Does anyone know if the Hornisse was fielded during a winter campaign? I would like to do a whitewash, as I have a German spg crew in winter uniforms. What division, if any, was fielded during the winter? TIA.

dont really know the difference between the nashorn and the hornisse,but according to the pic below the should have been atleast some nashorns with winter camo,cant vouch for the accuracy of the dragon painting instructions,but will have a look through some books when i get home.



Edit:

Here are some pics of one with a whitewash

http://www.lonesentry.com/blog/panzerjager-hornissenashorn.html

http://www.panzerphotos.com/nashorn






edit 2:

Found what seems to be the difference:

from achtunpanzer.com:

Yes, I checked achtungpanzer first. I appreciate the info. Looks like s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt. 519 is the way to go. I have a big book of WWII, but all of the photos are in b&w. Can't tell if the vehicle is yellow or white.

Matt N.;

Hi!

"I'm sure you are safe depicting a Hornisse in (Ostfront) winter combat" - and the likely suspects for the deploying unit there would be one of the heavy anti-tank battalions 88, 93, 519, 560, and 655. Battalion 525 used Nashorn in Italy in 1944. But these probably never saw winter colors.

The Hornisse (just the first production run of maybe 20 or so "8.8cm PaK 43 L/71 auf Geschutzwagen III/IV Sd.Kfz. 164": as all know, Sd.Kfz 164 produced after FEB 1944 were named "Nashorn" per Hitler's orders) entered production and service in Spring of 1943, and made its combat debut at Kursk I.

From this, I think it fair to say that Kursk survivors and others issued thru early 1944 would have served in winter in Russia - so they would "qualify" as your subject "Hornisse in winter". The majority of Hornisse and Nashorn went to the ostfront, some to Italy, and (I think....) a few to France.

There appear to be many pics showing "Hornisse/Nashorn" in winter plumage - Some are certainly of vehicles in winter 43/44, and others from 44/45. Those from 43/44 would, I think, more likely be Hornisse then Nashorn... but you have to look very closely at the front plate to tell the models apart. The 44/45 pics probably capture mostly Nashorn, as the few Hornisse produced doubtless had dwindled to fewer yet by then... I assume that most - maybe about all - of these winter pics were of vehicles in the East.

Looking forward to seeing this! I've found pics of various "winter" -164 across the Web and always find this thing a pretty spectacular build - who knows? Maybe I'll get around to building my Dragon 3in1 kit someday (after seeing a whole slew of other's builds so as to see what I face!).

Bob

Thanks Bob. That clarifies it. I have another question. Are there any photos of the Hornisse/Nashorn with the canvas top? I've done Google and Yahoo images, as well as a general search, but haven't found any. I really want to depict something unique here.

the one in the below link seems to have something on top

http://news.webshots.com/photo/2340867750031051379KDUOMg

here's one with the back piece rolled back a bit



same goes for this one



and some more









and some more here

http://ostpanzer.asty.ru/topics/sp_guns/nashorn/images.html

http://ostpanzer.asty.ru/topics/sp_guns/nashorn/images3.html

That may be it or it may only be for the gun in transport. If I can't find any other photos, I may go with that partialy rolled back to expose the gun in the crew compartment.

was still editing it because i found some more pics, but you where to eager to start looking;)

edit:

and one more for the road

Remco: Those are enough photos for me to go on. Thank you.

Matt N;

The several "tarped" pics posted here, and various others across the Web, all suggest to me that perhaps Hornisse/Nashorn had some sort of vaguely fitted canvas cover, as versus a simple square/rectangular tarp pulled over the top - and it maybe hooked onto the small rings or tie-down eyes around the upper side of the armor plates? There does not appear to be much documentation of any particular framing or support structure provided, so perhaps this cover really was pretty "sloppy" and loose-fitting. I would suppose that crew might have used some poles or some such to prop it up a little were they going to hang out inside under the tarp... who wants the thing setting down on your head? More so when it is raining

A build with a partially-rolled tarp leaving much of the back visible could look quite keen, I think! And, given the lack of direct evidence either way, crew using some small tree limb or other pole to partially prop the thing could be realistic...

Bob

Bob: That is exactly what I had in mind. However, I will have the tarp rolled back to the point that the gun breach is showing. I estimate that build will take up most of the time spent on this project. The crew I have for it is Dragon's SPG reloading set.