1:72 Panther w. 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20 (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827)

Dizzyfugu · September 10, 2021, 04:12:08 AM

I tasted some blood through my recent E-50/88 SPAAG build, and when the joices flow you better not resist. So, there are (up to now) three more more or less whiffy German SPAAGs in the pipeline, and here's #1 from the bunch.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
As the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) lost control over the skies over Germany in the second half of the Second World War, it could no longer provide sufficient protection against Allied aircraft. Panzer divisions were especially affected by the lack of cover from fighter aircraft because they were always at the center of the most intense fighting.

The Germans already had copious amounts of half-tracked Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Guns (SPAAG) of different calibers and weights (Sd.Kfz.10/4, Sd.Kfz.6/2, Sd.Kfz.7/1, etc.). As these vehicles had very limited or no armor, they were vulnerable to enemy fire either from ground or air. The crew needed better protection from small arms fire and artillery/mortar high explosive fragmentation shell shrapnel. A tank-based anti-aircraft vehicle (Flakpanzer) could solve this problem, as it would have sufficient armor to resist most ground attacks with the exception of larger caliber guns. They would also provide some protection against air attacks, but even tanks could be destroyed by air ground-attack fire.

Many designs based on different Panzer chassis and weapons were tested and built during the war. The most successful early ones were based on the Panzer IV chassis (Möbelwagen, Wirbelwind and Ostwind), but one of the major shortcomings of all German Flakpanzers was the lack of a fully enclosed fighting compartment. As all were open-topped (because of easier construction, easier exhaust of gun fumes and the need to produce them as fast as possible), the gun crews were exposed to air attacks and the weather.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As the war progressed, German engineers tried to solve this problem by designing and building new Flakpanzers with fully enclosed turrets, based on later and bigger tank chassis'. One of these was the Flakpanzer based on the Panther tank, best known today as the 'Coelian', which was a new turret that could take various gun armaments.
The path to the Coelian SPAAG was not straight. In May 1943, Oberleutnant Dipl. Ing von Glatter-Götz, responding to the orders of Inspectorate 6, initiated the development of a new series of Flakpanzers based on already existing chassis. The Panzer I and II were outdated or used for other purposes. The Panzer III tank chassis was earmarked for the production of the StuG III and thus not available. The Panzer IV and the Panzer V Panther were considered next. The Panzer IV tank chassis was already in use for several German modifications, so it was decided to use it for the Flakpanzer program, eventually leading to the light "Kugelblitz" SPAAG. The Panzer V Panther was considered in case even the Panzer IV chassis proved to be inadequate for the task. Furthermore, the development of a whole new tank generation, the "Einheitspanzer" or "E-Serie", had just been initiated.

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 1.200 to 1.500 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.
To give the crew the best protection possible and to meet any future Allied developments, the Panther-based Flakpanzer had to have a fully enclosed turret that could be armed with several different proposed weapon configurations. These included the 2 cm Flakvierling, 3.7 cm Flak either in twin or triple configuration, a newly developed 5.5 cm Gerät 58 Flakzwilling and even the powerful 88 mm caliber heavy anti-aircraft gun. The new turret design was to be ready for frontline service by the middle of 1944.

The first proposed design drawings were completed by Rheinmetall under the internal project number H-SkA 82827 in late May 1943 with the title "Turm Panther II mit Vierling MG 151/20". This turret was heavily based on the Panther's standard turret that it would simply replace. The new turret had to fulfill several set criteria like armor thickness and having an effective traversing mechanism. The armor protection of the turret was impressive, with 80 mm frontal armor and 40 mm on the sides. The turret was to be moved by using a hydraulic drive which was powered by the tank's own engine. The maximum traverse speed was around 36° per second. Hydraulic power was used to raise the weapons, too, but a manual drive option was included as a fallback option.
The H-SkA 82827's armament consisted of four 20 mm MG 151/20, mounted in staggered pairs, the same armament carried by the contemporary Panver IV-based "Möbelwagen" and "Wirbelwind" SPAAGs, too, but now under full armor protection. The elevation of the four guns was -5° to +75° and they had a combined practical rate of fire of 800 RPM, even though a maximum ROF of 1680 to 1920 RPM was theoretically possible. The weapons had a muzzle velocity of 900 m/s, a range of 4.800 m (15,720 ft) and an effective ceiling of 3.700 m (12,120 ft). They were belt-fed and separated from the turret crew, the gunner and the commander, which were seated in the left of the turret, weapons and ammunition were placed on the right side. The commander sat behind the gunner in an elevated position under a cupola, adapted from the Panther battle tank, for a good all-round view. Thanks to the belt-fed guns, no dedicated loader was necessary anymore, saving internal weight and space. The rest of the crew, driver and radio/machine gun operator, were seated in the Panzer V hull's front in their standard positions.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

