1:72 'Coelian III' AA tank with 30mm MK 103 Flak-Vierling, early 1945

Dizzyfugu · April 04, 2017, 04:27:09 AM

My PC is, after a thorough crash and emergency room surgery, back online, and one of the projects I completed in the meantime is a personal interpretation of the Coelian anti-aircraft tank, based on the Panzer V "Panther chassis": a 1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 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 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 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 led to the 'Kugelblitz', another Panzer IV variant, but this time the ball-shaped turret was effectively integrated into the hull, resulting in a low silhouette and a fully protected crew. Another new feature was the use of the 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, including tanks. The Mk 103 had a weight of only 141 kg (311 lb) and a length of 235 cm (93 in) (with muzzle brake). Barrel length was 134 cm (53 in), resulting in Kaliber L/44.7 (44.7 calibres).
Anyway, the Kugelblitz could only mount two of these guns in its very cramped and complicated tilting turret. Venting and ammunition feed problems could also not be solved, so that the innovative vehicle never made it beyond the prototype and evaluation stage, even though the integration of the Kugelblitz turret into the hull of the Jagdpanzer 'Hetzer' was considered for some time.

In parallel, the promising MK 103 was also tested in the four-gun carriage of the Wirlbelwind's 20 mm Flakvierling 38 mount, resulting in the '3 cm Flakvierling 103/38' and the respective 'Zerstörer 45' tank prototype. But this was, effectively, only a juiced up version of the obsolete 'Wirbelwind', again with only a roofless and vulnerable turret and the obsolete Panzer IV as base. The 'Zerstörer 45' was consequently rejected, but the firepower of the four guns was immense: Rate of fire of a single MK 103 was 400 - 450 RPM, and the rounds carried three times as much explosive charge as a Soviet 37 mm round.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Both HE/M and APCR rounds were available for the MK 103. 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.
Anyway, it was not possible to combine four of these 30mm guns and a favorably shaped, completely closed turret for an effective front line anti-aircraft tank that could stand its own among the armored combat units.

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 (and heavier) Panzer V medium battle tank, the 'Panther'. Its chassis had in the meantime become available in considerably numbers from damaged and/or recovered combat tanks, and updated details like new turrets or different wheels were gradually introduced into production and during refurbishments.

The Panther could mount a considerably larger and heavier turret than the previous standard tank chassis like the Panzer III and IV, and this potential was full exploited – as well as the possibility to increase the weapon system's weight, thanks to the sturdier chassis. Rheinmetall's new, fully enclosed, 360° rotating turret could carry a wide array of weapons and ammunition (all were belt-fed), a crew of three and also offered a good protection through a sloped, frontal armor of 70mm thickness. 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 was armed with two 3.7 cm FlaK 43 guns, as a compromise between range, firepower and rate of fire. Beyond this initial variant, Rheinmetall developed the 'Coelian' turret in various versions, too, including fully enclosed turrets with a single 55 mm gun and with four 20mm MG 151/20 guns.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Eventually, in May 1944, a complete family of turrets with different armament options was cleared for production: the standard Coelian I, with a revised mount for the twin 3.7 cm FlaK 43 guns, a heavier variant with twin 55 mm guns against larger, high-flying targets (Coelian II; the guns were based on another aircraft weapon, the MK 214), and finally the Coelian III with four Mk 103 cannon against low-flying attack aircraft and soft/lightly armored ground targets. The variant with four 20 mm guns had been dropped, since it did not offer and added value compared to the Coelian III.

Even though ground-based, mobile radar systems were under development at that time, all these turrets had to rely only on optical sensors, even though very effective optical rangefinders were introduced. All the turrets of the Coelian family were to be mounted on revamped Panzer V chassis, simply replacing the former combat tank turrets (either the original production turret from the A, D and G variant or the newly introduced Schmalturm from the F version). 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, though.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, the Coelian family had, in the meantime also just become an interim solution. Plans had been made to start the production of a completely new, simplified tank vehicle family, the so-called 'Einheitspanzer'. The resulting standard combat tanks (called E-50 and E-75, based on their weight class in tonnes) and their respective hulls would be based on the large Königstiger battle tank, and potentially accept even bigger turrets and weapons. Consequentially, while production of the Coelian turrets and the conversion of 2nd hand Panther hulls of all variants was just gaining momentum in late 1944, work for the new Einheitspanzer tanks and their weaponry had already started.

