Border Models 1/35 Mobelwagen 3.7cm Flak auf Fgst. Pz.Kpfw. IV # 007

Name: Border Models 1/35 Mobelwagen 3.7cm Flak auf Fgst. Pz.Kpfw. IV # 007
Brand: Border Model
SKU: BT-007
Price: 53.96 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

SKU

BT-007

Out of stock

Type:

1/35 Scale Military

EAN

6971995749387

Special Price £53.96 was £59.95

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Details

Ground-based anti-aircraft armament became increasingly essential to the Wehrmacht in 1943, as the Luftwaffe's capacity to battle enemy ground-attack aircraft waned.

The idea of building a gun platform on the Panzer IV chassis was initially mooted in early 1943.

The 2 cm Flakvierling 38 was used in the prototype shown to Hitler on December 7, 1943, but it was deemed too feeble for the latest aircraft, which were continually being modified to fly higher and faster.

Before the concept was rejected, only a single prototype of this gun was made.

As a temporary stopgap until stronger Flakpanzers could be developed, a second version with an upgraded single 3.7 cm Flak 43 L/89 was approved.

The first production vehicles were deployed on the Western Front in April 1944, and 240 Möbelwagens were constructed.

The Möbelwagen was based on a Panzer IV chassis that had been damaged on the Eastern Front and had to be returned for repair at the manufacturers.

These were equipped with a gun mount and an open-top superstructure.

Four hinged 20 mm armoured plates were put around it.

These plates could be lowered for complete 360-degree traverse, permitting flat or low-level fire, or half-closed, fastened together and hanging slightly open.

They had notches in this position that allowed the gun to rotate fully, but only for firing at airborne targets.

Despite this, the crew was quite exposed in both of these positions.

The plates were only fully closed for transit, when the crew needed some protection from small weapons fire and shrapnel.

The Möbelwagen served the anti-aircraft platoons of the Panzer Divisions on the Western Front, despite being designed as a stopgap.

Only 240 were built, and it was subsequently replaced by the first real Flakpanzers, the Wirbelwind and Ostwind, which both provided superior armoured protection and full rotation while shooting at ground or air targets.

Border Models 1/35 Mobelwagen 3.7cm Flak auf Fgst. Pz.Kpfw. IV # 007