Hi all,
here is my closest model to the WWII thingies.

The Hetzer kit is the Tamiya one, the conversion is from MR Models (pale yellow resin bits and white metal parts). The conversion was designed for a Dragon Mid-production Hetzer. The Tamiya kit doesn't have the same dimensions which generate some fit issues.
I also had to make some extra details missing in the conversion hence the plastic card bits here and there.

I struggled to fit the MG cradle over the exhaust cover but I finally gave up. I only put the pedestal in the stowed position.

The muzzle brake in the conversion was crushed so I used a Marder III muzzle brake that I modified to give it a better look, at least I tried to do so ;-)

The wheels and the skirts are just holding with some blu-tac for the pictures.



















It will be painted Olive Drab.
Comments welcome

Olivier

Looking good. Cant wait to see it done

Olivier
Nice work so far, interesting vehicle, I take it this was a post war recycled version of the Hetzer, or were the Swiss actually buying them during the war? (as you can tell, I know nothing about Hetzers)

nice i build one about ten years ago, i wanted to do something aliitle different
hope to see yours painted soon.

george

I have never been an armor guy, but I have always had a thing for the hetzer and its descendents. Very nicely done!

Hi Dave, thanks for the comment. I don't know when precisely the Swiss did acquire their Hetzers. From what I read during my research work (don't know a lot about WWII panzers) I guess this after the war.
Lately they modified the engine, hence the different engine deck.

Thanks George,
I too wanted to build something different. In fact, I'm interested in modern armor and the conversion was given to me as a "joke gift". Anyway, i decided to go with it but I expected less work (I initially thought it would be a quick build !). I failed to find the original donor kit that's why I used the Tamiya kit which turned to be not so a good idea.

I too hope to have some paint on it.

Nice Job Olivier! Sorry I couldn't get those top pictures you asked for, never did get to that museum. Life...

A little background on the G13:
The Swiss Army evaluated several types of WWII tanks after the war (incl. the RAM and Crusader, don't ask about the logic of that...). In the end they chose the Hetzer (probably because they deemed it defensive and our army was to be only defensive and also because it had many parts in common with the Pz. 38 we already had in use). IIRC they were purchased from a Czech manufacturer in 1947. So they were either re-manufactured or new (I guess Skoda produced the Hetzer during the war and still had the tools around). They were in use for quite some time (I believe well into the 1960ies?) but I will have to look up the details (I will be back in my cave on thursday only).

Cheers!
Stefan

Thanks for the info Stefan.

Olivier requested some more background info on the G 13 so I checked my references and here goes:

In September 1945 Switzerland got a delivery of several German armored vehicles from France, among them a Hetzer for test purposes. In mid 1946 Switzerland was offered 100 G 13 from the Czech Skoda factory, the last production batch for the Germans that never got delivered. The G 13 was not considered the best solution but the price was right, so they decided to buy them to equip several tank destroyer units. In December 1946 a first pre-order batch of 8 arrived in Switzerland with the main batch of 100 arriving in 1947. 108 vehicles was considered inadequate, so another 50 were purchased in 1947 with the last of those delivered in 1949. These last 50 vehicles were newly manufactured by Skoda.

In 1950 for lack of spare parts the first vehicles were rebuilt with a Swiss diesel engine and subsequently 86 vehicles were so modified (also with a new British transmission). There was a standard version (with AA-MG) and a command version (w/o AA-MG). The last G 13 were retired in 1973.

The AA machine gun on the engine deck seems to be a Swiss development, the 7.5mm MG38. It was used on tanks only, first the Pz 39 (Swiss version of the Czech/German Pz 38(t)). Other tanks from the early 1950ies (such as the Centurion and Pz. 81 and 68, but also today’s Leopard II) used a Swiss version of the German MG42, the MG51.

I have no more Info on the MG38, so if anyone cares to join in...

HTH!
Cheers!
Stefan

A huge thank you to you Stefan. It's a lot more than I already managed to get here and there.

I started the painting step and will post pictures later.

Olivier