DONE +++ 1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V; late 1946

[Dizzyfugu]

And here comes #2, built in just two days (since last Saturady) plus one-and-a-half for the pictures - the Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr



Some background:
When, towards late 1945, the Einheits-Chassis for the German combat tanks (the "E" series of medium and heavy tanks) reached the front lines, several heavily armed anti-aircraft turrets had been developed, including the 30mm Kugelblitz, based on the outdated Panzer IV, the "Coelian" turret with various armament options for the Panzer V Panther hull, and there were twin 55 mm as well as single and even 88mm cannon systems for the new E-50, E-75 and E-100 chassis'.

With these new weapons for medium- and high-altitude targets, Firepower was considerably increased, but the tank crews still had to rely on traditional visual tracking and aiming of targets. One potential solution in which the German Heeresleitung was highly interested from the start was the use of the Luftwaffe's new radar technology for early target identification and as an aiming aid in poor weather conditions or even at night. The German Luftwaffe first introduced an airborne interception radar in 1942, but these systems were bulky and relied upon large bipolar antenna arrays. These were not suitable for any use in a ground vehicle, lest to say in a tank that would also carry weapons and ammunition.

A potential solution appeared in late 1944 with the development of the FuG 240 "Berlin". It was an airborne interception radar, too, but it was the first German radar to be based on the cavity magnetron, which eliminated the need for the large multiple dipole-based antenna arrays seen on earlier radars, thereby greatly increasing the performance of the night fighters. The FuG 240 with a rotating dish antenna was introduced by Telefunken in April 1945, primarily in Junkers Ju 88G-6 night-fighters, behind a plywood radome which considerably improved aerodynamics. This so greatly reduced drag compared to the late-model Lichtenstein and Neptun systems that the fighters regained their pre-radar speeds and made them competitive again. The FuG 240 was effective against bomber-sized targets at distances of up to 9 kilometers (5.5 mi), or down to 0.5 kilometer, which eliminated the need for a second, short-range radar system. 
Right before the FuG 240's roll-out with the Luftwaffe, the Heer insisted on a ground-based derivative for its anti-aircraft units. Political pressure from Berlin convinced the RLM to share the new technology, and Telefunken was ushered to adapt the radar system to an armored ground vehicle in February 1945.

It soon became clear that the FuG 240 had several drawbacks for this task. On one side, ground clutter and the natural horizon limited the system's range and low-level effectiveness, but its 9 km range in free space made high altitude surveillance possible – just enough for the effective interception of Allied bombers that attacked important point targets. Furthermore, the whole system, together with its power supply and a dirigible dish antenna, took up a lot of space, so that its integration into a tank-based anti-aircraft vehicle like an SPAAG as an autonomous, stand-alone solution was ruled out.

A workable solution eventually came as a technical and tactical compromise: the army's anti-aircraft tanks were to be grouped together in so-called Panzer-Fla-Züge, which consisted of several (typically four) SPAAGs and an additional, dedicated radar surveillance and command unit, so that the radar could guide the tank crews towards incoming targets – even though the gun crews still had to rely on visual targeting.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Two respective guidance vehicles developed, a light and a heavy one. The light one, intended against low-flying targets like the Ilyushin Il-2 on the Eastern front, became the 8x8 Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandowagen Sd.Kfz. 234/6. The heavy variant, with a bigger antenna and a more powerful emitter, became the Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer Sd.Kfz. 282. In contrast to the light and compact Sd.Kfz. 234/6, the Sd.Kfz. 282's complete radar and observation system was installed in a new turret, so that it could be simply mounted onto the new E-50 Einheitspanzer battle tank hull.
This new, box-shaped turret had been developed by Rheinmetall, together with Telefunken, and was based on the turret design for the new 55 mm twin anti-aircraft cannon. It had a maximum armor of 60mm at the front and held all of the radar equipment, christened "Basilisk", after the monster from medieval mythology with a petrifying sight. The turret held a crew of three: a commander, a radar operator, and an observer for the optical rangefinder. The rest of the crew, the driver and a radio operator, sat in the hull. No armament was fitted, even though a light machine gun could be mounted on the roof for self-defense, even though it could not be operated from the inside. A heavier armament was not deemed necessary since the vehicle would stay close to the heavily armed tanks/SPAAGs it would typically accompany.

The Basilisk radar's rotating dish antenna had a diameter of 90 cm (35 ½ inches) and was installed at the turret's front under a hard vinyl cover. Power of the modified FuG 240 was 25kW, with a search angle of +80/− 5° and a frequency range: 3,250–3,330MHz (~10 cm). Range was, due the bigger antenna and a higher emitter output, increased to 0.5–11.0 kilometer, even though only under ideal conditions. Power came from a dedicated generator that was connected to the E-50's V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine.

