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Fascinating Iceland - Horses everywhere
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AgfaPan 400, Push-Entwicklung (ISO 1600?) – Scan vom Negativ
Roger Chapman, Blue Danube Festival 1987
Deggendorf Stadthallenpark
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Pinhole
Film: TRI-X 320, 4x5inch
Entwicklung: HCD-50
Scan: Nikon D810
Kamera: Pentacon six TL
Objektiv: Volna-3 2.8/80 & +2 & +4 Adapter
Film: Kodak Gold @200
Entwicklung: Cinestill Cs41
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors. But, on the other side, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made production, logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other. An innovative conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy, simplified production and required less internal space.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights. But there were lighter chassis variants, too, including the light E-5 and E-10 for armored, tracked reconnaissance vehicles, and the medium E-25.
The E-25 designs, in the 25-50 tonnes weight class, were to be replacements for all Panzer III and Panzer IV based designs still in service, as well as for the early variants of the Panzer V (the Panther). This chassis' main designers were Alkett, Argus and Adler, with the involvement of Porsche. The proposed vehicle family would include medium reconnaissance vehicles, a medium Jagdpanzer and a heavy Waffenträger, but the chassis was also considered for other armed vehicles.
The original E-25 chassis used five Tiger II style road wheels per side, combined with "slack-track" design. Track propulsion was switched to a rear drive sprocket, as a consequence of mating the engine and the gearbox into a single tail-mounted, very compact power pack that made the voluminous and heavy power train all through the hull obsolete. This allowed the tank’s body to be lowered, and the gained space offered more room for the crew’s operations, heavier guns and ammunition storage.
The first member of the E-25 family that entered production was the medium tank hunter. It received highest priority and the project was called “Jagdpanzer E-25/88”, running under the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 194". However, at the time of its introduction the E-25 chassis was also considered for a medium battle tank in the 35 ton class, since it had become clear that the E-50/75 battle tanks were rather large and resource-consuming. A lighter, more agile vehicle was needed, and it was to be armed with either the highly effective 75mm L/70 cannon (used in the Panther and the late Jagdpanzer IV) or the more powerful 8.8 cm L/56 gun, used in the Tiger I and the Jagdpanther.
Porsche was tasked with the adaptation of the E-25 chassis for a turret for both heavy guns. The work was in close collaboration with Henschel and the Oberschlesische Gusswerke Beuthen who were both working on a new, unified cast steel turret for the 88mm gun for a wide range of medium tanks like the Panther, the E-50/75 family and the heavy Tiger II. Alternatively, the new E-25 battle tank was to accept the so-called Schmalturm, which could carry both cannon types, too.
After the Allied invasion in the Normandy in 1944 and with ever-rising pressure through the Red Army from the East, the E-25 MBT project eventually gained more and more priority and momentum. As a consequence, Porsche was assigned by the Heeresleitung to build a running prototype as quickly as possible, ideally until early 1945.
Porsche was certain that the original E-25 chassis was too short and light for the adaptation of the cast turret. In order to keep the tight timeline, Porsche decided to develop a new welded steel hull while using as many Einheitspanzer components as possible. The resulting vehicle had little in common with the original Adler E-25 chassis and rather resembled the bigger and heavier E-50/75 family. Overall dimensions ended up close to the Panther hull, as a result of a certain minimum width that was necessary to mount the new turret’s bearings and balance its weight. However, the new tank's overall silhouette was considerably lower than the Panther’s or the E-50/75 family MBT’s.
The Porsche design also made full use of several new technical solutions for the engine and the new, space-saving E-50/75 suspension. For instance, thanks to the rear-mounted power unit with the gearbox and the driving sprocket wheels, the front armor could be optimized to offer very good ballistic protection (achieving a very shallow 30°angle) despite a maximum thickness of only 70 mm. The thickest armor, the cast steel gun mantlet, was 80 mm.
The tank’s running gear consisted of six steel-rimmed wheels per side, mounted in three staggered pairs, similar to the heavier E-50 tank. Thanks to the lower overall weight, a new Niresit track with less width could be used. The so-called “Beuthen Turm” offered excellent ballistic protection, a very low profile and featured a commander cupola with a full 360° view through periscopes as well as a 200cm width stereoscopic optical rangefinder for the gunner. A few vehicles were additionally equipped with FG1250/1251 infrared illuminators, too, allowing night operations in coordination with special versions of the Sd.Kfz.251 with long-range infrared illuminators, and complemented by assault troops using Vampir-modified Sturmgewehr guns.
Savings in material and complexity were achieved through simplified shapes and the use of stock components from other or older tanks, as well as the reduction of the crew to only four: the traditional radio operator in the hull, next to the driver, as well as a hull-mounted machine gun, were completely omitted. The driver was furthermore moved to the right side, a result of the secondary ammunition bunker in the hull being placed in front of the loader in the turret for easy access.
In this form, the tank was tested in early 1945 and hastily pushed into production, receiving the designation Sonderkraftfahrzeug 194 and officially christened ”Fuchs”. In order to reflect Porsche's involvement in this new tank's design and to differentiate it from the standard E-25 tank, the vehicle and its chassis variant was called E-25(P).
The resulting medium battle tank received, depending on its main weapon, the suffix 'A' for the 75mm cannon (SdKfz. 194/1) and 'B' for the 88mm gun (SdKfz. 194/1). The Schmalturm did not find its way on the production vehicles, and both variants had an operational weight of roundabout 38 tons. This was considerably less than any German contemporary MBT from the E-50/75 family, and even lighter than the late Panther variants. For its weight, the powerful main weapons made the vehicle a highly mobile and deadly enemy, enabling the crews to execute “hit and run” tactics which were impossible with the bigger and slower tanks.
The first production vehicles were deployed to independent units at the Western front line along the lower Rhine in May 1945, but due to the lack of thorough tests, sufficient crew training and lack of combat experience with the new vehicle, the initial results were poor. The majority of tank losses was not through enemy fire, though - many tanks had to be abandoned and were destroyed by their crews after technical failures.
The Fuchs MBT was popular among the crews, though, since it offered a much higher mobility than its heavier Einheitspanzer brethren. The relatively large and spacious turret was another point that found much appraise – but its poor technical reliability was its biggest Achilles heel.
Due to the ever-worsening situation, less than 100 E-25(P) hulls were completed and probably less than 50 combat-worthy vehicles arrived at front line units and were involved in battle until the end of hostilities. But the design work, with many radical and innovative ideas, did not get lost – many of the Fuchs’ design features like its hull layout and armor design or the Beuthen turret found their way into the highly successful German Leopard I MBT in the early 1960ies, which entered service with the German Bundeswehr in 1965 and still serves with several armies until today.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 38 tonnes (41.9 short tons)
Length: 7,02 metres (23 ft), hull only
9.77 metres (32 ft) overall, with the gun forward
Width: 3.96 metres (12 ft 11 1/2 in)
Height: 2.34 metres (7 ft 8 in)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 450 litres (120 US gal)
Armor:
10–80 mm (0.4 – 3.15 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 52 km/h (32 mph)
- Sustained, road: 42 km/h (26 mph)
- Cross country: 16 to 25 km/h (9.5 to 15.5 mph)
Operational range: 210 km (130 mi)
Power/weight: 14,47 PS/tonne (12,86 hp/ton)
Engine:
V12 Maybach HL 101 gasoline engine with 550 PS (539 hp, 341 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 8.8 cm KwK 43/4 L/56 with 48 rounds
2× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns with a total of 5.200 rounds
(one co-axial with the main weapon, one manually operated on the commander's cupola)
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional Heer '46 is based on the fact that the famous German post-WWII MBT Leopard 1 – at least the Porsche prototype – was based on designs from the WWII era. So, why not spin this story further and retro-grade a Leopard 1 into a Heer ’46 tank, as a kind of grandfather design with then-state-of-the-art technologies…?
Well, that job could be easily done with a Leopard 1 kit built more or less OOB and just painted in typical WWII colors – I have actually seen such things in simulation games like World of Tanks, and it did not look bad at all. But for the ambitious modelers, this would be a bit too simple, wouldn’t it?
For instance, there are some features like the running gear on the Leopard that are very modern and would IMHO not fit into the late WWII timeframe. The general lack of high quality materials and design simplifications everywhere would certainly also take their toll. As a consequence the starting basis for this whiffy tank model actually became an 1:72 Leopard 1 (to be exact, it’s Revell’s Leopard 1A5 kit), but from this basis only a few parts were actually taken over.
Work started with the upper hull, which received the transplantation of the complete upper rear deck from a leftover Hasegawa Panther, including the turret’s attachment ring. Internally the whole affair was reinforced with styrene profiles along the seams. The basic idea behind this move was to get rid of the rather modernistic, raised engine cover of the Leopard, and the Panther’s armored cooling fan covers would add a very familiar, German touch. Furthermore, the Panther turret is set relatively further back than on the Leopard, resulting IMHO in a positive side effect for the vehicle’s proportions. The front with the driver’s hatch and the side walls of the Leopard hull were taken over, just the glacis plate was cleaned from the moulded snow claws for the modern Leopard track.
While I could have used the original, casted Leopard 1 turret without any extra armor, I rather reverted to a donor part: an aftermarket resin turret from the German short run producer Modell Trans. What spoke for this aftermarket piece is that this Heer ’46 turret piece was exactly that kind of add-on this kit would need: a retrograded Leopard 1 turret, with a simplified shape, a simple commander cupola, typical bulges for a late-war optical rangefinder in the turret sides and even a 8.8cm KwK barrel! The resin turret, which also comes with an AA machine gun, was taken OOB. Only the original resin gun barrel came slightly bent – this could have been corrected easily, but I replaced it with a more delicate white metal and brass piece, anyway. Additionally, an adapter for the hull opening had to be scratched.
So far, so good - but the running gear became the biggest challenge. The Leopard 1’s advanced torsion bar running gear with rubber-rimmed wheels would not make sense anymore, due to the special high quality materials needed for its construction. Since the Einheitspanzer family was to share as many components as possible, I decided to implant an E-50-style running gear with its typical cast standard wheels.
This sounds easy, but scratching a running gear is a real stunt! Work started with the attachment points for the driving and guide wheels at the hull’s ends, which were cut off of the Revell kit’s parts and glued into their respective places. The drive wheel was taken over from the Leopard, but the guide wheel at the front end was replaced by a simpler and smaller pair of wheels from a Russian IS-3 tank.
Using the E-50 as benchmark for the running wheels, I gathered twelve of them from the scrap box and from several Modellcollect kits in the stash (The 1:72 E-50 kits from Modelcollect and Trumpeter all come with the option to build an E-75, too, so that each kit offers two pairs of excess parts). Mounting these wheels to the hull, in a staggered fashion, became the kit’s true challenge, though, because I did not have a sufficient number of original wheel carriers/suspension packs. Improvisation resulted in the adaptation of twelve leftover suspension arms from a Modelcollect E-100 kit, even though they had to be tailored in depth and length to fit under the Leopard’s hull. It took some trial and error to find a proper position that would produce a plausible stance, but I think the effort of this transplantation really changes the tank’s look into something Heer ’46-ish?
The track was taken OOB from the Leopard 1 kit, and it is of the segmented IP type. It was mounted after most painting was done, starting with single track segments on the drive and guiding wheels, and then the gaps were filled with other track elements. A bit of a gamble, but the theory, that the track parts should match, was confirmed. Phew…
Painting and markings:
For some subtlety, the model received a classic German paint scheme with “Hinterhalt” colors (Dunkelgelb, Olivgrün and Rotbraun). Once the kit’s components were finished (hull, turret and the separate wheels), everything received an overall coat with matt RAL 7028 (Modelmaster Authentics).
On top of that, a dense pattern of red brown (Humbrol 160) and finally green (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster Authentics) mottles in 1 1:2 ratio was applied with a flat, narrow brush, for a somewhat square shape of the blotches. Pretty straightforward, seen on a late war Panther - and suitable for a summertime scenario as well as in line with common field practice, even though at the time where the model is placed, tanks might have looked more extraordinary or improvised due to the general material shortages.
Once the basic painting was done, the kit received a thin, water-based wash with dark brown, carefully swabbed with a soft cotton cloth in order to leave just a thin and cloudy film on the surfaces and more of the wash in recesses and corners. There were only a few decals to apply, namely three small German crosses and the tactical code on the turret’s flanks. Later some dry-brushing with light grey and hemp was done, emphasizing the edges and highlighting surface details.
The track segments were primed with a mix of acrylic iron, black and dark brown and received a final paint treatment after mounting them onto the wheels, hiding some glue stains and other blemishes.
Artist pigments (a mix of ochre, grey and brown) were dusted with a soft brush onto the lower kit areas, after having sealed the model with matt acrylic varnish beforehand.
Well, what could have been a simple paint job in order to achieve a time-warped Leopard 1 became a massive kitbashing project. However, I think this extra effort, esp. the adaptation of the E-50 running gear, and all the potential risks of mixing parts from different kits, was worthwhile? The paint scheme certainly suggest the WWII era, too. The resulting “new” tank looks IMHO pretty plausible, and both hull and turret shape remind of the Leopard 1 without looking like the real thing behind this build. In fact, from certain angles this one appears like the missing link between the Panther and the Leopard 1, and a lot like an inspiration for the Soviet T-54/55 or even the T-72?
Auf dem Weg zur Serienreife wurde der neue Opel Astra in den speziell ausgestatteten Räumen des Opel EMV-Labors geprüft bis alle elektronischen Systeme von Infotainment über Sicherheit bis Assistenz störungsfrei funktionieren. Mehr im Opel-Blog: www.opel-blog.com/?p=16413
Leica M2
Summaron 35mm f/2.8
Ilford XP2 Super 400
Entwicklung: Foto Görner Dresden
Digitalisierung: Nikon D600, AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G, ES-2, Kaiser slimlite pano, Negative Lab Pro
Leica M6
Summilux 35mm f/1.4
Fujifilm Fujichrome Provia 100F
Entwicklung: Foto Görner Dresden
Digitalisierung: Nikon D600, AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G, ES-2, Kaiser slimlite pano
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Panzerkampfwagen E-100, also known as Gerät 383 and TG-01, was a German super-heavy tank design developed towards the end of World War II. It was proposed to be the basis for a heavy artillery system, an anti-aircraft vehicle, and a heavy tank destroyer.
The basic design was ordered by the Waffenamt as a parallel development to Porsche's heavy tank design "Maus" in June 1943, but part of the new, standardized Entwicklung (E) series of vehicles, consisting of the E-5, E-10, E-25, E-50, E-75 and finally the E-100. The latter was the heaviest and biggest chassis of the family, which was meant to standardize as many components as possible.
In March 1944, Adlerwerke company from Frankfurt am Main submitted blueprint 021A38300 for a super-heavy tank called E-100, after the tank was proposed in April 1943 along with the other Entwicklung series vehicles. According to the blueprints, the tank would be armed with a both a 150 mm gun and a 75 mm gun in a huge turret.
Two types of engines were proposed: one was a 700 hp Maybach HL230, with a transmission and turning mechanism borrowed from the Tiger II. The estimated top speed was 23 km/h, and it was clear that this powerplant was utterly undersized for the E-100, which would be almost twice as heavy as the already underpowered Tiger II.
The second variant,l which was favored for serial production, would have a new, turbocharged 1200 hp Maybach HL 232 engine and a top speed estimated at 40 km/h. Other engines in the 1.000+ hp range were considered, too, e. g. modified Daimler Benz aircraft engines, or torpedo boat engines.
The design had removable side skirts and narrow transport tracks to make rail transport more viable. This design was very similar to the original 'Tiger-Maus' proposal, but had larger 900 mm diameter road wheels and a new spring based suspension rather than the original torsion bars. A new turret was designed, too, intended to be simpler and lighter than the massive Maus turret - effectively the E-100 was 40 tons lighter than the 188 ton Maus prototype.
However, in July 1944 the development of any super heavy tanks was halted, but work on the E-100 continued at a low priority and with the outlook to produce a limited number of these massive vehicles for special purposes, using existing components. Eventually, permission was granted to proceed with the SdKfz. 193, with the intention to the E-100 as a tank destroyer with either a 15 cm StuK L/63 or 17 cm StuK L/53 gun.
