| Sebastian Palmer | 18 Dec 2014 4:14 a.m. PST |
Hi all, I'm building a couple of 1/72 Sdkfz 11/4 Nebelkraftwagen, by Special Armour. I've been rooting around online, but can't find out what the weird little aerial-like thingies are on the wheel-arches… Can anyone enlighten me? Any help much appreciated. I'm attaching a pic. Sorry it's not a better photo, but it's just a quick ref snap from my mobile phone! The things I'm referring to are the sort of zig-zag bendy wire bits, one on either wheel arch. They come as photo-etched brass parts in the model; very fiddly and fragile! I already broke one off and had to replace it. Fortunately Special Armour supply the photo-etched parts with a few spares included.
I've also posted about this on my blog, aquestionofscale.blogspot, and would love it if anyone who knows could post their answers there as well. Cheers, Seb |
| EHeise | 18 Dec 2014 4:19 a.m. PST |
I think they are supposed to be supports for the rear view mirrors. Perhaps someone else can confirm. |
| EHeise | 18 Dec 2014 4:22 a.m. PST |
Or they were just a post to give the driver a sense of location of the fenders to judge distance in turns and parking and such |
| Maddaz111 | 18 Dec 2014 4:45 a.m. PST |
genuinely look like mounts for rear view wing mirrors to me. |
| JimDuncanUK | 18 Dec 2014 4:56 a.m. PST |
I understand that they are visual aids to the width of the vehicle. link |
| Pedrobear | 18 Dec 2014 5:50 a.m. PST |
They are like whiskers on a truck – lets the driver know how wide their trucks are. If the ball hits the wall, your body will get it too. |
| jpattern2 | 18 Dec 2014 6:34 a.m. PST |
Width indicators, painted camo like the rest of the vehicle, but the balls were painted white for higher visibility.
They weren't intended to be used like "whiskers," though." They were a visual aid for those outside the vehicle, guiding it through narrow European streets and bridges. |
| Sebastian Palmer | 18 Dec 2014 6:59 a.m. PST |
Width indicators!? Okay, that makes sense. Thanks guys, regards, Seb |
Roderick Robertson  | 18 Dec 2014 10:44 a.m. PST |
You can probably leave them off, then – not only because of "battle damage", but "They were torn off at that last bridge…" |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 18 Dec 2014 10:50 a.m. PST |
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| Lion in the Stars | 18 Dec 2014 1:13 p.m. PST |
You can probably leave them off, then – not only because of "battle damage", but "They were torn off at that last bridge…"  Rod for the win! |
| JezEger | 18 Dec 2014 4:47 p.m. PST |
If you don't leave them off, they'll last two games max and leave a dent out of your paint when they snap off. Super fine detail and moving models around a tabletop are rarely compatible. |
| Sebastian Palmer | 18 Dec 2014 5:18 p.m. PST |
@ Jezeger: yeah, I know! Some of the models I'm currently building may be game-able, others won't. This model also has PE door handles… I can barely pick the thing up to work on finishing the painting! If it survives painting intact it'll prob end up as a display piece. Poss part of a diorama, pulling a Nebelwerfer. |
| French Wargame Holidays | 21 Dec 2014 2:44 p.m. PST |
we still had them in the Australian army engineers in the eighties on the german made Unimogs, we also had a front one front parking! |
| andygamer | 24 Dec 2014 3:26 p.m. PST |
They're not for winding up the wheels to compensate for late war fuel shortages? :) |
