Hello everybody, I recently have finished the final steps on my Tamiya 7/1 halftrack, with the quad 20mm AA gun on the back. I wanted to include some camo netting on the gun, made out of some cheese cloth, but I am not sure how/where to place it? If anybody knows how these nets were placed on the vehicles, I would like to know so my net can look accurate and realistic.
Is it ready for action or during transport?
Its in the action position, but I was thinking of putting it in a diorama with the crew taking a break, but have the gun ready incase of an attack.
If they look on break, waiting for action, I would put the camo net over the seats and shields, to avoid air detection. I would not insert the barrels in, or put the net over the barrel, easier and faster to remove the net when action is comming. My [2c]
If this is the gun I am using:
Would this be a correct way to place the net?
It is covering the sheilds, and the seats, but doesnt really cover the barrels.
That looks nicely weathered. A bit blurry to make out details though.
Looks good, but I wouln’t roll it on itself on the barels, I would try to extand it on the halftrack. It breaks the silhouette [;)]
The blurryness is just because I was taking a quick test picture of it. So you think that I could extend the net over the barrels and onto the halftrack itself? That sounds like it would look better than being stopped at the barrels. Also, does anybody know what color this netting would be if it was used in the winter?
It all depends up on the scene you want to depict . Say the troops are on a road move and had a short halt , the camnets would probably be stowed , or perhaps hung covering the exposed side of the vehicle with the vehicle pulled into a treeline. If the vehicle was on the front , camnets would be drapped over the vehicle , ( depending on the duration in place )but allowing the primary weapons system to go into action in a moments notice . If the crew is in a position for a short time , the camnets should be ready to come down in an instant. Some crews , I for one , have added old camnets , permanently covering the vehicle , like the turret , main gun and hull front, to break up the outline some what when on the move . And well trained crews near the front when taking a break , or enjoying a lull in the fighting, leave minimal kit laying about , if it ain’t being used put it away. Normally while the rest of the crew is " brewing up" ,one or two guys are on sentry , radio watch, etc. But in a diorama like yours the possibilities are endless. I hope this helps , and happy modelling . Keep us posted on your progress !
Frank
" PERSEVERANCE "
MG42: your question intrigued me because I wasn’t sure that I had ever seen German AFVs or vehicles using camouflage nets. I’ve seen them over installations (artillery, pillboxes, hardpoints) but I don’t recall ever seeing any being normal equipment with AFVs or softskins. It’s clear that they used foliage very frequently.
May i suggest that you investigate this further to see how accurate it was at all?
Also, when camo netting was used, it was propped up by poles or branches – off of the equipment. Otherwise, it would easily get caught in some fitting and limit the ability to bring to bear that piece of equipment. Finally, I know of no nation who used a winter camo netting in WW2.
My two cents. HTH RC
Roy, have a cup of coffee and maybe reconsider your statement. [;)]
Surely you have seen camo nets on German vehicles. Granted, they are not that common, especially compared to photos of foliage on vehicles. I doubt they were actually issued to each and every vehicle, (if any at all), but they did use them;
I have a lot of photos of SdKfz 7/1s, none of them have camo netting on them, but most of them have foliage attached to the gun shield by means of wires strung in web-like fashion across the gun shield.
About the accuracy of the germans using the camo nets, I know that I have seen a couple pictures of tanks with the camo nets on them. One is in a book I have called Panzer Tactics, and the book even shows an old part of a training manual instructing crews how to disguise thier vehicles, and using camo netting or branches is listed. Also, I have seen a couple models built showing camo nets being stored on the sides of vehicles, so I thought that these crews must use them sometime if they have them stored. I think it was biffa on this forum that built a demag halftrack and put a camo net rolled up on the back, and he also built some type of marder in a winter whitewash with a camo net stored on the side. I searched and found this thread with a camo net used, also on a demag, very similar to what I was planing to do on my halftrack: /forums/364856/ShowPost.aspx The reason I didnt want to use branches is because these are very hard to do in a convincing scale on a 1/35 vehicle, and I dont have the funds right now to buy pre-made branches and leaves. But if I do use the net, I wasnt sure if I would place it on poles that went over the halftrack, or just place it onto the vehicle itself, because I thought they would have just thown on the camo net before they started their break. And I have no idea what color the net would be if it was used in the winter, mayby brown and white? I have the crew figures for the half track, but I would need to modify them a bit to make the look in relaxed positions. Also, I just recieved the dragon king tiger for christmas, so I have 8 figures in various relaxed/smoking positions, and I think I can mix them with the crew figures for my diorama. *Thank you kykeon, I was typing this post when you posted, but thanks again for the pictures, they gave me some ideas for my camo net.
Kykeon: I stand corrected! Thnx for those pics.
Roy, I’m sure you have probably seen most of the photos before, it must have just slipped your mind at the time. My mind is like a steel trap, too bad it’s rusted and unusable…[:-^]
After a rather thorough search of my main reference books, I have found but one photo of a SdKfz 7/1 with a camo net, unfortunately, it isn’t wearing it, it is stowed on the ammo trailer;
Notice the wires attached to the gun shield for adding branches and other foliage. This is the most common method of camouflaging the gun itself. The netting is more likely to be just thrown over the vehicle to break-up it’s outline and not put on the gun itself. The crew would not want the netting to become tangled around the gun or to interfere with it’s immediate operation in any way. I have several photos of the guns firing with a lot of foliage attached to the gun, but none with any netting attached.