Hi,
I’m on a bit of a quest to find as much information as I can about the VK1801 and the VK 1601 (also known as the Panzer I Ausf.F and the Panzer II Ausf.J!). I’ve managed to find out some information about their deployment but few photos of the Pz.IF and practically none of the Pz.IIJ. Does anyone out there have any leads? Thanks in advance![;)]
I just typed in VK 1801 and found a million sites on Yahoo, Brazen.
Give it a shot!
There’s no such thing as a rare panzer! The WWII German vehicles are the most written about tanks ofd all.
f you are looking for a model of these tanks, you are probably in luck. If the Germans built it, or even designed it, chances are there is a kit out there of it. Like Brian says, just try a websearch and include the term “1/35” or “1/35th.”
I’ve got a couple of books about light panzers and II’s in particular. Don’t know if there’s anything specific on what you’re looking for. I’ll have a look.
Welcome to the forum, Brazen!!
Schiffer’s German Armored Rarities 1935-1945 has brief descriptions of both of these vehicles. 30 VK 1801 were built, all were delivered in 1940. In May of 1942, 5 VK 1801 were issued to 1st Company of Pz.Abt.z.b.V.66 to be used originaly during invasion of Crete (Operation Herkules), but instead were sent to near Leningrad in Russia. In Russia, 1st Company of Pz.Abt.z.b.V.66 was attached to 29th Panzer Regiment of 12th Panzer Division, where they remained in small number till July of 1943. In May of 1943, 5 VK 1801 were issued to 2nd Polizei Panzer Company (neu) from Vienna, which was transfered to the Eastern Front. All tanks were lost by August of 1944. In March of 1943, 8 VK 1801 were issued to 1st Panzer Regiment of 1st Panzer Division and saw service in Russia, Yugoslavia and Greece to the end of the year. As for the VK 1601, 22 were built of the initial series ordered, but production was halted. 7 of them saw service with the 12th Panzer Division in Russia in 1943. In 1944, a VK1601 was found minus it’s turret, and with a jib crane fitted to create a rudimentary BergePanzer. I have 4 photos of a VK1601 and six photos of a VK 1801.
Welcome to the forum. do a search on www.google.ca and you are sure to find something
Brazen, Good luck in your information search. Welcome to the armor forum.
mark956
Brazen, sorry, none of my books had anything on either one of those tanks. Good luck with the search.
Thanks for your welcoming comments guys and your help! I’ve managed to find a few more of the VK 1801 including some interior pics! There only seems to be about 4 pics available on the net of the VK1601(after a very late night searching!)…shame, cos it really is my favorite light tank.[:(] Does anyone have a pic of the Panzer IIJ in Italy? I found a pic but it was very small and unclear. It shows the tank from the front with a crew member in the cupola and the tank is painted in a hard-edged spider’s web-type camo. Thanks again guys!
Is this the one?
This one is supposedly a J on arrival in North Africa. Hope it helps
Petbat, Sorry, but that is an ausf F you’ve got there.
That’s not the one I was thinking of Leopold, but thanks! The one I saw was from an Italian book and it is taken from slightly above the tank. It aparently shows a vehicle of the 13th Verstarkte Polizei-Panzer-Kompanie in Italy. There seem to be many more photos of the VK1801, but then there are still 2 in existance. If anyone’s interested in a copy of any of the pics I did manage to find, just let me know![;)]
Brazen, it looks like the fine folks here have got you taken care of!
I forgot to say welcome earlier.
Weclome![#welcome]
Hey, are you going to have this one ready for Shizuoka?[;)]
That’s the plan Brian! Or maybe an Alan Pz.I F! BTW, loved your BMP and I see they’ve now got you doing translating for them too…magic!
Scott
Welcome Scott. good luck on your quest.
Scott, it’s great to have you on board!
You’re next for an AM article, bro! Ichioshi all the way!
See ya,
Brian
I’d be interested in any photos you’ve found.
Thanks in advance,
email:
gsnow@mesastate.edu
Hello Brazen and welcome to the dark side!
Have you tried AchtungPanzer.com?
Great site with lots of info. Good luck -
Mark
Here’s what I found on the net. I have more pics at home, I’ll pot them this weekend.
Here’s a link to the Alan Hobby PzIIJ model at Military Hobbies:
http://www.greatmodels.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=ah5016
and some pics I ripped off from other websites:
and on the PzIF, here’s a link to that kit from Alan:
http://www.greatmodels.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=ah5007
and some pics, some of these are scanned, and some taken from other websites (warning, the images from the links at the bottom of this post are large [~700kB], that’s why they are only links):
http://home.mesastate.edu/~gsnow/Gary/images/PzIF/pz1f1.jpg
http://home.mesastate.edu/~gsnow/Gary/images/PzIF/pz1f2.jpg
http://home.mesastate.edu/~gsnow/Gary/images/PzIF/pz1f3.jpg
