Inspired by the great E-50 Nito74 posted on a thread, and having mentioned the R1 missile on Panther II hull by Amusing Hobby, I thought it would be easier to just start another thread. If all goes well, I’ll upload some of the numerous German and Axis what if tanks I’ve made over the last few years, knowing full well that lots of people have these kits but many just don’t get built. So, kicking it off it’s the Rheintochter R-1 on Panther II chassis, Amusing Hobby 35A036(Rheintochter R-1 on Panther II chassis, Amusing Hobby 35A036 (2019))
It really was a great kit to build and went together seamlessly. Honestly, I didn’t g overboard with weathering because to me these vehicles would be kept under cover as much as possible given the very nature of carrying and firing a missile. As always, no airbrush was troubled in painting this model.
ModelCollect produce tanks that are in some cases the next step when compared to say the King Tiger, in others they’re simply way down the line and more akin to sci-fi. That said, they aren’t dull. So many turrets and hulls are mixed and matched that if you felt like it you could essentially take two kits and produce your own, as authentic as anything MC make.
Bit of a fan of paper panzers. Yours look really nice and they are just something a bit different … hope you dont mind, but i thought I could show my few I have done …
It would be a great thread to keep going for others to add theirs as well so we can all see them again as a lot of people have built them …
This is my take on the very fictional E100 chassis and production turret …
And that was the same Rheintochter as you did, but I put the launcher on an old King Tiger hull, and the Panther - so like yo usaid, it is so easy to mix and match kits if you wanted to make your own version of a what if Panzer…
The more the merrier in my book, especially if they look as good as yours do. I was a bit miffed at my photos which rather muted the details and made the kits look rather vanilla. My bet is I didn’t have the camera on a high enough definition when I took the photos, I’d been taking some snaps for inclusion on an email and you are limited to the size. Your missile launcher reminded me of some of the the ModelCollect 1/72 kits which basically have all the tanks as one type of kit and then replace the turrets to have either V1 or other flying bomb/missile launchers. As you said, something a bit different. I have maybe 20 what if tanks built and all being well i should be able to photograph a few per week and it would be great if yourself and others can post photos of theirs too. Who knows, it might go on long enough for me to have got round to building the 1/72 P1000 Ratte thousand tonne tank. If building were as quick as all that I’d have the Ratte built and the 1/72 Dora rail gun built and displayed. What did the man say, I have a dream…
Excellent… Look forward to any others that post some images here …these type of threads are great if you get the interest going as people can just keep adding to it as and when… Great thread idea … And I definitely have another E100 super heavy tank planned …
I’m trying to count up mentally how many E-0100 and variants thereof I’ve built and so far I think it is six, all the way from the box turret Trumpeter to the two gun turreted by ModelCollect and various other kinds. No, wait, i think it might be seven with an eighth building, (the one building is what I call the Stug E-100 with the little turret on the top off its massive structure.
Be great to see them. Like I said, I am after another E100 SuperHeavy, the 88mm twin E100 turreted Flak Panzer and an E100 128mm Flak 40 Zwilling or the single turreted version that I did in 1/72 ages ago
Just a couple of notes about this kit if you are thinking about it as one of the E-100.
Firstly the negative points. For a 100 ton tank, the track and wheels supporting the tank don’t feel enough. I know it is a what if… tank but it should at least feel like it could be built and fielded. Also, the lack of and skirts or track guard is odd when you consider all other similar tanks of weight and size. However, what you do get is a turret unlike anything else, and for me the best point of this kit, the main armament is two metal gun barrels, which isn’t mentioned on any listing or even on the box. Recently, ModdelCollect issued an E-60 using the same huge turret. To me it felt even less possible until the box arrived this week and you find that the two metal barrels have been replaced by two much shorter metal barrels. I suppose it depends on suspending disbelief and just enjoying the models as they are.
Personally I think what-ifs are a hoot, allowing one’s imagination to go wild. I lean towards things that would have actually worked, and seeing some German examples with 120mm guns in tiny turrets puts me off a bit. My own what-ifs are usually more modern but I still get a kick out of doing them.
I know what you mean, and some of the designs are very out there, not to mention unrealistic. But since a lot of modellers are happy to build a lot of sci-fi models, from films or whatever, and none of them are close to realism, I have to say I don’t mind either way. Like you said, it’s about enjoying the hobby.
Modelcollect bolloxed it, which is difficult as the hull and suspension weren’t just paper but actual steel…
So were the hull side modules, and the Maus turret intended for the prototype at least. Modelcollect seem to think it had torsion bar suspension whereas it used coil springs and the innermost wheel on each two-wheel bogie should be forward, not to the rear.
