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The Bridge at Remagen - N Gauge Rhine Crossing in 1944.


Al.
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Hi Al.

I have to say the Jagdtiger looks more the part for that point in the war than the Panzer III. You are right about the concrete, the shuttering marks make it look way more authentic. The Panzer III looked a bit out of place under a more modern looking concrete bridge, the older style shuttering marks are a big improvement. Not that there was anything wrong as such with the bridge it just jarred a little with a 30s German tank. If you had put a Challenger ll or an Abrahams with a bit of modern anti American graffiti it would have looked great. You couldn't put your finger on why there was something wrong with the image and if you hadn't mentioned the concrete I would never have thought "I know its the concrete" but anyway it is looking very good mate. Now if only you could make the tanks move........ :angel:   

Regards Lez.Z.

Production of the PzIII finished in 1943, but the tank remained in service right up to the end of the war.

The model in the photo has been converted into a Panzerbefehlswagen - command tank. The 50mm gun has been replaced with a dummy gun and extra aerial have been added. One of the scenic areas will be a panzer unit have a few days maintenance rest. ThePzIII will be part of it.

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Electrics isn't my strong point and I've been putting off tackling it for way too long. Anyway I've finally got around to it and started on building the mock-up for one of the control panels.

The layout is split into two half - the East and West bound lines. Each controller will take the trains from one storage siding, run them across the layout and deposit them into the other storage siding for the other controller to preform the return trip.

This is the Eastbound control panel mock-up. It feels about right with the switches in the right place. Next stage is a plywood prototype.

 

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As promised, the 'modern' concrete bridge is painted and installed. Also started on the cobbled road beneath it.

I should get the sold landscaping done tomorrow, then it'll be time for the plaster bandage...

 

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Ps. Another tank for you, Lez

Edited by Al.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Latest update.

 

I've back to working on the West Bank scenery today with the trenches and light anti aircraft gun emplacements.

The trenches are still at the basic structure stage. I've still to add texture to it. This trench sits ajacent the farm house on the edge of an apple orchard.

The two anti-aircraft dugouts are further on. A little bit more detail to add and then they'll be painted. One of these sits in the field opposite the farm house, while the other is on the other side of the bridge abutment. In realty both dugout were much further away from the bridge to eliminate blind spots for low flying aircraft. I've moved them in closure to include them in the layout.

 

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Hi 

 

I have just by chance found your thread.

 

A very bold project to undertake.

 

Brilliant workmanship, especially the Remagen Bridge structure itself.

 

I look forward to watching your progress, also I must say "The Bridge at Remagen" was one of my favourite war films from the 1960's as well.

 

Great work.

 

Regards

 

David

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Hi 

 

I have just by chance found your thread.

 

A very bold project to undertake.

 

Brilliant workmanship, especially the Remagen Bridge structure itself.

 

I look forward to watching your progress, also I must say "The Bridge at Remagen" was one of my favourite war films from the 1960's as well.

 

Great work.

 

Regards

 

David

Thanks Dave. That film was the inspiration for the layout.

 

I've still got a lot of hard work ahead.

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Another update.

Basic paint job done on the two triple 'A' dugouts along with the two quad 20mm guns.

 

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The infantry trenches has had some modification as felt it was too big. It's been shortened and I've started adding the detail.

 

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Also started the basic structure of the infantry trench on the far side of the bridge.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

A bit more progress on the rolling stock today. These wagons will form part of the Messerschmitt Train

 

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These are the imfamous Me109s, bane of the RAF, being transported back to forward airfields after withdrawn for repairs. They'll eventually be a dozen or so of them along with a couple new Me262s.

 

It's an odd fact that the Luftwaffe lacked forward repair bases for their aircraft. Battle damaged machines were often shipped back to the factories for repairs. It was one of the reasons they failed to maintain air supremacy.

 

Anyway. The aircraft are coming along nicely. I've still a bit more work to do on the fuselages. However the wings are do and looking pretty good on the wagons.

Edited by Al.
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I'm very impressed with everything you've done so far. 

 

How are you making the Me109s?

They're Revell 1:144 kits that have had the wings cut off. The 262s are the same, but I can't remember manufacturer. I've got an eye out for a Ju-152 as well to add a bit of variant to the train.

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Hi Al.

Yeh nice tank but what is it supposed to be? It looks like a panther body with an M21 Chaffee turret with allied markings. Very odd indeed.

Regards Lez.Z.

