1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V ‘Coelian II Ausf. B’, Lithuania 1945

Dizzyfugu · August 26, 2024, 02:16:24 AM

I have unfortunately been quite busy lately, and my job situation sucks lots of mojo and creativity. But here's a small project that i was able to tinker together during the last weeks, a Coelian SPAAG.

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Flakpanzer Coelian comprised a family of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun tanks, designed by Rheinmetall during World War II for the German armed forces. In the first years of the war, the Wehrmacht had only little interest in developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, but as the Allies developed air superiority, the need for more mobile and better-armed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns increased.
As a stopgap solution the Wehrmacht had adapted a variety of wheeled, half-track and tracked vehicles to serve as mobile forward air defense positions to protect armor and infantry units in the field as well as for temporary forward area positions such as mobile headquarters and logistic points. As Allied fighter bombers and other ground attack aircraft moved from machine gun armament and bombing to air-to-ground rockets, the air defense positions were even more vulnerable. The answer was to adapt a tank chassis with a specialized turret that would protect the gun crews while they fired upon approaching Allied aircraft.

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Initial AA-tank designs were the 'Möbelwagen' and the 'Wirbelwind', effectively both conversions of refurbished Panzer IV combat tank chassis with open platforms or open turrets with four 20mm cannon. Alternatively, a single 37mm AA gun was mounted, too, resulting in the more effective 'Ostwind' tank – but all these vehicles were just compromises and suffered from light armor and lack of crew protection. Further developments to supersede these stopgap solutions led to the 'Kugelblitz'. This was another Panzer IV variant, but this time with a fully closed ball-shaped turret which was effectively integrated into the hull, resulting in a low silhouette and a fully protected crew. Another new feature was the use of the lightweight Mauser MK 103 machine cannon – a lightweight, belt-fed aircraft gun with a gas-powered action mechanism, first employed on board of the Hs 129 attack aircraft against ground targets. Muzzle velocity was 860-940 m/sec, paired with a high degree of accuracy. The armor penetration for APCR was 42–52 mm (1.7–2.0 in) / 60° / 300 m (980 ft) or 75–95 mm (3.0–3.7 in) / 90° / 300 m (980 ft) – more than enough for aircraft, and even dangerous for many combat tanks when hitting more lightly armored areas. However, the Kugelblitz turret could only mount two of these guns in its very cramped and complicated tilting compartment. Venting and ammunition feed problems could also not be satisfactorily solved, so that the development lasted longer than expected. As a consequence, the production numbers were low, even though some turrets were mounted on Panzer IV, V and Hetzer chassis', but the lack of firepower prevailed. Combining four MK 103 guns with a favorably shaped, completely enclosed turret for the Panzer IV chassis turned out to be impossible, even though a prototype, the so-called Zerstörer 45, was built and tested, with four MK 103 but in an open turret, similar to the outdated Wirbelwind.

The solution to this problem eventually materialized in 1943 with the decision to completely abandon the limiting Panzer IV chassis and build a new generation of anti-aircraft tanks on the basis of the larger Panzer V medium battle tank, the 'Panther'. Its production had in the meantime already achieved considerable numbers, and, just as the former Panzer IV before, damaged and/or recovered combat tanks that were refurbished, updated and sent back to the front had become available, too, so that these 2nd hand vehicles could be easily converted into SPAAGs with a new turret design that exploited the Panther's increased size and weight limits. Using the standard tank's chassis also ensured that an SPAAG on its base would easily keep up with the mechanized troops it was supposed to protect, and it simplified maintenance and logistics, too.

Under this premise Rheinmetall developed the so-called 'Coelian' turret, In May 1943, Oberleutnant Dipl. Ing von Glatter-Götz, responded to the respective orders of Inspectorate 6, initiated the development of a new series of Flakpanzers based on already existing chassis. To refine the technical demands the Germans formed a commission for the analysis of the effectiveness of enemy ground attack planes. The report (dated 31st June 1943) stated that, in the case of dive-bombing, the lowest point that the enemy plane reached was 1200 to 1500 m at an angle of 45-80°. Planes using larger caliber machine guns or cannons attacked at an altitude of around 150 to 300 m. The committee suggested that the best way to bring down enemy planes was using direct fire autocannons. To effectively fight the enemy planes, the future Flakpanzer would have to have a fully rotating turret with a high angle of fire and the caliber used should not be lower than 2 cm, with the more powerful 3.7 cm being preferred, or even bigger guns, potentially the highly effective 88 mm FlaK.

