Painted 1:56 E50M now with 88mm gun!

[CompanyB]

Painted versions complete!  Thanks to everyone who ordered.  Your orders are out for delivery!  I have a few kits left, so if your interested, please let me know.







And a size shot with Oddball

[Wyrmalla]

Comparing the two, I prefer the Ausf. M's turret. The real one look's so stubby at the back (which I suppose is consistent with the production Panther turret). The extra space would make mounting a larger gun more practical at least. ...And it does look more elegant than the stowage box which I shoved onto the back of that first Panther II which I made.

Hmn, now for an E-75 as well? I've warmed up to the Ausf. M's turret, so I may just make a new turret for an E-75 myself, ah, though you may have one already planned Brent.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

They are very nice.

I agree with Wyrmalla that the larger turret looks more balanced, the other one looks like it has the turret off of a Puma Armoured Car.

I would probably not have noticed except for the comparison photograph.

Lovely work on both.

[Ballardian]

Very cool I like the Split Ring scheme on the Ausf M.
I agree that the M turret makes more sense both visually & in terms of interior space (there was a proposed auto-rammer which might have been installed in the turret bustle - but as ever with paper panzers, a pinch of salt is necessary). The original KwK 43 would never have fit in the Schmalturm, even with the bulge in the turrets front & the elongated mantlet (partly containing a re-designed recoil buffer system). There was a proposal for a re-designed 88, taking a similar approach to what was done to the 17pdr to create the Comet's QF 77mm - a new breach block would've been created, with the shell's casings being shorter & fatter, retaining (at least most of) the original gun's power while actually fitting in the turret.
 I suppose the Schmalturm has been depicted as fitted to both the E-50 & Panther II as it's the only 'new' turret we had concrete information about, (it's in the Jentz Panther book), but it'd have clearly been a waste to fit it to the E-50 (without a new 88) -  fitting the Panther's 75 to a significantly larger chassis would have been both ineffecient & a missed opportunity.
 Now it'd be easy to do an E-75, after all, you've got the hull/running gear & it's depicted with the same turret as the Tiger II/B  - just put the larger (100 or 105mm) gun in, again, with a new, longer mantlet (for the same reasons) - so all that's needed is turret & gun. (A stowage pack would be good - Tiger II/B track links would be handy, perhaps along with a set of plates for armouring the engine deck).
 Oh, & did I say that I'm stupidly excited to get my hands on this kit ?

[CompanyB]

Hmm, The E75 is definite a possibility. Looks like a new turret, gun and some new tracks. I can include some IR gear and additional armor plates.

Ok, Who's game for an E75?  I'll be creating the Flak turret next as well.


-Brent

[Wyrmalla]

More paper panzers are always good.

If you're still looking for inspiration, youknow, alt turrets and the like, here's some of the stuff I have on my laptop.









I think I'd prefer the radar turret the most.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Certainly some odd and interesting models.

What is the one with the koala bear faced turret, some kind of artillery forward observer or AA command?

[Wyrmalla]

Its a support tank with added range finders and a radar dish. The range finder was a real project, but I'm not sure about the integrated radar. Yeah, I suppose it'd support Flak vehicles mounted on a similar chassis, or one of those portable ballistic missiles people like to stick onto E-100s. Having it alongside conventional tanks seems like a waste (though late in the war they intended to have a flak vehicle with every panzer unit due to Allied air superiority).

Paper Panzer make one in 1/35th:

http://www.paperpanzer.com/paper-panzer-productions/ppp35025-radar-und-kdo40-turm-heimdall/

[Ballardian]

Whoops! Must of had something of a brainfart, you'll of course need a new set of tracks/wheels (with 8 roadwheels a side) as well as the turret & gun. Again you're presented with the front/rear drive question - the E-series was supposed to be rear drive, but the only existing E-series prototype (the E-100) did have front drive, based on the existing Tiger II/B (that said a new engine & transmission were in the works, while the prototype would have had to make do with the existing HL230 - rendering it grossly underpowered for a 130+ ton vehicle).
 So the same options as for the E-50 please! Also, as I mentioned, stowage, track links & tools (jack & block, tank bars & perhaps the eyes for tow cables - the cables themselves could made from twisted wire).

[CompanyB]

Tracks and a turret/gun would be doable.  I'll be doing a separate set of tank tools and such for German tanks, as that has many many uses beyond the dozen or so buyers of Paper Panzers!

[Wyrmalla]

Mine showed up this morning. Under two weeks shipping time FYI. 