Ah I found it. Its a panther disguised as an M10 no doubt to fool the septics into thinking its one of theirs. Tricky devils these Germans eh? 

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Hi Al.

Yeh nice tank but what is it supposed to be? It looks like a panther body with an M21 Chaffee turret with allied markings. Very odd indeed.

Regards Lez.Z.

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They are M10 Panther used by the Germans during the Ardennes offensive -The Battle of the Bulge. During the early stages of the offensive, the Germans use troops and tanks disguised as Americans to deceive the Allied troops. Due to the lack of captured armour, they welded steel plates onto a unit of Panther tanks to make them look like American M10 Tank destroyers. Despite initial success, they where quickly found out - probably something to do with them shooting in the wrong direction- and were knocked out. However, they did cause enough confusion among the American lines to result in several friendly-fire incidents.

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Hi Al.

You know those Panther M10s must have been one hell of a handful with no muzzle break. The KwK 42 L/70 main gun had them fitted for a reason. The recoil without them must have been very fierce,  I bet they broke a few mantlets without the muzzle break. Oh well it didn't help them much they still lost despite all of the fearsome weaponry. The Panther was a copy of the Russian T34 but aside from the sloping armour they rather missed the main point of the T 34 which was crude mass production. The German obsession with double overlapping road wheels was just nuts and very bad news in deep snow. The Tiger was even worse because to get them on a train and within loading gauge they had to take the outer wheels off and fit narrower tracks. You don't need to wonder why the Germans lost the war. It had nothing to do with their will or ability to fight, which was always better than the western allies, although not the Russians once they got going. Just look at the stats and it all comes down to overengineering. Having said that the thing they did get right was the Stug III assault guns. It was an outstanding weapon and remained in production throughout the war in one form or another. Wittman learnt his trade in one before moving on to the Tiger and he was the Top tank ace of the war. :senile:

Regards Lez.Z.       

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Don't disagree with you Lez. When you can build 5 Sherman's at the same rate as 1 tiger, yet take have s kill rate of 3/1 the Sherman's will always win. The T34 was even more efficient with the Russians turning them out something like 8/1.

There were a lot of reasons why German lost the War. Technical innovation was not one of them. Without doubt the Panther was the best tank ever produced during WW2. It out classed everything but the heaviest of allied tanks. A good all rounder, and the starting point for all French and German post war MBTs.

Glad you appreciate it.

 

Al.

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Tanks aside. I've been working a bit of river traffic to go under the bridge. These are a small flotilla of e-boats that will be on a training op.

 

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The models at an S-3, two S-7's and an S-100.

Still premature of work to do.

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Hi Al.

Yes I have to admit I do like a good tank. I also have a certain affinity for Artillery as well, being an ex-gunner. I have a remote controlled 1/16 scale Tiger 1 that I'm working on atm. Once I get the external tools upgrade fitted and I have the paint job finished I'll post some pics if you would like to have a look. I was thinking of doing Wittman's 001 but I will have to fit Zimmerit to pull that off and its either pricey if you use overlays or very fiddly if you do it yourself and its not an easy job if its to look convincing.

Regards Lez.Z.    

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Hi Al.

Yes I have to admit I do like a good tank. I also have a certain affinity for Artillery as well, being an ex-gunner.

 

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Then you'd like my Hummell train. A unit of 9 guns and support vehicles loaded onto twin axle wagons.

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Hi Al.

The hummell looks very good mate. Wonderful what they could do with a PzKpfw IV chassis ..err well not wonderful...Oh you know what I mean. :O They found a use for the chassis of every mark of panzer. Even the 1's and 2's and just look what they did with the Czech. 38t chassis. The Hetzer was an outstanding tank destroyer. It proved that you don't need size to be deadly. Compared to German armour most allied tanks were pathetic. It's a good job we out produced them or we would all be speaking German and eating Bratwurst...err ok it's a fair cop I do in fact do both of those things but once again you know what I mean :angel: 

Regards Lez.Z.  

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Progress update.

 

Well, not as much as I was hoping for. It's been a busy few weeks and unfortunately the railway, as always, took second place. Anyway, this is were we've got too.

Soft landscaping has started on the West Bank. Yellow has turned white and is slowly turning green. Grass isn't too far off.

 

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Managed to get a bit more done on the trenches this morning. I'll post up pics after the weekend. In the meantime, we're on a research time to Europe for fields and farm buildings....

 

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