spaa 2cm Gebirgsflak 38 auf Schwimmwagen

[Blaser93 418]

The VW Type 128 and 166 Schwimmwagen (literally Floating/Swimming Car) were amphibious four-wheel drive off-roaders, used extensively by German ground forces during the Second World War. The Type 166 is the most numerous mass-produced amphibious car in history.

 

Volkswagen Schwimmwagens used the engine and mechanicals of the VW Type 86 four-wheel drive prototype of the Kübelwagen and the Type 87 four-wheel drive 'Kübel/Beetle' Command Car, which in turn were based on the platform of the civilian Volkswagen Beetle. Erwin Komenda, Ferdinand Porsche's first car body designer, was forced to develop an all-new unitized bodytub structure since the flat floorpan chassis of the existing VW vehicles was unsuited to smooth movement through water. Komenda patented his ideas for the swimming car at the German Patent office.

 

The earliest Type 128 prototype was based on the full-length Kübelwagen chassis with a 240 cm (7.9 ft) wheelbase. Pre-production units of the 128, fitted with custom welded bodytubs, demonstrated that this construction was too weak for tough off-roading, had insufficient torsional rigidity, and easily suffered hull-ruptures at the front cross-member, as well as in the wheel-wells. This was unacceptable for an amphibious vehicle. The large-scale production models (Type 166) were therefore made smaller, and had a wheel-base of only 200 cm (6.6 ft).

 

VW Schwimmwagens were produced by the Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben / Wolfsburg and Porsche's facilities in Stuttgart; with the bodies (or rather hulls) produced by Ambi Budd in Berlin. 15,584 Type 166 Schwimmwagen cars were produced from 1941 through 1944; 14,276 at Fallersleben and 1,308 by Porsche. Given these numbers, the VW 166 is the most mass-produced amphibious car in history. Only 189 are known by the Schwimmwagen Registry to remain today, and only 13 have survived without restoration work.

 

All Schwimmwagen were four wheel drive only on first gear (and reverse gears with some models) and had ZF self-locking differentials on both front and rear axles. Just like the Kübelwagen, the Schwimmwagen had portal gear rear hubs that gave better ground clearance, while at the same time reducing drive-line torque stresses with their gear reduction at the wheels.

 

When crossing water a screw propeller could be lowered down from the rear deck engine cover. When in place a simple coupling provided drive straight from an extension of the engine's crankshaft. This meant that screw propulsion was only available going forward. For reversing in the water there was the choice of using the standard equipment paddle or running the land drive in reverse, allowing the wheel-rotation to slowly take the vehicle back. The front wheels doubled up as rudders, so steering was done with the steering wheel both on land and on water.

 

Specifications:

 

• Crew: 4
• Speed (on road): 80 km/h (52 mph)
• Speed (still water): 10 km/h (6 mph), at 2,300 propeller rpm (moves forward only)
• Engine: 4 cylinder boxer, air cooled, 1,131 cc, 25 hp at 3,000 rpm
• Transmission: 4 speed manual, 2 speed transfer case; 4WD only on 1st gear/reverse
• Wheelbase: 200 cm (78.1 in)
• Length: 382.5 cm (150.6 in)
• Width: 148 cm (58.3 in)
• Height: 161.5 cm (63.6 in)
• Curb Weight: 910 kg (1,345 kg GVW)

 

Armament:

 

• 1 x 2 cm Flak 30/38/Flakvierling or Gebirgsflak 38 and possibly 1 x MG 42

 

 

Reference:

 

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Schwimmwagen
• http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/vw_schwimmwagen.php
• http://www.schwimmwagen.ch/english/specs_E.html

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Blaser93

[blakeob 8,086]

Open for discussion. 

[Mercedes4321 4,695]

That looks hilarious, I want it.

[Hakuyuki 153]

I would pay over 3,000 GE for this if it was a premium - just because I love the Schwimmwagen with all my heart.

[_EQUAI_ 356]

XD such a cute premium +1

[seadogpirate@psn 888]

oooo give me that water bug in the main tree +1

[Josh_Yong 328]

Main tree please, the Germans have no amphibious vehicles 

[The_Strafer 131]

A small, amphibious SPAAG?

Gib +1

[DestroyDaDa 193]

Yes! For a while before I even started reading the post I thought it's gonna be another useless 20mm cannon with 2 crew members mounted on a crappy chassis, but after I read it and found that it's amphibious then I absolutely agree and it has to be in main tree cuz as @Josh_Yong says there are no amphies in the german tree

also its so cute 

and btw although its crew was 4, it's like with the Flakpanzer 1 - only 2 crew members can be sensibly placed on the vehicle, and the other ones in the Schwimmwaggen would walk on foot near the vehicle during shooting.

But either way, I don't care that this vehicle offers literally no protection to the crew, it is an absolute must cuz its an important amphibious vehicle. Maybe even replace the flakpanzer 1 with the schwimmwagen AA?

Edited January 1, 2017 by DestroyDaDa

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

Hmm...sure, why not?  I can already see it offering a couple of advantages over the Flakpanzer I and Gepard (not the rank 5 Gepard, obviously), besides the obvious amphibious capability: it's really, really small compared to just about any other vehicle in the game (barring stuff like the ASU-57), which would make it a more difficult target for aircraft to strafe (unless it's on the water, where it would likely be a sitting duck).

Edited January 1, 2017 by Z3r0_

[Daddo2 328]

Since Germans already have Flakpanzer 1 and Flakpanzer Gepard at low tier with the same armament I'd say it should be premium, but I definitely want it in the game

[FritzWendel 35]

Count me in! Once had a chance to sit in a swimming 166 during a vintage car meeting - ah, fond floating memories!