The first prototype was completed in January 1945, and from the start several variants were slated for the limited serial production. Four battle tank variants were defined, differing basically through the turret designs and the armament. The first three variants A-C carried the 15 cm StuK as main armament, while the D variant was an interim solution that would carry the new 140mm PaK 46 L/50 cannon, which was originally earmarked for the tank hunter variants of the E-75 and E-100 family. However, since the dedicated E-100 tank hunter SPG "Krokodil" (the SdKfz. 197) with a low, casemate-style hull was still going through troublesome trials in late 1945, it was decided to adapt the new and powerful gun with the already developed cannon mount in a turret and mate it with the E-100 battle tank hull.
The result was a battle tank/SPG hybrid with a huge, boxy turret on the E-100's standard chassis, which could be fully rotated by 360°. The turret's front offered excellent ballistic protection, but the tall and massive silhouette made the vehicle hard to conceal.
Designed only as a stopgap solution, only about 20 E-100 Ausf. D were produced in total. Having learnt the painful lesson of the heavy Elefant/Ferdinand SPG deployments, the E-100 Ausf. D was primarily and right from the start only used in defensive roles for strategically important locations, and not as a classic, highly mobile battle tank. Targets could be engaged at very long distances, and the PaK 46 L/60 was able to destroy heavy tanks like the heavily armored Soviet IS-3 with a single, head-on shot.
The PaK 46 L/60 was a very powerful weapon, and, like its predecessor, the 12.8 cm PaK 44 L/55, very accurate and deadly even at greater distances. The gun was fed with two-piece ammunition, the projectile and cartridge making up separate pieces. Because of this, the gun could be fired using three different sized propellant charges; a light, medium and heavy charge. The light and medium charges were normally used when the gun was fulfilling the role of an artillery piece, where they would launch the ~32 kg projectiles to a muzzle velocity of 885 m/s and 940 m/s respectively.
The heavy charge was used when the gun was fulfilling its intended role as an anti-tank gun, where it fired a 35.4 kg APCBC-HE projectile (PzGr.46) at a muzzle velocity of 1,050 m/s. During practice, the estimated probability of a first round hit on a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high, 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide target only dropped below 100 percent at ranges beyond 1,500 m (0.93 mi), to 95–97 percent at 2,000 m (1.24 mi) and 85–87 percent at 3,000 m (1.8 mi), depending on ammunition type. Recorded combat performance was lower, but still over 80 percent at 1,500 m, in the 60s at 2,500 m and the 40s at 3,000 m. Penetration of armoured plate inclined at 30 degrees was 242 and 192 mm (9.5 and 7.5 in) at 100 m (110 yd) and 2,000 m (1.2 mi) respectively for the armour-piercing shell.
In order to take on smaller, lightly armored targets, an MK 103 30 mm machine cannon (firing 425 RPM and having an effective range of up to 5.700m) was mounted co-axially, as well as a light MG 34. Another light machine gun was added in a ball mount in the turret's rear, in order to defend the loading hatches against infantry attacks. Another, manually operated machine gun was mounted on the commander's cupola against aircraft and close soft targets.
Aiming of the main weapons was improved by a built-in stereoscopic rangefinder — using twin matching armored blisters, one on each turret side. A "Sperber/FG 1250" night vision scope on the commander's cupola, together with a 30cm infrared searchlight with range of 600m.
Some of the vehicles where deployed in the upper Rhine and Ruhrgebiet area, while others were used in the defense of Berlin against the Red Army, and most of the time only one of two of these heavy tanks were allocated to units in which other, more agile vehicles could support and defend them.
Nevertheless, like all E-100 tank variants, the Ausf. D variant suffered from a general lack of mobility, so that it was not easy to field it or to change position after a shot. While the heavy armor could absorb a lot of hits and punishment, even from the latest enemy heavy tanks and anti-tank guns, many E-100s had to be abandoned or destroyed by their crews since they could not be saved from advancing enemy forces.
Another general weakness of the whole E-100 series was the massive fuel consumption of the HL 232 engine: with 10l per km (2,35 mpg) the tank had very short legs (only 120 km/75 ml with internal fuel) and was therefore even less suited for dynamic combat situations which involved quick advances or tactical position changes. Even in stationary use, its effectiveness was highly limited.
Another flaw, specific to the D variant, was its tall and heavy turret. The layout resulted in a very high center of gravity, so that the turret bearing and its hydraulic traverse mechanism was frequently over-stressed. If the crew would not pay attention to the tank's orientation and the underground conditions, the turret would easily get stuck - another reason why many of these super-heavy tanks were lost in action without direct enemy involvement.
Specifications:
Weight: 140 tonnes (154 short tons; 138 long tons)
Length (overall): 10.44 m (34 ft 2.4 in)
Width: 4.48 m (14 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.29 m (10 ft 10 in)
Suspension: Belleville washer coil spring
Crew: 6 (Commander, Driver, Radio Operator, Gunner, 2x Loader)
Armor:
Hull front: 150–200 mm (5.9–7.9 in)
Hull sides and rear: 120–150 mm (4.7–5.9in)
Hull top: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Hull bottom: 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in)
Turret front: 200 mm (7.9 in)
Turret sides & rear: 80–150 mm (3.1–5.9 in)
Turret top: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Engine:
1x turbocharged Maybach HL232 V12 gasoline engine with 1.200 hp
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
Sustained road speed: 36 km/h (22 mph)
Cross country speed: 14 to 20 km/h (8.7 to 12.4 mph)
Power/weight: 8,57 hp/ton
Range on raod: 120 km (74 mi)
Range cross counrty: 85 km (53 mi)
Armament:
1x 140mm (5.51 in) PaK 46 L/60 with 55 rounds
1x co-axial 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 machine cannon with 100 rounds
3x 7.92 mm MG34 (1x co-axial with main gun, 1x in ball mount in the turret's back side
and 1x anti aircraft gun on top of the commander's cupola) with a total of 5,850 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This is an “in between” project, which I tackled on short notice while waiting for parts for another project. I am not a big fan of the huge E-100 tank, but I was given a surplus chassis from a friend who had bought a ModelCollect 12.8mm twin flak on an E-100 chassis in 1:72 – only for the gun, because this combo was less expensive than the flak alone (available separately). Since he had no use for the turret-less E-100 chassis I gladly took it.
It was the perfect occasion to invest and try an aftermarket conversion set from the German company Model Trans/Silesian Models, based in Essen, which offers a wide range of resin conversion sets for tanks and other military vehicles – including some Heer ’46 conversions/whiffs.
The turret for the fictional “E-100 Ausf. D” is one of these, and I like it for its bizarre, KW-2-esque style. The turret, certainly adapted from the Jagdpanther/E-100 tank hunter hull, looks impressive, even though it features some fishy details like the inward-canted rear wall or the rear of the turret overlapping the engine opening. But, hell, it’s a whiffy design, and the “cheese wedge” look of the turret certainly turns heads.
The turret set consists only of two massive resin parts, the turret itself and the barrel. The cast is excellent (no bubbles, almost no flash, crisp detail and clean surfaces; only the barrel had to be cleaned up a little), and I assume that the parts were moulded after parts from other ModelCollect kit parts.
Some missing parts like the hatch for the commander cupola or the Sperber infrared sight can be taken from the E-100 kit (even if it comes without a turret). Gaps between the barrel and the gun's mount were filled with paper tissue soaked with thinned white glue, imitating a leather of cloth shroud.
The pieces go together well and the turret base also matches perfectly the turret ring in the E-100 hull.
The E-100 kit itself is more challenging, though. While it is basically of simple construction, the sheer size of the parts and the fact that the hull consists of separate floor, side and rear walls and the upper deck, makes assembly a bit complicated. The fact that the floor and the side walls were slightly twisted did not help either. While everything went together well, I had to use putty in order to close some seams and bridge small gaps. Nothing dramatic, but modelers should be wary.
Mounting the wheels is not easy - esp. the sprocket wheel in the front and even more the idelr wheel at the rear have a very complicated and flimsy construction with a very thin and short locator pin. The PVC tracks also turned out to be too short, unfortunately I found this out I had painted and weathered them. Thankfully the massive side skirts help hiding the gaps, since I could not mount the tracks under any tension.
A nice solution are the separate side skirts and the complete engine compartment with separate hatches, a nicely detailed engine block and exhaust manifold as well as coolers.
I’ve built the E-100 hull OOB and left away the PE parts on purpose, since the mess of cutting them out or mounting them to the hull (e. g. microscopic lugs or a grate for the air intakes that are so dense that any paint applied by brush would immediately clog and ruin them) would IMHO not really improve the kit.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a fictional paint scheme for this one – no standard Hinterhalt camouflage tones, but still with a German feel. The inspiration for this green/grey scheme was lent from the Ma.K./Maschinenkrieger/ZbV3000 model universe, where many vehicles/mecha carry a pseudo-German scheme, some inspired by WWII Luftwaffe aircraft.
For the E-100 I adapted one of the Ma.K. designs and used Luftwaffe tones: the pale tone is RLM02 (the base is Revell’s 45, modern RAL 7003, which is slightly more olive green than the original grey), while the dark patches are German Panzergrau (Humbrol 67, modern RAL 7024, and actually a tone from early WWII). The latter turned out to appear very dark, due to the strong contrast to the RLM02, so that the scheme unintentionally reminds a lot of the late-war Allied “Mickey Mouse” scheme in olive drab and black? This was later slightly mended through the addition of RLM74 during the weathering process (see below), but the similarity remains, and once the kit became more and more complete the whole thing started looking like a modern German Bundeswehr Panzerhaubitze 2000?
In order to create an improvised and worn look, the camouflage was applied only thinly over an overall base coat with Humbrol 70 (Brick Red), which looks very much like stretched late war primer with which many tanks left the factories, to be camouflaged by the units in the field.
As a small color detail the barrel’s front end received a different scheme in Dunkelgelb (Revell 16, from below, kind of counter-shading against the sky) and Red Brown (Humbrol 160) from above, simulating a replacement part.
Once the basic camouflage had been applied, the kit was weathered with a highly thinned wash of dark brown, grey and black acrylic paint. Once dry the major surfaces were lightly wet-sanded, revealing more of the underlying red primer. Next, details and areas were highlighted through dry-brushing with true RLM02 (Humbrol 247) and RLM74 (Humbrol 245). After the application of the few marking decals, the whole kit received another dry brushing treatment, this time with Revell 75 (Hellgrau) and Humbrol 72 (Khaki drill). Some rust traces were painted with thinned sienna red acrylic artist paint.
Matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) was used to seal the kit, and once the (also weathered) PVC tracks and the side skirts had been mounted, the lower hull received a treatment with grey/beige/brown pigments, simulation dust and mud residue.
A relatively quick build, realized in less than a week, and some (minor) challenges. What a huge vehicle the E-100 has been – but what a waste of effort, resources and tactical limitations due to the vehicle’s sheer size and weight. Looks impressive, though, esp. when you place this hulk next to a “normal” tank…
In the end I am not really convinced of my paint scheme idea, but I ran with it since I wanted something different from the obvious German late war standard scheme.
Just amazing - you could see the wings growing. Some black markings started to appear. Looks like the four-spotted chaser.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Panzerkampfwagen E-100, also known as Gerät 383 and TG-01, was a German super-heavy tank design developed towards the end of World War II. It was proposed to be the basis for a heavy artillery system, an anti-aircraft vehicle, and a heavy tank destroyer.
The basic design was ordered by the Waffenamt as a parallel development to Porsche's heavy tank design "Maus" in June 1943, but part of the new, standardized Entwicklung (E) series of vehicles, consisting of the E-5, E-10, E-25, E-50, E-75 and finally the E-100. The latter was the heaviest and biggest chassis of the family, which was meant to standardize as many components as possible.
In March 1944, Adlerwerke company from Frankfurt am Main submitted blueprint 021A38300 for a super-heavy tank called E-100, after the tank was proposed in April 1943 along with the other Entwicklung series vehicles. According to the blueprints, the tank would be armed with a both a 150 mm gun and a 75 mm gun in a huge turret.
Two types of engines were proposed: one was a 700 hp Maybach HL230, with a transmission and turning mechanism borrowed from the Tiger II. The estimated top speed was 23 km/h, and it was clear that this powerplant was utterly undersized for the E-100, which would be almost twice as heavy as the already underpowered Tiger II.
The second variant,l which was favored for serial production, would have a new, turbocharged 1200 hp Maybach HL 232 engine and a top speed estimated at 40 km/h. Other engines in the 1.000+ hp range were considered, too, e. g. modified Daimler Benz aircraft engines, or torpedo boat engines.
The design had removable side skirts and narrow transport tracks to make rail transport more viable. This design was very similar to the original 'Tiger-Maus' proposal, but had larger 900 mm diameter road wheels and a new spring based suspension rather than the original torsion bars. A new turret was designed, too, intended to be simpler and lighter than the massive Maus turret - effectively the E-100 was 40 tons lighter than the 188 ton Maus prototype.
However, in July 1944 the development of any super heavy tanks was halted, but work on the E-100 continued at a low priority and with the outlook to produce a limited number of these massive vehicles for special purposes, using existing components. Eventually, permission was granted to proceed with the SdKfz. 193, with the intention to the E-100 as a tank destroyer with either a 15 cm StuK L/63 or 17 cm StuK L/53 gun.
The first prototype was completed in January 1945, and from the start several variants were slated for the limited serial production. Four battle tank variants were defined, differing basically through the turret designs and the armament. The first three variants A-C carried the 15 cm StuK as main armament, while the D variant was an interim solution that would carry the new 140mm PaK 46 L/50 cannon, which was originally earmarked for the tank hunter variants of the E-75 and E-100 family. However, since the dedicated E-100 tank hunter SPG "Krokodil" (the SdKfz. 197) with a low, casemate-style hull was still going through troublesome trials in late 1945, it was decided to adapt the new and powerful gun with the already developed cannon mount in a turret and mate it with the E-100 battle tank hull.
The result was a battle tank/SPG hybrid with a huge, boxy turret on the E-100's standard chassis, which could be fully rotated by 360°. The turret's front offered excellent ballistic protection, but the tall and massive silhouette made the vehicle hard to conceal.
Designed only as a stopgap solution, only about 20 E-100 Ausf. D were produced in total. Having learnt the painful lesson of the heavy Elefant/Ferdinand SPG deployments, the E-100 Ausf. D was primarily and right from the start only used in defensive roles for strategically important locations, and not as a classic, highly mobile battle tank. Targets could be engaged at very long distances, and the PaK 46 L/60 was able to destroy heavy tanks like the heavily armored Soviet IS-3 with a single, head-on shot.
The PaK 46 L/60 was a very powerful weapon, and, like its predecessor, the 12.8 cm PaK 44 L/55, very accurate and deadly even at greater distances. The gun was fed with two-piece ammunition, the projectile and cartridge making up separate pieces. Because of this, the gun could be fired using three different sized propellant charges; a light, medium and heavy charge. The light and medium charges were normally used when the gun was fulfilling the role of an artillery piece, where they would launch the ~32 kg projectiles to a muzzle velocity of 885 m/s and 940 m/s respectively.
The heavy charge was used when the gun was fulfilling its intended role as an anti-tank gun, where it fired a 35.4 kg APCBC-HE projectile (PzGr.46) at a muzzle velocity of 1,050 m/s. During practice, the estimated probability of a first round hit on a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high, 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide target only dropped below 100 percent at ranges beyond 1,500 m (0.93 mi), to 95–97 percent at 2,000 m (1.24 mi) and 85–87 percent at 3,000 m (1.8 mi), depending on ammunition type. Recorded combat performance was lower, but still over 80 percent at 1,500 m, in the 60s at 2,500 m and the 40s at 3,000 m. Penetration of armoured plate inclined at 30 degrees was 242 and 192 mm (9.5 and 7.5 in) at 100 m (110 yd) and 2,000 m (1.2 mi) respectively for the armour-piercing shell.
In order to take on smaller, lightly armored targets, an MK 103 30 mm machine cannon (firing 425 RPM and having an effective range of up to 5.700m) was mounted co-axially, as well as a light MG 34. Another light machine gun was added in a ball mount in the turret's rear, in order to defend the loading hatches against infantry attacks. Another, manually operated machine gun was mounted on the commander's cupola against aircraft and close soft targets.
Aiming of the main weapons was improved by a built-in stereoscopic rangefinder — using twin matching armored blisters, one on each turret side. A "Sperber/FG 1250" night vision scope on the commander's cupola, together with a 30cm infrared searchlight with range of 600m.
