"Hanomag Vampire" Topic

A new vehicle is available from Dust Models

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Amicalement
Armand

Nice! The Infra-red night fighting system which the Germans had as a prototype would have made things . . . Interesting in the closing stages of the war in reality.

Good depiction here, and possibly of use to many players other than the Dust community.

they did use them in action

Found to be impractical in action. If used on tanks the first firing knocked everything out of alignment. Also the Allies were running routine Mosquito patrols looking for IR emissions and had stockpiled 1000s of Tabby IR detectors in France to be issued to troops on the first sight of any German IR usage. If the Allies had these detectors then any IR light would be instantly revealed. It would be like a poacher sneaking up on his prey with a torch. The only successful combat use of IR sights was the American sniper rifles in the pacific. IR was used extensively by the Allies in NWE. The Rhine crossing is one instance. They had tried IR as a combat aid but found it did not work so they used it as a night-driving aid. IR itself was not some German secret weapon as every nation was working on it. Wheels And Tracks Magazine had an article on Tabby IR and had a photo of a Sherman with IR headlights and wiring diagrams for a Cromwell IR set-up. There is an internet articles showing an IR set-up on a pre-war Soviet BT tank. The helmet and googles are straight out of Buck Rogers. Germany did not corner the market in IR technology.

Glad you like it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

That light down on the front is the only 'what-if' part, the light on the driver's hatch and on the MG are actual things.