Universal (Bren) Carrier Pak 37 Conversion

[hansolo]

Hi Guys,

Here’s the first part of another build in the series:
‘(captured) military vehicles with odd (field) modifications or add on's’

First in this line was the ‘Stuart Pak’ http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=8905
Second was the M3 with 3 inch gun. http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=9670

This is the Captured British Universal Carrier with a 37mm Pak mounted on top of it.

This is the image that got me started:



I think it looks pretty cool!

Here is some info I found on the subject:

The Germans captured a number of these Bren Carriers from three sources. First captured vehicles came from the stocks of the army of Belgium – an unknown number of Universal Carries was “obtained” there, but probably not many. Second source was the British Army – after the evacuation from Dunkerque, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) left dozens of these vehicles lying around for the Germans to capture. Later, more vehicles were captured in Africa and on Crete – and brought to Europe. Third source was the Soviet Union, that operated lend-lease Universal Carries and some found their way to German hands. Overall, Germany is believed to have operated over a hundred of these vehicles.
The vehicle was designated simply Bren 731(e) (or Gepanzerter Maschinengewehrträger Bren)
A number of them was converted to the tank destroyer role.

A small number of vehicles was converted in France to carry the German “door knocker” 37mm PaK in 1941. The effectiveness of such a conversion was usually very low: small gunshield usually offered very little cover and the gun was clearly insufficient. These vehicles were also quite unique – each piece was an original and some were simply field conversions, so you can see how different each one looked. They were assigned to second-line and training units and were also utilized (as some other captured vehicles) for patrol duties in France. A few pieces survived even until the Normandy landings, but their final fate is unknown.

After the Dunkerque operation a number of British Brencarriers (Universal Carriers) was captured. A few of them were armed with 37mm PaK and used for secondary duties (patrolling captured territories and such) and for training. As far as it is known, none have ever seen any combat.

————————

And some more pictures:













Aparrently the Germans have stuck different types of guns on carriers.
But I picked the one with the 37mm Pak because I like it best and I saw that picture first.
Of this combination there were at least 2 variants. The one that I am building, with the original hull:



and a version with an added wooden structure



Here are some pictures of another guy who built the wooden structure version.







The Carrier I bought is from Tamiya. An old kit but I think it’s beautiful.



The 37mm Pak that I used is also an oldy from Tamiya



It containes a gun mount for a Sd.Kfz.251 halftrack. So that was very convenient.
With that I could easily mount it on the Carrier. I did have to remove some parts here and there to make room for it.





The Carriers that I saw in the old pictures never carried the spare wheel up front, and had big headlights. So I filled the hole in the front deck and scratch build some big headlights.





On the back of the Carrier were less containers and boxes than came with the kit. So I tried to mimmic the layout of the old pictures a bit. I left some stuff out, moved some stuff around and added some other stuff.



The gun





The finished build





That’s all for now folks


cheers

[Coen]

That's totally awesome Han!! You really on fire lately buddy.
You're also inspiring me to do things that I don't have the time to do haha. Shame.

It looks a little like a M3 Honey that's gone on a diet. I love the look of it. I've seen the same pictures on a couple of reference books but I've never thought to build it.
This is going to be a really piece Han.

[hansolo]

That's totally awesome Han!! You really on fire lately buddy.
You're also inspiring me to do things that I don't have the time to do haha. Shame.

It looks a little like a M3 Honey that's gone on a diet. I love the look of it. I've seen the same pictures on a couple of reference books but I've never thought to build it.
This is going to be a really piece Han.

Thanks Coen! I'm gonna do my best to make this a worthy piece.
The downside of this model is that they didn't see real action.
So, weathering is going to be modest. I hope I can contain myself!


cheers

[SyntaxModels]

Looks cracker mate! I want to do some sort of fantasy conversion on a Panzer II but I'm not yet sure
Top stuff again!

[hansolo]

Looks cracker mate! I want to do some sort of fantasy conversion on a Panzer II but I'm not yet sure
Top stuff again!

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

[SyntaxModels]

Looks cracker mate! I want to do some sort of fantasy conversion on a Panzer II but I'm not yet sure
Top stuff again!

