1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette of the German Afrikakorps, 1942

Dizzyfugu · December 30, 2018, 03:18:20 AM

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The term "Schwerer Panzerspähwagen" (= heavy armoured reconnaissance vehicle) covers a broad family of 6- and later 8-wheeled armored cars Germany used before and during the Second World War.
In the German Army, armored cars were originally intended for the traditional cavalry missions of reconnaissance and screening. They scouted ahead and to the flanks of advancing mechanized units to assess enemy location, strength and intention. Their primary role was reconnaissance, but they would engage similar or light units and at times attempt to capture enemy patrols.

The first of the German armored cars, the Sd.Kfz. 231, was developed in secret, since no open research or production for military vehicles was possible at that time, and it was therefore based on modified Daimler-Benz, Büssing or Magirus 6x4 truck chassis', onto which a welded body with sloped armor was mounted.
Depending on the manufacturer the vehicles differed in details and armament, but the 231 was typically armed with a 2 cm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon (with 200 rounds) and a co-axial Maschinengewehr 13 machine gun (with 1.300 rounds) in a small turret. The crew consisted of a commander, gunner, driver, and a radio operator. A unique design feature was that the vehicle had a second driver's position in the rear, occupied by the radio operator, so that it could be driven either forwards or backwards with relative ease and change direction within 10 seconds. The vehicle weighed 5,35 t, was only lightly armored (8/14,5 mm) and could attain a top speed of 70 km/h (44 mph) on the road, but its off-road performance was rather limited.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Several variants of the six-wheeled scout car were developed, some with separate designations. One of them was the Sd.Kfz. 232 (6 Rad), which carried a Fu.Ger.11 SE 100 medium range and a Fu.Spr.Ger.A short range radio. This command model was very distinctive because of the heavy "bedspring" antenna over most of the hull. This antenna was supported by two insulated, vertical connecting tubes at the back corners of the hull, and an inverted U-shaped tube construction on the turret sides with a central joint allowed the turret to retain its full 360° traverse.

The 231 vehicle family was introduced into service in 1932 and already began to be replaced in 1937 when the German Army switched production to heavier and more off-road-capable 8-wheeled armored cars (the 232 (8-Rad), which was a different vehicle than the 232 6-Rad, and later to the more sophisticated and capable 234). Despite being replaced in frontline units, the six-wheel vehicles were still used by Aufklärungs ("reconnaissance") units during the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, and the invasion of the USSR. Most of them were withdrawn afterwards for use in internal security and training, and a small number was converted into half-track scout cars after the Inspectorate for Motorized Troops (AHA/In 6) had decided in 1939 that it would be useful that light, armored half-tracks would accompany tanks in the attack. They could satisfy requirements for which a larger vehicle wouldn't be needed, such as headquarters, artillery forward observer, radio, and scout vehicles. Demag, the designer of the smallest half-track then in service, the Sd. Kfz. 10, was selected to develop the "light armored troop carrier" (leichter gepanzerter Mannschafts-Transportwagen), which became the Sd.Kfz. 250. In order to bridge the operational gap until the introduction of this new vehicle, the outdated surplus 232 radio scout cars were ordered into an instantaneous conversion program.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

To this end, the Sd.Kfz. 10's running gear with its torsion bar suspension was taken off the rack, shortened by one road wheel station, and then adapted to the 232 (6-Rad)'s rear hull, where the interleaved track gear replaced the original pair of rear axles. The front axle remained unpowered, though. The armor was improved with additional armor plates (now reaching up to 30mm at the front) and the front suspension was beefed up in order to cope with the vehicle's higher total weight of 6,2 tons and the heavier terrain that it could master now. For the same reasons, the 232 (6-Rad)'s original Büssing water-cooled MA 9 6-cylinder petrol engine with a mere 68 hp (48 kW) was replaced by a Maybach HL42 TRKM 6-cylinder motor with 4.17-litre (254 cu in), delivering 100 hp (74 kW) and much more torque. With this new engine and despite the tracked running gear the vehicle remained surprisingly fast, reaching a top speed of more than 60 km/h (40 mph) on the road. The original armament was retained, even though it was already outdated and ineffective against armored opponents. But the small turret could not carry any bigger weapon and a replacement with a bigger turret was ruled out, since there was no time for a new development that would match the relatively narrow bearing. However, in order to improve the chances of survival, an array of smoke dischargers was installed on the front bumper which held six cartouches.