And a German amphibious vehicle seems overdue.

[_EQUAI_ 356]

5 minutes ago, FritzWendel said:

And a German amphibious vehicle seems overdue.

I agree

[DestroyDaDa 193]

Bump?

[FritzWendel 35]

I actually am a great fan of the Schwimmwagen and fully endorse its implementation!

 

Yet, looking at the picture again I ask myself whether no one else has hitherto noticed that the 166 in the photo seems to be lacking its retractable propeller. In this case we'd have merely an unarmored land-bound 4x4 wheeled 20mm carrier.

And where did they put the exhaust-tube which usually is placed on top behind the back seats? Did the thing actually drive or was it just used as an impromptu platform, somewhere in the swamps of Finland or Russia?

I also wonder whether this 166 with flak had any official serial number or was just built once and from scratch in the field.

My apologies for taking the part of advocatus diaboli yet from my own experience I know the devs will do...

 

So Blaser93 could you please provide some more documentation? Would still be great to get the amphibious car into the game!

Fritz

 

Edited January 9, 2017 by FritzWendel
typos

[KontaKT 1,824]

Sure I say yes as a low tier of a new armored-cars line.

[Blaser93 418]

13 hours ago, FritzWendel said:

I actually am a great fan of the Schwimmwagen and fully endorse its implementation!

 

Yet, looking at the picture again I ask myself whether no one else has hitherto noticed that the 166 in the photo seems to be lacking its retractable propeller. In this case we'd have merely an unarmored land-bound 4x4 wheeled 20mm carrier.

And where did they put the exhaust-tube which usually is placed on top behind the back seats? Did the thing actually drive or was it just used as an impromptu platform, somewhere in the swamps of Finland or Russia?

I also wonder whether this 166 with flak had any official serial number or was just built once and from scratch in the field.

My apologies for taking the part of advocatus diaboli yet from my own experience I know the devs will do...

 

So Blaser93 could you please provide some more documentation? Would still be great to get the amphibious car into the game!

Fritz

 

Busy looking but I did find a model showing the rear of it if that helps provide a little more information. Will continue hunting for some more info.

Some people believe the gun to be the gebirgsflak 38 which is a light weight version of the 2cm FlaK 38. Updated armament with new weapon possibility.

Gebirgsflak 38 Info

Spoiler

 

The Gebirgsflak 38 was a German anti-aircraft weapon of World War II, a lightweight version of the 2 cm FlaK 38 designed for airborne and mountain troops as a dual purpose gun for use against air and ground targets. The main difference was that the carriage was smaller and lighter than the carriage for the FlaK 38. The gun and carriage were designed to allow the weapon to be broken into several pack loads for transport. The carriage has two wheels and when raised the gun has a 360° traverse. Unlike the Flak 38, the light carriage is not designed for high towing speeds.

 

The Gebirgsflak 38 was fired using a foot pedal on the right front of the flak mount. The gunlayer’s seat was mounted behind the gun and rotated with the mount in traverse. Elevating and traversing of the gun were manual using handwheels located on the right and left sides of the mount respectively. There are two speeds, high and low, in both elevating and traversing.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by Blaser93

[FritzWendel 35]

The model though obviously not amphibious looks cool!

Maybe you should ask around in the forum of 'schwimmwagen.com' (in English, German and French), the site for 'owners and enthusiasts' where they have a discussion panel for 'modifications'. One needs to register to get admission. But they seem to be the pros on the matter.

Ahoi!

Fritz

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by FritzWendel

[Xenecrite 899]

This vehicle is an amphibious

http://www.o5m6.de/schwimmwagen.html

[KontaKT 1,824]

1 hour ago, Xenecrite said:

This vehicle is an amphibious

http://www.o5m6.de/schwimmwagen.html

 

Yes the car itslef is amphibious. But with the heavy gun (wich moves the gravity center at the back), I don't know.

[FritzWendel 35]

@Xenecrite

 

We know, sat once in a VW 166 that swam through a pond

But if you look closely at both the model and the photo posted by Blaser93 you can see that the aft-propeller is missing.

The propeller is normally being swung down and then connects to a shaft coming directly - and in the middle of the hull - from the engine (which is in the back of the car).

[FritzWendel 35]

PS: Custom-Scale who offers the model (i.e. a model conversion-kit of today, NO WW2-FIELD-CONVERSION-KIT(!), for a basic VW 166 model) Blaser93 posted above also has the propeller section sealed over, removed the exhaust tube and the rod with a hook that is usually attached there (for manually lifting the propeller up again) yet he explicitly identifies the gun as the said 'gebirgsflak'.

 

Cf. scroll below or search 'Schwimmwagen' on:

https://www.customscale.de/online-shop/

Edited January 11, 2017 by FritzWendel

[FritzWendel 35]

PPS:

If it's about adding an amphibious tank to the German tree, why not the ponton-variant of the Pz. 38t which is already in-game?

As far as a quick research reveals, they actually had at least one built - intended for Operation Sealion - and according to the images it seems to have been truly amphibious. But that would be another forum-topic - that was actually started here by @Xenecrite last October...

 

Here is a detailed Czech (which I can not read, alas) article with further literature:

 

http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/41324/Schwimmpanzer-38t

 

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by FritzWendel

[IDreamOfShadows 33]

That's a one shot waiting to happen, by 50 cal machine guns...lol the rage people will have using this, yes. Non premium.

[TT33a 5,406]

11 hours ago, IDreamOfShadows said:

That's a one shot waiting to happen, by 50 cal machine guns

 

And you can't return the favor and one shot them with its 78 cal cannon?

Edited January 12, 2017 by TT33a