Sturmkanone Ausf. B

[Claymore]

Sturmkanone Update:

Well, this is going to be a bit of a complex tale as, much with reality, my first effort didn't turn out quite the way I wanted even though I tried to convince myself otherwise.  In keeping with German designations, I will call my first effort the Sturmkanone Ausf. A - here is the story so far as it played out on my thread on the althistory.com site...

Sturmkanone Ausf. A Update:

Well, here we are with the first WIP pics of, what I am calling, the Sturmkanone Ausf A. I settled on Sturmkanone (StuK) rather than Sturmgeschutz (StuG) as German field artillery pieces of the day were known as feldkanone (FK) so it seemed more logical to go with Sturmkanone. Anyhoo, as you can see the bulk of this wee beastie has been 3D printed from an upscaled and heavily modified LK II hull. The end result is a vehicle which is pretty much the same size as the British Whippet tank of the same era - same length, slightly narrower (central hull the same width) and overall lower. The central hull's width is predicated by the width of the 7.7cm FK96 n/A which it mounts - thus it is capable of fitting a crew member (driver and gunner) either side of the breach - the loader and commander are located towards the rear of the fighting compartment.

As an Assault gun, the StuK's primary mission is conducted at relatively short ranges and over open sights so there is not much need for a huge degree of lateral and vertical movement of the primary weapon. Having said that, the 7.7cm FK96 n/A has a 10 degree movement left and right and +/- 15 degree vertical movement.

More to follow...











Sturmkanone Ausf. A Update:

...and with the undercoat applied...









Long story short but one of my fellow Alt-historians had reservations about the width of my Sturmkanone Aus. A and even had the audacity to point out that impressively tiny Yugo car was wider - oh bollocks! Although I tried to manfully defend my corner, the obvious truth was that, unless the German army employed Oompa-Loompas, he was right - double bollocks!

[Claymore]

Sturmkanone Ausf. B Update:

When I looked into my first take on the Sturmkanone again, I found I was right in thinking the gun was out of whack scale-wise - I was foolish enough to assume the scale of the original 3D image was correct - not a huge difference but larger than it should have been.  I was also not every impressed with the quality of the 3D print and realised that I could have been more efficient in the overall build.

So I spent the most part of a day altering and scratch building things in my very basic CAD program (I am a self-confessed biff when it comes to these things) and set the 3D printer a printing!

The Ausf. B variant of the Sturmkanone is well on its way with the opportunity having been taken to re-model and update quite a few of the build components. The 7.7cm FK96 n/A gun has been correctly scaled, the gun mount (to fit the model and not representative of the actual pedestal mount) has been strengthened, the tracks widened and mud shoots added in the 3D design rather than after printing, and the main hull has been overhauled with lots of small adjustments and the crew compartment widened.









...and a little bit more. Next will be combining all of the sub-components and adding the various details - oh, and sorting the blemishes on the tracks!

[Claymore]

Sturmkanone Ausf. B Update:

So, the build (or should I say, rebuild) is pretty much there and I am much happier with the print quality. With a coat of primer next on the agenda, I will be heading towards the dubious fun of painting ...

[Claymore]

If you are wondering (although I doubt it) why a piece of WW1 German assault artillery is in a Tankbuster GB, all will become clear when I add the backstory... 

[Dr. YoKai]

I thought I recognized the LK running gear from the first pictures. Great concept, and the execution looks good so far.

[Old Wombat]

Far too technologically advanced for me!

Of course if you moved the gun further to the left on the StuK Ausf. A, & fixed the traverse (so it only moved in elevation), you could have an early S-tank, with a driver/gunner, commander & loader. 

By the way, did anyone point out that as it's a StuK &, therefore, German the driver would be on the left side of the vehicle rather than the right side? 

[Claymore]

Far too technologically advanced for me!

Of course if you moved the gun further to the left on the StuK Ausf. A, & fixed the traverse (so it only moved in elevation), you could have an early S-tank, with a driver/gunner, commander & loader. 

By the way, did anyone point out that as it's a StuK &, therefore, German the driver would be on the left side of the vehicle rather than the right side? 

Yes but I wanted the full capability of an assault gun rather than an ambush sniper.

As for the driver’s position, I know he is on, what is now the traditional, ‘wrong’ side but the StuK is an early, seat-of-the-pants design which incorporates a standard 7.7cm FK96 n/A artillery gun which had the gunner on the left and loader on the right.  I worked on the assumption that it would be easier install the driver’s location on the right rather than redesign/alter the field gun. 

Having said all of that, your idea of moving the gun sideways has got my little grey cells firing with a view of reverse engineering my unsuccessful Ausf. A version into a pre-production model without having to reprint the whole damned thing! It will help in bulking out the backstory… 🤔

[arc3371]

By the way, did anyone point out that as it's a StuK &, therefore, German the driver would be on the left side of the vehicle rather than the right side? 

Until after WW1 that seem to have been up to the designer as Audi kept the drivers on the right side until 1921

[Claymore]

Until after WW1 that seem to have been up to the designer as Audi kept the drivers on the right side until 1921

Perfect! 

[Kerick]

Until after WW1 that seem to have been up to the designer as Audi kept the drivers on the right side until 1921

Perfect! 

But was driving on the right or left side of the road optional as well?
“Watch out, here comes an Audi!”

[arc3371]

Until after WW1 that seem to have been up to the designer as Audi kept the drivers on the right side until 1921

Perfect! 

But was driving on the right or left side of the road optional as well?
“Watch out, here comes an Audi!”

No, they drove on the rightside from the begining

[Claymore]

Sturmkanone Update:

The reject has been repurposed and we now have two Sturmkanones for the price of one - not really... it's still two for the price of two!

What I now have is a realistic initial Sturmkanone Ausf. A that represents the initial pre-production build which then allowed the amended and improved Ausf. B model to enter serial production. Full details will follow in the backstory once I have completed the project but I am now much happier with the way things are going - even though I am now left with two complete models when originally I was only looking at one. Suffice to say that the Ausf A model had a somewhat cumbersome 3-man crew of driver/gunner, loader and commander and a limited gun traverse whilst the more spacious Ausf B model split the driver and gunner functions with a more logical layout for the loader and commander and a more capable gun mount.

So, WIP pics of both the Ausf. A and Ausf B in their primer undercoat...

Sturmkanone Ausf. A










Sturmkanone Ausf. B

[Old Wombat]

WIN!   

They're both looking really good, by the way!   

[Claymore]

WIN!   

They're both looking really good, by the way!   

Thanks mate and thanks for the nudge in moving the gun for the Ausf. A