"General Inspection" Wow! (2 Viewers)

[fmethorst]

Does anyone have any information about how the sandbag "armor" performed againt hollow charge weapons (i.e. Panzerschreck, Panzerfaust etc.) I would think it would have much the same affect as the spaced armor (i.e. side skirts) on the German AFVs, only much heavier. Did it have any value against kinetic energy AT rounds?

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Does anyone have any information about how the sandbag "armor" performed againt hollow charge weapons (i.e. Panzerschreck, Panzerfaust etc.) I would think it would have much the same affect as the spaced armor (i.e. side skirts) on the German AFVs, only much heavier. Did it have any value against kinetic energy AT rounds?

No value against kinetic anti-tank rounds from high velocity guns like the 75 mm/L70 gun on the Panther, 88 mm gun on the Tiger or even the 75 mm/L48 on the Panzer IV.

And almost no value against the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck. In March 1945 officers of the 1st Armored Group tested standard Panzerfaust 60s against sandbagged M4s; shots against the side blew away the sandbags and still penetrated the side armor. Only shots fired at an angle against the front plate blew away some of the sandbags and did not penetrate the armor.

In Summer 1944, Patton said the sandbags were useless and that the tank had extra wear and breakdowns of the engine, transmission and tracks from the extra weight and had had forbidden the use of sandbags on tanks in the 3rd Army. What he did do after the Battle of the Bulge was to have the front hull welded with extra armor plates, salvaged from knocked-out American and German tanks. Approximately 36 of these up-armored Shermans were supplied to each of the armored divisions of the Third Army in the spring of 1945. These were somewhat effective.

A previous attempt by the Army to upgrade the Sherman by welding square steel plates on the outside of the hull to protect the ammo bins in the sponsons proved useless. It wasn't the engines catching fire - it was the ammo lockers. (Only the K&C Iwo Jima Sherman and a few of the Figarti Shermans have those plates)

The biggest upgrade to protect the Shermans and crews was moving the storage bins from the sponsons to the floor and the use of steel water jackets for the ammunition storage. These 2 measures were found to reduce fires from 70% - 80% of tanks hit to only 10% - 15%.

Terry

 

[sammy719]

No doubt, one of my favorites...Sammy

 

[fmethorst]

Thanks Terry.

I guess there is still the intangible of crew psychology. If they believed they were better protected would they be less hesitant to put themselves in harms way?

 

[old tank]

hi guys......I have that set and it is very nice. I made a diorama with it and put the us. camera soldier taking pictures of PATTON he liked to be in the news.

 

[AIXrUS]

BTW I saw one go on ebay for around $189! Less than original retail and was in box... that was a deal for whoever won it.

 

[Cyber Field Marshall]

Nice Bulge collection Lenswerks, you have many items I'd still like to get. I have some of those pieces but yours is more thorough. I prefer the non-action pieces that you're displaying here (ex. Priest, wounded soldier, Christmas gathering etc). They look terrific together, they are definitely some of K&C's best work. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers
CFM

 

[OzDigger]

I am also a fan of non combat sets, General Inspection being one of my favorites. Here it is displayed with my recovery vehicle and some GI mechanics trying to repair the damage caused by overloading. George S. isn't a happy General atm

 

[lenswerks]

Thank you Raymond and CFM. Agree CFM, this is one of my favorite displays. I added the bicycle since the photo was taken.

Donnie

 

[binder001]

(Only the K&C Iwo Jima Sherman and a few of the Figarti Shermans have those plates) Terry

Funny enough, the old "Iwo Jima Sherman" should NOT have those plates on it! That tank represents one of the "Wet Stowage" types that had the ammo racks moved to the bottom of the tank. Unfortunately many of our suppliers use Tamiya models for their master models. Tamiya wrongly included the applique armor set in its kit of the M4A3 and toy manufacturers and too many modelers put them on.

Gary B.

 

[old tank]

lenswerks......nice set up. nice seeing the boys on a break.

 

[wayne556517]

I am also a fan of non combat sets, General Inspection being one of my favorites. Here it is displayed with my recovery vehicle and some GI mechanics trying to repair the damage caused by overloading. George S. isn't a happy General atm

Great pic mate,im with you im a huge fan of non combat dio,s.

 

[Rob]

"General Inspection" was my first AFV purchase 2 years ago ....

Very nice Donnie,great set up you have there.

Rob

 

[bromhead]

Does anyone have any information about how the sandbag "armor" performed againt hollow charge weapons (i.e. Panzerschreck, Panzerfaust etc.) I would think it would have much the same affect as the spaced armor (i.e. side skirts) on the German AFVs, only much heavier. Did it have any value against kinetic energy AT rounds?

Sandbags had about as much "value" as sitting on an issue "flakjacket" when driving a vechicle in my reconissance pltn..Photo in my albums,,luck of the draw helped as much or more.

 

[The Military Workshop]

With reference to Patton Andy mentioned he is the only General who has been
copyrighted. The lawyers representing Patton represent John Wayne, Marily Monroe and a few other of that calibre. Not to be messed with.
I am pretty sure therefore that any likeness to Patton in the Sherman Inspection set is purely in the buyers imagination
Regards
Brett

 

[Phantom Warrior]

With reference to Patton Andy mentioned he is the only General who has been
copyrighted. The lawyers representing Patton represent John Wayne, Marily Monroe and a few other of that calibre. Not to be messed with.
I am pretty sure therefore that any likeness to Patton in the Sherman Inspection set is purely in the buyers imagination
Regards
Brett

Fortunately I have a good imagination. Andy cleverly gave General Not Patton only one pearl handled gun instead of his usual two.

Terry

 

[The Military Workshop]

"Andy cleverly gave General Not Patton only one pearl handled gun instead of his usual two"

What makes you think they are pearl ?. Could be Ivory
Regards
Brett

 

[lancer]

"Andy cleverly gave General Not Patton only one pearl handled gun instead of his usual two"

What makes you think they are pearl ?. Could be Ivory
Regards
Brett

Believe you are correct about the ivory. I seem to remember Patton believing pearl was tacky. -- Al

 

[Phantom Warrior]

"Andy cleverly gave General Not Patton only one pearl handled gun instead of his usual two"

What makes you think they are pearl ?. Could be Ivory
Regards
Brett

Actually they were ivory, but in the west, the gunslingers never had "ivory" handled revolvers - they were always referred to as pearl handled revolvers. Originally Patton had a pair of Colt .45 Single Action Army revolvers but he gave one to a movie star and replaced it with a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. But at times he did carry only one gun. And he called them ivory handled because "only a New Orleans pimp would carry a pearl handled revolver"

Terry