Universal (Bren) Carrier Pak 37 Conversion
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:32 am
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
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
. 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 
.