After a wooden mock-up had been built, inspected and approved by the Heeresinspektorat 6, the go-ahead for the construction of five prototype turrets was given in September 1943, to be mounted and tested on refurbished Panther hulls. The new vehicle received the official designation Sd.Kfz. 171/1 "Flakpanzer V/20 mm". On the 21st of December 1943, however, a Panzerkommision was formed to examine the further development of a Flakpanzer based on the Panther tank chassis. It was decided that the main armament should consist of at least two 3.7 cm caliber anti-aircraft guns, for more range and firepower, and this requirement was later revised to two even heavier 5.5 cm Gerät 58 guns. The Luftwaffe's 30 mm MK 103 machine cannon was considered, too, since it had outstanding range, accuracy and penetration.
The problem was now that the Sd.Kfz. 171/1's turret did not offer enough space or development potential to accommodate these heavier and bigger weapons, so that a completely new turret had to be designed from scratch around them. Daimler-Benz was chosen for this follow-up project, which was internally called "Flakpanzer 341" – after the SPAAG's planned main armament with an experimental 3.7 cm (L/77) Flak 341 twin gun, also known as "Gerät 341". In mid-1944 it would evolve into the Panther-based Coelian SPAAG family, but even this more sophisticated design with several armament variants became just a stopgap solution, bridging the delay of the anti-aircraft tanks based on the new Einheitspanzer chassis family.

Serial production of the Sd.Kfz. 171/1 was consequently dropped, only three fully operational prototypes were completed by March 1944, plus two armed turrets for static test. One of these turrets was later mounted onto another Panther hull, for a fourth operational vehicle. Rheinmetall kept on working with these vehicles and components until late 1945, and the four SPAAGs were also employed by the company's Werksverteidigung unit (manned by the Rheinmetall staff, not by Wehrmacht soldiers) at the Apolda factory in central Thuringia.

The Sd.Kfz. 171/1s and the separate turrets were also used in the development programs for Rheinmetall's so-called "Einheits-Flakturm" for the upcoming E-50/75 SPAAGs, primarily for targeting and rangefinding systems, weapon mounts and simplified turret movement mechanisms. One of these developments was the Kommandogerät 44, a much more compact analogue rangefinder, effectively an analogue fire control calculator that translated target and ambient data into electronic signals that could control weapon drives and trigger a weapon at an ideal moment. This innovative device eventually became part of the later E-50/75 SPAAGs that entered service in 1946.

The fate of these four unique vehicles after the factory's invasion through Soviet troops is uncertain, though. They were probably destroyed by retreating German troops to prevent their experimental technologies from falling into enemy hands.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)
Weight: 40.5 tonnes (39.9 long tons; 44.7 short tons)
Length (hull only): 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)
Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in)
Height: 3.06 m (10 ft 2/3 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: 55 km/h (34 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× 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/29 machine cannon in two twin mounts with a total of 3.200 rounds
1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun in the front glacis plate with 2.500 rounds

The kit and its assembly:
This is an OOB what-if model, the prototype of the "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" from Dragon. The kit is actually mislabeled as "Flakpanzer 341", but this designation had been allocated to the later prototype of the "Coelian" turret for the Panther chassis, just as described in the background. AFAIK, the "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" was not produced at all, there was just a wooden mock-up. And the whole project was quickly cancelled because it did not offer sufficient firepower and development potential. The only "official" designation I could find is the title of a project paper that describes the turret's layout and construction, and it was called "H-SkA 82827.