None of the roundabout 300 Coelian tanks that reached frontline units were factory-built, and in the course of early 1945 the Coelian family had gradually replaced most of the outdated Panzer IV AA variants. The Coelian tanks were also soon joined by the newly produced, dedicated Flakpanzer variants of the Einheitspanzer family, including a twin 55 mm gun on the E-50 chassis and also a monstrous 140 ton anti-aircraft variant of the heavy E-100 chassis, equipped with an automatic twin 8.8cm Flak in a fully enclosed and heavily armored turret.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

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: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)
Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) with side skirts
Height: 3.13 m (10 ft 3 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:
4× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 machine cannon with 3.600 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 spontaneous build, in the wake of other recent whif tanks and using some leftover parts from the kit pile(s). Things started with a KORA 1:72 resin conversion kit with a 2x 37mm FlaK Coelian turret for a Panther chassis – but with broken and bent gun barrels. I had actually stashed the parts away for a potential mecha build/conversion, long ago, but while doing legwork for late German WWII tanks I recently came again across the various anti-aircraft tank designs. And I wondered if mounting the Coelian turret on a Panzer IV chassis would be possible and lead to a compact (and whiffy) new vehicle?
Well, it would not work, because the Coelian turret needs a considerably bigger turret bearing diameter than anything the Panzer IV hull could realistically handle (even the Panther's Schmalturm is actually a little too wide...), and so I folded the idea up again and put it onto the "vague ideas" pile.

...until I stumbled upon the leftover hull from a Hasegawa Panther Ausf. F in the donor kits pile, which had originally given both of its OOB turrets (a Schmalturm and a standard model) to other conversions. While mating the Coelian turret with its originally intended hull was not a sexy project, I eventually did so, because I could effectively use two leftovers for something sound and well-balanced.

Concerning the assembly phase, there's not much to tell about the Hasegawa Panther Ausf. F. Fit is good, a simple kit, and it comes, as a benefit, with optional all-steel wheels which I used for my conversion, changing the overall look to a true late war model. Only the opening for the turret had to be widened in order to accept the new resin turret.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The latter only consists of two parts: the massive core section and a separate weapon mount. The latter was in so far modified that I added a simple metal peg which can be switched between two holes in the turret hull, for two gun positions.
Since the original gun barrels had to be replaced, anyway, I did a thorough (and fictional) modification: I used four 1:48 20 mm brass barrels for a Flak 38 Flakvierling (from RB Models) and mounted them in two staggered pairs onto the original cannon fairing. The resulting gun array looks impressive and even realistic, and, thanks to the scale-o-rama effect, the 1:48 parts have the perfect size for 30 mm cannon barrels in 1:72!

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
Something "German", but nothing spectacular, so I ended up with another variant of the Hinterhalt scheme, found on a Jagdpanther from the Ardennenoffensive period. In this case, the prominent colors are Dunkelgelb and Olivgrün in broad stripes, separated by blurred, thin lines made of Rotbraun.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As a little twist I wanted to modify the scheme in so far that this vehicle was to show its conversion heritage in a workshop, so hull and turret received different basic tones as an initial step.
The hull and all wheels were painted with matt RAL 7028 (a modern equivalent to the WWII Dunkelgelb), while the turret received a red primer coat with Oxidrot (RAL 3009). On top of these, wide green bands (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster) and separating russet (Humbrol 113) stripes were painted with brushes. In order to brighten up the relatively dark turret, some yellow mottles were added on the Oxidrot areas (using Revell 16).

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 1945 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Once dry, the whole surface received a sand paper treatment, so that the RAL 7028 would shine through here and there, as if worn out. After a dark brown wash, details were emphasized with dry-brushing in light grey and beige. Decals were puzzled together from various German tank sheets, and the kit finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish.
The black vinyl tracks were also painted/weathered, with a wet-in-wet mix of black, iron and red brown (all acrylics). Once they were mounted into place, mud and dust around the running gear and the lower hull was simulated with a greyish-brown mix of artist mineral pigments.

1:72 Flakpanzer 'Coelian III' on Sdkfz. 171 'Panther Ausf. F' chassis; vehicle "F 32" of the 501. Schwere Panzerdivision; Trier region, Western Germany, early 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...

zenrat · April 04, 2017, 04:35:59 AM

I have a weakness for flak tanks and this is a good one.
I can't wait to see your build of the 140 Ton twin 88 monster.

Dizzyfugu · April 04, 2017, 06:39:54 AM

Thank you. "Monster" is a good description for the E-100 with the twin 8.8cm flak. The turret alone is as huge as a Panzer III! $:-\$

Old Wombat · April 04, 2017, 07:00:39 AM

Excellent work on your little AA tank, Dizzy!

Much prefer working on my big (1/35) ones, though.

chrisonord · April 04, 2017, 08:06:53 AM

Very cool tank Dizzy, as always your ideas are an inspiration to us all.
Chris

NARSES2 · April 04, 2017, 08:32:23 AM

I really like that

PR19_Kit · April 04, 2017, 09:06:23 AM

Not short of the odd gun there...........

Dizzyfugu · April 04, 2017, 09:19:58 AM

Thank you, glad you like it. It's actually a rather subtle whif - but a thorough one, since neither the Coelian turret ever (AFAIK) carried 30mm guns, nor was the late Panther Ausf. F. earmarked as a chassis. But both go together well, and there are more Heer '46 things (including at least two AA tanks) in the long pipeline.

Captain Canada · May 06, 2017, 10:16:55 AM

Great stuff ! Love the gun arrangement ! The pics of them together in the woods looks too real.

ysi_maniac · June 10, 2017, 12:55:59 PM

Great concept and model!