Wiesel Air-Transportable Tracked Armoured Weapon Carriers

[GTX]

Hi folks,

Does anyone make a kit of the Wiesel:




Regards,

Greg

[PanzerWulff]

AFV club makes 2 of them ! with the TOW and one with a 20mm autocannon
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AFV35014
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AFV35S03
and crew by jaguar
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=JA63056
Enjoy
"Panzer"

[Mossie]

At first glance I thought someone had taken a Vickers Light tank out of a musuem!  And some numpty has gone an got his head stuck fast in the front end of the Wiesel in the first pic....

[viper29_ca]

As Panzer said, AFV Club makes 2 of them. I have the TOW version, and its a good kit, but there isn't much to it.

Wouldn't be much bigger than a 1/35 M151 Jeep. Not sure how they pack a crew of 3 in it! LOL

[Jeffry Fontaine]

They are very small as already mentioned about the size of a 1/72nd scale Leopard if have one handy to compare it with.  The AFV Club Scorpion and Scimitar look giant in comparison to these little Wiesel's.  Both kits are extremely well detailed with many small parts and also include a PE fret as part of the kit.  The two AFV Club Wiesel kits have been out for a number of years and offered in the following versions both based on the Wiesel 1 vehicle:

AFV Club 1/35th scale
#35S03 1/35 Wiesel Mk 20A1 Scout Vehicle armed with RH202 20mm cannon.
#35014 1/35 Wiesel Air Mobile Fire Support Vehicle W/TOW AGTM System

What I find interesting is that the United States is reported to have a quantity of seven Wiesel 1 vehicles on hand.  Unfortunately there are no images of these vehicles in American markings.  I have been told that these vehicles are operated by the U.S. Army Airborne Test Board located at Fort Benning, GA. 

There are several built kit reviews and one long winded description sans images available on-line for you to see from the following web pages:

Missing-Lynx
Wiesel I MK 20 built by Barry Beaudry
Wiesel Mk 20A1 built by Miguel Jimenez

CyberModeler
AFV Club #35014 Wiesel 1 TOW kit review by Cookie Sewell (Warning. Long description and one image of the box art)

IPMS Deutschland
Wiesel Mk.20 A1 kit review

Track-Link
Wiesel TOW built by Thomas Hartwig   
Wiesel TOW built by Bob Stodnick


Other references:

Rheinmetall Defence
Wiesel 1
Wiesel 2

Veniks Aviation
Venik's Aviation , Modern German Armor - Wiesel

Army-Guide

Known versions of the Wiesel 1 and Wiesel 2 with different weapon configurations including machine guns, antitank missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles (Source:Wikipedia entry for the Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier):

• Wiesel 1 Aufklärung - reconnaissance
• Wiesel 1 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles
• Wiesel 1 ATM HOT Variant 1 - fitted with UTM-800 turret
• Wiesel 1 Radar - fitted with RATAC-S multi-purpose radar
• Wiesel 1 ATM TOW - anti-tank vehicle fitted with TOW missiles
• Wiesel 1 ATM TOW Resupply - cargo carrier fitted with racks for TOW missiles
• Wiesel 1 BTM208 - fitted with a SAMM BTM208 turret armed with a MG3 and a M2HB machine gun
• Wiesel 1 MK20 - fire support version with a Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh202 20 mm cannon
• Wiesel 1 MK20 Variant 1 - Uprated with new sight
• Wiesel 1 MK25 - 25 mm armed version

• Wiesel 2 BF/UF (LeFlaSys Command) - air defence unit command post
• Wiesel 2 AFF (LeFlaSys Radar) - fitted with air defence radar
• Wiesel 2 Ozelot (LeFlaSys Launcher) - fitted with air defence missile launcher
• Wiesel 2 Ozelot (LeFlaSys Launcher Variant 1) - retrofitted with box-type launchers
• Wiesel 2 Ambulance
• Wiesel 2 APC - 2 + 4 crew armoured personnel carrier
• Wiesel 2 Command - battalion command post
• Wiesel 2 Mortar - 120mm mortar
• Wiesel 2 Mortar Variant 1 - mortar version with external supports
• Wiesel 2 Argus - reconnaissance
• Wiesel 2 Carrier - ammunition resupply
• Wiesel 2 Pionier - combat engineer reconnaissance
• Wiesel 2 Primus - reconnaissance and fire control
• Wiesel 2 ATM HOT - anti-tank vehicle fitted with HOT missiles
• Wiesel 2 SYRANO - Robotic system for the French Army

The Wiesel 2 is a stretched version of the Wiesel 1, with a fifth road wheel. The engine was changed to a 1.9l Volkswagen in-line four-cylinder turbo diesel with direct injection and intercooler, giving 109 hp coupled to a ZF automatic transmission. Generally bigger, faster and stronger with advanced features for the protection of the crew such as enhanced armour, and an air conditioning system which protects the crew from biological and chemical weapons.

