"Hungarian Medium Tank 41.M ‘Turan’ II" Topic

Clayton has the 1/35th Scale Hungarian Medium Tank 41.M ‘Turan' II from Bronco Models finished already. This time he has combined both AMMO weathering materials with Mission Model Paints – a brand he has tried for the first time – to make a beautiful model. See how he put it all together in his painting & weathering guide…"

Tutorial here
link

Amicalement
Armand

One of my favourite tanks. Rubbish design, but looks cool. Lovely work on this model.

Nice work.

And IBG makes one in 1/72 scale for all our wargaming needs.

I haven't even heard of this vehicle until I played LnL's 'Tank on Tank' game.

Very nice paint job. I got a battalion of I & II's in micro. Was the Turan II the most effective allied tank produced?

Man, painting that mesh schurtzen without filling any of the mesh must have been a pain in the butt!

Was the Turan II the most effective allied tank produced?

Trying to figure out what is being asked with this question.

Is the question whether the Turan II was the most effective tank made by an Axis country other than Germany? Shall we exclude Japan from consideration, and look only at Germany's European Allies?

When we say "effective", do we mean the specs of the tank, or it's combat record? And "produced" … does this mean produced in volume, or somebody actually made it (not a paper design)?

Depending on what we mean by the question, I would suggest three possible competitors for the title.

First is the Italian P.26/40. From the specs it seems to win hands-down. Better armor, better gun. I have no information on it's reliability or service record. But to my understanding it only saw combat in the hands of the Germans (built by the Italians, but seized by the Germans when Italy changed sides). So I don't know if that counts.

Second in my count would be the Japanese Type-97-Kai Shinhoto Chi-Ha. It was a more successful tank in it's combat record. I don't suggest it is a slam dunk winner in a comparison of specs, but I would make the case for it. But it was not a European tank.

Third, the Hungarian's own Turan III was a more capable tank. As I understand it a few were built (it was not just a paper design), but it never made it to high-volume production and did not see combat.

I would also put both the Hungarian Zryinyi and the Italian Semovente de 75 (various versions) into the mix. These were StuG-style assault guns, but were evidently pretty successful and well regarded.

That's my tank-take.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

Need a few of these in 1:48 scale.

P.

@Mark, you got it right on your first guess (not sure how I could've phrased that differently). I was considering Germany's allies in Europe, but you could include Japan if you wanted (I'm not really familiar with their armor so can't comment on their effectiveness).

I wasn't considering tanks (P40) captured and/or produced by the Germans though. Strictly armor produced by their allies while they were still allies of their own choosing.

My understanding is there was only one Turan III (long 75 gun) prototype made which was destroyed when it's factory was bombed (I think it still had an issue with it's main gun) so I'd like to stick to tanks that saw active service.

I wasn't including assault guns, just tanks, but if you'd like to expand the armor under consideration I would probably agree with your choice of the Zryinyi. Now if you took into account every foreign (non-German) tank/assault gun/SPW carriage utilized by the Germans I'm not sure.

Glad you like it boys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Interesting but rather mediocre tank (had to research and rate them for a Combat Command module). I think they came out Medium/7.5N 10T – if you know the Combat Command rating system.

According to rumor/legend the Hungarians created a Panther copy and manage to produce one before factory bombed.

Thomas J. Thomas
Fame & Glory Games

From what I've read I think it was considered sufficient when designed, but obsolete by the time it saw action. To be fair, it's my understanding the Hungarians did try to procure a better foreign tank design without success. Still, considering Hungary's size and industrial base at that time I believe it was quite an achievement.