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Coelian turret received its (actually unofficial, but it was quickly adopted by the troops) name after Oberleutnant Dipl .Ing von Glatter-Götz' third name. It was a fully enclosed, 360° rotating turret that could carry a wide array of weapons and ammunition, all were belt-fed. It also housed a crew of three and it offered a good protection through a sloped, frontal armor of 70mm thickness, even though the sides were vertical to simplify production and maximize internal space. Traverse and elevation of the turret was hydraulic, allowing a full elevation in just over four seconds, and a 360° traverse in 15.5 seconds. The initial version, called Coelian I, was armed with two 3.7 cm FlaK 43 guns (the so-called Gerät 341, which gave the SPAAG prototype its project name), as a compromise between range, firepower, and rate of fire. Rheinmetall developed various versions, though, which mainly differed internally in their weapon mounts, ammunition supplies and respective feeds. These included fully enclosed turrets with a single 55 mm gun (only a prototype was built and tested), twin 55 mm autocannons in a mutual lightweight mount, the so-called "Gerät 58" against larger, high-flying targets (Coelian II), and mounts with four 30 mm MK 103 (Coelian III, against smaller and low-flying targets) as well as four 20mm MG 151/20 guns (eventually dropped). All these vehicles ran under the SdKfz. 171/3 designation, with suffixes (A-C) to distinguish their armament.

The Coelian II's Gerät 58 twin autocannon was based on an aircraft weapon, the MK 214. Two of these lightweight guns were combined side-by-side in a mutual, compact mount, specifically developed for the use in a fully enclosed turret. The Gerät 58 had an overall length of 8,15 mm (26.7 ft) and weighed 2.990 kg (6,586 lb). The barrel length was 4,21 m (13 ¾ ft) for a bore of 77, and the weapon fired a HE/fragmentation shell (weighing 2.030 g/4 ½ lb) with a muzzle velocity of 1.050 m/sec /3,440 ft/sec). Recoil was 280 mm (11 in). Against aerial targets the Gerät 58 had a maximum effective ceiling of 6,000 m (6,560 yards) and a practical rate of fire of 140 RPM. Armor-piercing rounds were able to penetrate 110 mm vertical hardened steel armor at 500 m or 70 mm at 2,000 m.
The ammunition could be fed in from both sides and the spent cases were ejected downwards, to be collected in buckets in the turret's base. Beyond the belt feed the Gerät 58 received in the Coelian II turret a manual magazine feed for each barrel that could store five rounds (plus one ready in the gun chamber) for short continuous bursts – they typically held AP rounds for self-defense. These magazines were driven by gravity, though, and once expended, had to be reloaded manually. The ammunition supply comprised 104 rounds in total.

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Even though ground-based mobile radar systems were under development at the time of the Coelian's design, all these turrets had to rely only on optical sensors, even though very effective optical rangefinders were introduced. Initially the Coelian turrets were only equipped with a binocular Scherenfernrohr for the gunner, which acted as a coincidence rangefinder and was linked to the guns' movement. The device was housed in a shallow fairing on the turret roof. Later production turrets featured a very effective stereoscopic telemeter (similar to an stereoscopic rangefinder, but only with a single eyepiece) integrated into the turret, which was outwardly only visible through small armored fairings on both flanks near the roofline which held the rangefinder's optics; these vehicles, regardless of their armament, generally received an "Ausf(ührung) B" suffix.

When production started in late 1944 all Coelian turrets were mounted on revamped Panzer V chassis, simply replacing the former combat tanks' turrets from the A, D and G variants. Theoretically they could have also been mounted onto the Panzer VI 'Tiger' chassis, but due to this type's weight and complexity this was not carried out.

However, when the first SPAAGs arrived at the frontline the SdKfz. 171/3 Panther/Coelian family had already just become an interim solution like its Panzer IV-based predecessors: Plans had been made to start the production of a completely new, simplified tank family, the so-called 'Einheitspanzer'. The resulting standard combat tanks, called E-50 and E-75, based on their respective weight class in tonnes, were based on the even larger Königstiger battle tank and could potentially accept even bigger turrets and weapons. Consequentially, while production of the Coelian turrets and the conversion of 2nd hand Panther hulls was just gaining momentum, work for the new Einheitspanzer tanks and their weaponry had already started and eventually superseded the Coelian SPAAGs from early 1945.

When Einheitspanzer production gained momentum the Panther conversions into SdKfz. 171/3 SPAAGs was stopped. Roundabout 300 Coelian tanks of different configurations reached frontline units, and by mid-1945 the Coelian family had gradually replaced most of the outdated Panzer IV AA variants and SPAAGs with open turrets. However, the Coelian SPAAGs were soon joined and replaced themselves by the newly produced, dedicated Flakpanzer variants of the new Einheitspanzer family.

Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader/2nd gunner, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)
Weight: 44.8 tonnes (44.1 long tons; 49.4 short tons)
Length: 9.00 m (29 ft 5¾ in) overall with guns forward
6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only
Width: 3.27 m (10 ft 9 in)
3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) with skirts
Height: 3.09 m (10 ft 1½ in)
Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

Armor:
15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.15 in)

Performance:
Maximum road speed: 46 km/h (29 mph)
Operational range: 250 km (160 mi)
Power/weight: 15.39 PS (11.5 kW)/tonne (13.77 hp/ton)

Engine:
Maybach HL230 P30 V-12 petrol engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
ZF AK 7-200 gear; 7 forward 1 reverse

Armament:
2× 55 mm (2.17 in) L/77 Gerät 58 anti-aircraft cannon with 104 rounds
1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun in the front glacis plate with 2.500 rounds

The kit and its assembly:
This was a rather uninspired build, because I had for a long time a surplus 1:72 Coelian turret in the The Stash™, from ModelTrans/Silesian Models. Motivation was rather low because I had already built a (modified) Coelian a long while ago, using a KORA 1:72 resin conversion kit and a Hasegawa 1:72 Panther Ausf. F (with Schmalturm and all-steel wheels). I wanted to avoid a doublet, but there's little else to do with a Coelian turret, so I eventually decided to pull out another Hasegawa Panther from The Stash™ and remembered mention of a twin-55mm FlaK as potential armament. Since I had some suitable gun barrels left in my donor bank, I adopted this idea for the build and went into action.

From this basis things went straightforward. Concerning the assembly phase, there's not much to tell about Hasegawa's 1:72 Panther Ausf. G. Fit is good, but it is a rather simple kit which shows its age, though, through some very rough details. The hull was built OOB, only the opening for the turret had to be widened to accept the new resin turret.
The latter only consists of two parts: the massive core section and a separate weapon mount. The latter was in so far modified that it can be jammed into the respective opening, allowing the guns to be mounted at different angles.
Since the original molded gun barrels had to be replaced, anyway, I did a thorough (and fictional) modification: I used two 55 mm autocannon resin barrels from an E-50 and mounted them onto the original cannon fairing – plain and simple. An additional but plausible update is the integration of a stereoscopic rangefinder, with its optics in small fairings on the turret flanks, made from sprue material. In the same manner a 360° periscope for the commander was added on the turret roof.
The only extras are some additional equipment bits on the fenders (e .g. a second container for spare barrels) and two whip antennae on the turret, created with heated sprue material.

1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
Once more "something typically German", but nothing spectacular, so I ended up with another variant of the Hinterhalt scheme. This was inspired by the pattern of a real Sturmtiger, with the standard colors of Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028), Olivgrün (RAL 6003) and Rotbraun (RAL 8012).
Painting started, as in real life, with an overall coat of Dunkelgelb, with Tamiya TS-3 from a rattle spray can, with a hush of Elfenbein (RAL 1001) over the upper surfaces to give the paint a bleached/lighter look. On top of that I added green and brown fields with Humbrol 86/226 and 160. For additional camouflage I added counter-shaded mottles in the form of thin short stripes to the darker tones, applied with a fine brush. I tried a home-brew stencil but that did not work well, so I reverted to the hairy stick. Tedious, but O.K.. As a non-standard measure the three-tone camouflage was extended onto the wheels – these were in real life officially ordered to remain in a uniform color, because the swirl of the colors was very revealing when the tank was moving. As a counter-shading measure, to brighten up the shadows in the running gear area, the wheels frequently remained Dunkelgelb.

1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After basic painting was completed a dark brown washing was applied, details were emphasized with dry-brushing in light grey and beige. Decals were puzzled together from various German tank sheets. The blue tactical code is speculative – late-war Königstiger may have carried this type of markings (linked with the respective Division), but it's still a dubious detail. The model was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the optics on hull and turret were finished with glossy black paint.

The OOB black vinyl tracks were also painted/weathered, with a wet-in-wet mix of black, iron, and red brown, all acrylics to avoid chemical long-term reactions with the relatively soft material through solvents. Once they were mounted into place mud and dust was simulated with a greyish-brown mix of artist mineral pigments around the running gear and the lower hull, "dusted" into place with a soft brush.

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V 'Coelian II Ausf. B'; vehicle "053" of the 510. Schwere Panzerabteilung "Kurland Gruppe"; Memel/Klaipėda region (Lithuania), April 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A bit of recycling and less exotic than originally hoped for – but it's still a whiffy tank model, and its proximity to the real but unrealized Coelian project makes this one even more subtle. Pile reduction, one by one...

NARSES2 · August 26, 2024, 05:43:49 AM

That looks really good Dizzy

chrisonord · August 26, 2024, 06:25:00 AM

Excellent, as always Thomas

buzzbomb · August 26, 2024, 03:41:36 PM

The Coelian is such a cool looking vehicle it seems to always come up well.
I like this

Dizzyfugu · August 26, 2024, 11:41:41 PM

Thank you all.

Wardukw · August 27, 2024, 12:49:13 AM

Another sweet little build Dizzy mate 👍

Old Wombat · August 27, 2024, 06:37:58 AM

Not bad. Not bad at all!

1:72 SdKfz. 171/3B Mittlerer Flakpanzer V ‘Coelian II Ausf. B’, Lithuania 1945

Dizzyfugu

NARSES2

chrisonord

buzzbomb

Dizzyfugu

Wardukw

Old Wombat