"20mm leSPW U304 (French) towed gun or mounted?" Topic

I'm looking at Battlegroup Overlord rulebook and armoured panzer grenadiers are supposed to roll on the battlefield in one of these.

Does the cannon have to be mounted, and where could I find a model in 20mm?

Yes, it has to be mounted because it is not the work of a moment to get it off again.

As for 20mm models, yes there is at least one because I have three examples in my collection. The trouble is that I bought them already made and painted so I don't know who makes it. It looks like the sort of thing Skytrex would have made in their day, but I don't see it listed in 20mm Zone's current collection so who knows?

Skytrex sounds right to me (and I can't see it on the Raventhorpe or Britannia listings, who were the other likely candidates I could think of.) I'd definitely drop 20mm zone an email as they're steadily working through remastering and remoulding, so should be able to confirm if it's in the pipeline.

Raventhorpe have one and so do MMS

That's what it is, Raventhorpe! But can you still get them?

Clearly I need to get an up to date list…. ;-)

Raventhorpe version:

Nope. Wrong model. That's the 37mm PaK version, usually a platoon commander's vehicle.

That's what the panzer grenadier platoon command squad wants in BGO, which is what I meant originally.

The other model (sans gun, Funk wagon :) was available from MMS models I think.

No gun, command vehicle Panzer Ersatz:

link

OK. I took your post title to mean that you were looking for the Unic carrying the 20mm gun, and not a Unic in 20mm.

If you look on page 237 of the supplement you will see that the 37mm is listed as pintle mounted.

I think it says the mg is pintle -mounted (rotating mount?), and the 37mmL43 is hull mounted. At least that's how they're grouped in the text.

It looks like the Ersatz will be opposing my US paras in the somewhat near future.

is it this one deephorse?

bpmasher – yes, that's right. I misread the data, but then I don't play these rules so I'm not too familiar with the format. My second photo shows both weapons as it happens.

Eagle – no, mine are on armoured hulls. Where does your model come from?

eagle six five is showing the MMS variant, I believe.

There were 2 variants of the armoured U304. One is done by Ace in 1/72. The other is made by MMS. The platoon command variant added a standard 37mm gun, as per the Sdkfz 251 they mimic.

Higher Command and cannon vehicles were more often the U307. This is made by Raventhorpe, and by Solfig in resin (expensive). I have the former for the roofed command halftrack and the SP 75mm PaK. I have the latter for Reihenwerfers and Engineer vehicles.

In the BG Overlord book there is a strong emphasis on using captured converted French vehicles with Panzer Ersatz (half of the stuff listed) but there are some models that are difficult to find in 20mm, like this halftrack with the PaK.

There is no Sd Kfz 251/3 -model radio/command halftrack in 20mm scale apparently. I found most of the Renault and Hotchkiss tank models on Milicast (good retailer) but the old FT17 can only be found in 1/72 scale, while I'd prefer to keep my collection strictly 1/76 scale.

No one is forcing me to use the French tanks and conversions, but I find it more exciting to field this stuff against lightly armed paratroopers for example.

(Oh yeah, one more thing: are there any good MG42 bipod and tripod models in 20mm to be found?)

You can buy four versions of the U304 from the Rapid Fire website, or from any UK shows that they attend (your profile doesn't show where you live).

link

They are resin and have an integral base.

Raventhorpe's range appears to be available from RLBPS in the USA

rlbps.com/RLBPRav.htm#Gerveh

and they seem to do all the conversions, but I'm not sure whether or not RLBPS is still in operation. At present I can't see any source for Raventhorpe in the UK. Does anyone know any different?

S&S models make a 250/3 Neu

link

Thank you very much for the links!

Glad to help.

I can confirm it was not on the old Skytrex list & as such is not on the "to be remoulded list "
Ian ( 20mmZone & Shellhole )

Thank you. That leaves the question "are Raventhorpe vehicle models available anywhere?", and by that I don't mean the Ready to Roll resin ones.

About modifying models:

link

Say I take this u304 and want to add the pintle mounted machine gun on the side, what kind of stuff would I need to for success?

I found AA mg34/42s for tanks from MMS models, so they would serve as an extra mg for the halftrack. Would something like green stuff be sufficient to stick on the vehicle?

Unfortunately I cannot find an image of a MMS AA mount, but if it is the same as ones commonly seen on Panthers and Pz IVs then it's not the same as the one seen on a U304(f). Nor will one from the rear of a SdKfz 251 do either, if you want true accuracy.

Google images for Unic P107 or U304(f) and you will see several mounted MGs. Granted most are from model kits but you will get the picture (no pun intended!). Ignore the Flames of War ones, they are inaccurate.

The mounting bracket can be seen either side of the hull a little behind the side vision ports. It's not very big even in 1:1 scale so in 20mm it's going to be a tiny blob! I have never worked with Green Stuff so someone else will have to advise you on how well it sticks to resin etc.

In the end it's your decision as to how accurate you want to be. I know from experience that an accurate model can also be a flimsy model when it comes to gaming with them, and that compromises have to be made.

Early war do the ft17, and matchbox did it joint with a char bis in 1/76.

As for the sdkfz251/3 I have one from britannia, tis the later war d variant.

Green stuff sticks to resin poorly as itself, but of course can also be super-glued.

Naturally there's no pic of the Raventhorpe flak version!