RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Heres the next project.
Kind of a "what-if" kind of a "we will never know" build.

I have seen the Panther 'A' in the Littlefield collection which is now broken up. I asked the team of currators & others when I was there, what DO YOU guys think the odd fittings were for on the side of that Panther when it was recovered from Poland ??
The ones that you removed during the restoration.............

None would go 'on the record' but they were all unanimous.................Rocket mounts.

Now I am not good enough to replicate an 'A' model Panther, but with the 'G' being the most numerous and reliable, makes sense to build a late war Panther G which has had the 'Zu-Fuss' rocket delivery system fitted to it.

My plan is steel wheels, the Zu-Fuss rockets,turret roof and engine deck anti-aircraft armour, and maybe night vision hardware if I can get them in from overseas without drama.
I have the rockets, ordered them in September.
Was very privelidged to have them purchased by a client just out of Munich, and were to be hand delivered. The planned delivery did not happen however, so he graciously sent them DHL in time for xmas at his outlay of 45 EURO.

This time I want to use some sort of 'board' thingo that you guys all go on about (elmod, clark etc etc) but as I am no good with electronics, thats not set in stone.

So, cleaned up the space, poured a new drink, lets 'Git er done'

It would be called Panther wurfrahmen though, or even wurfrahmen Panther. 'Zu fuss' means 'on foot', which makes sense for the Stuka zu fuss, because it is a ground based delivery system for firepower normally beholden to the Stuka divebomber. Wurfrahmen means 'throwing framework', or 'a framework that throws', with 'throwing' to mean 'launching'.

Oh who am I kidding, Panther zu fuss is a cool name, and I'm quite curious to how this will turn out.

Youre 100% right mate, but I just liked the Zu- Fuss decription for the oddity that it could have been !
Normally associated with the SdKFz 251 series half tracks these rocket delivery systems were adapted onto many odd vehicles, a lot of them captured French machines, so odds are this set up might really have been used ?

From my google translator the Zu-Fuss term was indicative of the system (not in the air but on the ground/on foot) where the term 'Wurfrahmen' was the mechanism that the rockets were launched from ................the wooden or steel frome etc etc.

Anyway, lets just give it a wizz & see how it turns out, if only I could get the things to launch like nerf darts eh mate

Well, that's the difference between using google translate or actually (somewhat) speaking the language.

Anyways, yes, it's a very interesting concept and should be a very eyecatching vehicle.

Before Embarking on this adventure Grasshopper....you must take the walk of the Masters...strike a fire in your Bar B....get some coals burning red hot...and grasp the sides with your forearms

Neat Project Herman...

ALPHA

Eastern Front wrote:... if it were for rockets they would have removed the fenders, maybe even interfering with the tracks too...

I don't know what those mounts were for, but it's obvious that the Tiger ones are designed to hold something just far enough from the hull that it won't interfere with the side skirts or the tracks.
It's also obvious that the thing is heavy, or that strong forces are transmitted through it.

As for interfering with the turret rotation; I don't believe these rockets were typically fired in combat situations? But they were fired from some distance behind the front line. The turret would not normally be needed in such a location.

The missing object must have been large enough to touch the side skirts, therefore at a minimum 200mm long. Or, since the side skirts were removable, then the real necessity was to avoid the tracks, and so the objects were at least 700mm long.

David

I like your thinking painless, can you imagine the chaos tanks equiped with either type of those rockets would cause if used against concentrated infantry or armour. OUCH, doesn't even bare thinking about the carnage they would cause.
Tankman

I believe that if David doesn't know, no one alive knows.

It's great watching you guys work, I learn new stuff every time I come on.

Really fun ideas for this build Herman. Following along,

Just asked my wife who is German the 'Wurfrahmen' literally means 'Throw Frame' .....Wur = throw ... Frahmen = Frame ( bildfrahmen is a picture frame , bild = picture ....frahmen= frame )
This means that the Picture attached by Herman is a real mish-mash of words...
With Wurfrahmen Launcher Bracket not really making good sense.... as Throw Frame Launcher Bracket....The joys of 'mixing and matching' languages

Dietrich wrote:Wur = throw ... Frahmen = Frame

Wurf = throw, rahmen = frame.