SOL Model Corp. has two new releases aimed at Tamiya Schwimmwagen.
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/gebirgsflak-auf-schwimmwagen-conversion-wheels
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/gebirgsflak-auf-schwimmwagen-conversion-wheels
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Very interesting.
The Germans would mount a gun on a cat if they could lol
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That gun on the poor little Schwimmwagen would only leave about 165 pounds for the driver, ammo and any other equipment …
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Seems like a waste of the water-fording capability.
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I don’t think it was actually a real vehicle. There is the one pic below circulating the web, but most believe it is a fake due to the weight of the gun and the Schimmy not being able to handle the recoil of it.
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It really would need to be a bit further forward, but that would make it very cramped for the driver. There are other suspension issues that need to be addressed as well.
I owned a 1969 VW bus but based on the Beetles I’ve been around and a few Things I wouldn’t want something like that on my rear end while driving around.
And again; I’d sacrifice a Kübelwagen before ruining the propeller system on a perfectly good Schwimmwagen.
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Hi, the Gebirgsflak 38 was a lightweight weapon with only approximately 400 kg as the tripod is missing. Instead of a load of 4 people and some equipment, this should not really result in an overload for the vehicle.
Nevertheless I also have no real proof of the existence of that vehicle.
Gert
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Related info
https://www.customscale.de/customscale-modell-historie/35051-2cm-gebirgsflak-auf-schwimmk%C3%BCbel/
H.P.
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Remove the parts marked with red:
Build a platform inside and above the rear end of the Schwimmwagen.
The platform needs to be strong enough to handle the weight of the gun,
I would say somewhere around 250 kg (200 kg has been mentioned).
Add a 75 kg gunner. The platform must also handle the recoil forces
without breaking apart. I would guess at another 75 to 100 kg.
I still think the Schwimmwagen was overloaded.
If the suspension in that old photo had been compressed …
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Sounds like the experiment was not a success, the Schwimmwagen and the Kubel were too lightweight to provide a stable platform. I note the way even a Toyota Land Cruiser rocks on it’s suspension when a 14.5 or 23mm weapon is discharged (necessitating short bursts) the efficiency of the weapon is compromised even against ground targets, the situation with the Gebirgsflak in the AA role would be worse. I suspect the Schwimmwagen was deliberately deprived of it’s amphibious capacity because it would be prone to capsize if afloat, but its FWD capability would still make it a better land platform than the Kubel (that’s not much of a recommendation, though)…
Cheers,
M
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I could accept it as a way to transport the gun and then unload it for use.
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I would have to do some serious digging, as it’s been decades since I ran across the photos, but the smallest ‘car’ type vehicle I’ve seen with a 2cm Flak gun mounted like that was a Horch Kfz.15, which is a noticeably larger vehicle. The Schwimmwagen already has a high enough center of gravity that I’d be really hesitant about taking any turns at speed with a gun mounted that far up. Still, given the sort of panicky “put Flak on a motorized chassis” attitude the Reich had as WWII was coming down around their ears, I wouldn’t put it past someone to have done it as a one-off field mod, like the Beute-Flakpanzer T-34(r) modified from a Bergepanzer T-34(r) with a 2cm Flakvierling 38 by the field workshop of Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 in 1944.
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Hi again,
I also would agree, that it might has been a one-off field modification (if the photo is real).
Nevertheless, I like that combination as it is different and it triggers discussion. The kit from Customscale which also has been referenced above was created on my workbench and I like to see, that Sol has improved this with there 3D kit. However the weapon seems to sit a little bit too high when compared with the photo of the “real weapon”. 
GB
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