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Rye Field 1/35 Panther Ausf F - What If Scheme


robw_uk

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OK, so have, in the past built Panzers i-IV so now for a V. Decided on the RFM Panther Ausf F as I wanted to use the night vision on a what-if Super Pershing at some point. Not 100% certain how this will  end up. It WILL be what-if paint (like the amusing hobby Jagdpanther II scheme (dunkelgelb with white angled stripes) but may do some of it in factory undercoat with white markings. I will also look at additional armour (a least the usual panther stuff on the wheels, maybe also anti air screens and possibly even on the turret.....

 

so this will be the first of 2 (the Super Pershing will be the second) 1946/7 what if where Allies + Germany were facing the unstoppable USSR who continued to fight at the end of the war....

 

IMG-20220122-161121.jpg

 

so far the 2 sides done

 

IMG-20220122-172657.jpg

Edited by robw_uk
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  • robw_uk changed the title to Rye Field 1/35 Panther Ausf F - What If Scheme
4 minutes ago, Pig of the Week said:

Interesting idea ! Be good to see this evolve.

I'd conjecture that if it did happen the allied German forces would have been issued with US equipment and vehicles if the WW2  2.0 conflict became protracted, just a thought.

i did consider this BUT wonder if there was a thought that the Panther had its place (yes I know complex, high maintenance etc)... one thing I cant square would be recognition - add star (so all allied irrespective of country had them 1944+) or just go with german cross....

 

and I have tried Mr Surfacer 500 to simulate cast texture... not 100% certain it looks goof but its scrap plastic...

 

IMG-20220124-105001.jpg

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I'd think they'd stick an allied white star on vehicles tbh, and the german forces would be kind of absorbed into the allied command and common supply structure.

That said it would be tempting to utilise much of the existing German equipment, particularly weapons, as it was already there in large numbers and the German troops were trained and very familiar with it. 

On the down side there is the problem of spares shortages and repair of German vehicles. USA was geared up to churn out large numbers of vehicles and weapons by this time, tho of course you need to get them there!

The allies did in fact leave some German units armed and in place for quite some time to use as an auxiliary police type thing etc.

...This whole thing is a fascinating "what if" !

Edited by Pig of the Week
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2 hours ago, robw_uk said:

i did consider this BUT wonder if there was a thought that the Panther had its place (yes I know complex, high maintenance etc)... one thing I cant square would be recognition - add star (so all allied irrespective of country had them 1944+) or just go with german cross....

 

and I have tried Mr Surfacer 500 to simulate cast texture... not 100% certain it looks goof but its scrap plastic...

 

IMG-20220124-105001.jpg

For reproducing cast metal this way of stippling Mr Surfacer looks quite effective, paint it though before you proceed to establish its the look you want to achieve.   

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31 minutes ago, Jack Klugman said:

For reproducing cast metal this way of stippling Mr Surfacer looks quite effective, paint it though before you proceed to establish its the look you want to achieve.   

yes, thats the next step - will be added to mass gloss coat & primer session planned for the weekend

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3 hours ago, Pig of the Week said:

I'd conjecture that if it did happen the allied German forces would have been issued with US equipment and vehicles if the WW2  2.0 conflict became protracted, just a thought.

I wonder if the allied German forces would want to hang on to their 88s as long as they could. Countering the range of IS-2s and 3s, Su-100s and ISU-152s might have concentrated minds in that direction - unless everyone got 90mm Pershings.

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50 minutes ago, echen said:

I wonder if the allied German forces would want to hang on to their 88s as long as they could. Countering the range of IS-2s and 3s, Su-100s and ISU-152s might have concentrated minds in that direction - unless everyone got 90mm Pershings.

or with the Ausf F the very very very long 100mm (not that that is version I am doing - doing the shorter barrel)

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1 hour ago, echen said:

allied German forces would want to hang on to their 88s

That said tho' - I've read accounts of allied tankers who'd duck and hide at the mention of a number 88 bus, such was the trauma they'd experienced at the hands of 88mm gun users!

Perhaps issuing allied equipment might have been the better option.

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1 hour ago, echen said:

I wonder if the allied German forces would want to hang on to their 88s as long as they could. Countering the range of IS-2s and 3s, Su-100s and ISU-152s might have concentrated minds in that direction - unless everyone got 90mm Pershings.

I'd think if the ammunition supply was available in good quantities the 88 would be well worth continuing with initially.

All this would depend on the timescale too, if it turned nasty with the rooskies very rapidly after german capitulation ( or whatever it would be deemed as) then there would be a need to use what's there on the ground right now.. If there was a period of uneasy calm before the storm, there may have been time to organise something with a bit more of a long term logistics strategy

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1 hour ago, echen said:

allied German forces would want to hang on to their 88s

That said tho' - I've read accounts of PTSD allied tankers who'd duck and hide at the mention of a number 88 bus, such was the trauma they'd experienced at the hands of 88mm gun users!

To their long lasting credit they carried on to the end but it might have been better to remove the reminders if 88s became allies.

Perhaps issuing allied equipment might have been the better option after all.

Perhaps B29s, Little Boys and Fat Men might get involved in an attempt to end things - but I can hardly believe I just said such an awful thing!

Better to  get Mr Churchill to talk to them. Better Jaw Jaw than War War - always. Enough is enough.

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I'm sure the nuke card would have been on the table at some point in all this, the soviets didn't have one at this stage so the allies had a big advantage right there.

In conventional terms the Russians had very large numbers of men and equipment in place and didn't mind throwing them in with little regard to losses as we've seen, kicking them out of their  newly conquered territory wouldn't be easy.

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6 minutes ago, Pig of the Week said:

and didn't mind throwing them in with little regard to losses as we've seen,

I think I recall reading somewhere that, partway through the proceedings, Stalin and his colleagues began to see the error of their ways as their supply of MG42 targets dwindled a little.

They learned that suicidal charges were better replaced by quiet infiltration, one of the valuable techniques they learned from the opposition.

It must have been somewhat disconcerting to be viewing the distant approach of enemy forces on their way in to attack only to find squads of heavily armed assault troops appearing from just outside the parapet of your trenches.

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I think it would have been mix and match or then again maybe not. A number of the German weapons systems were much more advanced but by the same token less reliable and the allied rationale tended to be mass production over effectiveness, eg the decision to mass produce Sherman’s rather than Pershings.

 

So I reckon you’d see two ( maybe three)  distinct trends, advanced German weapons systems geared up to US level production levels. So maybe the E series of tank chassis in US markings.

 

Existing allied weapons systems lend leased to their new allies. Mustangs or Thunderbolts in post nazi German markings.

 

Where there isn’t an overlap, continued use and production of existing types. Eg fighter development had diverged so much, with German design effectively devoted to point interceptors by the end of the war, whereas the Allies were focused on effective escort and ground attack.

 

Enough of the amateur historian, will follow along if I may.

 

 

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