Some of the vehicles where deployed in the upper Rhine and Ruhrgebiet area, while others were used in the defense of Berlin against the Red Army, and most of the time only one of two of these heavy tanks were allocated to units in which other, more agile vehicles could support and defend them.
Nevertheless, like all E-100 tank variants, the Ausf. D variant suffered from a general lack of mobility, so that it was not easy to field it or to change position after a shot. While the heavy armor could absorb a lot of hits and punishment, even from the latest enemy heavy tanks and anti-tank guns, many E-100s had to be abandoned or destroyed by their crews since they could not be saved from advancing enemy forces.
Another general weakness of the whole E-100 series was the massive fuel consumption of the HL 232 engine: with 10l per km (2,35 mpg) the tank had very short legs (only 120 km/75 ml with internal fuel) and was therefore even less suited for dynamic combat situations which involved quick advances or tactical position changes. Even in stationary use, its effectiveness was highly limited.
Another flaw, specific to the D variant, was its tall and heavy turret. The layout resulted in a very high center of gravity, so that the turret bearing and its hydraulic traverse mechanism was frequently over-stressed. If the crew would not pay attention to the tank's orientation and the underground conditions, the turret would easily get stuck - another reason why many of these super-heavy tanks were lost in action without direct enemy involvement.
Specifications:
Weight: 140 tonnes (154 short tons; 138 long tons)
Length (overall): 10.44 m (34 ft 2.4 in)
Width: 4.48 m (14 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.29 m (10 ft 10 in)
Suspension: Belleville washer coil spring
Crew: 6 (Commander, Driver, Radio Operator, Gunner, 2x Loader)
Armor:
Hull front: 150–200 mm (5.9–7.9 in)
Hull sides and rear: 120–150 mm (4.7–5.9in)
Hull top: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Hull bottom: 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in)
Turret front: 200 mm (7.9 in)
Turret sides & rear: 80–150 mm (3.1–5.9 in)
Turret top: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Engine:
1x turbocharged Maybach HL232 V12 gasoline engine with 1.200 hp
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)
Sustained road speed: 36 km/h (22 mph)
Cross country speed: 14 to 20 km/h (8.7 to 12.4 mph)
Power/weight: 8,57 hp/ton
Range on raod: 120 km (74 mi)
Range cross counrty: 85 km (53 mi)
Armament:
1x 140mm (5.51 in) PaK 46 L/60 with 55 rounds
1x co-axial 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 machine cannon with 100 rounds
3x 7.92 mm MG34 (1x co-axial with main gun, 1x in ball mount in the turret's back side
and 1x anti aircraft gun on top of the commander's cupola) with a total of 5,850 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This is an “in between” project, which I tackled on short notice while waiting for parts for another project. I am not a big fan of the huge E-100 tank, but I was given a surplus chassis from a friend who had bought a ModelCollect 12.8mm twin flak on an E-100 chassis in 1:72 – only for the gun, because this combo was less expensive than the flak alone (available separately). Since he had no use for the turret-less E-100 chassis I gladly took it.
It was the perfect occasion to invest and try an aftermarket conversion set from the German company Model Trans/Silesian Models, based in Essen, which offers a wide range of resin conversion sets for tanks and other military vehicles – including some Heer ’46 conversions/whiffs.
The turret for the fictional “E-100 Ausf. D” is one of these, and I like it for its bizarre, KW-2-esque style. The turret, certainly adapted from the Jagdpanther/E-100 tank hunter hull, looks impressive, even though it features some fishy details like the inward-canted rear wall or the rear of the turret overlapping the engine opening. But, hell, it’s a whiffy design, and the “cheese wedge” look of the turret certainly turns heads.
The turret set consists only of two massive resin parts, the turret itself and the barrel. The cast is excellent (no bubbles, almost no flash, crisp detail and clean surfaces; only the barrel had to be cleaned up a little), and I assume that the parts were moulded after parts from other ModelCollect kit parts.
Some missing parts like the hatch for the commander cupola or the Sperber infrared sight can be taken from the E-100 kit (even if it comes without a turret). Gaps between the barrel and the gun's mount were filled with paper tissue soaked with thinned white glue, imitating a leather of cloth shroud.
The pieces go together well and the turret base also matches perfectly the turret ring in the E-100 hull.
The E-100 kit itself is more challenging, though. While it is basically of simple construction, the sheer size of the parts and the fact that the hull consists of separate floor, side and rear walls and the upper deck, makes assembly a bit complicated. The fact that the floor and the side walls were slightly twisted did not help either. While everything went together well, I had to use putty in order to close some seams and bridge small gaps. Nothing dramatic, but modelers should be wary.
Mounting the wheels is not easy - esp. the sprocket wheel in the front and even more the idelr wheel at the rear have a very complicated and flimsy construction with a very thin and short locator pin. The PVC tracks also turned out to be too short, unfortunately I found this out I had painted and weathered them. Thankfully the massive side skirts help hiding the gaps, since I could not mount the tracks under any tension.
A nice solution are the separate side skirts and the complete engine compartment with separate hatches, a nicely detailed engine block and exhaust manifold as well as coolers.
I’ve built the E-100 hull OOB and left away the PE parts on purpose, since the mess of cutting them out or mounting them to the hull (e. g. microscopic lugs or a grate for the air intakes that are so dense that any paint applied by brush would immediately clog and ruin them) would IMHO not really improve the kit.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a fictional paint scheme for this one – no standard Hinterhalt camouflage tones, but still with a German feel. The inspiration for this green/grey scheme was lent from the Ma.K./Maschinenkrieger/ZbV3000 model universe, where many vehicles/mecha carry a pseudo-German scheme, some inspired by WWII Luftwaffe aircraft.
For the E-100 I adapted one of the Ma.K. designs and used Luftwaffe tones: the pale tone is RLM02 (the base is Revell’s 45, modern RAL 7003, which is slightly more olive green than the original grey), while the dark patches are German Panzergrau (Humbrol 67, modern RAL 7024, and actually a tone from early WWII). The latter turned out to appear very dark, due to the strong contrast to the RLM02, so that the scheme unintentionally reminds a lot of the late-war Allied “Mickey Mouse” scheme in olive drab and black? This was later slightly mended through the addition of RLM74 during the weathering process (see below), but the similarity remains, and once the kit became more and more complete the whole thing started looking like a modern German Bundeswehr Panzerhaubitze 2000?
In order to create an improvised and worn look, the camouflage was applied only thinly over an overall base coat with Humbrol 70 (Brick Red), which looks very much like stretched late war primer with which many tanks left the factories, to be camouflaged by the units in the field.
As a small color detail the barrel’s front end received a different scheme in Dunkelgelb (Revell 16, from below, kind of counter-shading against the sky) and Red Brown (Humbrol 160) from above, simulating a replacement part.
Once the basic camouflage had been applied, the kit was weathered with a highly thinned wash of dark brown, grey and black acrylic paint. Once dry the major surfaces were lightly wet-sanded, revealing more of the underlying red primer. Next, details and areas were highlighted through dry-brushing with true RLM02 (Humbrol 247) and RLM74 (Humbrol 245). After the application of the few marking decals, the whole kit received another dry brushing treatment, this time with Revell 75 (Hellgrau) and Humbrol 72 (Khaki drill). Some rust traces were painted with thinned sienna red acrylic artist paint.
Matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) was used to seal the kit, and once the (also weathered) PVC tracks and the side skirts had been mounted, the lower hull received a treatment with grey/beige/brown pigments, simulation dust and mud residue.
A relatively quick build, realized in less than a week, and some (minor) challenges. What a huge vehicle the E-100 has been – but what a waste of effort, resources and tactical limitations due to the vehicle’s sheer size and weight. Looks impressive, though, esp. when you place this hulk next to a “normal” tank…
In the end I am not really convinced of my paint scheme idea, but I ran with it since I wanted something different from the obvious German late war standard scheme.
Kamera: Ihagee Exa 1b
Objektiv: Auto Rikenon 1:1.4 f=55mm
Film: 35mm Fomapan 200
Belichtung: EI 160
Entwicklung: Rodinal 1+200, 1h
Leica M6
Summilux 35mm f/1.4
Kodak Ektar 100
Entwicklung: Foto Görner Dresden
Digitalisierung: Nikon D600, AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G, ES-2, Kaiser slimlite pano, Negative Lab Pro
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's 80 cm (31½ in) diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion. For instance, while the E-50/75’s running gear resembled outwardly the Tiger II’s, the latter’s torsion bar suspension, which made a complex hull with many opening necessary, was replaced by very compact conical spring coil packages that each held a pair of interleaved road wheels – with the benefit that all suspension elements remained outside of the hull, which could be considerably simplified, saving production time and also scarce material.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler. Both were mostly identical and only differed in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
While the E-50 was the standardized replacement for the medium PzKpfw. V “Panther” and the last operational PzKpfw. VI “Tiger”, the E-75 Standardpanzer was intended to become the standard heavy tank to be used as a replacement of the Tiger II and the Jagdtiger. The E-75 was built on the same production lines as the E-50 for ease of manufacture, and the two vehicles were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine with up to 900 hp output. However, the E-75 had much thicker armor, max. 185 mm versus the E-50’s 120 mm, and, compared to the Tiger II, the E-75 had improved hull armor all round. As its name indicates, the resulting vehicle weighed in at over 75 tons, reducing its speed to around 40 km/h, while the lighter E-50’s top speed on roads was up to 60 km/h. To offset the increased weight, the E-75’s bogies were spaced differently than on the E-50, with an extra pair of wheels added on each side, giving the E-75 a slightly improved track to ground contact length, and with wider tracks to better distribute the higher overall weight on the ground.
Both E-50 and E-75 were to be equipped with the same turrets, the standard primary weapon was an 88mm L/71 gun, along with an optical rangefinder for increased long-range accuracy and an optional infra-red sight system that allowed nocturnal operations. For the heavy E-75, several turret options were available and accepted for service, what resulted in different operational variants (Ausführungen). Ausf. A used a turret that was very similar to the Tiger II turret (also called the “Henschel-Turm”), equipped with the 8.8 cm L/71 gun but with option to use a new, longer L/100 barrel, too. Ausf. B used the same welded turret, but it was adapted to accommodate the new and more powerful high velocity 10.5 cm KwK 45 L/68 gun or the large 12,8 cm KwK 44 L/55.
Ausf. C carried the so-called “Schmalturm”, introduced with the Panther Ausf. F/Panther II interim medium tank in early 1945 and originally reserved only for the lighter E-50 tank. However, due to supply shortages, several E-75 hulls were outfitted with this lighter turret, too, which remained exclusively outfitted with the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun.
Finally, Ausf. D carried the so-called “Beuthen-Turm”, a cast, universal turret that had been designed to be accepted by a wide range of German medium and heavy battle tanks, including not only the E-50/75 tanks but also the older Panther and other, lighter vehicles with a wide hull. The “Beuthen-Turm”, baptized after its production site Oberschlesische Gusswerke Beuthen (today the city of Bytom in Poland), offered excellent ballistic protection, had a very low profile and featured a commander cupola with a full 360° view through periscopes as well as a 200cm width stereoscopic optical rangefinder for the gunner. A few vehicles were additionally equipped with FG1250/1251 infrared illuminators, allowing night operations in coordination with the SdKfz.251/20 „Uhu“ with long-range infrared illuminators and complemented by assault troops using Vampir-modified Sturmgewehr guns.
Like the Henschel-Turm, the Beuthen-Turm was designed to accept several heavy guns. Typically, the E-75 Ausf. D carried the standard 8.8 cm KwK 43, either with the original L/71 or the new, longer L/100 barrel for higher muzzle velocity and range. A total of 74 88mm shells were carried, typically a mix of 50% high explosive and 50% armor-piercing rounds, stored in the turret and in the hull, plus 4.800 rounds for the secondary 7,92 MG 34s on board (32 ammunition belts with 150 round each).
However, the new high velocity 10.5 cm KwK 45 gun could also be mounted without, but this potent weapon was in very short supply and only sporadically combined with the Beuthen-Turm. Most 10.5 cm KwK 45 guns went into the E-75 Ausf. B or were allocated to anti-tank SPGs based on the E-50/75 chassis, because these were easier and quicker to produce. With the 10.5 cm gun, the ammunition supply was reduced from 74 to 52 rounds. An AP round had a length of 1.124 mm, weighed 26,1 kg (57.5 lb), the APCBC warhead had a weight of 15,6 kg (34.3 lb) and a muzzle velocity of 990 m/sec. (3.248 ft/sec.). At a distance of 1.000 m, penetration was 248 mm of hardened steel (at an 0° angle), and at 2.000 m this still was 201 mm.
Due to the ever-worsening situation, less than 80 E-75 hulls were completed and probably less than 50 combat-worthy vehicles arrived at front line units and were involved in battle until the end of hostilities. In service the vehicle received the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 305" and was officially called "Einheitspanzer 75" (Standard tank), retaining its project abbreviation, but the short “E-75” designation from the development phase remained very common, too.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 72 tonnes (80 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 10¾ in) (hull only)
9.43 metres (30 ft 8 in) with gun forward
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.46 metres (11¾ ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
30–185 mm (1.2 – 7.2 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 12,5 PS/tonne (11.25 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 10,5 cm KwK 45 L/68 cannon with 52 rounds
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with a total of 5.200 rounds;
one mounted co-axially with the main gun and an optional AA gun on the commander's cupola
The kit and its assembly:
After a while, another of the many 1:72 Modelcollect Heer ’46 models, even though with a turret swap. The model is actually the E-75 SPAAG kit with twin 55 mm guns, but the turret was replaced by a resin conversion piece from Silesian Models that depicts a fictional German cast steel turret.
The E-75 hull went together well, without any PSR (but there were other pitfalls, see below). In this case I used the optional PE grates for the engine bay covers. Being an early boxing of this kit, it came with vinyl tracks (instead of IP segments, which are a PITA to assemble…), even though these turned out to be pretty thick and stiff and were molded in a bright, sandish-yellow vinyl. WHY?
The so-called “Beuthen” turret could be easily integrated in-/onto the E-75 hull through the transplantation of the SPAAG turret’s adapter ring. One problem arose in the form of the resin barrel for the set’s 8.8cm KwK 43: it turned out to be (considerably) warped, and the muzzle brake came with bubbles that did not make fixing both flaws worthwhile. Thanks to a generous stack of spare parts I came up with an alternative: a leftover plastic barrel from a 122 mm cannon from an IS-2 tank. Being a bit more massive but having a suitable length, I mounted this alternative and turned it into a fictional 10.5 mm cannon, which had been – nevertheless – actually planned, e. g. for the Königstiger/Tiger II.
The mudguards were slightly dented and spare track links added to the turret flanks and the front of the hull. However, when trying to mount the vinyl tracks the kit revealed its major flaw: the running gear. It is so delicate that it cannot bear the pressure from the flexible tracks – in fact even the model’s own weight seems to affect it. The reason is that each of the sixteen road wheels is attached to the hull with a small, separate wing arm, which has to be aligned with the rest of the seven arms per side, and the inner wheels’ swing arms have no locator pin to hold and stabilize the wheel attached to it. The result is a very wobbly and flimsy affair – if I build an E-75 again, I will glue all eight wheels per side together, so that they stabilize each other.
Painting and markings:
The paint scheme is another variation of the German late WWII "Hinterhalt" camouflage, consisting of Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. However, the way these colors were used and arranged differed widely, and one of the more creative application I have found in literature (actually on a small Jagdpanzer 38(t) “Hetzer”) was adapted for this model.
In this case, brown, almost fractal blotches were enframed by dark yellow and the voids in between filled with olive green. In order to lighten the camouflage up a little and blur the outlines further, dark yellow mottles were added to the green areas, and on some of the wider dark yellow frames, small green mottles were added, creating a kind of counter-effect. Quite complex, but IMHO very effective through the complex shapes and contrast effects. As a match for the upper hull’s scheme the wheels were painted uniformly in the same standard colors – but without any pattern, because this would be very obvious and eye-catching when the tank would move.
The classic Hinterhalt scheme colors are RAL 6003 “Olivgrün”, 7028 "Dunkelgelb" and RAL 8017 “Schokolade”. I used the respective Humbrol equivalents 86, 83 and 160, applied with brushes for rather sharp edges. Since the E-75 would be a pretty new vehicle I did not apply drastic weathering stunts with red primer showing through, just the standard effects (washing with dark brown acrylic paint, dry-brushing).