But what if a small batch of these vehicles had been manufactured/completed and used by factory defense units like the Luftwaffe's Werkschutzstaffeln?

That's the basic idea/story behind this build, and it was kept OOB. The Dragon Panther is a simple affair and goes together well, but the instructions are weak, if not confusing. Good thing, though, is that the kit contains an extra sprue from a Jagdpanther kit that contains many optional parts for early and late Panther variants, as well as hull equipment, so that you get a good number of surplus parts for the spares box. The only downer is the fact that the soft vinyl tracks were molded in a bright sand tone, so that these delicate parts had to be completely painted.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
The Panther 20mm Flakvierling is – even though it never "existed" – frequently depicted in a weird two-color scheme, probably consisting of Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) over a red primer coat. But the depicted colors frequently appear much too garish and strong, like bright sunflower yellow over wine red! WTF? However, I liked the concept and adopted it for the model, just with more realistic tones and some personal twists.
The hull received an overall coat with RAL 3009 (Oxidrot), while the turret was painted with a paler shade of red (Humbrol 70, Brick red). On top of that, thinned Tamiya XF-57 (Buff) was used to add a fragmented meander pattern to break up the tank's outlines. The result is quite attractive, and it might have worked well in an urban/factory environment – hence the idea of allocating the vehicle to a Werksschutz unit – several aircraft companies, e. g. Heinkel or Focke Wulf, also used prototypes for local defense, organized outside of Luftwaffe units.

To emphasize the prototype nature of this vehicle, the wheels and the armor skirts were, for some variety, painted in standard Hinterhalt camouflage colors, in Dunkelgelb (Tamiya XF-60), Olivgrün (RAL 6003, Humbrol 86) and Rotbraun (RAL 8017, Humbrol 160). The latter was also used for the engine bay cover, which I simply forgot to paint on Oxidrot in the first place. But the slightly darker Rotbraun blends well into the rest of the hull. The wheels were painted uniformly, and I added a wheel in Brick Red on each side as an un-camouflaged replacement. The armor skirts' camouflage pattern consists of dark circles over a Dunkelgelb background, created with a stamp (self-made from fine sponge rubber) and mimicking the original "factory design" of the Hinterhalt paint scheme.
As mentioned above, the tracks had to be painted, and this time I tried a base with acrylic black paint from the rattle can, plus some grey and re brown wet-in-wet acrylic paint on top of that. Worked quite well and might become a new standard for this field of work.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The tactical markings became minimal, as the vehicle would be factory-operated and also a test article – hence it just received small Balkenkreuz insignia (on the hull ,mostly obscured by tools), and a large black "3", edged in white for more contrast, on the turret sides, with smaller numbers at front and back of the turret for quick identification from every side.

The model received an overall washing with thinned dark brown acrylic paint and dry-brushing with light grey and beige, before it was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. Once the vinyl tracks had been mounted, the model's lower areas and the running gear were dusted with grey-brown mineral pigments.

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Flakpanzer "Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20" (Sdkfz. 171/1; H-SkA 82827); vehicle "3" of the Rheinmetall Werksschutz unit, Apolda-Werke (Thuringia), early 1945 (What-if/Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Well, another simple build, thanks to an OOB kit of this exotic SPAAG prototype. The result looks quite good and was completed in just two days, another member in my growing collection of real, semi-fictional and whiffy German SPAAG vehicles – turning this mock-up into an of an operational prototype of a Werksverteidigung unit certainly works and could actually have been, even though the Panther 20mm Flakvierling MG 151/20 just remained a stillborn proposal.

And more German SPAAGs coming soon.

NARSES2 · September 10, 2021, 06:33:46 AM

This design has always intrigued me for some reason.

Terrific build and fantastic photos Dizzy

Dizzyfugu · September 10, 2021, 10:19:18 AM

Thanks a lot.