Comments - man that's a big tank... I haven't touched a Tiger II in a while, so forgot how large they were.

When sticking them together I stuck on the track guards first, before the actual tracks. I'm not sure if the wheels are supposed to line up with a specific area, rather I made a best judgement (so mine might be a few mm off).

I'm concerned over the turret's weight. The gun's are pretty heavy, so I'm seeing them dip a bit at the front. With paint the turret will be held better, so this should be mitigated, but I'd suggest when people have there's to either dump some metal stowage at the back as a counterweight.

The gun's mantlet could do with something to hold it, instead of being mounted flush with the ball which sticks out of the turret. Just to give it extra strength and making glueing it on easier. I doubt that many people are going to have the gun at any other angle except straight forward. Though that'd take more effort when casting by the looks of it.

Comparing the two turrets with Heer46's I prefer CompanyB's (even with the above points). Heer46's lighter obviously, though that's to its detriment personally (I filled mine in with milliput). The fact that these have plugs makes using them with other kits easier as well (they will fit Rubicon's/ Warlord's, but I"d suggest increasing their diameter with milliput so they don't rattle about).

Of the two turrets I'd advise you only go with the "real" one if you're deadset on historical accuracy (again, "historical"). It just looks really titchy on that hull - like how the Puma turret looks on those scout Panthers. The M turret, with the bustle looks much better, though still small for the hull. If you're looking for a historical reason to justify the fictional turret then I'd say its there to account for the larger gun/ crew complaints about the new turret limiting space a bit. I mean, the tank itself never left the drawing boards, so if you're making one at all I'd say there's plenty of room for changes like that. I do eagerly await the E-75 however (I'd imagine the E-50 wouldn't have lasted long in the real world, even under the best situations. The big issue with the E-75 being that its gun would cost more to manufacture).

Of the two track assembly types I much prefer the one with the smaller front drive wheel. The other just looks a bit off to me.

Overall minimal gap filling's required. TBH I've had a lot worse stuff from Warlord. On that note, resin warping is negligible.

I'm going to go over mine and add some extra tat like jacks and stowage, probably an MG or Infra-Red sights on at least one (though the kit itself doesn't come with either). As a late war tank some air protection would probably be a good idea too, ah, but I personally CBA with making any at the moment.

This isn't a review as such obviously, just my impressions whilst putting them together this afternoon. For what they are I'd say they're worth a pop. If you're wanting to use the E-50M in Bolt Action game, with the long gun you could easily just use it as a Tiger II (though for recognition the regular E-50 with the smaller turret might not pass so well).

When the E-75 comes out I'll happily pick up one of them as well, as again, the larger turret will look much better on that size of hull. As I type this I'm strongly considering converting the smaller turreted one into a Jagd variant...

[Wyrmalla]

And comparisons.

Turrets- Heer46 in the middle. CompanyB's is taller and is missing some of the details the other has, but again, you don't have to scratch build a turret ring for the damn thing, so that's a plus... (and yes, re: the mantlet being difficult to position, I'm going to have another go with the E-50M's one as its slightly misaligned)



Rubicon Panther (with cut down Tiger II tracks), E-50M, Warlord Tiger II (conversion obviously, and sans its track armour). They're all lined up at their rears, so I'm seeing a fairly large difference in size here with the Tiger II which I'm not sure about.



E-50M and Blitzkrieg's Maus



And lastly, just because, with a Tamiya 1/48th Panther (though this is a conversion the overall profile, barring the lack of armour over the tracks is largely the same).

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Wow, that is big. The Maus looks even more odd because of the turret being towards the rear of its hull so looks taller.

[Wyrmalla]

I wouldn't mind some info from Brent over the size. The roadwheels are the size of the E-25's, which is correct. However was the E-50 supposed to be this large? I had always thought it was pretty much a Tiger II with some changes to the glacis, etc. Just to know, youknow. Its not to say I'm unhappy with it or anything.

Edit: oh and I can confirm - the Maus sits like a centimetre taller, and the 1/48th Panther a bit higher than that. I could probably measure the hulls of the Warlord Tiger II and Company B E-50, as that'd be a more appropriate comparison - again, unless the E-50 from World of Tanks which this is based on is modified this way, as I don't have all the info.

[CompanyB]

It's an E50M.. Which is a little longer than the Tiger II, E75.  Specifically, if you look at the engine deck, the E75/Tiger II will stop right after the rear most engine grills. So it is a bit bigger in length.

Also, if you remove the skirts, it slims down a lot