"Possibly dumb question on panzerfausts (Pzf)" Topic

So the things don't have a sling. Now suppose you're a rifleman carrying a panzerfaust to the battlefield.
Now you have to start fighting, altough there aren't any tanks around at the moment, there might be some nearby.
How do you carry the thing around?

Or more specifcally, how do I model it?
I have a (Finnish) rifleman I want to be armed with a Pzf, but there aren't any suitable figures available. At least I don't have any.
So how to model it?
Or do I bother and just say – this dude has a Pzf?

(I play Nuts! – a skirmish level game)

I made a few for my 20mm troops to use. a piece of wire cut to length and some modeling clay shaped into a conical shape.
painted grey. Either lay it on the base of the figure carrying it or use a bit of blue tac to hold it in place.
Dimensions of a PF is 3 1/2 ft with warhead of 4 inches at its widest. Scale down to your figure size.

I gather you didn't carry a Panzerfaust until you planned to use it. You could carry it underarm. Or you would have some nearby, ready to be picked up, used and discarded as needed.

Generally you carry it in both hands or resting on one shoulder with your main weapon slung. You could always put it down to use your rifle….

It is certainly a lot easier to carry than a Panzerschreck!

So, if you eg have a firing figure, just lay the PF at his feet.

By the way, Panzerfausts were painted Dunkelgelb like the base coat of German vehicles in the latter part of the War. They also had an obvious white label with instructions on the upper rear part of the warhead.

A lot of contemporary pictures show Panzefausts being carried in the left hand or over the shoulder. As Martin says, the most likely drill would be to sling a small arm to use the Panzerfaust or to put the latter down temporarily to fire the rocket. They must have worked it somehow as the inkling of Panzerfaust-armed German infantry would give Allied tankers the screaming heeby-jeebies. (Much like a Russian tanker faced by Ukrainian infantry with INLAWS at the start of that war… At least INLAWS do have a carrying strap.)

I've seen pictures of miniatures where the Panzerfaust is carried in a backpack. I seem to recall seeing a photo of an actual Panzerfaust being carried that way; a German soldier all wrapped-up for winter battle looking up at the camera with his rifle in his hands and the warhead of the Panzerfaust sticking up over his left shoulder. Fair warning, as I advance into my dotage, I may be making this up? I imagine that carrying an unbalanced, oddly shaped device in a backpack would prove uncomfortable. I think that a simple sling attached to the tube of the Panzerfaust slung with the Panzerfaust in front might work. Still again, absent that one vague memory of a photo and photos of miniatures, I cannot find any photo where it is being carried anywhere other than resting on a shoulder. Even assuming that it is designed to be a single use weapon, there would have to be instances where it is carried from place to place, much like modern "LAWS" launchers are carried while on foot patrol. From what I understand, the LAWS has a sling.

AI reports that the Panzerfaust was simply carried by hand or in accompanying vehicles. That strikes me as a cumbersome method. It means that carrying a weapon that you might use would take a rifle out of the hands of a solder in battle?

I Googled panzerfaust and looked at the images.
1. Everybody seems to sling their rifle or SMG on their back and carry the panzerfaust in their hands. There were pictures of Germans and Finns both doing this.
2. Post WWII versions of the panzerfaust do have slings--we're right, TMP is more practical than the Wehrmacht, having a sling of some sort is an excellent idea.
3. One photo showed four panzerfausts packed in a case, but that seems more like a shipping arrangement. Maybe a wagon or small vehicle could deliver several such cases to front line defenses.
4. I wondered if something like a panzerfaust with a big head and long body could be slipped into a loop, perhaps on the backpack, maybe on the webbing (originally intended for something else), or maybe something improvised by the men, and carried that way.

Grelber

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that unless contact with enemy armor was iminent, perhaps they were all in a truck in "the rear with the gear?"
Then when enemy armor was expected, all the supply dudes would hustle them forward and pass them out. Does that make sense?
Would explain how the 82nd captured a couple of truck loads and used them for some time.
Maybe I'll just mount a few on their own base, so it can mark who has it and whether it's been used or not. Would also be useful in that if the guy carrying it gets hit, someone else can pick it up.

One photo showed four panzerfausts packed in a case

Yes, I have read that the case would be delivered to the frontline, and the soldiers would grab the panzerfausts when needed.

The idea that perhaps "they were all in a truck" suggests that all German infantry had trucks on hand. We know that wasn't the case but Panzerfausts were handed out to all sorts of units, including even Volksturm militias who were very likely to be limited to foot transportation. I think they probably were mostly just lugged around. Sometimes an obvious solution just doesn't get implemented.

Cheers,
John

There's a slung Panzerfaust about 44 seconds in in this video, the guy's carrying another over his shoulder. This was the first video I looked at produced by a search!

YouTube link

Slings were improvised occasionally. I doubt they would be stored routinely rather than delivered and carried. I dunno what scale you're using but you can buy separate weapons in 1:72. Or you could abstract with a marker or on paper. Under base marker is possible esp if you mag/steel base.

Pzfaust were mostly the sandy brown dunkelgelb variant but olive green was also possible. I've heard of a brighter green but no supporting evidence. They were a disposable round essentially but there are examples of german equipment painted multi coloured cam. If you're painting your gas mask case cam then maybe you also did your pz faust.until you shot the thing.

As ammunition they would be carried in IF8 hand carts or vehicles in motorised units, then distributed when combat was expected.

I have not seen many[any?]photos of slung PFs. It would be awkward and remember German riflemen were not expected to fire their rifles on the move or from an at the ready position. The idea was to take cover and only the MG34/42 would suppress the enemy while the riflement took cover or manoeuvred.

So sling your rifle or SMG and have the PF on your shoulder or in your hand.

This makes it tricky to model. You may be able to add one to a figures hand or as suggested already glue/tack one to a figures base.