Wardukw · September 10, 2021, 08:04:19 PM

Lovely little beast Dizzy mate..i saw a 35th verison and the dude had gone nuts on it but heres the kicker..yours looks far better..a much better paint job

and far better photos

Very nice

Phill

royabulgaf · September 10, 2021, 08:34:25 PM

Wow! The paint is great, it looks like some German top kick grabbed some landser who didn't seem busy, and handed him a mop and some paint buckets he scrounged from somewhere. Also, the weathering and wear is just about p

Dizzyfugu · September 11, 2021, 01:32:08 AM

Thank you, too. The paint is not 100% satisfactory - the thinned Tamiya paints on the hull are always a gamble. While the overall impression is good pls. do not look too closely at it...

Pellson · September 11, 2021, 03:07:03 AM

Your build are as always amazing, but Christ, it's an ugly tank!

Very well motivated in the backstory, though.

NARSES2 · September 11, 2021, 06:19:22 AM

Quote from: Pellson on September 11, 2021, 03:07:03 AM
Your build are as always amazing, but Christ, it's an ugly tank!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that

Actually I quite like the look of it.

Wardukw · September 12, 2021, 08:15:18 PM

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 11, 2021, 06:19:22 AM
Quote from: Pellson on September 11, 2021, 03:07:03 AM
Your build are as always amazing, but Christ, it's an ugly tank!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that Actually I quite like the look of it.

Its strange but for most of us its the ugly which we find attractive which sounds damn strange but there ya go

Dizzy remember bud we are our own worst critics ..what looks great to others looks crap to the builder..ive been many times and question for ya..do you use acrylic thinner or water with your tamiya paint..i use the thinner and never have a problem.

Phill

Dizzyfugu · September 12, 2021, 10:56:20 PM

I use the thinner to revive the paints in their original glasses (I do not use them often), and use water for painting effects. I exclusively apply the Tamiya paints with brushes, though, and they tend to dry up quickly - even when thinned, and this caused the problems here.

NARSES2 · September 12, 2021, 11:28:50 PM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on September 12, 2021, 10:56:20 PM
I exclusively apply the Tamiya paints with brushes, though, and they tend to dry up quickly - even when thinned, and this caused the problems here.

Exactly the same problem I've had in the past Dizzy and I found some colours were worse than others. I don't tend to use them now.

Wardukw · September 13, 2021, 01:21:18 AM

Ohh ok guys theres ya problem right there..Tamiya paint is useless for brush painting but its great to air brush with..yeah it dries far to fast to brush paint with..been there too.
If im brushing then its AK or Ammo or good old Humbrol..hell im using Humbrol right now on a model rc ship ive built for a friend during our latest covid lockdown.
Humbrol is still one of my go to favs when it comes to enamel paint.
Oh i did forget vellejo ..that stuff is very nice to brush with and covers very nicely especially with the 72nd scale you work with Dizzy mate.
I still have at least 100 jars of Tamiya paint i air brush with as its cheap and goes along way and covers plastics and it thins beautifully.

Dizzyfugu · September 13, 2021, 01:30:50 AM

Well, Tamiya paints can be applied with a brush, and the finish and their opacity are great. But they work from my experience only well on bigger areas - you have to work swiftly with a brush and avoid wet-in-wet application. Using the Tamiya stuff for a fine pattern is/was a gamble, so the result on the model in this case is more or less "self-inflicted". I'd normally use Humbrol or ModelMaster enamels, which are less capricious on a fine brush.

PR19_Kit · September 13, 2021, 03:30:45 AM

Yes, I used a mixture of Tamiya, Vallejo and Hataka acrylics during my mega-build bash over the lockdown period, and ALL were brushed as I don't 'do airbrushing'.

Tamiya does dry crazily quickly when brushed but if it's thinned (I used their own thinner) it helps somewhat. Vallejo is OK I found, but their colours are a bit strange, and the Hataka stuff is BRILLIANT!

Dizzyfugu · September 13, 2021, 05:30:48 AM

I use Revell acrylics (only the matt tones, though, the gloss and esp. the semi-gloss variants are rubbish) occasionally, and mostly for dry-brushing. They work pretty well, thougg, and can be easily handled via brushes, too, when they are slightly thinned with water. Directly from their pots they are rather pasty.