Someone has just to make this Frankenstien contraption:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kruegerrossi/8317522245/in/photostream/

Described as a 4,5 cm PaK 37(r) L-46 auf Infanterie Schlepper UE 630(f)

Not unusual, many conversions made. But the gun in the picture is not a russian pak but a German 3,7 cm pak 36.

Thanks for getting that correction up there, Javier! It is indeed a German 3.7cm PaK36 on a ex-French UE.

There were several of these ad-hoc "tank-destroyers" built on recently-captured French UE carriers during the last few weeks of the Blitz - basically about 3 versions - those where the gun was simply perched on the fenders - as seen in the pic - and tied down with rope, a very slightly more-formal version where some clever shop guy(s) made some wooden cradle-chock-blocks which received the gun-carriage wheels... making for a more-secure placement with less tendency to twist and wander around when the piece was fired, and the final, more "formal" version, where the gun's wheels were removed and the base mounted on the front edge of the cargo bin, right behind the crew domes. In some Blitz cases, they were actually painted Dunkelgrau, too! (Again, as seen in this pic).

Once you look at any 1/35 scale UE kit and a corresponding PaK36... you will realize that the gun crew knelt on the drop-gate at the back of the cargo bin to service their piece, and there was probably "room" in the bin for a couple little ammo cases, etc. I imagine that the beastie "galloped" down the road - overloaded, high-centered, and way off-balance front-to-rear. Probably one heck of a ride for the lads working the gun!

Being as these were unit-shop contraptions, probably few or none of the "simply tied-on" versions went on to serve elsewhere after the Blitz, but the "formal" version(s) without gun-wheels did go on to serve a bit longer... Some became airfield security guns, and a few marched off to the Balkans (or at least so I have concluded from fragmentary reference in various pubs) in 1941. I don't think any survived to go to Russia in Op Barbarossa, but I always wait with baited breath to be corrected of my ignorance!

Yes. There is / are at least one 1/35 styrene kit of one of these versions out on the model street. Some east-bloc company - I think mine was born from RPM or maybe Mirage styrene... They show up occasionally on the evilbay and on vendor's tables at shows. The kit, BTW, is OK - it builds up to look pretty much like a Renault UE with a PaK36 stuck on top - the details are a bit rough, but some PE bits (from any UE PE kit!) and/or scratch-work fixes most of the ills of the kit, and a metal barrel helps out that PaK36. Or... for some fun and adventure (but a nice-looking build in the end), one can mount a Tamiya or Dragon PaK36 onto the really nice little Tamiya UE for an effective "capture" of this actually not-too-useful contraption!

Cheers!

Bob