Panzer Aces GB January 2007 to May 31, 2008

Modeling Subjects Group Builds
1

After discussing this in the Armor forums there seems to be a lot of interest in a very deep Panzer Aces Group build. I think most of us are chomping at the bit to get started, so if you’re ready, feel free to start now. [tup] I’ll be updating this post frequently over the next couple of weeks as we shape and mold it into something I think you’ll all really enjoy.

We’re going to focus on “Panzer Aces” (and will do something similar but with an Allied slant later in 2007). I’m hoping this GB will go much deeper than the usualy GB as we focus in on very specific tanks, men and units. We will need to rely upon each other and others and it should be very enjoyable to those of you who not only enjoy the subject matter but also love the research that goes along with our model building.

I’m looking at doing a 1/35 Nashorn commanded by Alber Ernst and will probably do his JagdTiger as well if I can get enough information.

Again, this first page will change a lot over the next couple of weeks so be sure to check it often. When I make a significant change or addition, I will also point it on in a new post so you won’t have to keep checking this page to see what changed.

I’ve started up a list of Suggested reading and reference books so if you know any good ones, let me know and I add them.

If you’re interested in joining or would like to help out post away my friends.

Special thanks to Hermesminiatures for contributing his extensive research and knowledge on this subject matter. [^]

Pretty much anything goes in this GB, feel free to build straight out of the box, or aftermarket goodies, PE, kitbashing. The key is to make a specific tank crewed by a Panzer Ace, that is about the only real rule to speak of.

Build Dates:

January 2007 to May 31, 2008

Roster:

espins1 Dragon 1/35 JagdTiger 519th Schwere Panzer Abteilung - Albert Ernst
Hermesminiatures Jagdpanther - Hauptmann Freidrich Luders
Hermasminiatures JagdTiger - Otto Carius
Gun Tech Dragon 1/35 Sdkfz 251 Ausf C w/3.7cm Pak SS - Obersturmfuhrer Werner Wolff
SgtBrown Tamiya 1/35 Tiger I Mid production -Oberleutnant - Otto Carius
The Postman Tiger II - Karl Mobius
Redd-34 Tiger I early Leningrad Offensive - Johannes Hans Bolter
Plastic_Cross Dragon 1/35 Hornisse -Albert Ernst
Comet Dragon 234/2 Puma - Gerd Bremer
Comet Dragon 1/35 JagdPanther - Harmann Bix
Lethal19 Panther Ausf. A Karl Nicolussi 5th SS Wiking
psychoblue23 Dragon 1/35 Panther Ausf. D - TBD
bufflehead Dragon 1/35 King Tiger (H) - Leutnant Freiherr von Rosen #300
bobbaily Tamiya 1/48 Tiger I Early Kerscher
Mius43 Either Panther Ausf. D or Panther Ausf. G - deciding
Jmcmenamin King Tiger Henschel - Jochen Peiper
Assurgeant Tiger I mid or late
osjohnm Tamiya 1/35 Tiger I mid #217 Otto Carrius
saddler Dragon 1/72 Tiger I late #134 Will Fey
jagdpanther302 Tiger 1 mid - Kurt Knispel
dupes King Tiger Henschel Sturmbannfuhrer Kurt Hartrampf, Bn Cdr, 502 SSPz.Abt 102(502)
Duke Maddog Panther A 1/72 LAH - Hans Malkommes Completed
chewybr AFV 1/35 Tiger 1 Late - Michael Wittman 007

GB Badge (Thank you Hermesminiatures [:)])

Recommended Reading

“Panzer Aces: German Tank Commanders in World War II” by Franz Kurowski, David Johnston More info

“Panzer Aces II: Battle Stories of German Tank Commanders in World War II” by Franz Kurowski, David Johnston More info

“Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander OttoCarius” by Otto Carius and R.J. Edwards more info

Michael Wittman and others with LAH
Michael Wittman and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Liebstandarte in WWII Vol. 1 by Patrick Agte; Stackpole Books

Michael Wittman and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Liebstandarte in WWII Vol. 2 by Patrick Agte; Stackpole Books

Online references for the Aces

List of Panzer Aces and recipients of the Tank Destruction Badge
http://www.hotlinecy.com/NeatStuff/PanzerAces.pdf

Another Panzer Aces link
http://www.alanhamby.com/aces.html

Ernst Barkmann
http://www.geocities.com/alkantolga/panzerace/ernst.htm
http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891/pzpanther/pzpanther-inaction.html