The horribly colored tracks were painted with dark grey acrylic artist paint, and this worked surprisingly well. Unlike model paint, the artist paint from the collapsible turned out to be much more adhesive and flexible when dry, only small touch-ups were necessary once the track had been mounted and stuck into place with some super glue.
Decals/marking came next, the crosses came from the OOB sheet, the tactical code from a TL Modellbau sheet. Finally, another light dry brushing treatment with beige and light grey followed, highlighting surface details and edges, and after painting some details and adding some rust marks came a coat of matt varnish. The vinyl tracks were rigged into place and the tank’s lower areas received a treatment with a greyish-brown pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.
A simple and straightforward project, finished in the course of just a few days and only delayed by the search for an alternative gun barrel. The result looks pretty convincing, with the (fictional) Beuthen Turm the E-75 looks like a Panther on steroids? I really like the complex Hinterhalt scheme variant on this one, because it hides the E-75’s bulk well and effectively blurs its outlines. The round and organic turret looks a bit odd on the boxy hull, though, but it provides the otherwise simple battle tank with a special touch and some Heer '46 futurism. After all, it’s a what-if model.
Das Aachener Kolloquium hat sich zum größten europäischen Kongress im Bereich Fahrzeug- und Motorentechnik entwickelt. Im Fokus: Die Antriebe der Zukunft. Das nahmen Daniel Nicholson (GM Vice President Engineering Propulsion Systems) und Christian Müller (GM Vice President Global Propulsion Systems) gleich zum Anlass, mit dem Opel Ampera-e beim Kongress vorzufahren.
© GM Company.
Kamera: Pilot Super
Objektiv: Pilotar 1:4,5 f=7,5cm Ludwig-Dresden
Film: 120 Lomochrome Purple 100-400, expired 2015
Belichtung: EI 200
Entwicklung: Cinestill Cs41
Film: AgfaPhoto APX 100 new
Entwickler: Kodak D-76 1+1
Kamera: Olympus mju-1
Entwickler: Kodak D-76 1+1 (300ml)
19°C // 12:30min Entwicklung (30sec initial kippen, dann 2x jede 30sec); 1min Stoppbad; 5min Fixierbad (Adofix 1+4); 3x Wässerung (5x, 10x, 20x - letzte dest Wasser); 1min Netzmittelbad (500ml AD + 5 Tropfen Mirasol)
Scanner: Epson V500
Opel-Entwicklungsingenieur Arndt Loges und seine Kollegen testeten den Cascada unter extremen Bedingungen.
© GM Company.
7. Oldtimertreffen am 07.07.2012 in Greußen - Ausfahrt zahlreicher Teilnehmer nach Bad Tennstedt.
Der VW Käfer ist ein von 1938 bis 2003 von der heutigen Volkswagen AG produziertes Automodell und war bis Juni 2002 mit über 21,5 Millionen Exemplaren das meistverkaufte Automobil der Welt, bevor ihn der VW Golf übertraf.
Die Ursprünge des VW Käfer gehen auf staatliche Bestrebungen des nationalsozialistischen Deutschland zur Schaffung eines für breite Bevölkerungsschichten erschwinglichen „Volkswagens“, seinerzeit KdF-Wagen genannt, zurück. Großen Anteil an der Entwicklung hatte Ferdinand Porsche, der allgemein als Schöpfer des Käfers bezeichnet wird.
Der KdF-Wagen wurde vor dem Krieg nicht mehr in Serie produziert, weil das im Mai 1938 gegründete Volkswagenwerk bei Fallersleben (heute ein Stadtteil Wolfsburgs) noch nicht fertig war. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden dort Militärfahrzeuge und andere Rüstungsgüter hergestellt, sodass die serienmäßige Produktion des dann Volkswagen genannten Wagens erst im Sommer 1945 beginnen konnte. Bis zum Jahresende 1945 wurden 1785 Wagen hergestellt und an die Besatzungsmächte sowie an die Deutsche Post geliefert. Ab 1946 konnte der VW mit Bezugsschein zum Preis von 5000 Reichsmark auch privat gekauft werden.
Der Erfolg des VW-Käfers begann in der Nachkriegszeit. 1945 bekam der Produktionsstandort, an dem bereits 17.000 Menschen lebten, den Namen Wolfsburg. 1946 wurde der erste Käfer ausgeliefert (Standardlimousine, Typ 11„ Brezelkäfer“). Nach der Beseitigung der massiven Kriegsschäden am VW-Werk lief die Produktion 1948 allmählich an.
Am 5. August 1955 wurde der einmillionste Käfer gebaut. Wie kaum ein zweites Produkt symbolisierte er das Wirtschaftswunder der Nachkriegsjahre im Westen Deutschlands.
The Volkswagen Beetle, officially called the Volkswagen Type 1 (or informally the Volkswagen Bug), is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. With over 21 million manufactured in an air-cooled, rear-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform anywhere in the world.
Although designed in the 1930s, the Beetle was only produced in significant numbers from 1945 onwards, when the model was internally designated the Volkswagen Type 1, and marketed simply as the "Volkswagen". Later models were designated VW 1200, 1300, 1500, 1302 or 1303, the former three indicating engine displacement and the latter two being derived from the type number and not indicative of engine capacity. The model became widely known in its home country as the Käfer (German for "beetle") and was later marketed as such in Germany, and as the Volkswagen Beetle in other countries.
In the 1950s, the Beetle was more comfortable and powerful than most European small cars, having been designed for sustained high speed on the Autobahn. It remained a top seller in the U.S., owing much of its success to high build-quality and innovative advertising, ultimately giving rise to variants, including the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and the Volkswagen Type 2 bus.
Along with cars including the Morris Minor, Fiat 500, Renault 4CV and Dauphine, and Citroën 2CV, the Beetle pioneered the modern continental economy car and later served as the benchmark for the initial two generations of North American compact cars, including the Chevrolet Corvair and Ford Falcon, as well as later subcompact cars such as the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto.
The Beetle had marked a significant trend led by Volkswagen, Fiat, and Renault whereby the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout had increased from 2.6 percent of continental Western Europe's car production in 1946 to 26.6 percent in 1956. The 1948 Citroën 2CV and other European models marked a later trend to front-wheel drive in the European small car market, a trend that would come to dominate that market. In 1974, Volkswagen's own front-wheel drive Golf model succeeded the Beetle. In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One, a "retro"-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Beetle, and in 1998 introduced the "New Beetle", built on the Golf platform with styling recalling the original Type 1.
In a 1999 international poll for the world's most influential car of the 20th century, the Type 1 came fourth, after the Ford Model T, the Mini, and the Citroën DS.
twilight
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IRAL
slide Show
des Architekten
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HERMA - paperware plant -
production plant for innovative adhesives and self adhesive coated paper + mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines.
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Herma Bonlanden - renommiertester Etikettenhersteller seit 1906
erstklassiges Produkt „Made in Germany“
sowie Entwicklung und Konstruktion von Etikettier-Maschinen
(Maschinenbau)
und eigene Produktion von Maschinen
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Der Industriezweig Maschinenbau entstand aus dem Handwerk der Metallbearbeitung, durch Mühlenbauer,Schmiede und Schlosser begleitet von Elektroniker.
www.herma.com/de/profil/imagefilm.html
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Endline Herma 400
labelling
Herma machines for Labels
Modern Tools - Mechatronics and robotics
HERMA H400 is one of the most versatile wipe-on pressure-sensitive label applicators due to its variety of unique, modular configurations.
The key is the HERMA's basic servo drive unit, which remains the same throughout the 400 Series. This dependable motor powers the entire range of modules Weber offers. As a result, any Herma applicator easily can be reconfigured for higher-speeds or for an alternate method of application if future labeling demands change.
HERMA H400 Label Applicator Speed Test
the base version HERMA H400 can easily label up to 131 feet/minute and with additional powered unwinder and loop unwinder, it can handle speeds up to 426 feet/minute!.
Fully Automatic Label Applicators working in Tandem apply Labels
Kontaktlos Drucken auf Herma Papier
Herma 400 and MACSA laser ( CO2 Laser )
www.macsa.asia - MACSA™ lasers are used for coding and marking products made from a range of materials including paper, cardboard, plastics (including PET and PVC), glass, many metals and wood. High quality messages and graphics are produced at minimal production costs, often at high speed. Applications News provides a regular summary of the products which are coded and marked by Macsa lasers: every day and world-wide. Coca Cola bottle marked by KIP high speed Macsa laser.
Laser Engraving on Timber with CO2 Laser
by Macsa ID
or
Macsa K-1010 PLUS Football Shoes Customization
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plus Lager Logistik
2008 – Neubau Hochregallager für 5-Tonnen-Rollen und Paletten mit direkter Produktionsanbindung und speziellen Rollenhandlingsautomaten.
Automatisches Hochregallager für Rohware, Halbfertigware und Fertigware mit direkter Anbindung an die neue Beschichtungsmaschine.
Rolleiflex 3.5f
Fuji Pro 400 H
Entwicklung: www.nimmfilm.de
Scan: Plustek Opticfilm 120 Pro, Silverfast 9
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
The E-50 Standardpanzer was intended as a medium tank, replacing the Panther and Tiger I battle tanks and the conversions based on these older vehicles. The E-50 hull was to be longer than the Panther, and in fact it was practically identical to the Königstiger (Tiger II) in overall dimensions except for the glacis plate layout. Compared with the earlier designs, however, the amount of drilling and machining involved in producing the Standardpanzer designs was reduced drastically, which would have made them quicker, easier and cheaper to produce, as would the proposed conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy.
The basis development, the combat tank, was to carry the narrow-mantlet 'Schmalturm' turret (designed for the Panther Ausf. F), coupled with a variant of the powerful 88 mm L/71 gun.
In service the vehicle received the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 304" and was officially called "Einheitspanzer 50" (Standard tank), retaining its E-50 abbreviation. The weight of the E-50 vehicle family would fall between 50 and 75 tons. The engine was an improved Maybach HL234 with up to 900 hp output. Maximum speed was supposed to be up to 60 km/h.
The E-75 Standardpanzer (SdKfz. 305), based on the same hull, was intended to be the standard heavy tank and as a replacement of the heavy Tiger II and Jagdtiger tanks. The E-75 would have been built on the same production lines as the E-50 for ease of manufacture, and the two vehicles were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine.
As its name indicates, the resulting vehicle would have weighed in at over 75 tons, reducing its speed to around 40 km/h. To offset the increased weight, the bogies were spaced differently from on the E-50, with an extra pair added on each side and eight instead of six wheels plus a slightly wider track, giving the E-75 a slightly improved track to ground contact length.
The basic combat tank version was to be equipped with the same turret and 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 as the E-50 battle tank, but along with an optical rangefinder for increased long range accuracy. Anyway, heavier guns (10,5 cm and 12,8 cm caliber) in bigger turrets were under development.
The E-50/E-75 chassis would also become the basis for a family special purpose vehicles like anti-aircraft tanks, assault guns or tank destroyers. One of the earliest developments for the latter class of vehicles was the SdKfz. 191/2, a self-propelled gun carrier for the powerful 12.8 cm KwK L/61 gun, a proven weapon with immense range and firepower, based on the 12.8 cm FlaK 40 anti-aircraft cannon.
The SdKfz. 191/2 was to be much more mobile and lighter than its predecessors, the Jagdtiger and Keiler tank hunters, which had suffered from being overweight and - consequently - underpowered. The new tank hunter was not to exceed 55 tons and offer a field performance similar to the highly effective Jagdpanther, which was only armed with an 88mm cannon, though.
As an appropriate vehicle basis the new E-50 chassis was chosen, but the internal layout was radically modified in order to accept the large and heavy weapon, the crew of six and a decent load of ammunition (which consisted of two parts) in a fully closed combat compartment.
In order to simplify the tank and save weight, the engine section was, together with the gearbox, moved to the hull's front. The complete crew section, including the driver’s position, was placed behind the engine. This was a radically new layout approach, and this form of the standard chassis was called E-50(F) (“F” standing for “Front”; there was also an “M” (= Mitte) for a mid-engine layout, with a separate driver compartment in front of the engine; the standard layout with a rear engine did not receive a dedicated suffix).
The driver’s position behind a long ‘bonnet’ considerably impaired the field of view, and both driver and radio operator, placed on the other side of the hull, had sit in separate "cabins" in front of the casemate-style box main structure. These positions were separated by parts of the engine and the gearbox between them, and accessible from the main combat room.
Despite some inherent weaknesses, this arrangement was regarded as an acceptable price to pay for space and weight savings through only a single major internal fire bulkhead, no need for a long power shaft running all through the hull and an improved crew survivability behind the massive engine against frontal attacks.
The large 12.8 cm cannon was completely covered under a box-shaped superstructure, which had almost vertical side walls. The gun could traverse 7° to each side, elevate 15° and depress -10°. 32 rounds were carried inside of the hull, including armor piercing and explosive shells.
In order to keep the SdKfz. 191/2 within a 60 tons overall weight limit, the vehicle’s front armor was limited to 70mm. This was deemed satisfactory, since the SdKfz. 191/2 was primarily intended for long-range combat only (the weapon had an effective range of 3,500 m (2.2 mi) and more even against heavily armored targets), primarily against heavy Soviet combat tanks and assault guns.
Having learned painful lessons with the Sturmgeschütz IV "Brummbär" and its vulnerability to close range attacks of infantry soldiers, the SdKfz. 191/2 was from the start outfitted with a ball mount for a MG 34 machine gun in the front plate of the superstructure. Another MG 34 on board could be mounted on the commander's cupola for anti-aircraft defense. Smoke dischargers were also available.
A small batch of the SdKfz. 304/2 was built at Deutsche Eisenwerke in mid-1945, to be tested under field conditions. Due to the lack of 12.8cm anti tank guns, around half of the 40 vehicles (production numbers are unclear, since the vehicles were manually converted from initial, unfinished E-50 chassis') were outfitted with the lighter 8,8cm Pak. Both variants were distinguished by "A" and "B" suffixes, respectively, and officially called “Jagdpanzer 12.8cm auf Fahrwerk E-50(F)”, frequently shortened to "Jagdpanzer E-50 (F) A or B".
In service, the relatively agile vehicles were dubbed "Uhlan" (after German light lancer groups in WWI) by their crews, and the more simple name quickly caught on. Another unofficial nickname, based on the separated driver/radio operator compartment and the boxy shape of the tank, was “Beichtstuhl” (“Confessional Box”), but this name was soon forbidden.
The new tank hunters only saw limited use, though, since they suffered from many early production flaws, and general technical reliability was also low. Other weaknesses were soon revealed, too. The SdKfz. 191/2's high casemate design made the vehicle hard to camouflage. With its almost vertical front and side armor, as well as the separate and edgy driver and radio operator compartments, it proved to be very vulnerable, too, so that - on the same chassis - an improved hull (similar to the Jagdpanther, but with the engine in front of the crew section and armed with a new 105 mm cannon) for the newly developed SdKfz 195 hull (a.k.a. "Jagdpanther II") was quickly developed, offering a much improved ballistic protection from any angle.
Specifications:
Crew: Six (commander, gunner, 2x loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 54 tonnes (60 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)
9.36 metres (30 ft 8 in) incl. gun
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.35 metres (11 ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
10–70 mm (0.4 – 2.75 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 46 km/h (28.6 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 16,67 PS/tonne (14,75 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 12.8 cm KwK L/61 with 32 rounds
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with a total of 5.200 rounds (one in the casemate front
and an optional AA gun on the commander's cupola)
The kit and its assembly:
This build was spawned from the question: with the German Experimental-Panzer designs becoming available, what would have been an initial solution for the large 12,8cm PaK, and a kind or predecessor of the more effective designs that were to follow (like the Jagdpanther II on E-50/75 basis or the heavy ‘Krokodil’ from the E-100 chassis)? Creations like the Jagdtiger or the Elefant/Ferdinand had failed due to their weight, and roofless self-propelled designs like the Nashorn or the lighter Marder family had also not been very effective designs.
Consequently I tried my luck with a kitbash: the standard E-50 chassis (from a Model Collect combat tank variant), combined with the superstructure of the “Sturer Emil” SPG prototype (Trumpeter kit).