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .

[hansolo]

Looks cracker mate! I want to do some sort of fantasy conversion on a Panzer II but I'm not yet sure
Top stuff again!

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .

I won't.
I am so looking forward to your death machine!!


Keep me posted!

cheers

[SyntaxModels]

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday![/quote]

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .[/quote]

I won't.
I am so looking forward to your death machine!!


Keep me posted!

cheers[/quote]

Will do! My model store emailed me a few days ago and said "Yo mate, we've got the Panzer II in stock, tell us when you are coming to pick it up and we'll hold it for you", great blokes there (actually I think it was someone called Sarah lol....

[hansolo]

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .[/quote]

I won't.
I am so looking forward to your death machine!!


Keep me posted!

cheers[/quote]

Will do! My model store emailed me a few days ago and said "Yo mate, we've got the Panzer II in stock, tell us when you are coming to pick it up and we'll hold it for you", great blokes there (actually I think it was someone called Sarah lol....[/quote]

So, it's a Sheela.

[SyntaxModels]

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .

I won't.
I am so looking forward to your death machine!!


Keep me posted!

cheers[/quote]

Will do! My model store emailed me a few days ago and said "Yo mate, we've got the Panzer II in stock, tell us when you are coming to pick it up and we'll hold it for you", great blokes there (actually I think it was someone called Sarah lol....[/quote]

So, it's a Sheela. [/quote]

I ususally spell it Sheila but sure!

[hansolo]

Thanks Mate.
Actually, my next model will be: a 5cm PaK on Panzer II Ausf.G with on open turret, conversion.
I already bought the kits!

Is that what you are planning too? Do it! And if it's another kind of conversion, do it! And tell me about it!
We can keep each other in the loop!

gday!

I plan to get two Tamiya 1/35th Panzer II's (nice easy kit's I've heard), building one reguarly and then making one into some sort of post-apocalyptic death machine! . Hence the fantasy part, I've always loved the idea of the 50mm gun on the Panzer II with the open turret, I think the Afrika Korps actually employed them, don't quote me though .

I won't.
I am so looking forward to your death machine!!


Keep me posted!

cheers

Will do! My model store emailed me a few days ago and said "Yo mate, we've got the Panzer II in stock, tell us when you are coming to pick it up and we'll hold it for you", great blokes there (actually I think it was someone called Sarah lol....[/quote]

So, it's a Sheela. [/quote]

I ususally spell it Sheila but sure![/quote]

That's why you're an Aussie and I'm a Dutchy. The Queens English is not my native tongue.

cheers

[Tiger131]

Nice subject to pic like what you've done so far keep the pics coming

[AchtungPanzer]

Nice subject Han . I look forward to more m8

[hansolo]

More is to come soon.

Cheers

[hansolo]

Update

Hi guys,

This part contains the base painting, decals and basic chipping.

First the base coat. The Carrier would have originally been green.
So I first painted it green. The Pak would have been grey, so I painted it grey.


Then comes my unavoidable hairspray layer to be able to do some chipping later.


Now the final colors.
The Pak stays grey.
I decided to give the carrier a german field grey color because at this point
in the war, the germans would have had the time to do a proper paint job.
They had captured lots of Carriers at Dunkerque and now the war in west
was ‘won’ they had time on their hands to do some modding.




Decals, light chipping and a slight color fade.
Because these Carrier-Paks were only used for training and surveillance,
they would never have looked very battered and dirty.
So I really had to contain myself with the chipping!
I did a little color fading. Word got around that a lot of these vehicles had
made it to the end of the war. So some faded color will be plausible.














That’s it for now folks.
You know me. I’m not going to leave this vehicle this clean!
There is a lot of oil paint rendering and pigmenting to be done still.

And the Carrier is going to be occupied!

cheers

[AchtungPanzer]

Nice at this stage

[SyntaxModels]

Looks great for an 'unfinished' model! I would consider myself extremely happy with that!

[Yevgeny]

Looks great for an 'unfinished' model! I would consider myself extremely happy with that!

/\ this!

[hansolo]

Hi guys,

I've put the final reveal pics in the land gallery: http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=9840

Enjoy.

cheers