DasNoogie Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/sanjayshah/EasternFront.jpg 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 SdKfz 981 "panzerkampffußgänger 1" Prototype produced by Krupp factory 1938. Mounted prototype KwK/99 proton blasters. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37mm Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Mounted prototype KwK/99 proton blasters. Does anybody (Rexford?) have any information on the actual penetration value of these weapons (I don't trust CM values & think they've been overmodelled)? Also does anybody know why the Germans didn't produce more of them (I heard it was something to do of with the oil they lost when Romania swapped sides)? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by 3.7mm: Also does anybody know why the Germans didn't produce more of them (I heard it was something to do of with the oil they lost when Romania swapped sides)? No, actually the answer is quite simple. After the first half-dozen preproduction prototypes were manufactured, someone noticed that they were too big to pass through the railway tunnels of Europe. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37mm Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by Michael Emrys: No, actually the answer is quite simple. After the first half-dozen preproduction prototypes were manufactured, someone noticed that they were too big to pass through the railway tunnels of Europe. Michael [/QB]Ah yes I heard that was why the 'SdKfz 981 panzerkampffußgänger 1' wasn't built in larger numbers but what about the KwK/99 proton blasters? Surely they could have been used in a smaller PAK version or perhaps a Marder? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by 37mm: Ah yes I heard that was why the 'SdKfz 981 panzerkampffußgänger 1' wasn't built in larger numbers but what about the KwK/99 proton blasters? Surely they could have been used in a smaller PAK version or perhaps a Marder? No, see they were such power hogs that it took 4,821 batteries to power them. That's why the vehicle was so large in the first place. Then of course, they had to have room for the three diesel locomotive engines (two to drive the vehicle and one dedicated to charging the batteries) and their fuel. Like many German military projects during the war, they were masterpieces of theoretical engineering that wouldn't work in the real world as we know it. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikkypixie Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by 37mm: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Michael Emrys: No, actually the answer is quite simple. After the first half-dozen preproduction prototypes were manufactured, someone noticed that they were too big to pass through the railway tunnels of Europe. Michael Ah yes I heard that was why the 'SdKfz 981 panzerkampffußgänger 1' wasn't built in larger numbers but what about the KwK/99 proton blasters? Surely they could have been used in a smaller PAK version or perhaps a Marder? [/QB]</font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarkus Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by Michael Emrys: [The KwK/99 proton blasters] were such power hogs that it took 4,821 batteries to power them. That's why the vehicle was so large in the first place. Then of course, they had to have room for the three diesel locomotive engines (two to drive the vehicle and one dedicated to charging the batteries) and their fuel. Michael I read somewhere (sorry I can't dig out the proper ref) that Hitler, upon being presented the prototype on his birthday, requested that a way be devised to mount 280 mm guns of the same kind as the one mounted on the Scharnhorst and be so designed as to be able to cross the English Channel underwater for a surprise stomping attack on Downing Street. For some reason the whole project was quietly shelved to direct brain power and increasingly scarce ressources on the more down-to-earth Land Cruiser project. Make sense. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzman Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Yes that was the main reason behind ending the project. The other reason was that it needed a great deal of man power to operate, at least 50 men, to make sure that nothing broke down. When one was encountered during the battle of Seelow Heights, at least 600 Russians died trying to take it down. They were finally able to get a T-34/85 under it, which then shot at least 50 HE shells into the lower hull before the beast finally was taken down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tifosi Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 And also led to the shelving of the Bolton-Paul Defiant II project - you know, the one where the rear gunners 4 x .303 brownings were replaced by a 500m roll of tow-cable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikkypixie Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by Pzman: Yes that was the main reason behind ending the project. The other reason was that it needed a great deal of man power to operate, at least 50 men, to make sure that nothing broke down. When one was encountered during the battle of Seelow Heights, at least 600 Russians died trying to take it down. They were finally able to get a T-34/85 under it, which then shot at least 50 HE shells into the lower hull before the beast finally was taken down. That's not what i heard, apparently a T-70 sped around it's legs dragging along a towing cable thus tying up it's leg. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Originally posted by stikkypixie: That's not what i heard, apparently a T-70 sped around it's legs dragging along a towing cable thus tying up it's leg. Most sources and historians confirm this version of events. They performed well in the winter of 1942. All of the completed prototypes were pressed into action, they were assigned to the 4th panzer army under General Hoth. Several were lost to these tow cable attacks. I also heard that the panzerkampffußgänger programs were abandoned after a soviet IL-2, in an amazing display of force, fired a rocket down the small ventilation shaft and into the core of the Fuhrerbunker, causing it to explode in a massive ball of flame. Some historians dispute these events however. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwdjohn Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Hello all, from a new (and possibly youngest forums member yet, I'm 18). I showed this to my father, who is reather knowledgeable about WW2, and he immediately pronounced it a fake. Is this a real AFV? I'd like any info anyone has on this (ESP verification of reality) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 No, you are not the youngest forum member yet, by a comfortable margin. Welcome anyway. To answer your question, trust your dad. We are all liars. Remember that. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 I hate to explain such a useful discussion of rare German weaponry, but throwdjohn should note that our primary reference material is "VOL. 5 of LUCAS, George's" excellent series about this type of vehicle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macphail Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 i guess some of the younger memebers never saw empire strikes back! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auggy Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Originally posted by throwdjohn: Hello all, from a new (and possibly youngest forums member yet, I'm 18). I showed this to my father, who is reather knowledgeable about WW2, and he immediately pronounced it a fake. Is this a real AFV? I'd like any info anyone has on this (ESP verification of reality) Sorry, but I gotca beat here at the ripe ol' age of 16. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 Originally posted by KG_Steiner: i guess some of the younger memebers never saw empire strikes back! A considerable number weren't even born then, that's the freakin' scary part. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 I only have about a month on the original release of ESB but I like to aquaint myself with the "classics". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwdjohn Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 No I saw it, and was wondering at how much it seemed like an atat (or st whatever). However, you OH SO KNOWLEDGEABLE people mislead me. Now how can I trust ya'lls advice on takin out ubercats? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Send out for an Überfinn with a toothpick. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 "Luke, I am your Führer!" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throwdjohn Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Uberfinns? OOOOOOOOH i want some of those! Do they have rocket-skis or somthing? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 14, 2004 Share Posted November 14, 2004 Better than that. They have invisible reindeer. They would have won the war all by themselves, but that wily Stalin kept sending his armies where the Finns couldn't get at them. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holman Posted November 14, 2004 Share Posted November 14, 2004 Finns = Ewoks? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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