Work started with the lower hull, which was more or less taken OOB – just the upper side was completely re-arranged and the engine roof cut out, together with the attachment ring for the original Schmalturm turret, and transplanted to the front. In this step, the original driver hatches on top of the hull were deleted, too.
On the hull’s gaping rear end I tried to integrate the (originally roofless) weapon compartment from the “Sturer Emil” SPG. The latter comes as a single piece and turned out to be a little too narrow. I could have taken it OOB, but then a small step in the hull’s side walls had to be accepted. So I cut the box structure into pieces and tried to blend them as smoothly into the lower hull’s lines as possible – with the benefit of slightly more angled side walls. The resulting gaps at all four corners were filled with styrene sheet and putty, and the rear wall called for some major adjustments because it has a convex shape with an entry hatch. A bit messy, but the flanking exhaust pipes cover most of the mess.
On the new roof (cut from styrene sheet using a pattern made from adhesive tape and graphite rubbed along the edges), a commander cupola from a Panzer IV and some details like rangefinder optics or air vents were added. Since the interior would not be visible anymore, I only added a primitive console that would hold the OOB cannon bearing and allow slight movement with the barrel in place.
The kit would receive new tracks – vinyl pieces instead of the single styrene pieces from the Model Collect kit. And for a more lively look, the mud guards and side skirts (integral part of the upper hull half) were dented – using a candle flame to warm and warp the material.
Painting and markings:
The rather massive and tall tank was to look simple, yet a bit improvised, so I decided to mimic a primer finish with some thin camouflage paint added on top, so that much of the primer would still shine through.
In an initial step, the hull and still separate parts like the barrel and the wheels received a uniform coat of RAL 3009 Oxidrot – a rich, rust-red tone that comes close to the German primer used on late-war tank hulls. This basic tone was considerably lightened, through dry-brushing and shading with Humbrol 70, 113 and 119 (Brick Red, Rust and Red Brown, respectively), since paint was sparse in Germany in late WWII and colors frequently stretched and thinned with added pigments like white lead, resulting in an almost pinkish tone.
Once dry, the kit received an overall cover with thinned acrylic Sand and Beige (Revell 16 and 314) – almost a custard-colored wash - so that a good amount of the light paint would cling to details and run down the vertical surfaces, leaving an uneven, partly translucent coat on top the red primer that shines through everywhere. This finish was later tailored with brass brush, steel wool and sand paper treatments. No further camouflage (e. g. with Olivgrün) was added, for a simple look.
On top of the basic paint, a dark brown washing was added and the edges further emphasized through dry-brushing with light grey and pale sand tones, plus some acrylic silver. Once the wheels and tracks were fitted into place and the few decals applied, a coat of matt acrylic varnish was added. Finally, dust and dry mud were simulated with mixed pigments, applied with a soft brush onto wet stains of varnish.
An impressive whif tank, and the complex superstructure was quite challenging. Even though it’s a kitbashing, the whole thing looks pretty plausible and “German”, so the original objective was accomplished.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
The E-50 Standardpanzer was intended as a medium tank, replacing the Panther and Tiger I battle tanks and the conversions based on these older vehicles. The E-50 hull was to be longer than the Panther, and in fact it was practically identical to the Königstiger (Tiger II) in overall dimensions except for the glacis plate layout. Compared with the earlier designs, however, the amount of drilling and machining involved in producing the Standardpanzer designs was reduced drastically, which would have made them quicker, easier and cheaper to produce, as would the proposed conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy.
The basis development, the E-50 Ausf. A combat tank, was to carry the narrow-mantlet 'Schmalturm' turret (originally designed for the Panther Ausf. F), coupled with a variant of the powerful KwK 43 88 mm L/71 gun, but heavier guns (a new 10,5 cm gun for both the E-50 and E-75 and the 12,8 cm caliber gun for the E-75) in bigger turrets were under development.
In service the vehicle received the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 191" and was officially called "Einheitspanzer 50" (Standard tank), retaining its E-50 abbreviation. The weight of the E-50 vehicle family would fall between 50 and 75 tons. The engine was an improved Maybach HL234 with up to 900 hp output. Maximum speed was supposed to be up to 60 km/h.
The E-75 Standardpanzer (SdKfz. 192), based on the same hull, was intended to be the standard heavy tank and become the replacement of the heavy Tiger II and Jagdtiger tanks. The E-75 would have been built on the same production lines as the E-50 for ease of manufacture, and the two vehicles were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine and running gear elements. As its name indicates, the resulting vehicle would have weighed in at over 75 tons, reducing its speed to around 40 km/h. To offset the increased weight, the bogies were spaced differently from on the E-50, with an extra pair added on each side and eight instead of six wheels plus a slightly wider track, giving the E-75 a slightly improved track to ground contact length.
The KwK 45 10,5cm gun had already started in 1943 as an answer to the heavy KV and later the IS series of Soviet combat tanks, and it was ready for service in September 1945, just in time for the deployment of the E-50/75 family of tanks. The KwK 45 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 8.8cm KwK 43. This would enable older vehicles to be upgunned with minimum modifications; hence, the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost.
The breech used a horizontally sliding breech block for loading the fixed cartridge cases. The gun recoiled only approximately 29 cm (11.5 inch) in most applications, automatically opening the breech and ejecting the empty cartridge case as the gun returns to battery from full recoil. The cannon had a weight of 1.287 kg and was able to achieve a rate of fire of up to eight shots per minute Schuss/Minute, with an effective range of 4.000 m (2.5 mi) ). HE rounds were fired with a muzzle velocity of 1.100 m (3,600 ft ) per second and APDS rounds achieved 1.500 m (4,900 ft) per second. This was sufficient to penetrate 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor at a range of 1.800m (5,900 ft) or 280 mm (11 in) of armor with APDS rounds, respectively.
In the E-50 tank, the KwK 45 was carried by the Ausf. C variant in a voluminous Henschel turret, which was similar in outline to the earlier Königstiger heavy tank, but it was a simplified construction and had varying armor strengths for the E-50 and E-75 tanks. Instead of the initial L52 barrel, which made the KwK 45 compatible with the Schmalturm turret of the initial E-50 variants, the bigger turret of the Ausf. C allowed to add additional counterweights so that a longer caliber 60 barrel without a muzzle brake could be installed, which improved the weapon's range and hitting power further. Otherwise the E-50 Ausf. C was identical to the earlier versions. Thanks to the relatively spacious turret, a total of 64 105mm shells could be carried (typically 50% high explosive and 50% armor-piercing), plus 4.800 rounds for the secondary 7,92 MG 34s on board (32 ammunition belts with 150 round each).
In order to improve the tanks' long-range strike capability, some of the new E-50/75 battle tanks were additionally equipped with launch rails and a visual guidance system for the new Ruhrstahl X-7 anti-tank missile, unofficially nicknamed "Rotkäppchen" (Little Red Riding Hood).
The aircraft-shaped X-7 was the first operational anti-tank guided missile in history. It was created on the basis of a command of the Army Ordnance Office to Dr. Ing. Kramer and its origins dated back as far the beginning of the year 1934, but it had no high priority from official side and there were numerous problems to be eradicated. An appropriate number was built in the factory in Brackwede and handed over to the army for field-testing before the war, but the weapon initially did not receive much interest. The main version was wire-steered, but other trial versions were equipped with the automatic infrared steering system "Steinbock" (Capricorn) or with the electro-optical guidance systems "Pfeifenkopf" (Pipe bowl) and "Pinsel" (Brush) - the latter used vidicon cameras to detect the difference between the target and the background. Various guidance systems were tested, too, both for anti-aircraft and anti-tank use.
As an anti-tank weapon the small, aircraft-shaped missile could easily be transported and deployed on light vehicles, but it was also tested as an auxiliary weapon for tanks, from which it could be fired and steered from the inside with the help of an optical guidance system.
The X-7 was a compact weapon and had a length of 0,95 m (37 1/2 in), a body diameter of 150 mm (6 in), a wing span of 0,60 m (23 1/2 in). Its launch weight was about 9kg (~20 lb). It was powered by a solid fuel twin rocket engine that delivered 676 N of thrust for 3 seconds at the start for a maximum speed of 245 m/s (550 mph; 476 kn; 880 km/h) and sustained 55 N for another 8 seconds, achieving a cruise speed of 100 m/s. The missile carried a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) hollow charge, triggered with an impact fuze, that could penetrate more than 200 mm (7.9 in) of armor at a 30° angle.
For the use on board of tanks, the X-7 was carried on special launch rigs which could be easily attached to turrets or casemate hulls. Typically, two of the missiles were carried, ready to launch. The optical guidance system was based on the ZG 1229 "Vampir" infrared night vision system - but for the X-7 guidance, the device had been modified into a periscope that was mounted on the roof of the gunner's station, so that the missile could be fired and guided in the safety of the armored turret.
However, initial field tests in early 1946 revealed that the X-7 hardly offered any benefit when compared with the heavy German cannon. The potential benefit of a dive attack on a tank target, which would reduce the relative armor strength of the target or hit the weaker upper armor of such a target, was only theoretical because aiming and guiding the missile even at a direct course was not easy. A ballistic flight path was possible, but under combat conditions unrealistic. Furthermore, the missiles unprotected storage made them highly vulnerable against enemy fire, and many were lost early because the fell off of the launch racks or were simply ripped away when the tank moved through obstacles like trees or ruins. An internal storage of the weapon in a tank was also impossible. Therefore, the X-7 was soon banned from battle tanks and either mounted on light, unarmored vehicles, which could more easily employ "hit-and-run" tactics, or the light missiles were carried by two man teams for ambushes. In mid-1946, trials to fire the X-7 from a Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri helicopter ensued.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 54 tonnes (60 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)
9.36 metres (30 ft 8 in) incl. gun
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.35 metres (11 ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
30–120 mm (1.2 – 4.7 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 16,67 PS/tonne (14,75 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 10,5 cm KwK 45 L/60 with 64 rounds
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with a total of 5.200 rounds (one mounted co-axially with
the main gun and an optional AA gun on the commander's cupola)
2× X-7 "Rotkäppchen" anti-tank missile launch rails on some vehicles
The kit and its assembly:
Another Heer '46 model, and again one of the many 1:72 Modelcollect kits. Even though I rather have a knack for exotic vehicles I thought that a relatively simple battle tank could not hurt in the collection - but I still had an idea how to add a personal touch and take the basic idea further.
This came when I remembered the small X-7 missile, and wondered if that could not have been used from 1945 onwards - e.g. as an additional stand-off weapon for tanks like the post-war AS.12 in France - the light AMX-13 tank could carry four of these above the gun on its oscillating turret. And that made me wonder if and how the German missile could find its way on a battle tank?
In an initial step I scratched a pair of X-7s from bombs and styrene profile material - they look a little clumsy and they became actually too large for authentic 1:72 scale, but their outlines turned out well. Using them as benchmarks I checked different tank kits and eventually settled for an E-50 with the large Tiger-II-style Henschel turret. This offered a good size and height to mount the two missiles in racks on the turret's flanks - these are scratched from styrene profile material, too. Otherwise the kit remained OOB, I just used the kit's night vision device and some material from the scrap box to create an optical guidance gear, mounted on the turret in front of the gunner's hatch.
The E-50 kit goes together well, just some light PSR is necessary at the turret's base. This version of the kit also came with a surplus Schmalturm sprue and it did not come with vinyl tracks, like some former kits from this series that I have built, but rather with molded single track elements. I am not a fan of these, at least in 1:72 scale, and mounting these small bits was a tedious affair that took a whole day. The low mud guards hampered the process further.
Painting and markings:
The paint scheme is a variation of the classic German "Hinterhalt" camouflage, consisting of Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. However, the pattern is a little special, because I wanted to recreate the original concept of the scheme, the ideal “factory finish”. It was intended to apply the green and brown contrast colors on top of the dark yellow in the form of overlapping small, round dots of uniform size, applied with a gauge, that let the light color shine though here and there – plus small contrast speckles added to the dark yellow. A really complex camouflage pattern, but quite effective, because it mimicked well the fractal shadows under a tree, disrupting a vehicle’s silhouette.
In real life, however, only a few tanks had been painted this way around August 1944 in the factories (I have seen Panther, Hetzer, Jagdpanzer IV/L70 and a Sturmtiger, sometimes only partly, finished in this fashion), because the application was tedious and time-consuming. Eventually, the tanks were delivered to the frontline troops in a uniform dark yellow finish, together with the green and brown as thick pastes which were to be applied individually by the crew, depending on the local needs and with whatever was at hand.
I order to mimic the original Hinterhalt scheme’s look I initially gave the model an overall coat with RAL 8001 “Grünbraun” as primer and then added 7028 "Dunkelgelb" (Modelmaster) with a wide, flat brush, creating a cloudy finish. Once dry I used two self-made stamps for the application of the red brown (Humbrol 160) and the green (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster). The stamps were made from fine expanded rubber, die-punched into circles of 3 and 4mm diameter and then glued on top of sticks with superglue. Very simple, but worked like a charm!
Adding all the circles one by one was another tedious task, esp. on uneven underground and around corners. Once this basic painting was done, the kit received an overall wash with a mix of black and red brown acrylic paint. Next came the decal application; the crosses and the “kill marks” for the barrel were taken from the OOB sheet, the red tactical code and the small unit badges were taken from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. Next came a light dry brushing treatment with beige and light grey, highlighting surface details and edges. After painting some details and adding some rust marks came a coat of matt varnish (from the rattle can), the tracks were finally mounted and the lower area of the tank received a treatment with a greyish-brown pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.
A relatively simple project, done in four days from which one day was spent with the camouflage and another one with the fiddly tracks. Creating the small X-7 missiles from scratch was tricky, too. Nevertheless, I think the effort was worthwhile, since the addition of the missiles and their racks give the otherwise simple battle tank a special touch and some Heer '46 futurism. After all, it’s a what-if model. The complex camouflage also looks good, and it demonstrates how effective the original concept of the Hinterhalt scheme actually was, had it been applied properly. I might re-apply the concept on a mecha model in the future – probably with different colors, though.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
The E-50 Standardpanzer was intended as a medium tank, replacing the Panther and Tiger I battle tanks and the conversions based on these older vehicles. The E-50 hull was to be longer than the Panther, and in fact it was practically identical to the Königstiger (Tiger II) in overall dimensions except for the glacis plate layout. Compared with the earlier designs, however, the amount of drilling and machining involved in producing the Standardpanzer designs was reduced drastically, which would have made them quicker, easier and cheaper to produce, as would the proposed conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy.
The basis development, the E-50 Ausf. A combat tank, was to carry the narrow-mantlet 'Schmalturm' turret (originally designed for the Panther Ausf. F), coupled with a variant of the powerful KwK 43 88 mm L/71 gun, but heavier guns (a new 10,5 cm gun for both the E-50 and E-75 and the 12,8 cm caliber gun for the E-75) in bigger turrets were under development.
In service the vehicle received the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 191" and was officially called "Einheitspanzer 50" (Standard tank), retaining its E-50 abbreviation. The weight of the E-50 vehicle family would fall between 50 and 75 tons. The engine was an improved Maybach HL234 with up to 900 hp output. Maximum speed was supposed to be up to 60 km/h.
The E-75 Standardpanzer (SdKfz. 192), based on the same hull, was intended to be the standard heavy tank and become the replacement of the heavy Tiger II and Jagdtiger tanks. The E-75 would have been built on the same production lines as the E-50 for ease of manufacture, and the two vehicles were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine and running gear elements. As its name indicates, the resulting vehicle would have weighed in at over 75 tons, reducing its speed to around 40 km/h. To offset the increased weight, the bogies were spaced differently from on the E-50, with an extra pair added on each side and eight instead of six wheels plus a slightly wider track, giving the E-75 a slightly improved track to ground contact length.
The KwK 45 10,5cm gun had already started in 1943 as an answer to the heavy KV and later the IS series of Soviet combat tanks, and it was ready for service in September 1945, just in time for the deployment of the E-50/75 family of tanks. The KwK 45 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 8.8cm KwK 43. This would enable older vehicles to be upgunned with minimum modifications; hence, the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost.
The breech used a horizontally sliding breech block for loading the fixed cartridge cases. The gun recoiled only approximately 29 cm (11.5 inch) in most applications, automatically opening the breech and ejecting the empty cartridge case as the gun returns to battery from full recoil. The cannon had a weight of 1.287 kg and was able to achieve a rate of fire of up to eight shots per minute Schuss/Minute, with an effective range of 4.000 m (2.5 mi) ). HE rounds were fired with a muzzle velocity of 1.100 m (3,600 ft ) per second and APDS rounds achieved 1.500 m (4,900 ft) per second. This was sufficient to penetrate 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor at a range of 1.800m (5,900 ft) or 280 mm (11 in) of armor with APDS rounds, respectively.
