Old Tank Hulls Upgunned And Thrown Back Into Combat

dy031101 · April 26, 2009, 08:15:14 PM

That'd be about all I can think of, too, if I am to take a jab at the M41.

If the T-28 can take a turret with a 1600mm-sized ring, then this would be possible (see the picture below)......

Once I'm done with the delta-wing F-16/79, I might see what Finnish tank camouflage could go with this...... I heard that the Finnish army seem to have held the T-28 in reasonably-high regard and actually destroyed some T-34-85 in combat with the old tanks.

Am I doing the right thing though? Or would you think that there is an idea (another turret from another vehicle, or a new gun in the original T-28 turret) better suited for the salvage job? Just wanna be sure that this is a technically-plausible what-if before colouring the thing......

Daryl J. · April 26, 2009, 11:10:53 PM

Could a Male/Female tank from WW-1 get a pair of guns out of an A-10 Warthog and be use as a street sweeper for urban warfare? Or the FT-17 getting one for the same purpose?

PanzerWulff · April 26, 2009, 11:34:16 PM

The GAU-8 from the A-10 is as big as a volkswagen bug so the gun would be a tad too big for the FT-17 LOL

dy031101 · April 28, 2009, 01:15:44 PM

During the WWII, Wehrmacht re-gunned some captured KV-1s with the long barrelled 75mm gun otherwise used by late model Panzer IVs.

Does anyone have pictures of how the gun manlet is modified to accommodate the new gun, whether on scaled model or on the real thing?

Any illustration would help a lot should I ultimately go this way:

Taiidantomcat · April 28, 2009, 01:30:40 PM

Superb CG

dy031101 · April 28, 2009, 01:46:56 PM

Admittedly I did not make the models, just threw together the components taken from various models I downloaded from the internet, which is why I was able to put together the pictures to illustrate ideas while fumbling with my F-16 and S-67 projects......

In its definitive form- which will have either a German long-barrel 75mm gun or a T-34-85 turret altogether, depending on someone showing me the turret ring size for the T-28 tank, as well as most likely Finnish tank camouflage- I will have to do some modifications myself though, like extra hull armours (the T-28 model I have is depicting one as originally built; the tanks were up-armoured after the Winter War).

NARSES2 · April 30, 2009, 02:51:39 AM

There is a kit by PST of the KV1 with long barreled 75mm but the box art dosn't show the mantlet in full

http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/pzkpfw753reviewbg_1.htm

dy031101 · April 30, 2009, 04:24:18 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on April 30, 2009, 02:51:39 AM
There is a kit by PST of the KV1 with long barreled 75mm but the box art dosn't show the mantlet in full

http://www.kitreview.com/reviews/pzkpfw753reviewbg_1.htm

Thanks a lot.

On the display of parts I can see a cylindrical item next to the gun...... I assume it would be the co-axial MG and am wondering where the main gun sight would end up......

Wyrmshadow · May 01, 2009, 10:13:16 PM

This might be a decent spot to post some of my older pictures. Just some old projects I forgot the finish on my hard drive.

dy031101 · December 10, 2009, 09:48:52 PM

I just found out that the Swedish Strv 74 tank, which served until early '80s, is actually built on recycled Strv m/42 chassis and lower hull......

Hum...... I wonder what other tanks have such a potential, having engine and transmissions modernised and then combined with a new upper hull and turret to produce a modern light or battle tank?

dy031101 · December 25, 2009, 12:37:13 AM

Doing tank models based on Arc's drawings, I was thinking...... what if in WWII Allied armies ended up closing in onto Japan with stronger armoured forces for an eventual invasion?

Japan had an array of newer tank designs by the end of WWII in real-life, but that wouldn't be enough to equip all their troops. So would they have pulled out decommissioned tanks and have them upgunned somehow? Like the Type 89 I-Go "medium" tanks? Would it be able to take a 47mm gun turret like the one on Shinhoto Chi-Ha? Or make a self-propelled AT gun out of the chassis?

dy031101 · May 30, 2011, 12:26:41 PM

Inspired by this, brought to our attention by philp, my mind begin wondering how far the idea of upgunning Matilda and Valentine could be taken to...... like a situation similar to one that gave birth to the Israeli idea of upgunning their Shermans......

Now the two tanks were beset by their small turret rings, so I figured initially that at best we could just, like depicted in that what-if scenario, probably slap a Crusader turret onto them and give 'em a QF 75mm. Bigger cannons the straightforward way probably won't work.

What if we throw in the possibility of indigenous artilleries? The British QF 75mm is created by re-boring the 6-pounder for US 75mm ammunition...... I was originally wondering if the same source breech can be modified to accept the US 76mm round although I don't know how much of a challenge the longer shell case length of the US 76mm (539mm, longer than the 441mm length of the 6-pounder case) would pose.

The German Panzerabwehrwerfer sounds interesting, too. The 81mm version in fact looks pretty compact although the Wikipedia entry for the 105mm version says that it has a "conventional heavy" breech. Plus the design features a smoothbore barrel (one of the reasons why, for example, ROC's indigenous artilleries during the eight-year war with Japan were dominated by mortars). I wonder if an adaptation (the US tested the weapon but didn't go further with the idea until the M79 grenade launcher; I don't think it'd stop anyone else from being inspired though) of the 105mm version could go inside that Crusader tank turret......

Joe C-P · June 07, 2011, 06:49:54 PM

Quote from: dy031101 on February 05, 2008, 05:49:50 PM
It reminds me of M3 Medium Tank, another multi-armament design. What if, late in WWII, something should happen and M3 mediums were forced to soldier on alongside M4?

I've thought about replacing the hull 75mm with a short-barrelled 105mm for smashing, removing the upper turret and replacing it with one or twin .50s for anti-personnel. This might have been useful in the Pacific.

pyro-manic · June 07, 2011, 07:08:21 PM

Now that's a cool idea. A CEV version with a big dozer blade, demolition gun and extra frontal armour for bunker-bashing? Top it off with a cupola or small armoured car turret up top with some machine guns and/or a flamethrower.

kerick · June 07, 2011, 09:23:30 PM

Remember, there's more to it then a new gun barrel. How big is the breech etc. inside the turret? Will the new gun be able to be balanced on its mount? With a bigger breech can you elevate or depress a useful amount before smacking the inside of the turret? Will the structure of the vehicle take the stress of firing or crack parts. Is there room for larger ammunition? Very little room inside a turret for larger weapons or ammunition unless you throw something overboard.
I have seen a proposal for Turkey I believe to place an M-1 turret on a M-60 hull. Check the trade mags for proposals to different countries that are pretty what if.