Hobart's Hedge Trimmer - A Failed Funny.

[zenrat]

Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart, KBE, CB, DSO, MC.

Hobart's Funnies were modified armoured vehicles used in World War II from the 1944 Normandy Invasion.
The Hedge Trimmer was a Universal Carrier modified for use in the Bocage areas of Normandy.  Modification took the form of mounting a 20mm Flakvierling 38 (many tens of these had been captured when North Africa and Sicily fell).  It was to be used to clear the hedgerows of enemy troops to allow infantry to advance into the next small field.
It was a bad idea for a number of reasons, not least the weight of the guns and mount.  I will go into detail in the back story.

IRL while I can find no evidence of this modification there were single 20mm Flak 30/38s mounted on captured carriers.



I shall be using Tamiya kits and a set of Resicast tracks (link and length) and drive wheels.
Universal Carrier by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Hedge Trimmer Start 25-03-09 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The kits look fairly simple.  A nice change from multi thousand part Takom/MiniArt kits.  I shall not be adding any PE or turned barrels.
Today I put enough of the hull together to check the gun mount will fit.
Hedgetrimmer WIP 25-03-09 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The Flak Darling only comes with limited ammo clips but I will be scratching up some storage boxes to mount inside the hull.
User will "obviously" be the 79th Armoured Division.

[PR19_Kit]

So they drove it along the bocage lanes with the gun aimed sideways firing away and cutting all the hedges down?

Yeah, right, that'd work..........................  

[Steel Penguin]

weirdly i am reminded of a small section of the book " Mailed Fist" by John Foley,  where in a moment of chaos during a night advance in Holland he instructs the Churchill crew he was the TC of to carry on up the road at speed with " BESAs blazing"  to suppress the hedge rows.
 and 4 rapid firing 20mm cannon would certainly encourage most folks to keep there heads down  i would imagine

very much looking forward to this.  .

[zenrat]

So they drove it along the bocage lanes with the gun aimed sideways firing away and cutting all the hedges down?

Yeah, right, that'd work..........................  

No, through the hedges and across the fields like the Allied armour did IRL.  The Carrier would follow the first tanks through the hole they tore and suppress the defending troops in the next hedge while the infantry advanced.  In theory anyway...

Hmmm, maybe it needs a hedgerow cutter adding on the front as well...

[Weaver]

LMAO - I have visions of a burst of gunfire from off-camera, following by this thing cartwheeling past the viewer like very noisy tumbleweed...

[Wardukw]

Universal carrier weighs around 2.6 ton empty ...can carry around 1.8ton of cargo .
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 weights 1.5ton minus crew ...yep ..totally doable   

Fred you'll enjoy these builds ..both are a real pleasure..typically Tamiya  .
This will be a funny build 🤣

[buzzbomb]

The Flak Darling only comes with limited ammo clips but I will be scratching up some storage boxes to mount inside the hull.

I am only referring to this as the Flak Darling from here on in 

Liking the concept, as Dukwy says, easy base builds, the fettling together the fun bit.
Even with the single 20mm mount, I would imaging checking the oil would be a contortionist activity.

[scooter]

The Flak Darling only comes with limited ammo clips but I will be scratching up some storage boxes to mount inside the hull.

I am only referring to this as the Flak Darling from here on in 

[Wardukw]

The Flak Darling only comes with limited ammo clips but I will be scratching up some storage boxes to mount inside the hull.

I am only referring to this as the Flak Darling from here on in 

So strange you put that up bud..im just starting to watch Blackadder goes fourth now ..already watched the other three seasons 
Ahh ..hello darling..that's Captain Darling Blackadder   

[zenrat]

Universal carrier weighs around 2.6 ton empty ...can carry around 1.8ton of cargo .
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 weights 1.5ton minus crew ...yep ..totally doable   

Fred you'll enjoy these builds ..both are a real pleasure..typically Tamiya  .
This will be a funny build 🤣

Plus the weight of the gunshield Hobart's team added.

From this pic...



...it looks like it had enough to carry with just the single mount let alone the quad.  I'm going to try to mod the Carriers suspension as though it was loaded right down on the bump stops.

[kerick]

Universal carrier weighs around 2.6 ton empty ...can carry around 1.8ton of cargo .
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 weights 1.5ton minus crew ...yep ..totally doable   

Fred you'll enjoy these builds ..both are a real pleasure..typically Tamiya  .
This will be a funny build 🤣

Plus the weight of the gunshield Hobart's team added.

From this pic...



...it looks like it had enough to carry with just the single mount let alone the quad.  I'm going to try to mod the Carriers suspension as though it was loaded right down on the bump stops.

Ammunition weight adds up fast. Unless you have another carrier following it around. Was the one in the pic meant to be anti aircraft or ground targets? Or whatever gets in the way?

[PR19_Kit]

Was the one in the pic meant to be anti aircraft or ground targets? Or whatever gets in the way?

Hedges, the clue is in the name.   

[kerick]

I misunderstood. I thought the hedge trimmer bit was your invention. Sir Hobart would have made quite a whiffer. Or you could say he was but at 1/1 scale.

[Wardukw]

Universal carrier weighs around 2.6 ton empty ...can carry around 1.8ton of cargo .
The 20mm Flakvierling 38 weights 1.5ton minus crew ...yep ..totally doable   

Fred you'll enjoy these builds ..both are a real pleasure..typically Tamiya  .
This will be a funny build 🤣

Plus the weight of the gunshield Hobart's team added.

From this pic...



...it looks like it had enough to carry with just the single mount let alone the quad.  I'm going to try to mod the Carriers suspension as though it was loaded right down on the bump stops.

The Flakvierling had 2 fold out shields which had a pivot near the loaders seats ..those were pretty solid units .
It does make wonder how the Bren will stand up to the recoil of those 4 guns firing 😆
It did have a pretty good amount of recoil ..hence stuffing it on a 8ton half track 😄
Yep ..I knew I was going to enjoy this build 

[zenrat]

I misunderstood. I thought the hedge trimmer bit was your invention. Sir Hobart would have made quite a whiffer. Or you could say he was but at 1/1 scale.

No, Kit misunderstood.  The phot is one I found on the interweb.  It is of a Carrier on which had been mounted a Flak 30/38.  It is nothing to do with Percy.
AFAIK there were not any Carriers amongst the armour his people modded.

Next stage is to build the gun up to check fit to the Carrier.  And then build some gun shields.  I am thinking something like a Wirbelwind gunshield with the rear missing.