In the E-50 tank, the KwK 45 was carried by the Ausf. C variant in a voluminous Henschel turret, which was similar in outline to the earlier Königstiger heavy tank, but it was a simplified construction and had varying armor strengths for the E-50 and E-75 tanks. Instead of the initial L52 barrel, which made the KwK 45 compatible with the Schmalturm turret of the initial E-50 variants, the bigger turret of the Ausf. C allowed to add additional counterweights so that a longer caliber 60 barrel without a muzzle brake could be installed, which improved the weapon's range and hitting power further. Otherwise the E-50 Ausf. C was identical to the earlier versions. Thanks to the relatively spacious turret, a total of 64 105mm shells could be carried (typically 50% high explosive and 50% armor-piercing), plus 4.800 rounds for the secondary 7,92 MG 34s on board (32 ammunition belts with 150 round each).
In order to improve the tanks' long-range strike capability, some of the new E-50/75 battle tanks were additionally equipped with launch rails and a visual guidance system for the new Ruhrstahl X-7 anti-tank missile, unofficially nicknamed "Rotkäppchen" (Little Red Riding Hood).
The aircraft-shaped X-7 was the first operational anti-tank guided missile in history. It was created on the basis of a command of the Army Ordnance Office to Dr. Ing. Kramer and its origins dated back as far the beginning of the year 1934, but it had no high priority from official side and there were numerous problems to be eradicated. An appropriate number was built in the factory in Brackwede and handed over to the army for field-testing before the war, but the weapon initially did not receive much interest. The main version was wire-steered, but other trial versions were equipped with the automatic infrared steering system "Steinbock" (Capricorn) or with the electro-optical guidance systems "Pfeifenkopf" (Pipe bowl) and "Pinsel" (Brush) - the latter used vidicon cameras to detect the difference between the target and the background. Various guidance systems were tested, too, both for anti-aircraft and anti-tank use.
As an anti-tank weapon the small, aircraft-shaped missile could easily be transported and deployed on light vehicles, but it was also tested as an auxiliary weapon for tanks, from which it could be fired and steered from the inside with the help of an optical guidance system.
The X-7 was a compact weapon and had a length of 0,95 m (37 1/2 in), a body diameter of 150 mm (6 in), a wing span of 0,60 m (23 1/2 in). Its launch weight was about 9kg (~20 lb). It was powered by a solid fuel twin rocket engine that delivered 676 N of thrust for 3 seconds at the start for a maximum speed of 245 m/s (550 mph; 476 kn; 880 km/h) and sustained 55 N for another 8 seconds, achieving a cruise speed of 100 m/s. The missile carried a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) hollow charge, triggered with an impact fuze, that could penetrate more than 200 mm (7.9 in) of armor at a 30° angle.
For the use on board of tanks, the X-7 was carried on special launch rigs which could be easily attached to turrets or casemate hulls. Typically, two of the missiles were carried, ready to launch. The optical guidance system was based on the ZG 1229 "Vampir" infrared night vision system - but for the X-7 guidance, the device had been modified into a periscope that was mounted on the roof of the gunner's station, so that the missile could be fired and guided in the safety of the armored turret.
However, initial field tests in early 1946 revealed that the X-7 hardly offered any benefit when compared with the heavy German cannon. The potential benefit of a dive attack on a tank target, which would reduce the relative armor strength of the target or hit the weaker upper armor of such a target, was only theoretical because aiming and guiding the missile even at a direct course was not easy. A ballistic flight path was possible, but under combat conditions unrealistic. Furthermore, the missiles unprotected storage made them highly vulnerable against enemy fire, and many were lost early because the fell off of the launch racks or were simply ripped away when the tank moved through obstacles like trees or ruins. An internal storage of the weapon in a tank was also impossible. Therefore, the X-7 was soon banned from battle tanks and either mounted on light, unarmored vehicles, which could more easily employ "hit-and-run" tactics, or the light missiles were carried by two man teams for ambushes. In mid-1946, trials to fire the X-7 from a Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri helicopter ensued.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 54 tonnes (60 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)
9.36 metres (30 ft 8 in) incl. gun
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.35 metres (11 ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
30–120 mm (1.2 – 4.7 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 16,67 PS/tonne (14,75 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 10,5 cm KwK 45 L/60 with 64 rounds
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with a total of 5.200 rounds (one mounted co-axially with
the main gun and an optional AA gun on the commander's cupola)
2× X-7 "Rotkäppchen" anti-tank missile launch rails on some vehicles
The kit and its assembly:
Another Heer '46 model, and again one of the many 1:72 Modelcollect kits. Even though I rather have a knack for exotic vehicles I thought that a relatively simple battle tank could not hurt in the collection - but I still had an idea how to add a personal touch and take the basic idea further.
This came when I remembered the small X-7 missile, and wondered if that could not have been used from 1945 onwards - e.g. as an additional stand-off weapon for tanks like the post-war AS.12 in France - the light AMX-13 tank could carry four of these above the gun on its oscillating turret. And that made me wonder if and how the German missile could find its way on a battle tank?
In an initial step I scratched a pair of X-7s from bombs and styrene profile material - they look a little clumsy and they became actually too large for authentic 1:72 scale, but their outlines turned out well. Using them as benchmarks I checked different tank kits and eventually settled for an E-50 with the large Tiger-II-style Henschel turret. This offered a good size and height to mount the two missiles in racks on the turret's flanks - these are scratched from styrene profile material, too. Otherwise the kit remained OOB, I just used the kit's night vision device and some material from the scrap box to create an optical guidance gear, mounted on the turret in front of the gunner's hatch.
The E-50 kit goes together well, just some light PSR is necessary at the turret's base. This version of the kit also came with a surplus Schmalturm sprue and it did not come with vinyl tracks, like some former kits from this series that I have built, but rather with molded single track elements. I am not a fan of these, at least in 1:72 scale, and mounting these small bits was a tedious affair that took a whole day. The low mud guards hampered the process further.
Painting and markings:
The paint scheme is a variation of the classic German "Hinterhalt" camouflage, consisting of Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. However, the pattern is a little special, because I wanted to recreate the original concept of the scheme, the ideal “factory finish”. It was intended to apply the green and brown contrast colors on top of the dark yellow in the form of overlapping small, round dots of uniform size, applied with a gauge, that let the light color shine though here and there – plus small contrast speckles added to the dark yellow. A really complex camouflage pattern, but quite effective, because it mimicked well the fractal shadows under a tree, disrupting a vehicle’s silhouette.
In real life, however, only a few tanks had been painted this way around August 1944 in the factories (I have seen Panther, Hetzer, Jagdpanzer IV/L70 and a Sturmtiger, sometimes only partly, finished in this fashion), because the application was tedious and time-consuming. Eventually, the tanks were delivered to the frontline troops in a uniform dark yellow finish, together with the green and brown as thick pastes which were to be applied individually by the crew, depending on the local needs and with whatever was at hand.
I order to mimic the original Hinterhalt scheme’s look I initially gave the model an overall coat with RAL 8001 “Grünbraun” as primer and then added 7028 "Dunkelgelb" (Modelmaster) with a wide, flat brush, creating a cloudy finish. Once dry I used two self-made stamps for the application of the red brown (Humbrol 160) and the green (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster). The stamps were made from fine expanded rubber, die-punched into circles of 3 and 4mm diameter and then glued on top of sticks with superglue. Very simple, but worked like a charm!
Adding all the circles one by one was another tedious task, esp. on uneven underground and around corners. Once this basic painting was done, the kit received an overall wash with a mix of black and red brown acrylic paint. Next came the decal application; the crosses and the “kill marks” for the barrel were taken from the OOB sheet, the red tactical code and the small unit badges were taken from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. Next came a light dry brushing treatment with beige and light grey, highlighting surface details and edges. After painting some details and adding some rust marks came a coat of matt varnish (from the rattle can), the tracks were finally mounted and the lower area of the tank received a treatment with a greyish-brown pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.
A relatively simple project, done in four days from which one day was spent with the camouflage and another one with the fiddly tracks. Creating the small X-7 missiles from scratch was tricky, too. Nevertheless, I think the effort was worthwhile, since the addition of the missiles and their racks give the otherwise simple battle tank a special touch and some Heer '46 futurism. After all, it’s a what-if model. The complex camouflage also looks good, and it demonstrates how effective the original concept of the Hinterhalt scheme actually was, had it been applied properly. I might re-apply the concept on a mecha model in the future – probably with different colors, though.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
The E-50 Standardpanzer was intended as a medium tank, replacing the Panther and Tiger I battle tanks and the conversions based on these older vehicles. The E-50 hull was to be longer than the Panther, and in fact it was practically identical to the Königstiger (Tiger II) in overall dimensions except for the glacis plate layout. Compared with the earlier designs, however, the amount of drilling and machining involved in producing the Standardpanzer designs was reduced drastically, which would have made them quicker, easier and cheaper to produce, as would the proposed conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy.
The basis development, the E-50 Ausf. A combat tank, was to carry the narrow-mantlet 'Schmalturm' turret (originally designed for the Panther Ausf. F), coupled with a variant of the powerful KwK 43 88 mm L/71 gun, but heavier guns (a new 10,5 cm gun for both the E-50 and E-75 and the 12,8 cm caliber gun for the E-75) in bigger turrets were under development.
In service the vehicle received the inventory ordnance number "SdKfZ. 191" and was officially called "Einheitspanzer 50" (Standard tank), retaining its E-50 abbreviation. The weight of the E-50 vehicle family would fall between 50 and 75 tons. The engine was an improved Maybach HL234 with up to 900 hp output. Maximum speed was supposed to be up to 60 km/h.
The E-75 Standardpanzer (SdKfz. 192), based on the same hull, was intended to be the standard heavy tank and become the replacement of the heavy Tiger II and Jagdtiger tanks. The E-75 would have been built on the same production lines as the E-50 for ease of manufacture, and the two vehicles were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine and running gear elements. As its name indicates, the resulting vehicle would have weighed in at over 75 tons, reducing its speed to around 40 km/h. To offset the increased weight, the bogies were spaced differently from on the E-50, with an extra pair added on each side and eight instead of six wheels plus a slightly wider track, giving the E-75 a slightly improved track to ground contact length.
The KwK 45 10,5cm gun had already started in 1943 as an answer to the heavy KV and later the IS series of Soviet combat tanks, and it was ready for service in September 1945, just in time for the deployment of the E-50/75 family of tanks. The KwK 45 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 8.8cm KwK 43. This would enable older vehicles to be upgunned with minimum modifications; hence, the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost.
The breech used a horizontally sliding breech block for loading the fixed cartridge cases. The gun recoiled only approximately 29 cm (11.5 inch) in most applications, automatically opening the breech and ejecting the empty cartridge case as the gun returns to battery from full recoil. The cannon had a weight of 1.287 kg and was able to achieve a rate of fire of up to eight shots per minute Schuss/Minute, with an effective range of 4.000 m (2.5 mi) ). HE rounds were fired with a muzzle velocity of 1.100 m (3,600 ft ) per second and APDS rounds achieved 1.500 m (4,900 ft) per second. This was sufficient to penetrate 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor at a range of 1.800m (5,900 ft) or 280 mm (11 in) of armor with APDS rounds, respectively.
In the E-50 tank, the KwK 45 was carried by the Ausf. C variant in a voluminous Henschel turret, which was similar in outline to the earlier Königstiger heavy tank, but it was a simplified construction and had varying armor strengths for the E-50 and E-75 tanks. Instead of the initial L52 barrel, which made the KwK 45 compatible with the Schmalturm turret of the initial E-50 variants, the bigger turret of the Ausf. C allowed to add additional counterweights so that a longer caliber 60 barrel without a muzzle brake could be installed, which improved the weapon's range and hitting power further. Otherwise the E-50 Ausf. C was identical to the earlier versions. Thanks to the relatively spacious turret, a total of 64 105mm shells could be carried (typically 50% high explosive and 50% armor-piercing), plus 4.800 rounds for the secondary 7,92 MG 34s on board (32 ammunition belts with 150 round each).
In order to improve the tanks' long-range strike capability, some of the new E-50/75 battle tanks were additionally equipped with launch rails and a visual guidance system for the new Ruhrstahl X-7 anti-tank missile, unofficially nicknamed "Rotkäppchen" (Little Red Riding Hood).
The aircraft-shaped X-7 was the first operational anti-tank guided missile in history. It was created on the basis of a command of the Army Ordnance Office to Dr. Ing. Kramer and its origins dated back as far the beginning of the year 1934, but it had no high priority from official side and there were numerous problems to be eradicated. An appropriate number was built in the factory in Brackwede and handed over to the army for field-testing before the war, but the weapon initially did not receive much interest. The main version was wire-steered, but other trial versions were equipped with the automatic infrared steering system "Steinbock" (Capricorn) or with the electro-optical guidance systems "Pfeifenkopf" (Pipe bowl) and "Pinsel" (Brush) - the latter used vidicon cameras to detect the difference between the target and the background. Various guidance systems were tested, too, both for anti-aircraft and anti-tank use.
As an anti-tank weapon the small, aircraft-shaped missile could easily be transported and deployed on light vehicles, but it was also tested as an auxiliary weapon for tanks, from which it could be fired and steered from the inside with the help of an optical guidance system.
The X-7 was a compact weapon and had a length of 0,95 m (37 1/2 in), a body diameter of 150 mm (6 in), a wing span of 0,60 m (23 1/2 in). Its launch weight was about 9kg (~20 lb). It was powered by a solid fuel twin rocket engine that delivered 676 N of thrust for 3 seconds at the start for a maximum speed of 245 m/s (550 mph; 476 kn; 880 km/h) and sustained 55 N for another 8 seconds, achieving a cruise speed of 100 m/s. The missile carried a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) hollow charge, triggered with an impact fuze, that could penetrate more than 200 mm (7.9 in) of armor at a 30° angle.
For the use on board of tanks, the X-7 was carried on special launch rigs which could be easily attached to turrets or casemate hulls. Typically, two of the missiles were carried, ready to launch. The optical guidance system was based on the ZG 1229 "Vampir" infrared night vision system - but for the X-7 guidance, the device had been modified into a periscope that was mounted on the roof of the gunner's station, so that the missile could be fired and guided in the safety of the armored turret.
However, initial field tests in early 1946 revealed that the X-7 hardly offered any benefit when compared with the heavy German cannon. The potential benefit of a dive attack on a tank target, which would reduce the relative armor strength of the target or hit the weaker upper armor of such a target, was only theoretical because aiming and guiding the missile even at a direct course was not easy. A ballistic flight path was possible, but under combat conditions unrealistic. Furthermore, the missiles unprotected storage made them highly vulnerable against enemy fire, and many were lost early because the fell off of the launch racks or were simply ripped away when the tank moved through obstacles like trees or ruins. An internal storage of the weapon in a tank was also impossible. Therefore, the X-7 was soon banned from battle tanks and either mounted on light, unarmored vehicles, which could more easily employ "hit-and-run" tactics, or the light missiles were carried by two man teams for ambushes. In mid-1946, trials to fire the X-7 from a Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri helicopter ensued.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 54 tonnes (60 short tons)
Length: 7.27 metres (23 ft 8 in) (hull only)
9.36 metres (30 ft 8 in) incl. gun
Width: 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.35 metres (11 ft)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
30–120 mm (1.2 – 4.7 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 16,67 PS/tonne (14,75 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 10,5 cm KwK 45 L/60 with 64 rounds
2× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with a total of 5.200 rounds (one mounted co-axially with
the main gun and an optional AA gun on the commander's cupola)
2× X-7 "Rotkäppchen" anti-tank missile launch rails on some vehicles
The kit and its assembly:
Another Heer '46 model, and again one of the many 1:72 Modelcollect kits. Even though I rather have a knack for exotic vehicles I thought that a relatively simple battle tank could not hurt in the collection - but I still had an idea how to add a personal touch and take the basic idea further.
This came when I remembered the small X-7 missile, and wondered if that could not have been used from 1945 onwards - e.g. as an additional stand-off weapon for tanks like the post-war AS.12 in France - the light AMX-13 tank could carry four of these above the gun on its oscillating turret. And that made me wonder if and how the German missile could find its way on a battle tank?
