28mm scale / Sd.Kfz. 251/21 with Flakdrilling

[T. Dürrschmidt]

By the end of WW2 the German Luftwaffe had a big storage of unused 20mm aircraft cannons and the Wehrmacht was in desperate need of AA-vehicles. So three of the belt fed MG151/20 were mounted together in a 251/D Halftrack. The weapon was quite effective, also against ground targets. The biggest disadvantages were the cramped space inside the vehicle, the very simplified way to move the gun (with the gunners body weight) and the unsufficent armor protection for the crew.

This is a metal conversion kit by Rubicon Models for their very good plastic kit of the Sd.Kfz. 251/D.
The gunner wears a version of the late-war anti-Infrared Leibermuster dress, which was issued in very limited numbers during the last weeks of WW2.

Cheers from Bavaria

Thomas

[T. Dürrschmidt]

I remember that I saw one of these weapons about 20 years ago in a military museum nearby in Roethenbach (Franconia)….I googled it and YES!!!! on the right side of the picture from the museums exhibition you can see the Flakdrilling.

I remember talking to a German WW2 veteran there and he told me that this gun was feared by the Americans during the ardennes offensive (battle of the bulge).

[Peter]

Wonderfull work again Thomas! And thank you for the historical background!

[Wiking]

T. Dürrschmidt wrote:
The gunner wears a version of the late-war anti-Infrared Leibermuster dress, which was issued in very limited numbers during the last weeks of WW2.

Interesting.

You hit the color for the 251 very well. A soft difference of the two color.

[panzerman825]

Cool late war AA vehicle. The crew figure adds a lot to the piece.
Bill