Beyond the radar system, the vehicle was furthermore equipped with a powerful visual coincidence range finder in the turret, combined with an analogue computer, the Kommandogerät (KDO) 40 Telemeter. This system had been introduced in 1941 as a guidance tool for stationary anti-aircraft units equipped with the 88 mm and the 105 mm Flak, but it had so far – due to its size and bulk – only been deployed on an unarmored trailer
The KDO 40 and similar sights worked as follows: Light from the target entered the range finder through two windows located at either end of the instrument. At either side, the incident beam was reflected to the center of the optical bar by a pentaprism, and this optical bar was ideally made from a material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion so that optical path lengths would not change significantly with temperature. The reflected beam first passed through an objective lens and was then merged with the beam of the opposing side with an ocular prism sub-assembly to form two images of the target which were viewed by the observer through the eyepiece. Since either beam entered the instrument at a slightly different angle the resulting image, if unaltered, would appear blurry. Therefore, in one arm of the instrument, a compensator was integrated which could be adjusted by the operator to tilt the beam until the two images matched. At this point, the images were said to be in coincidence. The degree of rotation of the compensator determined the range to the target by simple triangulation, allowing the calculation of the distance to the observed object.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Fixed target reading with the device mounted in the Sd.Kfz. 282 turret was possible on targets from 3,000 to 20,000 m. Aerial courses could be recorded at all levels of flight and at a slant range between 4,000 and 18,000 m - enough for visual identification beyond an anti-aircraft group's effective gun ranges and perfectly suitable for long range observation, so that the Sd.Kfz. 282 also had excellent reconnaissance and observation capabilities. The rangefinder's optical bar had a massive span of 400 cm (157.5 in) and went right through the turret, just above the radar device installation. The whole device, together with its armored fairing, was 4,60 m (15 ft 1 in) wide, so that it protruded from the turret on both sides over the lower hull. The odd and unwieldy installation quickly earned the vehicle nicknames like "Hirsch (stag)", "Zwo-Ender" (a young stag with just two antlers) or "Ameise" (ant). None of these were official, though. In order to protect the Telemeter on the way, the turret was normally turned by 90° and hidden under a tarpaulin, in order not to give away any details of the highly classified equipment.

However, development of the Einheitspanzer family lagged behind schedule, and in early 1945 no E-50 chassis was available for the highly specialized Sd.Kfz. 282 – battle tanks and SPGs were in higher demand. As an alternative, the turret was quickly adapted for different tank hulls, namely the Sd.Kfz. 171, the Panzer V 'Panther' medium tank and the heavy Sd.Kfz. 181 'Tiger I'. Tests with both hulls in spring 1945 were successful, but only the lighter 'Panther' hull was chosen because it was lighter overall, more mobile and available in sufficient numbers for a quick roll-out. In this configuration, the system received the designation Sd.Kfz. 282/1, while the original Sd.Kfz. 282 designation was reserved for the originally planned E-50 chassis variant.

The first vehicles reached, together with the new FlaK tanks, the front units in September 1945. Operating independently, they were primarily allocated to the defense of important production sites and the city of Berlin, and they supported tank divisions through early warning duties and visual long-range reconnaissance. Operationally, the Sd.Kfz. 282's sensor setup with its combined visual and radar input turned out to be surprisingly successful. The combination of the Basilisk radar with the KDO 40 rangefinder allowed a time from initial target acquisition to the first AA shot of less than 20 seconds, which was impressive for the time – typically, simple visual target acquisition took 30 seconds or more. First shot hit probability was appreciably improved, too, and even quick passes of aircraft at low altitudes could be precalculated, if the radar was not obstructed.
However, the radar remained capricious, its performance rather limited and the unarmored antenna fairing at the turret's front was easily damaged in combat, even by heavy machinegun fire. But the Sd.Kfz. 282 offered, when the vehicle was placed in a location with a relatively free field of view (e. g. on a wide forest clearance or in an open field), a sufficient early warning performance against incoming bombers at medium to high altitudes, and it also appreciably mobilized the bulky but valuable KDO 40 device. It now could easily be moved around and keep up with the pace of motorized battle groups that the Panzer-Fla-Züge units were supposed to protect.

Until the end of hostilities, probably thirty Sd.Kfz. 282/1s were completed from newly built (Ausf. F, recognizable through the simpler all-metal wheels) or from refurbished earlier Panzer V chassis of various types before production switched in early 1946 to the E-50 chassis which had eventually become available in sufficient numbers.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr



Specifications:
    Crew: Five (commander, radar operator, observer, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)
    Weight: 41.2 tonnes (40.4 long tons; 45.3 short tons)
    Length (hull only): 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)
    Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) hull only
                 4,60 m (15 ft 1 in) overall
    Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 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: 48 km/h (30 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:
    1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun in the front glacis plate with 2.500 rounds
    Optional MG 34 or 42 machine gun with 1.500 rounds on the turret



The kit and its assembly:
The "Recce & Surveillance" group build is actually a good occasion to tackle some not-so-spectacular projects that I had on my list for some years, and this is one of them. A long while ago I bought a resin conversion set with a (purely fictional) Heer '46 anti-aircraft surveillance radar system, based on an E-50 chassis. Unfortunately, I cannot identify the manufacturer, but this 1:72 conversion set was/is nicely molded, with delicate details, no bubbles or flash and it even came with a commander figure for an optional open hatch on top as well as a pair of delicate brass antennae.

