgr. 41):360 g
muzzle vel.:about 1500 m/sec
rpm: 12
barrel life: 1000 shots
price: 8000 Reichsmark


7,5 cm Pak 41:

penetration (Pzgr. 41 W):
100 m: 65 mm
1000 m: 67 mm
penetration (Pzgr. 41 HK):
100 m: 193 mm
1000 m: 136 mm

shell weight (Pzgr. 41 W):2500 g
shell weight (Pzgr. 41 HK):2600 g
muzzle vel.(Pzgr. 41 W): 1230 m/sec
muzzle vel.(Pzgr. 41 HK): 1220 m/sec
rpm: 12 - 14
barrel life: 1000 shots
price: 15000 Reichsmark

[chascbv]

An impressive, most welcome discussion on the subject, MoMo - Thanks a lot!

This model has now become of "special interest" for many of us, I guess; sadly, Dragon has provided no clues regarding the unit/theatre of operations to which this particular vehicle belonged.

A smart, brilliant idea that squeeze gun, by the way.

[MoMo]

Here are some exciting pics of the new Dragon stuff which is expected to arrive in the U.K. at Toybox during the months of August and September :

( I have this 'captured' Firefly, but the German delivering the paint job is a happy addition! )
SHERMAN FIREFLY Vc "UNDER EXAMINATION" GERMAN ARMY 1945 with a GERMAN CREWMAN
( due September )

US SHERMAN M4A3 (105mm) HVSS 20th ARMOURED INF.BATTALION, 10th ARMOURED GERMANY 1945
( due September ) ( a nice, simple example of the Easy 8 )

US SHERMAN M4A3 (105mm gun) HVSS, 713th TANK BATTALION OKINAWA 1945
( due September ) ( I don't like the 'mud' effect! )

GERMAN Sd.kfz.251/7 D with 2.8cm ANTI-TANK GUN
( due September ) ( I like it. I wish that they'd made this one generic, but the big red number ' 1130' makes it unique )

GERMAN Sd.kfz.251/10 AUSF.C with 3.7cm PAK 36 ( due August ) ( again, a non-generic, unlucky '13' ! With
the high gun shield for the 3.7, it looks like a triceratops! )

Happy Hunting !

[tank nut]

Hey momo will there be a diorama of the captured sherman firefly with the german painting it or just the tank and the german in just a plan case?

[MoMo]

Hey momo will there be a diorama of the captured sherman firefly with the german painting it or just the tank and the german in just a plan case?

It is advertised as due to appear in September, and the price is £11.99. Also, it is listed as model number : DR60319, so I think that it is likely to be just the 'captured' Firefly+ the German crewman. Still, this is enough to mark it as something out of the ordinary for Dragon, so I guess that many members will want to go for it! I got this 'captured' Firefly when it was first available earlier this year, but I might splash out and get this reissue with the figure.

You can check out what is due to arrive in the U.K. from FOV, HM and Dragon in 1.72, as well as Corgi and tons of other stuff ( at U.K. inflated prices! ) by using the web address below ( it's not active! )

http://toybox100.bizland.com/military.htm#DRAGON

Most of this stuff will appear about the same time, earlier or later, in the USA....and probably at half the price ( especially for FOV items! ) so I guess that out taxes+ hobby shop overheads account for some of our inflated prices ( but what accounts for the rest ? )

KEEP WAITING,

MoMo

[MoMo]

Here are a few German items which I didn't mention in the last posting. The Tigers should be in the U.K. at this time, or at least by the end of the month!

The 'captured' PANTHER is due this country in September. It looks as if the Ruskies have done nothing to the Panther except to add a star. I like the red star on the black ground...what a target! It might as well say, " Aim here, lads! "
CAPTURED PANTHER G SOVIET ARMY, EASTERN FRONT, LAKE BALATON HUNGARY 1945
( due in September )

Sd.Kfz181 TIGER 1 HYBRID - ARDENNES 1944 ( should have arrived this month! )

TIGER 1 HYBRID - TIGER GRUPPE FEHRMANN GERMANY 1945 ( should have arrived this month! )

[Kubikali]

Hybrids??

Like the Prius??

[MoMo]

Kubikali

I guess that it was the wheel arrangement and the use of recycled or old-style turrets which gave rise to this crazy name!

The normal road wheels which had vulcanised rubber rims gave way to the all-steel road wheels which were used on the King Tiger as well as the last versions of the Tiger ( and the Panther F, I believe? ). All this was to standardise parts which reduced costs and supply problems. Albert Speer was insistent that the German Army standardise parts as far as possible. The all-steel road wheels were found to give service as good as the rubber-rimmed ones.

This is what Dragon's own publicity says :

As WWII drew to an irrevocable end in 1945, Germany’s panzer forces were scraping the barrel in terms of the armored vehicles it could field. One such example is the Tiger I represented in Dragon Armor’s latest release. It portrays a hybrid Tiger, an early version retrofitted with steel wheels. It belonged to Feldwebel Beloff, and was part of the ad-hoc Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann formation formed in the spring of 1945. This Tiger was actually blown up by its crew on 11 April 1945 as Russian forces closed in on it. Tiger-Gruppe Fehrmann was a hotchpotch of Tiger tanks collected together in Fallingbostel. To give some semblance of regularity, the unit’s mix of tanks was painted in an unusual slate gray color, with green and brown patches of their older camouflage schemes still poking through. This 1/72 scale Tiger tank from Dragon Armor perfectly captures the look of such a late-war vehicle, particularly in its unique paint scheme. Details are carefully reproduced with accuracy uppermost in the minds of the designers. This is a fine model of a rare Tiger with a most extraordinary history behind it.

Dragon has ensured continued production of the famous Tiger I in the form of this latest Dragon Armor release. In fact, this 1/72 scale model features a rather unique Tiger that mixes some distinctive features. It has an Early Production turret, but it also possesses late-style steel wheels. This allows a most interesting Tiger to be acquired by model collectors, something different to the run of the mill. Detail on the tank is precise and accurate, while a three-color camouflage scheme presents a most attractive appearance. This model armored vehicle is also finished with a tasteful degree of weathering. Model collectors will be queuing up to acquire this distinctive new striped Tiger!

Hope this helps,

MoMo