I have to say it isn’t their finest, but rather like when Trumpeter took the inspiration for one of their E-100 from a model someone had scratch built and posted photos of on the net, sometimes manufacturers of this sort of kit seem to say, what the hell, lets just put a kit out there that’s just this side of bonkers and see if people buy it. I bought it, built it and enjoyed it, regardless of how unrealistic it is. But then, I’ve also bought some of what I like to politely call their tanks on legs, which are thoroughly insane but look simply awesome. A couple of months ago, after looking since it first came out, I picked up the six legged E-100 Wotan version, which has a huge turret. One day I’ll have that built with other 1/72 Fist of War kits and the P1000 Ratte and it will have nothing to do with reality any more than my Star Wars or Star Trek kits do. Just fun to build.
Some What if…paper panzers are more made up than others. The next two models are certainly flights of fancy, but nice models, so you pay your money, you makes your choice. First, the widely commented upon Trumpeter E-100, (fake turret version) whose inspiration was a very talent kit makers scratch built turret of what he thought would be a great looking turret for the E-100. I would recommend anyone to google it to see exactly what can happen if you simply post a few photos on the net. This model has yet to be weathered fully, or maybe in What if world it has just been painted.
…and then the ModelCollect E-100. Basically, this model is plain bonkers, and making it felt great, because if the folks manufacturing the model don’t give a fig about reality, why not go with it? Yes, it would have had a narrow track, yes, only two rows of relatively narrow wheels, two huge guns in a relatively small, certainly low, turret, a whopping gap between track and…I could go on but you get my drift. But I did enjoy the build and isn’t that the point? As mentioned previously, both gun barrels are fully metal, and for the price that’s a great incentive. I will say though, mine are glued in a stationary position, the two of them were tough to have movable and no constantly droop, (insert your own comment there, your choice). I also added, courtesy of a Panther I was making at the same time, (I routinely make eight to ten kits at once, saves on painting and cleaning, etc) a hull mounted machine gun position, which weirdly most E-50 to E-100 models lack. Anyway, for you to all wonder at, the ModelCollect E-100.
Both great builds Steven.
The top E100 Super Heavy from Trumpy is my favourite design… Just love the turret on it.
The modelcollect one is so bat S***e crazy you have to love it… The list of faults making it impossible to use effectively would be such a long one lol…
The turret shape is nice though… Just a shame about the twin main armament 128mm lol …
Saying it would be a cramped turret inside is an understatement… And it would probably have enough room to carry about 10 rounds of ammo… Total lol …
Like you say though and I fully agree with… They are just fun builds …
I do like the what I call traditional box shaped turreted E-100 most, I think more of less the same by Trumpeter and Amusing Hobby but there are so many variants it becomes essentially a competition of what can we put onto the top of the hull now. I think the box turret and the old Drago turret are the nearest to reality though.
I should add about the ModelCollect E-100 turret, they reuse it on their latest E-60 tank kit, the sole difference being the length of the barrels. Yes, still metal, but maybe a third or less of the length, sort of a Stug version.
I completely concur; I haven’t gotten around to tackling the What-Ifs I’m keen to do, but it’s the fun aspect I’m looking forward to. I’m very impressed with the standard shown - and others - all inspirational. I alos like the sort of technological arguments and I see that a double barrelled 128 Flak would hardly fit inside any of the turrets depicted, but arguing that also promises some fun I think!
Oh, it would be a struggle to fit one 128mm gun into any of the turrets, let alone two. I have the fixed emplacement Flak 40 twin gun kits to build and it looks huge, squeezing all that into a turret, well, good luck mounting that on anything that weighed one hundred tonnes. That said, I may be wrong but I think this kit, which I bought a few months ago after a long search, and resisting spending £70 on, (I managed to find it for a bit less than £40) has a twin 128mm double gun turret. It is of course an open turret, (not the most noteworthy aspect of the E-100 walking tank which has six legs, a hatch with steps in the belly to allow ingress and egress, and two twin anti-aircraft/anti-infantry auxiliary turrets mounted on it).German Sonder Panzerkampfwagen E-100 Ausf. K "Wotan", Modelcollect UA72159 (2018)
So maybe if they produced an E-100 with that turret, would it be more reasonable? Then it would be spot the E-100 you could take out with a long range small calibre mortar.
When I started this thread, I’d guessed maybe I’d made twenty or so paper panzers, but after looking at the shelves I’m thinking thirty or more, maybe even more than forty, so yes, a few more to go
Today’s wacky racers are very different. First a 1/35 ModelCollect E-60. This one is technically still on the blocks for some more weathering, but since I do that when I feel like it and get on with other builds in between, that could be a while off yet. Anyway, here we go;