Rudolf von Ribbentrop
http://www.angelfire.com/goth/bobtank/ribbentrop.html

Info about the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
http://www.panzerace.net/english/pz_oob.asp?page=5
http://www.answers.com/topic/101st-ss-heavy-panzer-detachment
http://web.telia.com/~u18313395/normandy/gerob/ghqpz/101pzabt.html

Two Panzer Aces are talked about here from Grossdeutschland (Panthers)
http://members.shaw.ca/grossdeutschland/panthers.htm

Reference Material
I have included hyperlinks for some of the books to Amazon and Squadron and other review sites, not that I’m endorsing any site, but just for ease of finding the books, and reading reviews about them so you can make informed decisions. [:)]

Squadron/Signal Publications:
Panther in Action #11
Sturmgeschutz III in Action #14
Sdkfz 251 in Action #21
Tiger in Action #27
Pzkfw III in Action #24
Pzkfw IV in Action #12

Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. G Walk Around #2

Tigers in Combat, Vol. 1 by Wolfgang Schneider. Excellent book covering Wermacht Tiger I and Tiger II units with hundreds of photos. Highly recommended!

Tigers in Combat, Vol. 2 by Wolfgang Schneider. Excellent continuation from vol. 1 covering Waffen SS and named Tiger I and Tiger II units with hundreds of photos. Highly recommended!

AJ Press Elefant Ferdinand vol. 1

Schiffer Elefant - JagdTiger - SturmTiger by Wolfgang Schneider

Tanks in Detail Panzer IV: PzKpfw Ausf A-J

Jagdtiger, The Most Powerful Armoured Fighting Vehicle of World War II - Volume I - Technical History - by Andrew Devey

Jagdtiger, The Most Powerful Armoured Fighting Vehicle of World War II - Volume II - Operational History - by Andrew Devey

Tigers at the Front by Thomas L. Jentz; Schiffer Publishing; ISBN 0-7643-0914-5 This book contains “in action” photos of Tigers on all fronts and has quite a few of the early Porsche Turret Tiger II. There are also field maintenance photos - turret removed, rear deck removed, etc.

Germany’s Panther Tank - The Quest for Combat Supremacy" This is the best reference book on the Panther I’ve come across by far. It’s comprehensive and includes all original research from original source documents and records, this avoiding the perpetuation of many of the common myths and mis-information regarding the Panther.

Nuts and Bolts #14 Nashorn - The best Nashorn reference book out there. Covers anything and everything about the Nashorn and the units that used them. Highly recommended.

Online Resources

Link to a Model Panzer Gallery that might be helpful:
http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/gallery_german.htm

Tiger Reference Sites:

http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_I
http://www.tiger-tank.com/
http://www.worldwar2aces.com/tiger-tank/tiger-tank.htm
http://www.panzerace.net/english/index.asp
http://www.tiger-tank.com/secure/journal.htm

Panther Reference Sites:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz4.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_tank
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/2833/heer/tank/pzv/pzv.html

Sturmgeschutz III Reference Sites:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/stug.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StuG_III

King Tiger Reference Sites:

http://www.worldwar2aces.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_II
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz5.htm

JagdTiger Reference Sites:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz12.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdtiger
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/tank_hunters/jagdtiger.html
http://www.battletanks.com/jadtiger.htm
http://www.nahverteidigungswaffe.de/index2.htm

Ferdinand / Elefant Reference Sites:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4635/tanks/elefant/elefant.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elefant

Hornisse / Nashorn Reference Sites:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashorn
http://www.answers.com/topic/nashorn

PzKpfw IV Reference Sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz3.htm
http://www.wargamer.com/Hosted/Panzer/panzer4a.htm
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/tanks_medium/pzkpfw_iv.html
http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/2833/heer/tank/pziv/pziv.html

PzKpfw III Reference Sites:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz8.htm
http://www.wargamer.com/Hosted/Panzer/panzer3a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_III
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/germany/tanks_medium/pzkpfw_iii.html

Jagdpanther Reference Sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdpanther
http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pz15.htm
http://www.wargamer.com/Hosted/Panzer/jagdp.htm
http://www.panzerworld.net/jagdpantheriwm.html
http://www.battletanks.com/jagdpanther.htm
http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/1997/05/stuff_eng_detail_jpanther.htm
http://www.jagdtiger.de/index2.htm

German Bundes Archives (in german)

http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aktuelles/aus_dem_archiv/galerie/index.html

My Aberdeen Photo Gallery
This is a link to the photos I took in the summer of 2006 at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Those of you building Elefants might be interested in the series of photos at the bottom of the page. http://www.espins.info/aberdeen.htm

2

Here is a list of Panzer aces and the vehicles they commanded. If you want to claim one, PM me and I’ll mark you down for it. Each different vehicle for each commander can be built, so for example, 4 people can build the various vehicles of Michael Wittmann. If you want to suggest an ace not on this list, PM me and I’ll add him. Also I will be updating this with turret numbers and etc., just not all at once. At the bottom will be a list of recommended kits.