In an initial step I scratched a pair of X-7s from bombs and styrene profile material - they look a little clumsy and they became actually too large for authentic 1:72 scale, but their outlines turned out well. Using them as benchmarks I checked different tank kits and eventually settled for an E-50 with the large Tiger-II-style Henschel turret. This offered a good size and height to mount the two missiles in racks on the turret's flanks - these are scratched from styrene profile material, too. Otherwise the kit remained OOB, I just used the kit's night vision device and some material from the scrap box to create an optical guidance gear, mounted on the turret in front of the gunner's hatch.
The E-50 kit goes together well, just some light PSR is necessary at the turret's base. This version of the kit also came with a surplus Schmalturm sprue and it did not come with vinyl tracks, like some former kits from this series that I have built, but rather with molded single track elements. I am not a fan of these, at least in 1:72 scale, and mounting these small bits was a tedious affair that took a whole day. The low mud guards hampered the process further.
Painting and markings:
The paint scheme is a variation of the classic German "Hinterhalt" camouflage, consisting of Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. However, the pattern is a little special, because I wanted to recreate the original concept of the scheme, the ideal “factory finish”. It was intended to apply the green and brown contrast colors on top of the dark yellow in the form of overlapping small, round dots of uniform size, applied with a gauge, that let the light color shine though here and there – plus small contrast speckles added to the dark yellow. A really complex camouflage pattern, but quite effective, because it mimicked well the fractal shadows under a tree, disrupting a vehicle’s silhouette.
In real life, however, only a few tanks had been painted this way around August 1944 in the factories (I have seen Panther, Hetzer, Jagdpanzer IV/L70 and a Sturmtiger, sometimes only partly, finished in this fashion), because the application was tedious and time-consuming. Eventually, the tanks were delivered to the frontline troops in a uniform dark yellow finish, together with the green and brown as thick pastes which were to be applied individually by the crew, depending on the local needs and with whatever was at hand.
I order to mimic the original Hinterhalt scheme’s look I initially gave the model an overall coat with RAL 8001 “Grünbraun” as primer and then added 7028 "Dunkelgelb" (Modelmaster) with a wide, flat brush, creating a cloudy finish. Once dry I used two self-made stamps for the application of the red brown (Humbrol 160) and the green (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster). The stamps were made from fine expanded rubber, die-punched into circles of 3 and 4mm diameter and then glued on top of sticks with superglue. Very simple, but worked like a charm!
Adding all the circles one by one was another tedious task, esp. on uneven underground and around corners. Once this basic painting was done, the kit received an overall wash with a mix of black and red brown acrylic paint. Next came the decal application; the crosses and the “kill marks” for the barrel were taken from the OOB sheet, the red tactical code and the small unit badges were taken from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. Next came a light dry brushing treatment with beige and light grey, highlighting surface details and edges. After painting some details and adding some rust marks came a coat of matt varnish (from the rattle can), the tracks were finally mounted and the lower area of the tank received a treatment with a greyish-brown pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.
A relatively simple project, done in four days from which one day was spent with the camouflage and another one with the fiddly tracks. Creating the small X-7 missiles from scratch was tricky, too. Nevertheless, I think the effort was worthwhile, since the addition of the missiles and their racks give the otherwise simple battle tank a special touch and some Heer '46 futurism. After all, it’s a what-if model. The complex camouflage also looks good, and it demonstrates how effective the original concept of the Hinterhalt scheme actually was, had it been applied properly. I might re-apply the concept on a mecha model in the future – probably with different colors, though.
SLMNr 4492 :
SBB Lokomotive Ae 6/6 11479 Visp ( Hersteller SLM Nr. 4492 - BBC MFO - Baujahr 1964 - A.bbruch 2013 - Städtelokomotive - Elektrolokomotive Triebfahrzeug ) am Bahnhof Müntschemier im Berner Seeland im Kanton Bern der Schweiz
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( Ae6/6Visp / Ae6/611479 )
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SBB Ae 6/6 Lokomotive
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Betrieb
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- Baujahr : 1.9.5.2 P.rototypen => 1.9.5.5 – 1.9.6.6 S.erienlokomotiven
- Betriebsnummern : 1.1.4.0.1 – 1.1.5.2.0
- Betriebsnummern ( UIC ) : Ae 610 4.0.1 – Ae 610 5.2.0
- Stückzahl : 120
- Einsatzgebiet : G.üterverkehr
- W.artungswerk : B.ellinzona
- Ausrangierung : seit 2.0.0.2
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Technische Daten
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- Fahrzeugtyp : elektrische Lokomotive
- Hersteller : SLM W.interthur - BBC B.aden - MFO Z.ürich
- Achsfolge : Co'Co'
- Höchstgeschwindigkeit : 125 km/h - heute: 120 km/h
- Leistung : 4`300 kW ( 5`830 PS )
- Bergleistung : 650 - Tonnen - Zug auf 26 ‰ Steigung bei 75 km/h
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Masse und Gewicht
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- Länge über Puffer : 18'400 mm
- Breite : 2`970 mm
- Höhe : 4`500 mm
- Gewicht : 120 t / Prototypen: 124 t
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Sonstiges
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- Besondere Merkmale : 2 P.rototypen mit abweichenden Merkmalen
- Vorgänger : SBB Ae 4./.6
- Nachfolger : SBB R.e 6/6
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Ae 6/6 ist eine Baureihe von 120 Universallokomotiven der Schweizerischen Bundes-
bahnen. Sie werden aufgrund ihres früheren Einsatzgebietes den Gotthardlokomotiven
zugeordnet.
Die ersten 25 Lokomotiven werden häufig als K.antonslokomotiven bezeichnet, da sie
die Wappen der 25 Schweizer K.antone trugen. An den Lokkästen befinden sich C.hrom-
Z.ierlinien und an den F.rontseiten ein S.chnäuzchen.
Diese Verzierung, begleitet von den Wappen an den Seitenwänden, fand grossen Anklang
und machte diese leistungsstarken Maschinen europaweit berühmt.
Die weiteren 95 Lokomotiven der Serie erhielten keine C.hromverzierung, aber die Wappen
der K.antonshauptorte sowie wichtiger S.tädte und O.rtschaften.
Dort wo sich die Wappen befanden, war bei den P.rototyplokomomotiven zuerst die Fahr-
zeugnummer ( 1.1.4.0.1 - 1.1.4.0.2 ) abgebracht. Die Lokomotivtaufen wurden als festliche
Anlässe durchgeführt.
Ursprünglich waren die Maschinen t.annengrün lackiert. Heute haben etwa die Hälfte aller
Lokomotiven einen r.oten Anstrich. Mit dieser Umlackierung wurde - und das nicht nur bei
den Ae 6/6 - in den späten Achzigerjahren begonnen.
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Vorgeschichte
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In der N.achkriegszeit hatten die Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen ein zunehmendes Ver-
kehrsvolumen zu bewältigen und sahen sich daher veranlasst, einen neue, sechsachsige
Drehgestelllokomotive vor allem für die G.otthardbahn zu beschaffen.
Der Verkehr wurde bis dahin durch die SBB Ae 4./.6, die SBB Ae 4./.7 sowie die C.e 6./.8
K.rokodil - Lokomotive abgewickelt. Sie waren - aus heutiger Sicht - nur für sehr be-
scheidene Anhängelasten zugelassen. Dadurch waren am G.otthard V.orspanndienste
nötig, die zeitraubend, unpraktisch und unwirtschaftlich waren.
Das aus SLM und BBC bestehende Konsortium, zu dem sich später die Maschinenfabrik
O.erlikon gesellte, erhielt im Jahr 1949 den Zuschlag für den Bau von zwei P.rototypen.
Die technische Entwicklung erwies sich als schwierige Aufgabe, so dass die Lokomotive
1.1.4.0.1 erst am 4. S.eptember 1.9.5.2 das F.abrikgebäude der BBC in M.ünchenstein
in fahrtauglichem Zustand verlassen konnte.
Sie wurde auf eine P.robefahrt nach Z.ürich geschickt, aber nicht wie sonst üblich vom
B.undesamt für Verkehr für die Zulassung auf dem normalspurigen Schienennetz geprüft.
Sie wurde gewogen, und es stellte sich heraus, dass sie 124 t statt die vorgesehenen
120 t wog. Sie kehrte nach M.ünchenstein zurück und wurde vorerst technisch weiter-
entwickelt. Am 31. J.anuar 1.9.5.3 folgte auch die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.2.
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Anforderungen an die Ae 6/6
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Sechsachsige Drehgestellokomotive, die vor S.chnell- und G.üterzügen einsetzbar ist,
Stundenleistung bei 6 x 1000 PS bei 74 km/h; Dauerleistung bei 6 x 900 PS bei 78,5 km/h,
Gesamtgewicht von maximal 120 t, Toleranz von -/+ 2%,
Beförderung von 600 t schweren Zügen bei 75 km/h auf den S.teilrampen der G.otthard-
bahn, Beförderung von 750 t auf B.ergstrecken mit bis zu 21 ‰ Steigung und 1`450 t bei
10 ‰, als V.orspann- und Z.wischenlokomotive bei Geschwindigkeiten zwischen 35 und
75 km/h einsetzbar; muss mit der Beförderung dieser Lasten wiederholt in der Steigung
anfahren können, Zugkraft von 8 t bei 125 km/h und einer Fahrdrahtspannung von 15 kV,
elektrische Rekuperationsbremse, die das Eigengewicht der Lokomotive und eine
Anhängelast von 300 t in einem Gefälle von bis zu 20 ‰ dauernd abbremsen kann;
Erhöhung der Bremskraft um 20 % innert 5 Minuten, Einsetzbarkeit der elektrischen
Bremse auch bei der Höchstgeschwindigkeit, Erhöhung der Leistung um 10 % über die
Stundenleistung innert 15 Minuten.
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Einsatz der P.rototypen
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Nach der Auslieferung folgten verschiedene Versuchs- und E.xtrafahrten. Die Maschinen
erreichten die Anforderungen gemäss dem Pflichtenheft. Technische Probleme machten
sich im Regeldienst bemerkbar.
Bemängelt wurde immer wieder die schwache elektrische Bremse. Diese wurde wie im
Pflichtenheft verlangt «nur» für das Abbremsen des Eigengewichtes und einer Last von
maximal 300 t im Gefälle von bis zu 20 ‰ ausgelegt. Für die S.erienproduktion wurde
die elektrische Bremse weiterentwickelt.
Die beiden P.rototypen versahen vorerst R.egeldienste in einem Zweitagesprogramm auf
der G.otthardbahn zwischen L.uzern und C.hiasso. Sie wurden im D.epot E.rstfeld
stationiert.
Wiederholt waren einzelne Fahrmotoren defekt. Da keine Ersatzmotoren beschafft
worden waren, erhielten die betroffenen Lokomotiven vorübergehend einen Ballast,
damit das Dienstgewicht noch stimmte.
Sie mussten aber vom G.otthard abgezogen werden und wurden anstelle von Ae 3./.6 I
und Ae 4./.7-Lokomotiven in anderen R.egeldiensten eingesetzt. Sie wurden früher als
die Ae 6/6 - S.erienlokomotiven vom G.otthard abgezogen, nämlich in den späten
Sechziger Jahren, als die in E.rstfeld stationierten SBB R.e 4./.4 I.I.I schon im Einsatz
waren.
Sie waren daher nicht selten auch vor R.egionalzügen anzutreffen, die sonst mit Ae 3./.6 I
oder Ae 4./.7 bespannt waren. In den Siebziger Jahren wurden sie technisch weiter-
entwickelt, erhielten aber nie die Q.ualität der S.erienlokomotiven.
Im S.ommer 1.9.8.0 wurden sie vom D.epot E.rstfeld nach Z.ürich versetzt. Die dortige
Depotinspektion beabsichtigte im J.anuar 1.9.9.7, die beiden Prototypen für Depotmanöver
und als Druckluftspender im D.epot R.orschach einzusetzen und somit aus dem Verkehr
zu ziehen.
Aufgrund ihrer besonderen Bauweise, die sie nur innerlich von den S.erienlokomotiven
unterscheidet, waren sie viel wartungsaufwendiger und im Betrieb gewissermassen ein
Hindernis.
Infolge des Triebfahrzeugmangels kamen sie aber innert kurzer Zeit wieder in den Regel-
dienst. Infolge der Zuteilung aller Ae 6/6-Lokomotiven zu SBB C.argo fiel die D.epot-
zuteilung weg.
Diese P.rototypen hatten Drehgestelle mit starren Achsen, was im Kurvenlauf zu starkem
Schienen- und Spurkranz-Verschleiß führte. Trotz anfänglicher technischer Mängel war
man bei den SBB der Überzeugung, mit der Entwicklung der Ae 6/6 auf dem richtigen
Weg zu sein.
Nach Einbau seitenelastisch gelagerter Radsätze und Verkleinerung des Spurkranzes
der mittleren Drehgestell - Räder konnte der Serienbau 1.9.5.4 eingeleitet werden, dem
1.9.5.5 die ersten Auslieferungen folgten.
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Betriebseinsatz bis in die 1.9.6.0 er - Jahre
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Zusammenfassung
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Zu den besten Zeiten, in den 1.9.5.0 er und 1.9.6.0 er Jahren, waren die Ae 6/6 die G.ott-
hardlokomotive schlechthin sowohl im R.eise- wie auch im G.üterverkehr.
Sie waren auch am S.implon im Einsatz. Sie wurden im Turnus dort eingesetzt, damit
die R.evision durch die H.auptwerkstätte B.ellinzona gesichert war. In den späten Sech-
zigerjahren wurden die beiden P.rototypen vom G.otthard abgezogen; später folgten
auch viele S.erienlokomotiven.
Sie wurden ins F.lachland versetzt, da neuere, leistungsfähigere Lokomotiven auf dem
G.otthard eingesetzt wurden. Seit den 1.9.9.0 er Jahren werden die Ae 6/6 fast nur noch
im G.üterverkehr eingesetzt, da sie für R.eisezüge heute zu langsam sind.
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Loktaufen
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Auch die E.xtrafahrten anlässlich der Loktaufen gehören zum Betriebseinsatz der Ae 6/6.
Man übernahm einen Brauch aus E.ngland, indem man die Lokomotiven mit K.antons- und
G.emeindewappen schmückte.
Das waren festliche Anlässe, und jeder Kanton erhielt «seine» eigene Ae 6/6. Die Fahr-
zeuge 1.1.4.2.6 bis 1.1.5.2.0 erhielten G.emeindewappen von K.antonshauptorten und von
wichtigen V.erkehrszentren.
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1.9.7.0 er – 1.9.9.0 er - Jahre
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Zusammenfassung
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In den 1.9.7.0 er - Jahren wurden die Prototypen 1.1.4.0.1 und 1.1.4.0.2 technisch weiter-
entwickelt.
Sie wurden im Jahr 1.9.7.8 vor allem der Lokomotive 1.1.4.1.4 angeglichen, erhielten
aber nie die Qualität der S.erienlokomotiven. 1.9.7.1 wurden die Ae 6/6 durch die neue
SBB R.e 4./.4 III auf der G.otthardstrecke etwas entlastet. Echte Konkurrenz bekamen
sie jedoch ab 1.9.7.5 durch die SBB Re 6./.6, die als ihr Nachfolge-Typ vorgesehen war
und beinahe die doppelte Leistung hat.
Der ehemalige Star des G.otthards wurde damit in niedergeordnete Dienste verdrängt
und seither meist im M.ittelland und im J.ura und seit Mitte der 1.9.9.0 er Jahre fast
nur noch im G.üterverkehr eingesetzt.
Dies, da er für den schnellen Reiseverkehr mit der von 125 km/h auf 120 km/h herab-
gesetzten Höchstgeschwindigkeit zu langsam ist.
Eine Ausnahme bildeten die von der B.L.S gemieteten einstigen G.otthardlokomotiven,
die zur Fahrt über den L.ötschberg sogar noch vor I.nterC.ity - Züge gespannt wurden.
Im Jahr 1.9.9.7 wollte die D.epotinspektion von Z.ürich die beiden P.rototypen aus dem
Verkehr ziehen und als Druckluftspender und für Depotmanöver im D.epot von R.orschach
einsetzen. Infolge des T.riebfahrzeugmangels kamen sie aber zurück in den R.egeldienst.
