Author Topic: Krocodile Haus  (Read 2352 times)

Offline raafif

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Krocodile Haus
« on: March 13, 2018, 12:00:56 PM »

In Normandy Allied tankers learnt to beware of moving haystacks … on the approach to Berlin Ruski tankers learnt to beware of moving houses …

E-100 ausf.A

Very soon after the E-100 design began it was known that the turret designed for it (mounting a 174mm gun) was unbalanced in some way - drawings show a turret similar to, but not identical, to the Maus.  It was thus reportedly planned to finish the only hull as a destroyer version with heavily-sloping fixed superstructure similar to the JagdPanther in appearance but a much bigger vehicle (named "Krocodile" by whiffers).

If finished as a Tank, it would most probably have received a Maus turret, many of which had been made before that project was cancelled.  Instead of the 17.4 cm main gun originally envisioned, or the 12.8 cm of the Maus, the Maus turret could take a 15cm KwK44 L38 gun along with the co-axial 7.5 cm of the Maus.

A production E-100 would possibly have been named "Konigs Maus" (King Mouse), however I can't imagine an Allied tanker yelling "king mouse !!! " in panic on seeing one, so I decided that "Krocodile !!!" would be a more fitting name.

I bought this DML kit as soon as it came out but on examination, decided that building it as an accurate rendition of the real prototype would require too many fixes.
I later had plans to sell it & get the Trumpeter version (called E-100 ausf.B) but I never got around to doing that.  The Trumpeter version has a turret similar in shape to the KingTiger, copied directly from a whif modeller's scratch-build (they now give full credit to that guy for the inspiration).  There were also resin turret conversions to make the Maus turret of the DML kit into several what-if howitzer versions but it would be simple enough to do yourself.  This is what I intended at first but built the DML kit this way instead …..

The hull was built as standard only adding internal reinforcements for the long flimsy top decking.  I swopped the exhaust pipes for un-cowled Tiger-1 items & only fitted one section of the side-skirts to the r.h.s..  I kept aside the two front-most sections of the skirts to make a dozer-blade which would have been useful in the semi-demolished Berlin. (in reality, de-gunned Stug 3's & 4's were fitted with crude dozer-blades to help with clearing rubble).  I added the rest of the l.h.s. skirt, then cut & turned the rear section of the r.h.s. skirt & added it to the front of the l.h.s. to finish that off.
One weak spot of these large German tank designs was the lack of MG in the glacis for frontal defence against infantry (after the debacle with the Elephant you'd think they'd fix that) so I made a remote MG for the top corner of the front r.h.s.

To the turret I added an all-round vision cupola, "concrete" shaping to the lower edges of the front face & mantlet and a standard style of muzzle-brake for the 150mm gun.  While the "pepper-pot" muzzle-brake provided looked nifty, it was not very good at doing its job hence it has never been adopted by any army.

I glued the two front sections of the skirts, previously put aside, together & mounted the assembly with bits & a suspension spring from an old truck kit.  None of the scale model chain I had was large enough so used that cut from a chain for wearing a pair of spectacles around the neck.

The whole tank was painted in German red-brown with green swathes on the hull.  Due to its large size, the turret had disguising windows & a tree painted on the sides by an artistic crew member with left-over panzer-grey on top as a "slate" roof.  "Rose bushes" were also added on the hull as a nicety.

Offline Antonio Sobral

  • Building and painting tiny little things!
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Re: Krocodile Haus
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2018, 04:23:07 PM »
One of the most original and inventive camouflage schemes I have seen. On top of a great build!





Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Krocodile Haus
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2018, 05:31:27 PM »
That's some magnificent camo, raafif!

Most excellent!

Brian da Basher

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Krocodile Haus
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2018, 02:19:50 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Jacques Deguerre

  • Older and fatter but not wiser.
Re: Krocodile Haus
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2018, 03:47:35 AM »
That is some awesome camouflage! I wonder if it’ll fool the neighborhood association? ;)

Offline Camthalion

  • The man has done a pink tank...need we say more?!
Re: Krocodile Haus
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2018, 09:35:52 PM »
awesome