The
Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61 or SturmTiger. A rather intimidating vehicle with a less than spectacular performance on the battlefield. Far too heavy and certainly not the best performer in range or fuel economy either.
Click on html or thumbnail image to view Wiki entry for this vehicle.
(Image source: U.S. Army via
Wikipedia)
I must confess to a rather peculiar fondness for odd vehicles and the 38 cm rocket launcher/mortar is one of those things that caught my eye. While I am no big fan of all things WW2 and German the SturmTiger is one of those exceptions. I recently donated my Tamiya SturmTiger kit along with a double set of Tamiya aluminum rocket projectiles to The Zod (aka Chad L.) so that he could pursue a project involving the
Pz.Kpfw E-100 (Gerät 383/TG-01) or the
Pz.Kpfw VIII Maus heavy tanks and fitting the 38 cm rocket launcher/mortar parts in place of the large caliber cannons that armed these vehicles. In both cases the large rotating turret would provide some additional flexibility for the 38 cm rocket launcher/mortar with the turret being able to traverse through 360° with the elevation and depression limits remaining with the same limitations.
One of my original ideas for a modern version of the 38 cm rocket launcher/mortar weapon system was to consider installing it in the turret of the Revell of Germany
PzH 2000 kit but I soon realized that there would be a lot more to just slapping on the rocket launcher/mortar parts and calling it done. Add to that the desire to make something that looked like it might work left me with no choice but to abandon the idea before cutting plastic. I had also given some thought to using the SturmTiger parts on the Revell (old Renwal)
M55 8.0" Self-Propelled Gun/Howitzer. That gave way to another project involving a different weapon which was about the same time that I sent the SturmTiger kit to Chad in order to unclutter my thoughts. While the kit is no longer in my possession I continue to scheme with ideas on creating a what-if artillery weapon armed with that 38 cm monster rocket launcher/mortar thing. Which is why I decided to share the idea here.
This latest foray into crazy involves the
Panzerjäger Tiger (P), Sd. Kfz. 184 - "Elefant" which looks like an easy to make what-if if you just add on the 38 cm rocket launcher parts. You could keep the existing fighting compartment as it is with the large circular access hatch at the rear and mount the loading hoist on the roof or next to the hatch to assist in loading those very large/heavy 38 cm rocket projectiles. Looks to be simple enough to convert and you would end up with the Porsche version of the SturmTiger which would surely confound and confuse some and irritate others.
Click on html or thumbnail image to view Wiki entry for this vehicle.
(Image source: Scott Dunham via
Wikipedia)
So thanks for putting up with my brand of crazy.