I have posted the commander’s rank if I know it. If you spot an error or have some useful information, PM me and I’ll add it.

SS Haupstumfuhrer Michael Wittmann - 3 Tiger I’s, early, mid, late, StuG III Ausf A

Oberleutnant Otto Carius - Tiger I Early (SgtBrown), Tiger I mid, Jagdtiger (Hermesminiatures)

Kurt Knispel - Tiger I

Walter Schroif - Tiger I

Hans Bolter - Panzer III, Tiger I (redd_34)

Uscha Oberhaber - Tiger I

Paul Egger - Tiger I

Oberwachtmeister Hugo Primozic - StuG III Ausf B, F, G

SS Oberscharfuhrer Ernst Barkmann - Panther D Kursk(Phsycoblue23), Panther A Normandy(Lethal19), Panther G Ardennes/Berlin

Hauptmann Freidrich Luders - Jagdpanther (Hermesminiatures)

Arno Geisen - Tiger I

Heinz Rohndorf - Tiger I

Albert Kerscher - Tiger I

SS Haupsturmfuhrer Bobby Woll - Tiger I (Previously Wittmann’s gunner)

SS-Hauptsturmführer Rolf “Karl” Möbius - Company Commander, 1st Company, 101st (Heavy) SS Panzer Battalion (schwere SS Pz.Abt. 101)****(the Postman)

Will Fey - Tiger I

SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Max Wunsche - Panther D, G late

SS Standartenfuhrer Jochen Peiper - StuG III B, SdKfz 251 Ausf C Command, King Tiger Henschel

SS Obersturmfuhrer Werner Wolff, Sdkfz 251 Ausf C w/ 3.7 cm PaK (Gun Tech), Panzer IV ausf J

Karl Bromann - Tiger I

SS Sturmbannfuhrer Jupp Deifenthal - SdKfz 251 Ausf C, Panzer IV, King Tiger

SS Haupsturmfuhrer Heinz Kling - Tiger I

Generalmajor Dr. Franz Bake, Panzer III, Panther

SS Sturmbannfuhrer Hubert-Erwin Meierdress - StuG III B, Panzer III, Panzer IV, Panther

Oberfeldwebel Hermann Bix, Panzer III, Panther, Jagdpanther (Comet)

SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Heinz Von Westernhagen - Tiger I

Alfred Rubbel - Tiger I

Bobby Warmbrunn - Tiger I

SS Unterscharfuhrer Franz Staudegger - Tiger I

SS Hauptscharfuhrer Kurt Sametrieter - StuG III F, G

Leutnant Albert Ernst - Hornisse (Plastic_Cross), Nashorn, Henschel Jagdtiger (espins1)

Heinz Mausberg - Tiger I

SS Untersturmfuhrer Fritz Langanke - Panther D, G early & late

SS Standartenfuhrer Leon Degrelle - Infantry private> Panzer IV commander> General

Hauptmann Walter Scherf - King Tiger, commander sPzAbt 503

Leutnant Freiherr Von Rosen - King Tiger, Porsche Normandy, Henschel later (Bufflehead)

Hauptmann Johann Speilmann - StuG III A, F, Ferdinand Elefant

Major Peter Frantz - StuG III A, B, G

Hauptmann Bodo Spranz, Infantry panzerknacker > StuG III C > StuG IV late

Major Gottfried Gleisser - StuG III A, B, F, G

SS Haupsturmfuhrer Rudolph Von Ribbentrop - Panzer IV Ausf C, H

SS Sturmbannfuhrer Gerd Bremer - SdKfz 251/9 Stummel, SdKfz 234/2 Puma (Comet)

Most of the above are Knight’s Cross winners.

Recommended kits: (These are just recommendations, feel free to use whatever kit you want)

Tiger I

Dragon Late production, kit #6253. Includes all sorts of PE and such.

Dragon Early Production kit #6259. 1st production run is over and lots of eBay sellers are listing it as OOP. However we should be seeing a 2nd production run soon like with all Dragon kits. Includes a whole bunch of goodies like #6253.

Tamiya Mid Production, kit 35194 or Otto Carius version, 35202. The only difference that the Otto Carius issue is more expensive and has a trashy set of figures that look nothing like Carius and his crew.

