s.M.G. Lafette for MG34/42 in German halftracks (250/1 and 251/1)

[viclineal]

Hi,

I'd like to propose a simple expansion that in my opinion would be a valuable addition to your excellent line of German halftrack variants. It should be easy to design as for the most part its parts are already part of existing plastic kits and could be of interest to both gamers and modellers. What I'm proposing is a s.M.G. Lafette (heavy machine gun mount) to replace the frontal shielded M.G. in le.S.P.W. (Sd.Kfz. 250/1) and m.S.P.W. (251/1) halftracks.

History

German armoured haltracks (Sd.Kfz. 250 and 251) were provided in many different variants, distinguished by their specialised equipment and intended role. The most common of these was as troop transport, designated variant "1" - so 250/1 and 251/1, respectively. These are represented by four Rubicon kits, for early and late war models - 280032 Sd.Kfz. 250/1 "Alte" (Ausf. A) and 280038 "Neu" (Ausf. B) and 280031 Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. C and 280018 Ausf. D. However, not all of these 250/1 and 251/1 vehicles were identical; for instance, of the 250/1 halftracks which equipped light Schützen companies, each of which was intended to carry half a section, only half of them - carrying section leaders - had radios; the other half didn't. These minor details are already accommodated by the kits. There is, however, an important sub-variant that isn't included.

250/1 and 251/1 halftracks intended to carry s.M.G. weapons teams (typically as part of the heavy company of Schützen battalions; one weapon team in the 250/1, two in the 251/1) were initially identical to regular vehicles of the same variant except for internal stowage - they had specific holders to carry a "s.M.G. Lafette", i.e. a tripod, carriage and sights system to transform a dismounted M.G. 34 or M.G. 42 into a stationary "heavy" s.M.G. suited for sustained, long range fire - something covered by another Rubicon kit, the 284040 German HMG Team blister kit. However, very soon it was found that the carriage and sights of the Lafette could directly be mounted onto the frontal roof plate replacing the shielded M.G. 34/42 there - and, as combat experience started informing tactical use, soon firing directly from the vehicle was regarded as more convenient, safer and no less effective or accurate than actually dismounting to assemble the HMG on the ground. Periscope-type optics (Z.F. 12) were often (but not always) incorporated to allow the gunner, together with the elevation wheel and trigger mechanism, to shoot without having to raise his head above the vehicle superstructure. The result was that most of those vehicles were in practice employed as armoured mobile HMG platforms, and not as transport for ground HMGs. This sub-variant with a HMG replacing the LMG is sometimes called "b" on modern sources (e.g. Sd.Kfz. 251/1b), but it doesn't seem to be a contemporary distinction - it seems these vehicles were treated as the standard "1" variant in documents, specifying that they carried the s.M.G. Lafette when relevant.

Notably, the s.M.G. Lafette didn't use a gun shield in the way the standard LMG did; however, it wasn't required, as the Lafette mount allowed the use of optics for aiming and a lower trigger mechanism which meant that the gunner was less exposed than when manning the standard LMG.

Kit

The kit should be really simple, probably just a blister kit: it would contain the the Lafette 34/42 carriage (already designed as part of the HMG blister kit) plus the optics, elevation wheel and trigger mechanism and a small piece used to mount it on the roof (see pictures below), and one, possibly two standing crew shooting the machine gun. It could be as simple as the 284042 SdKfz 250/251 MG Gunners kit, but with the MG mounted on the Lafette 34/42, optics, elevation wheel and trigger mechanism and the connecting piece to install it on the vehicle roof, or it could include a second crew figure as assistant (just like the infantry HMG kit contains an assistant holding the ammo belt). It is currently difficult to put this variant together by kitbashing the infantry HMG and the vehicle together because the infantry Lafette is designed to be mounted on the tripod, there is no suitable crew figure, the optics and trigger mechanism are on one of the tripod legs (and the optics for infantry and vehicle use are not the same anyway), there is no elevation wheel, and the connecting piece that mounts the Lafette in place is missing.

Pictures

There aren't many pictures online showing this modification, but here I'll provide a few to give a good idea of what it looked like.

First of all, the s.M.G. Lafette mounted on a tripod for infantry use, which is already implemented in the infantry HMG kit:



Here is a 251/1 with a s.M.G. Lafette on the Eastern Front:



Note that, despite the identification flag covering part of the machine gun, the profile is clearly different from that of the regular LMG with a shield. The crew is here standing up, but when firing, the gunner would be barely exposed - with his head at the level of the machine gun or even lower.

Here is an interior picture showing the s.M.G Lafette, this time from a 250/1:



The periscope-type optics, elevation wheel and trigger mechanism can be seen very clearly in this picture.

Here is another s.M.G. Lafette on a 251/1:



And finally, a model of a 251/1 mounting an M.G. 34 in a s.M.G. Lafette:



Note the second M.G. 34 mounted on the standard rear swivel arm for AA defence.

Sources

This sub-variant is well covered in the Panzer Tracts devoted to the 250/1 and 251/1 halftracks, by T. Jentz and H. Doyle. Panzer Tracts 15-1 covers the 250/1 version on pages 15-1-20/21 (including full vehicle drawings on page 15-1-21), Panzer Tracts 15-2 briefly discusses the 251/1 Ausf. A & B versions on page 15-2-22, and Panzer Tracts 15-3 contains the most information, including a brief discussion of the 251/1 Ausf. C & D version on page 15-3-8, full vehicle drawings on page 15-3-10, and detailed drawings of the Lafette, sights and mounting piece (for both M.G. 34 and M.G. 42) on page 15-3-12.

Thanks in advance for your attention!

[Jaeger]

Interesting idea. 
Perhaps part of an upgrade sprue that would include the s.M.G. Lafette mount, additional radios, ammunition boxes, map tables often seen mounted on top in place of the MG, as well as other types of storage.