Even though I could have mounted this replacement turret onto a Trumpeter or Modelcollect E-50/75 chassis, I rather decided to create an earlier (1945 time frame) interim vehicle on a late Panzer V 'Panther' basis, mostly because it would be more compact and I doubt that brand new E-50/75s would have been "wasted" on second line/support vehicles like this mobile surveillance/commando post for anti-aircraft units?

The Panther chassis is the old Hasegawa kit for an Ausf. G tank from 1973, chosen because of its good fit, simplicity and the vinyl tracks, which I prefer. However, the kit clearly shows its age and some weak/soft details (e. g. the gratings on the engine deck), but it was enough for my plans and easy to handle.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Both turret and hull were built separately and basically OOB, combined with an adjusted turret ring. The KDO 40's "antlers" are to be glued directly to the turret's flanks, but I reinforced the connections with wire. I also replaced the set's brass antennae with heated sprue material and used a surplus PE detail set from a Modelcollect E-50/75 to hide the crude engine openings and change the overall look of the Panther a little. Some storage boxes as well as spare track links were added to the flanks, stuff collected from the scrap box. To emphasize the refurbished character of the vehicle I left away the Panther's side skirts – these were easily lost in battle, anyway, and probably have rather been allocated to battle tanks than to 2nd line support vehicles, despite leaving the Panther's lower hull under the mudguards vulnerable.


Painting and markings:
Even though the paint scheme on this model is based on German standard colors, it is a little special. Late in real-world WWII some Panzer Vs received a unique, uniform RAL 6003 (Olivgrün) factory finish instead of the usual all-over RAL 7028 (Dunkelgelb) or the bare oxide red primer finish, onto which the frontline units would add individual camouflage, depending on the theatre of operations and whatever paint or application tool was at hand. This special green livery was adopted for the model, including the new turret. The individual camouflage consists of diagonal stripes in Dunkelgelb and Rotbraun (RAL 8017), added on top of the green basis with rather sharp and straight edges and only to the vertical surfaces. The practice to leave out the horizontal surfaces was called "Sparanstrich" (literally "economy paintwork"), an attempt to save the more and more scarce paint.
This rather odd style was actually applied to several late war Panther tanks – even though I am personally not certain about this pattern's effectiveness? Maybe a kind of dazzle effect was sought for?


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The basic green became a modern-day RAL 6003 from the rattle can (which is very close to FS 34102, just a tad lighter), applied in a rather cloudy fashion on top of an initial coat of Oxide Red primer (RAL 3009) overall, also from the rattle can. On top of that the stripes were painted with a brush, partly masked but mostly free-handedly. For some variation I used this time Tamiya XF-60 (a rather pale interpretation of Dunkelgelb which IMHO lacks a greenish hue and rather looks like a desert sand tone) and XF-64 (a rich whole milk chocolate tone) to create the additional camouflage, not fully opaque so that the impression of thinly/hastily applied paint was reinforced.
Once dry, the whole surface received a very dark brown washing with thinned acrylic paint and surface details were emphasized through dry-brushing with earth brown and beige.
For a different look (and to break up the tank's bulky outlines) I applied camouflage nets to the model, realized with gauze bandages drenched in Tamyia XF-62 (Olive Drab) and mounted into place around the turret and at the front of the hull while still slightly wet.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Decals were puzzled together from various German tank sheets. The kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish, what also fixed the cammo nets in place. The originally shiny black vinyl tracks were also painted/weathered, with a wet-in-wet mix of grey, iron, black and red brown (all acrylics). Once mounted into place, mud and dust were simulated around the running gear and the lower hull with a greyish-brown mix of artist mineral pigments.




1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 282/1 Mittlerer Funkmess-/Flak-Kommandopanzer V ,Basilisk'; vehicle ,B1' of the 2nd Panzer-Fla-Zug, Panzer Division Müncheberg; Spandau (Berlin region), late 1946 (Whif/Hasegawa kit conversion) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Not a spectacular build, but I am happy that I eventually had the opportunity and motivation to tackle this project that had been lingering for years in the The Stash™. The result looks really good – the anonymous resin set is/was excellent, and combined with the Panther hull, the whole thing looks very credible. I am only a bit sad that the odd, almost artistic camouflage got a little lost under the cammo nets and the equipment on the hull, and the dust/dirt on the lower areas blurs the three basic colors even more. Well, you cannot have everything at once, and I might re-use this scheme on a "cleaner" future build.

[NARSES2]

That's really nice Dizzy 

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you!