Amusing Hobby has three new interesting designs for the first half of 2019 - Some only previously available in resin and some not before available at all. See what's new from Amusing Hobby in early 2019.
Three new popular subjects from Amusing Hobby in early 2019
FV 217 Badger British Heavy tank Destroyer
Kit No #35A034
1/35th scale
A fictional tank made real by the video game "World of Tanks" this was based on a project for a tank destroyer that used the Conqueror chassis and developed in the late 1940s. Existed only in blueprints. Also, the FV217 had no official "Nickname" mentioned, the name "Badger" is most likely fictional.
The FV217 Badger as it appears in World of Tanks is a combination of the FV205 and FV217 proposals - specifically, its model is based on the wooden mock-up that was made of the FV205, while the name is from the later FV217. There is little known information on both projects - the FV205 and FV217 were intended to be case-mate tank destroyers, based on the chassis of the FV201 tank. The FV201 chassis was later used for the FV221 Caernarvon and the FV214 Conqueror.
The FV205 was designed as a "Self-Propelled Medium Anti-Tank gun". A scale model was built in 1947, but the project itself was later cancelled in 1949. The intended armament, as well as the planned armour layout, is unknown. The FV217 was a later proposal to mount a 120mm cannon into a modified FV201 chassis, designed as a "Self-Propelled 120 Medium Anti-Tank" vehicle. Like the FV205, almost nothing is known about the project. Its designation indicates that it was proposed later than the FV214 Conqueror, possibly due to the complications and delays with the heavy tank. Nevertheless, the FV217 was also cancelled.
Panther II w/ Rheinmetall Turret
Kit No #35A040
1/35th scale
Rheinmetall had been tasked with designing the Panther II turret. This new turret was named ‘Turm Panther 2 (schmale Blendenausführung)’ (English: ‘Turret Panther 2 (narrow mantlet variant)’). The cancellation of the Panther 2 project came in May 1943, but Rheinmetall continued their work, with their turret now destined for the original Panther.
A diagram of Rheinmetall’s schmale Blende.
Rheinmetall’s progress was sluggish, as 1 year later, they had not yet progressed beyond the drawing stages as evidenced by drawing H-Sk 88517 “Turm – Panther (schmale Blende)” (English: ‘Turret-Panther (narrow mantlet)’). New requirements were drawn up for a new iteration of the regular Rheinmetall-designed Pantherkampfwagen V Panther turret. An Entfernungsmesser (English: ‘rangefinder’) was to be incorporated into the turret and the gunner’s sight was to be changed to a periscope in the roof. Rheinmetall’s design incorporated the Entfernungsmesser in the turret, but this created a huge hump in the turret roof.
It appears this design, combined with the long time already used with no practical results, prompted Wa. Prüf. 6 to move responsibility for designing a new turret from Rheinmetall to Daimler Benz. It seems about nothing from the Rheinmetall’s Turm – Panther (schmale Blende) design was used by Daimler Benz for their Schmalturm design. By 20 August 1944, the first Versuchs-Schmalturm was mounted on a Panther Ausf. G chassis.
Rheintocher R-1 Movable Missile Launcher on Panther II Chassis
Kit No #35A036
1/35th scale
Sitting atop the Panther II chassis we have already seen from Amusing Hobby, the Rheintochter was a German surface-to-air missile developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig during World War II. The missile was a multi-stage solid fuelled rocket. Developed as part of the Third Reich’s rocketry program the Rheintocher was envisaged as a cheap anti-aircraft rocket to help supplement the Luftwaffe FlaK and Aircraft interceptor units. The name comes from the mythical Rheintöchter (Rhine maidens) of Richard Wagner's opera series Der Ring des Nibelungen.
It had four small control surfaces, resembling paddles, in the nose, six fins at the after end of the top stage, and four at the end of the main stage. It stood 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) tall, with a diameter of 54 cm (1 ft 9 in). The sustainer motor, located ahead of the 136 kg (300 lb) warhead (rather than the now more usual behind), exhausted through six outlets between the first stage fins.
Rheintochter R-1 test showing separation between stages moments after launch
Rheintochter R-1 Specifications:
MATERIALS: Steel, Magnesium; Wooden fins
DIMENSIONS OVERALL: 234 in. long x 118 3/4 in. wide x 234 in. deep, 1650 lb.
FUSELAGE DIAMETER: 21 1/8 in.
FIN SPAN -- BOOSTER: 118 3/4 in.
BOOSTER STAGE: 85 3/8 in.
LOADED WEIGHT: 3850 lb.
DESTRUCTIVE PAYLOAD: 332 lb.
RANGE: 7.5 mi
ALTITUDE: 3.7 mi
SPEED: 680 mph
Solid Fuel Propellant Engine: 165,000 pounds of thrust
ACCELERATION: Mach 1 within first 1,000 feet
These three new kits are slated for release int he first half of 2019 - you can see more of Amusing Hobby's models on their website