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Baukastensystem
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Die Serienlokomotiven 1.1.4.0.3 - 1.1.5.2.0 wurden nach dem sogenannten Baukasten-
system erstellt. Obwohl sie teils in schwere Unfälle verwickelt waren, konnten sie innert
kurzer Zeit wieder instandgestellt werden.
Da die P.rototyplokomotiven 1.1.4.0.1 und 1.1.4.0.2 verschiedentlich anders konstruiert
sind, konnten sie von diesem Baukastensystem nur wenig profitieren.
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Unfälle
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In der Nacht vom 29. auf den 30. J.uli 1.9.8.8 kollidierte die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.1.3, die den
G.üterzug 53048 zog, in E.ffingen mit einer B.aumaschine. Sie musste in der Folge
einer Hauptrevision unterzogen werden und war am 28. F.ebruar 1.9.8.9 wieder in Be-
trieb.
Am 12. A.pril 1.9.8.9 kam es in W.interthur zu einer Flankenfahrt zwischen der SBB
Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.1 und der SBB R.e 4./.4 II 1.1.2.8.7. Da für die Serienlokomotiven ein
ausreichendes Ersatzteillager angelegt wurde, konnten diese nach Unfällen innert
kurzer Zeit wieder instandgestellt werden. Da es sich diesmal um eine P.rototyp-
lokomotive handelte, erwies sich die Aufarbeitung als viel komplizierter.
Die Lokomotivabteilung der H.auptwerkstätte in B.ellinzona zeigte sich mit dem Ab-
bruch der Lokomotive einverstanden. Allerdings wehrten sich Eisenbahnfreunde für
den Erhalt dieser allerersten Ae 6/6-Lokomotive, so dass sie dennoch eine Haupt-
revision, eine R3, erhielt.
Es war die aufwendigste und teuerste Revision aller Zeiten. Im Jahr 1.9.9.1 wurde die
Ae 6/6 « T.icino » wieder in den R.egeldienst entlassen.
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K.antonslok J.ura
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Nach der Gründung des K.antons J.ura 1.9.7.9 sollte auch dieser Kanton seine eigene
" K.antonslok " bekommen. Da aber die letzte Ae 6/6 bereits 1.9.6.6 abgeliefert worden
war, stieg die S.tädtelok 1.1.4.8.3 P.orrentruy zur K.antonslok J.ura auf.
Sie erhielt zwar das K.antonswappen J.ura, aber nicht die C.hrom - Z.ierlinien und das
" S.chnäuzchen ". Das Wappen P.orrentruy erbte die SBB Re 4./.4 II 1.1.2.3.9.
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21. Jahrhundert
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1.9.9.9 wurden auf Grund der Restrukturierung bei den SBB alle 120 Lokomotiven in die
D.ivision G.üterverkehr ( SBB C.argo ) eingeteilt. Im G.üterverkehr ist die Ae 6/6 heute
weiterhin eine sehr zuverlässige Lokomotive.
Da die Ae 6/6 Drehgestelle mit je drei Achsen enthalten, haftet an ihnen der Makel von
« S.chienenmördern ». Der Unmut wurde besonders aufgrund von G.üterfahrten auf der
der C.hemins de fer du J.ura ( C.J ) gehörenden Strecke P.orrentruy – B.onfol laut.
Als grösster Nachteil der Ae 6/6 wird häufig die fehlende Vielfachsteuerung erwähnt.
Bisherige Pläne eines Umbaus wurden verworfen und aufgrund der ungewissen Rest-
lebensdauer auch nicht weiter verfolgt.
Für die jüngeren Lokomotiven wurde die Ausrüstung mit der F.ührerstandssignalisierung
( F.S.S ) erwogen, so dass diese auf F.S.S - Strecken fahren können, probehalber wurde
hierfür die 1.1.5.1.2 « H.orgen » umgerüstet.
Die noch betriebsfähigen S.erienloks sind heute vor N.ahgüterzügen anzutreffen, stehen
aber meist auf grossen R.angierbahnhöfen.
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W.appendiebstähle
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Unbekannte, bei denen es sich um Trophäenjäger handeln dürfte, verschafften sich im
Jahr 2.0.0.6 nachts Zugang zu den R.angierbahnhöfen und demontierten W.appen und
S.chweizerkreuze.
Um weitere Diebstähle zu verhindern, ordneten die SBB an, bei allen Ae 6/6-Lokomotiven
die W.appen zu entfernen und zu archivieren. Die Lokomotiven im neuen SBB C.argo-
D.esign erhielten neue Wappen jeweils beim F.ührerstand auf der linken Seite.
Voraussichtlich werden die Wappen nicht mehr montiert, sondern zusammen SBB
H.istoric übergeben. Im M.ärz 2.0.0.7 gab SBB C.argo bekannt, dass eine grössere An-
zahl von Ae 6/6 eine Neubemalung im sogenannten " Cargo - Look " erhalten und
noch mindestens bis zur Inbetriebnahme des G.otthard - B.asistunnels ( voraus-
sichtlich um 2.0.1.6 ) in Betrieb bleiben sollen
Die erste umlackierte Lokomotive ist - abgesehen von der Denkmallokomotive
Ae 610 4.9.2 - die Ae 610 4.8.6 " B.urgdorf ".
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Der Verbleib ausrangierter Lokomotiven
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Zusammenfassung
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2.0.0.2 wurde die erste Lokomotive dieser Serie, die 1.1.4.1.0 « B.asel - S.tadt » unfall-
bedingt ausrangiert und abgebrochen. Dies geschah, nachdem ihr bei einer F.lankenfahrt
in D.ietikon, die S.eitenwand aufgerissen wurde. Seither wurden mehrere Maschinen, da-
runter auch die P.rototypen 1.1.4.0.2 « U.ri » und 1.1.4.0.1 « T.icino » ausrangiert.
2.0.0.2 war die 1.1.4.0.1 « T.icino » kurz nach ihrem 50. Geburtstag zu Gast am Tag der
offenen Tür auf dem R.angierbahnhof M.uttenz. Nach einem K.abelbrand wurde sie am
11. S.eptember 2.0.0.3 ausrangiert.
Danach stand sie monatelang auf einem fahrdrahtlosen A.bstellgleis beim L.okomotivfried-
hof von B.iasca - anfänglich mit einigen andern Ae 6/6, die kurz darauf von der Ö.ffentlich-
keit unbemerkt abgebrochen wurden.
Dasselbe Schicksal ereilte die 1.1.4.3.3, die in B.ellinzona abgestellt war. In B.iasca
abgestellt war auch die 1.1.4.1.2, die im D.ezember 2.0.0.6 dem S.chrotthändler über-
geben wurde.
Das Schicksal ausrangierter Ae 6/6-Lokomotiven sorgt bei Eisenbahnfreunden regel-
mässig für Aufsehen.
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P.rototyplokomotive 1.1.4.0.1
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Zuletzt war nur noch die 1.1.4.0.1 « T.icino » in B.iasca abgestellt und mit R.adschuhen
gesichert. Sie gehört seit dem 12. J.uni 2.0.0.6 der SBB H.istoric, die sie seit dem
D.ezember 2.0.0.6 langfristig an den C.lub del S.an G.ottardo vermietet.
Eisenbahnfreunde machten geltend, dass an dieser und andern Ae 6/6-Lokomotiven
das S.chweizerkreuz und das K.antonswappen nicht mehr vorhanden waren. Gemäss
Angaben der SBB werden die demontierten Teile zusammen mit dem Fahrzeug dem
Käufer übergeben.
Im J.uli 2.0.0.7 wurde die « T.essiner Ae 6/6 » nach B.ellinzona überführt. Sie war dort
remisiert und man wollte mit der W.iederinstandstellung beginnen. Die Kosten erwiesen
sich aber als viel höher als budgetiert, und es erwies sich als schwierig, die richtigen
Ersatzteile zu erhalten.
Ausserdem machten sich Risse in den S.peichen bemerkbar. Seit dem 20. M.ai 2.0.1.0
befindet sich diese Lokomotive bei der S.chienenverkehrsgesellschaft S.tuttgart in H.orb
am N.eckar.
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Ae 6/6 an SBB H.istoric
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Der Stiftung Historisches Erbe der SBB ( SBB H.istoric ) wurde bereits die Ae 6/6
1.1.4.0.2 « U.ri » übergeben, die für das G.otthard - J.ubiläum 2.0.0.7 wieder mit
ihrem ursprünglichen, t.annengrünen Anstrich hergerichtet und danach im D.epot
E.rstfeld stationiert wurde.
Ebenfalls im Dienst von SBB H.istoric stehen die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.1.1 « Z.ug » ( Farbe
t.annengrün, S.tandort E.rstfeld ), 1.1.4.1.6 « G.larus » und 1.1.4.2.5 « G.enf» und
( beide mit der F.arbe r.ot und dem S.tandort O.lten), wobei die «G.larus» nicht
betriebsfähig ist und als E.rsatzteilspender dient.
Die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.5 « N.idwalden » wurde von SBB H.istoric ebenfalls als Ersatz-
teilspender übernommen und zunächst in O.lten abgestellt. Nach Ausbau noch
brauchbarer Teile für die Ae 6/6 « A.argau », die sich in der Obhut des Vereins
M.ikado befindet, wurde sie am 10. J.anuar 2.0.1.2 zum A.bbruch nach K.aiseraugst
überführt.
Im H.erbst 2.0.1.1 übernahm SBB H.istoric zudem die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.5.6 « O.lten ». Sie ist
in O.lten stationiert und soll im letzten Betriebszustand fahrfähig erhalten bleiben. Es
handelt sich derzeit ( Stand: J.uli 2.0.1.2 ) um die einzige S.tädtelokomotive im Bestand
der historischen Ae 6/6.
Zwei weitere Lokomotiven wurden als Leihgaben an verschiedene Vereinigungen abge-
treten.
Die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.7 « A.argau » wurde 2.0.0.9 von SBB Historic an den Verein « M.ikado
1.2.4.4 » als L.eihgabe abgegeben.
Die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.2.1 « G.raubünden » wurde von SBB Historic an den «Verein Erhalt
historische Elektrolokomotive Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.3 » als Leihgabe abgegeben. Der Wider-
spruch im V.ereinsnamen und der Loknummer ergibt sich daraus dass der V.erein
zuerst die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.3 « S.chwyz » übernehmen wollte, diese war jedoch nicht
reparierbar defekt, so dass man auf die 1.1.4.2.1 als Leihgabe Rückgriff genommen hat.
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D.enkmallokomotive bei E.rstfeld
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Ab dem H.erbst 2.0.0.6 stand anlässlich des 125-jährigen Jubiläums der G.otthardbahn
eine D.enkmallokomotive der Reihe Ae 6/6 mit zwei S.peisewagen und einem G.epäck-
wagen auf dem Areal der A.utobahnraststätte bei E.rstfeld.
Die S.peisewagen wurden nicht zweckentfremdet - sie waren ein Teil des Restaurants.
Zur selben Zeit wurden die Innenräume der R.aststätte in F.ahrtrichtung N.ord umgebaut.
Als die B.auarbeiten fertig waren, wurden die S.peisewagen, die normalerweise in I.nter-
c.ity-Z.ügen verkehren, durch G.üterwagen ersetzt.
Die ehemalige Ae 6/6 1.1.4.9.2 " E.mmen " wurde mit dem SBB C.argo - D.esign frisch
gestrichen und bekam die Bezeichnung Ae 610 4.9.2. Mit ihrem heutigen Aussehen ist
sie allerdings erst seit ihrer Wiederinbetriebnahme im R.egeldienst unterwegs. Die einst
geplante Umdesignierung infolge der Zuteilung aller Artgenossinnen zur Division Güter-
verkehr stieß in Kreisen von Eisenbahnfreunden auf Proteste. ( Eine h.ellgrüne Farbe war
vorgesehen.) Das neue D.enkmal wurde mit einer grossen B.ahnhofsuhr am 18. O.ktober
2.0.0.6 festlich eingeweiht. Unter den Festrednern waren auch der Urner Regierungsrat
I.sidor B.aumann, der Tessiner R.egierungsrat M.arco B.orradori und B.enedikt W.eibel,
der scheidende P.räsident der SBB - G.eneraldirektion.
Im H.erbst 2.0.0.7 wurde die Lokomotive von der A.utobahnraststätte abtransportiert und
auf der G.otthardbahn wieder aufgegleist. Bei der technischen Kontrolle wurden ge-
brochene Radsterne festgestellt. Der Schaden musste behoben werden, bevor die Lok
wieder in den Regeldienst kam.
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Verein 1.1.4.0.6 A.lpnachstad
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Der Verein 1.1.4.0.6 A.lpnachstad wollte die auf den K.anton O.bwalden getaufte Ae 6/6
1.1.4.0.6 als D.enkmallokomotive in A.lpnachstad erhalten. Der Verein hatte die Loko-
motive langfristig von SBB H.istoric gemietet.
Die Lokomotive wurde als nicht mehr betriebsfähig ausrangiert und als Ersatzteilspenderin
in der H.auptwerkstätte B.ellinzona ausgeschlachtet. Ihre Verschrottung war von den SBB
schon besiegelt, was vorläufig verhindert wurde.
In der Nacht vom 14. auf den 15. D.ezember 2.0.0.6 wurde sie auf der S.trasse von
B.ellinzona nach A.lpnachstad transportiert. Nach langer, aber ergebnisloser Suche
nach einem Standort in A.lpnach wurde die Lok am 17. Juni 2.0.1.1 in E.nnetmoos bis
auf den F.ührerstand, welcher für ein späteres Projekt verwendet werden soll, abge-
brochen.
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D.enkmallokomotive im K.anton L.uzern
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Zwischen D.agmersellen und N.ebikon, auf dem A.real der G.alliker T.ransport AG, steht
seit dem F.ebruar 2.0.0.7 auf Initiative des S.eniorchefs Peter Galliker die Ae 6/6 1.1.4.1.8
in roter Farbe. Obwohl sie dem Kanton St. G.allen gewidmet war, erhielt sie ein neues
L.uzerner K.antonswappen. G.alliker, ein Stammkunde von SBB C.argo, hatte die dem
Abbruch geweihte Maschine in B.ellinzona entdeckt und ihr so ein neues Zuhause ge-
geben.
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Denkmallokomotive im V.erkehrshaus
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Das V.erkehrshaus Schweiz hat von SBB Cargo die Ae 6/6 « S.chaffhausen » erworben
und stellt diese von Zeit zu Zeit im V.erkehrshaus aus.
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L.oksimulater bei der " C.hemins de fer du K.aeserberg "
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Der F.ührerstand der K.antonslokomotive Ae 6/6 1.1.4.0.9 mit W.appen des K.antons
B.aselland steht im Haus der " C.hemins de fer du K.aeserberg " im F.reiburger V.orort
G.ranges - P.accot im K.anton F.reiburg in der Schweiz
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( BeschriebAe6/6 AlbumSBBAe6/6Lokomotive AlbumBahnenderSchweiz Ae6/6 Ae610
Ae 6/6 610 Schweizerische Bundesbahn Bundesbahnen Eisenbahn Lokomotive Lok
SBB CFF FFS SLM Zug Train Juna Zoug Trainen Tog Tren Поезд Lokomotive Паровоз
Locomotora Lok Lokomotiv Locomotief Locomotiva Locomotive Eisenbahn Railway
Rautatie chemin de fer Ferrovia 鉄道 Spoorweg Железнодорожный Centralstation
Ferroviaria Schweiz Suisse Switzerland Svizzera Suissa Swiss Sveitsi Sviss スイス
Zwitserland Sveits Szwajcaria Suíça Suiza )
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V.elot.our durch`s G.rosse M.oos am Dienstag den 26. Juli 2011
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Mit dem Z.ug von B.ern nach K.erzers
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Mit dem F.ahrr.ad durch`s G.rosse M.oos
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Mit dem Z.ug von K.erzers zurück nach B.ern
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Hurni110726 AlbumZZZZ110726V.elot.ourM.oos KantonBern BernerSeeland AlbumBahnenDerSchweiz AlbumBahnLinieBN AlbumZügeImF.ernsteuerb.ezirkB.ernB.ümplizN.ord
E - Mail : chrigu.hurni@bluemail.ch
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Letzte Aktualisierung - Ergänzung des Textes : 261223
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NIF