Other Links:
Google search for Wiesel 1
Google search for Wiesel 1 images

Google search for Wiesel 2
Google search for Wiesel 1 images

[NARSES2]

The interesting thing about the first pic is that the German flag appears to have Arabic writing on it - should I be concerned ? 

[GTX]

I think you will find that pic was taken in Afghanistan.

Regards,

Greg

[Mossie]

The interesting thing about the first pic is that the German flag appears to have Arabic writing on it - should I be concerned ? 

I'm not certain, but I think the script says 'Germany'.

[frank2056]

Just found what the cats are getting me for Xmas!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

At first glance I thought someone had taken a Vickers Light tank out of a museum!  And some numpty has gone an got his head stuck fast in the front end of the Wiesel in the first pic....

Simon,

One of the same things I was thinking of as well was the strange resemblance to the older light tanks of the interwar period and early WWII.  Wonder how much trouble it would be to make a modern universal carrier based on the old Bren Carrier hull?  Maybe move the engine to the front left and open up the back to allow a door for entry from the rear and of course overhead cover would be a must. 

Maybe this could also be done with the early PzKw1 and PzKw2 hulls as well since they were so small.  Swap out the turret for a remote weapon station and a few other bells and whistles and put some new life into that old design. 

[Sauragnmon]

Actually, the Wiesel is smaller than the light tanks of old, it's really more like a classic Tankette.  Goes towards a thought I had, for rough-terrain areas, of a tankette-based cavalry unit concept.  Considering a tankette's little more in size than that of, say, a volkswagen bug, it would provide a unit high mobility moderate firepower, a premium in mountainous terrain where things like true armor can't go.  It would also allow them better access for urban operations, with enough proper equipment, things such as composite and slat armor.  A 30mm cannon, or other heavier armament that typical Lighter units can't normally carry and operate easily.

[PanzerWulff]

How about mounting the .50 Caliber gatling on it in a armored mount for supression fire duty in urban combat. the weisel looks a bit smaller than a Hummer, and tracked vehicles can turn on a dime.So no "back up find us some Goddamn room And Turn us Around!!!" (Quote from the novel "Blackhawk Down" said by Col McKnight) and the Weisel even in it's basic form probably has better ballistic protection than the hummer as well
"Panzer"

[frank2056]

One of the same things I was thinking of as well was the strange resemblance to the older light tanks of the interwar period and early WWII. 

I had the same thought. How about taking something like the TKS and adding a modern track system and maybe a modern 20mm gun?

Wonder how much trouble it would be to make a modern universal carrier based on the old Bren Carrier hull? 

I think the track system would have to be upgraded, although the Weisel looks very retro. Adding side skirts would help.

Frank

[Mossie]

That's the main thing that made me think of the Vickers Light Tank.  Saying that it's whole shape is quite similar if you take the turret off the Vickers.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

That's the main thing that made me think of the Vickers Light Tank.  Saying that it's whole shape is quite similar if you take the turret off the Vickers.

The old Vickers light tank does look quite a bit like the Wiesel at first glance, definitely something to consider if you wanted to add new tracks and road wheel to your older vehicle to make it look more like current armored vehicles.  Putting new parts on an old Bren Carrier would certainly make it the subject of discussion if it were placed on the display table. 

How about mounting a remote operated weapons station on the Wiesel that could carry a variety of weapons and keep the gunner under cover?  The M151 RWS from the Stryker would be ideal for this application and AFV Club does offer that in a separate box so it would be easy to acquire.  Or you could imagineer it and use the Wiesel TOW vehicle as the starting point for a Wiesel RWS weapons carrier and modify the TOW pedastal and mount to become a WHIF remote weapon station with the machine gun or grenade launcher of your choice mounted.  Adding the stand off bar armor for urban operations might be going to the extreme but what the heck, it would sure give the purists out there something to whine about.