Panther

Ausf A: Dragon 6160, 6168 and the close to release 6358 premium edition.

Ausf D: Dragon 6164 or the new Premium edition 6299.

Ausf G: Tamiya 35160, 35174, 35176. Dragon 9046, 6268.

StuG III

A/B: Dragon 9031, 6008, Tamiya 35281
C/D: Dragon 6009
F: Dragon 6033, 9013
G: Dragon 6320, 9014, 9058(105mm), Tamiya 35197

StuG IV

Dragon 6043, 6107, 9038

King Tiger

Porsche: Dragon 6189, 6312, Tamiya 35169

Henschel: Dragon 6208, 6209, 6254, Tamiya 35164

Ferdinand Elefant

Dragon 6126, 6311

SdKfz 251

Ausf C: Dragon 6187, 6206, 6246

Ausf D /9 “Stummel” Tamiya 35147, AFV Club 35068

Ausf C with 3.7cm PaK36 Dragon 6284

SdKfz 234/2 Puma

Dragon 6256

Last but not least Panzer IV

Dragon 6080, 6301, 6265, 6291

Tamiya 35181, 35209

Hopefully I made less than five spelling errors…oh well, I learned to write in English, not German.

[xx(]

3

I would like to build this Ace’s vehicle:

SS Obersturmfuhrer Werner Wolff, Sdkfz 251 Ausf C w/ 3.7 cm PaK The Dragon kit

But I will require some info [;)]

4

Wolff was commanding the 13th Company of Peiper’s “Blowtorch battalion” at the battle of kursk, so his halftrack would most likely have been dark yellow with narrow green stripe camo like the rest of the company’s halftracks. Fortunately these half tracks don’t seem to have had any markings other than the iron cross and a blowtorch painted in white on the frontal armor, so you don’t have to worry about a number.

Some of blowtorch battalion’s halftracks at Kursk: (actually I think this is a while before Kirsk because all the men are wearin winter gear)

5

How 'bout a logo?

Paste this image into your signature, or put it in your animated GIF of GB’s.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p90/J_Hermes/pzace_gb_logo-1.jpg

6

Nice logo [:)] I like it! Souldn’t it say 07-08 though?

7

Duh.

Will fix.

8

[tup] [8D]

9

Hey Scott… I hope you like that one for the GB Badge cause I do [;)]

10

Hermes, what great info!!!

I need to think about which one I want to do now… hmm.

11

PM’d you on Oberleutnant Otto Carius - Tiger I. Sign me up!! Now to find a great kit. Any recommendations, including aftermarket additions?

12

Put you down for Otto Carius’ Tiger.

I would say the best kit is Tamiya 35194. Academy’s mid Tiger has an interior, but they really cut some corners to make the early release into a mid. So I would go with the Tamyia kit unless you want to be doing major surgery.

Details:

Eduard 35624(exterior) and 35518(interior) or Voyager 35072

13

Wow! I really like the badge! It’s perfect! [8D]

Hermesminiatures, thank you very much for putting that list together, that’s a lot of research there! Exactly the kind of stuff we need with this GB. Looks like we’re all on the same wavelength here.

I should be able to stay on top of this thread and the roster daily, and thanks for putting our names next to the Ace Hermes, between the two it will be really easy to keep all this stuff straight. [:)]

Sorry I didn’t respond last night, we went out to a great sports bar here in Reno (Bullys) with our older kids and their significant others… man, we had a blast! You gotta love 24oz Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap… mmmmmmmmm and my head is only hurting a little this morning![swg]

14

I’ve updated the roster and added a section for recommended reading and reference material. If you know of any books or references please let me know and I’ll add them to the list. [:)]

15

Awesome![tup]

16

Eventually, once we get rolling, I’m going to create a page on my website dedicated to this GB, with pics of our models, and info about the tank and Ace etc. (I’m stealing this idea from Marc aka Wingnut who is doing that for the P-39 GB… it’s really cool [8D])

I’m also going to dig through my stash of books tonight and post some more recommended reading and references for you all. If any of you have books you think are good for this GB, let me know and I’ll add them to the lists. [:)]

17

I know I’ll be looking back over my copy of **Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius ** by Otto Carius

18

Tanks in detail #1 Panzer IV Ausf. A to J by Jonathan Forty Ian Allan Publishing is awesome! I believe they also do a book on the Tiger and Panther.

19

Great book, read that earlier this year and got about halfway done with building one of his Tigers. I’ll add that to the list. [:)]

20

Cool thanks! I added that one to the reference section. [:)]