A total of 120 Sd.Kfz. 232 (6-Rad) were converted in the course of 1939 and 1940 and re-designated 232 (Halbkette). However, their production was immediately stopped when it was clear that the new Sd. Kfz. 250 would be ready for service in 1941. Until then, the modified vehicles were deployed to France, Northern Africa and Russia, primarily used by artillery forward observers to accompany tank and mechanized infantry units.
At the Eastern front they were retired after the battle of Moscow in December 1941, and the last vehicles were used by the Afrikakorps in Northern Africa until late 1942.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/rear driver)
Weight: 5,2 tons (11.450 lb)
Length: 5,57 metres (18 ft 3 in)
Width: 1,82 metres (5 ft 11 ½ in)
Height (incl. antenna): 2,87 metres (9 ft 4 ¾ in)
Ground clearance: 28.5 cm (10 in)
Suspension: Torsion bar and leaf springs (front axle)
Fuel capacity: 105 litres (23 imp gal; 28 US gal)

Armor:
8–30 mm (0.31 – 1.18 in)

Performance:
Maximum road speed: 65 km/h (41 mph)
Sustained road speed: 48 km/h (30 mph)
Cross country speed: up to 35 km/h (22 mph)
Operational range: 250 km (155 miles)
Power/weight: 19,23 PS/ton

Engine:
Maybach HL42 TRKM water-cooled straight 6-cylinder petrol engine with 100 hp (74 kW)

Transmission:
Maybach 7 + 3 speed VG 102128 H

Armament:
1× 20 mm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon with 200 rounds
1× MG 13 machine gun mounted co-axially with 1.300 rounds
6× smoke dischargers, mounted to the vehicle's front

The kit and its assembly:
This little, fictional vehicle was inspired by one of profile drawings created and published by Logan Hartke here at whatifmodelers.com, showing the Sd. Kfz. 232 with different half track arrangements – including the Sd. Kfz. 250's:

When I finally got hold of the Italeri Sd. Kfz. 232 kit with the unique antenna (there's also a more frequent one without this detail), I decided to re-create the 232/251 combo, because the vehicle looked really good and plausible, and there would actually have been a historic gap between 1939 and 1941 when it could have been realized, as outlined in the background.

The Italeri kit was basically built OOB, just the chassis had to be modified – with the help of a resin set with 1:72 Sd. Kfz. 250 tracks and front wheels from German short run manufacturer ModelTrans/Silesian Models. The parts were crisp and quite clean, and the track parts as well as the front wheels were mated to the original suspension with the help of added axis' as spacers between the two tracks.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Just the mudguards had to be modified in order to match the more spacious, new running gear - since an extension was not easy I decided to just use their front and back ends and implant a new upper deck between them, adding a styrene profile on the flanks so that the original shape of the wheel arches could be more or less retained. Ended up better than expected!
The small gap between the tracks' and the front wheels' mudguards was closed with a small piece of styrene - similar to the Sd, Kfz. 250's arrangement.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As a vehicle operating in North Africa I added an improvised sun sail to the antenna array, made from paper tissue that was soaked in highly thinned white glue and later painted.

Painting and markings:
Many German vehicles that had been transferred to Northern Africa initially retained their original camouflage, and that was a uniform, very dark grey (RAL 7021, to be specific), sometimes with dark brown mottles added. This was totally unsuited for the environment, so that the crews had to improvise. Some vehicles were painted with Italian colors, even British paints (from salvaged enemy bases and convoys) were used. Alternatively, many crews mixed sand and dirt with water in a bucket and "painted" their grey vehicles over, or the hull was smeared with oil and sand was thrown onto it. It took quite a while until dedicated Africa colors had been developed and used in the factories or even in the field, so that some interesting schemes appeared.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

My Sd. Kfz. 232 was to represent one of these all-grey vehicles that had received an improvised desert camouflage "on the go". In order to create this look, I gave the whole vehicle an initial primer coat in Humbrol 67. Once dry, I added a streaky coat of thinned Revell 16 (Sand) on every upper/external surface, letting the dark grey shine through here and there. The areas for the national markings and tactical codes were spared, so that the decals would later astand out on a dark "halo" of the original color.
On top of the improvised desert camouflage I also added sand and dust through highly thinned paintbox colors (ochre and some burnt umber).

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The sun sail was painted in field grey, but it received a dry brushing treatment in order to emphasize the tissue texture as well as the antenna shape below, and it was also "dusted" with paintbox colors.

Finally, everything was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can and teh lower vehicle areas were lightly dusted with mineral pigments.

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sd. Kfz. 232 Halbkette; vehicle "101" of the 1. Kompanie, 2. Regiment der 21. Panzerdivision, Deutsches Afrikakorps; Mersa Mathru (Egypt), June 1942 (Whif/Italeri kit w. Silesian Models parts) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A quick project, realized in just three days. The running gear conversion itself was quite simple - the biggest issues were the extension of the rear mudguards and the fiddly and highly delicate antenna array. But the result looks quite good - and in the unusual desert camouflage for this type of vehicle it's really a weird sight.

zenrat · December 30, 2018, 03:36:42 AM

Good job Dizz.

NARSES2 · December 30, 2018, 05:49:03 AM

I like that one

philp · December 30, 2018, 10:52:40 AM

Neat idea.

Rick Lowe · January 01, 2019, 01:10:42 AM

Nicely done, and quite a different look.

Logan Hartke · January 02, 2019, 10:50:42 AM

I always love seeing my concepts "in the flesh" as it were. Great work! I'm glad it was as plausible as it seemed in pixels!

Cheers,

Logan

Dizzyfugu · January 03, 2019, 02:18:18 AM

It was agreat inspiration - and it actually works, as you can see!

stevehed · January 10, 2019, 04:08:23 PM

Great job - very feasible

Regards, Steve