Upgrading Sdkfz 7/1 ?

[AndyFettes]

Heres a few questions for you German half track fans

Did the Germans do any field modifications to the Sdkfz 7/1 before they produced ones with solid cabs and ultimately the 7/2 ?

I suppose we can also include the 7 without the Flak version in this question too

Would the 7/1 soft cab version have seen service right up until the end of the war ?

Thanks in advance

Andy

 

[moon puppy]

Wish I could help you Andy. Hang in there, I'm sure someone has something on this.

 

[jknaus]

Field mods were done all the time. Wether they made armoured cabs in the field I dont know. The soft cab woulod still be found at the end of the war. I'll try and find info for you tonight or tomorrow Andy.
James

 

[AndyFettes]

Thanks James, well actually it has no cab so was wondering if that still excisted (spelling)

I was wondering about the climb on cut outs in the side where the cab access was and whether grab handles were attatched to either side I did see a picture once but do you think I can find it now nooooo !
Any info would be a bonus though

 

[Kreighshoer]

that's a hard nut to crack andy!

where to begin ... well, while it's unlikely that an early sdkfz7/1 survived until the late period of the war at the one hand and on the other it's as unlikely that there weren't made field modifications if one survived, e.g. in backward securing service!

but it still is possible that a few may have seen (very) late war unaltered!

like a sdkfz7/1 in france or benelux as part of the occupation forces!

until someone finds a photo that can be clearly identified, this is a matter of educational guess and logic but a final answer is impossible without such a photo!

 

[AndyFettes]

Tis indeed a hard one I have seen a couple of photos but ones that are blown up and its very hard to determin what bits it had added to it seeing as its all in bits anyway

Actually I think I shall have to stick to 1943 Russia using the Panzer grey plus wavy Dark yellow camo scheme seeing as Ive never done a panzer grey vehicle before,...should be fun !

Anyone got a good mix for a Panzer grey, I use Tamiya for base coating and have got Black Blue and White or should I rush off and buy A premixed Tamiya panzer grey Colour ?

James Im still after any details you can come with, mate.

 

[Kreighshoer]

andyfettes wrote:

Anyone got a good mix for a Panzer grey, I use Tamiya for base coating and have got Black Blue and White or should I rush off and buy A premixed Tamiya panzer grey Colour ?

uff ... long answer or short answer?

if you want to paint worn out grey, sun faded then you could go with the tamiya xf-63 direct!

if you want to depict a not so worn out paint then i'd suggest the following: basecoat your model with black! don't be stingy with the black coat! (i paint the whole vehicle in black)

mix the tamiya panzergrey with black until it's very dark grey, then add a bit of tamiya blue to it to get a slight bluish tone! (80%+15%+5%)

basecoat your model with black! don't be stingy with the black coat! (i paint the whole vehicle in black) then spray a thin coat of your grey mixture on your model! leave the recesses out, they stay black! carefully move your way to the centers of the panels where you apply the grey opaque! only the centers should be opaque!

this will end up in a very dark grey, like almost fresh painted and has a lot of tonal variations in it!

 

[moon puppy]

All that to get grey??

Sounds interesting....

 

[AndyFettes]

Excellent Laura thank you !

I was going to prime my Vehicle in "The Army Painter" Matt Black so thats good news !

Im going to rush out an get some XF 63 in that case as I want to depict a sunbleached vehicle

Shurrrup Bob LOL,...of course you all dont get your Olive Drab knickers in a twist once in a while eh !

 

[Kreighshoer]

in this case try the following:

black base coat, plain grey, leaving the recesses and corners black, work your way to the center and there apply the grey opaque and when done spray some lightened grey in the centers of the larger panels/areas!

here's an impression of what i try to explain:

 

[AndyFettes]

Wow that looks really cool I see what you mean Laura !

Thank you !

 

[panzerace007]

Here ya' are Andy. Here are some War Time pix of the Sd.Kfz 7/1 . I failed to catalouge the dates of these pix so please forgive me

You can see that at least the Later War time pix are of the Armored version. I agree with LAURA in that it seems unlikely that any UN-Armored 7/1 would have made it through til th end, especially on the Eastern Front , Where they were losing Armor & Material at an Alarming rate. More than likely these later 7/1 were field Mod'd. & on an Earlier Chassis. Being the Later ones came from the Factory already Armored. At least here you get a chance to see them & that later in the War Th Germans , more than likely Cobbled together some Armor for their less-Armored 7/1.

If you do want to do a later war 7/1 I would suggest getting Dragon's Later 7/2 & replace the 37mm with the Flak-vierling, but I'm sure that's a Model for another time !!

This is a favorite of mine b/c it has a Cool camo scheme & can you spot the Camera guy Filming ?

This one is interesting b/c it does not have the Front Armor shields !

No doubt a Flak Battery as evidence of the other Flak-vierling in the background !

A later Up-Armored version of the 7/1

IIRC this is taken on the Western front as it rolls through Belgium

We see this 7/1 Up-Armored & dug in on the Eastern Front !


Hope this helps I'm sorry I don't have specific data for you on When & how long the 7/1 lasted in Service. You could always read Unit History's but of the Ones that I have & have read they are not very specific on the Exact Type , beit a 7/1 or 7/2

ERIK

 

[AndyFettes]

Excellent photos, Erik, cheers mate

Yes I agree about swopping the Flak over with the 7/2 but indeed for another time'

Tonight Ive been fighting with magic tracks! :angry:

 

[panzerace007]

ANDY,

I haven't tried th ones on MY Flak-vierling yet. They do look daunting ! But I had a friend show me - that if you Use a Glue Other than Tamiya X-tra thin ( cause that stuff will run all over) you can actually make those trax workable :woohoo: May be try the Tamiya in the Orange cap bottle ?? :hmmm

Speaking of which. I need to get back on th Build & get this Mega P.E. from Griffon done !!

ERIK

 

[AndyFettes]

Ive done them and they look pretty good well one side looks better than the other

I used the Special TnT rubber glue snot method and it works a treat and hey Ive even got them off the model too you know with the wheel attatched to the tracks so I can paint em betterer !!

Happy Bunny !

 

[panzerace007]

ANDY,

Cool !! Good Job !! I'll have to check into th Rubber Snot Method when I do mine !

ERIK

 

[Jenny Croft]

Buy new TnT Booger glue in special "Glenn Blend" (now with added nasal hair !)

Jenny :kiss:

 

[panzerace007]

JENNY,

That's it ! It's th Nasal Hair that binds it together & Gives it that X-tra long lasting Hold !! :laugh: :huh:

ERIK

 

[AndyFettes]

Just remember folks to seperate the real snot balls and the glue balls

cos the glue doesnt taste all that good !