Hobarts' Funnies

[Dave Ward]

Looking for 1/72 models to print from the internet, I wondered how many of the specialist vehicles I could find
I've already done the Churchill AVRE with wading gear, an AVRE with fascine, Sherman BARV & a Churchill ARK.
Matchbox did an AVRE with the SBG bridge & Airfix did a Churchill AVLB, so I'm not that bothered about them!
I have a Crocodile lined up - I've found one - the Churchill log carpet layer - a bit vague

Apparently 11 were deployed on D-Day, but I havent tracked down a photo of one yet!
I've found a Churchill ' Bobbin ', but for a 'paid for' file it doesn't look that good.
I also came across the Churchill 'Great Eastern' for crossing canals

This used 3" rockets to power a ramp over a wide gap - must have been spectacular - there is one in a Canadian museum, but I haven't found any film of it operating ( never used in combat ). There is a file of this, again 'pay', I'll have to see if it looks worth it.
The Churchill AVRE had all sorts of brackets etc for bolt-on goodies, and at times it's difficult to find whether the things were experimental or actually made it into combat.

To say that the British Army had an open mind about unusual 'weapons' is very true watch this!

Dave

[Tim Marlow]

The Panjandrum was a failure because it was so easy to put out of action. All you needed was a broadcast of Bebe Daniels to lure it into a trap, then butchers van, a bayonet, and some garden shears to cut off the antennae. I’ve seen a documentary on that somewhere……

[Tim Marlow]

Oh, and don’t forget the bullshorn plough and porpoise…..more add ons for the AVRE Churchill……I scratchbuilt one (very badly) from the Hobarts Funnies Milmod plans when I was a teenager

[Guest]

Don’t forget various amphibious vehicles, mainly LVTs and Terrapins, and Caterpillar D6A and D7A armoured bulldozers, which were all operated by units belonging to 79 Armoured Division. Geoffrey Futter’s articles that Tim mentions, or the book they were compiled into, are a good guide to the things you might look for.

[Dave Ward]

All in 1/72...........................


AVRE with Log Carpet bracket
AVRE with wading ducts

Terrapin - needs addition of prominent pipes ( too fragile to print! )
I also have files for a Weasel & LVT, also used by 79th Division - I do have a Sherman Crab, but the chains look very poor.................
Dave

[Steve-the-Duck]

Ah, beaten me to it. I've got the Bellona book, 'The Funnies' by Geoffrey Futter, and I'd LIKE to do the Churchill-based vehicles. The book has 1/76 plans of all the specialist vehicles deployed by the 79th. Most of them are available in 28mm, and Warlord also do a set of transfers
So far I've got an AVRE bridgelayer, 'Bobbin' type D and a Crocodile, and enough hulls to do an ARK I or II

I'll be watching this lot with interest

BTW the Log Carpet layer is just about the only vehicle in the Futter book without a photo, perhaps because they were effectively a field mod deployed in Belgium late '44

[Dave Ward]

Ah, beaten me to it. I've got the Bellona book, 'The Funnies' by Geoffrey Futter, and I'd LIKE to do the Churchill-based vehicles. The book has 1/76 plans of all the specialist vehicles deployed by the 79th. Most of them are available in 28mm, and Warlord also do a set of transfers
So far I've got an AVRE bridgelayer, 'Bobbin' type D and a Crocodile, and enough hulls to do an ARK I or II

I'll be watching this lot with interest

BTW the Log Carpet layer is just about the only vehicle in the Futter book without a photo, perhaps because they were effectively a field mod deployed in Belgium late '44

No wonder I couldn't find a picture of the log carpet! - I have ordered a 1/72 STAR decal sheet that covers the Walcheren landings - I do have a Crocodile that is my print queue - one that is a bit elusive is the 'Snake'
Dave

[Guest]

The book has 1/76 plans

Generally of not-that-great accuracy, unfortunately. Sufficient for building a model in the 1970s, I’d guess, but not up to today’s standards The SBG bridge and the armoured bulldozer are probably the worst,

[Guest]

AVRE with wading ducts

That really needs all the other waterproofing too, but for some reason modellers/master builders/3D model designers never seem to realise that. Churchills were sieves even on a good day (except, apparently, the floor … in heavy rain, water would come in from the roof, hatches, etc. faster than it would drain away through the floor) so to do any deep-wading they need rather more than just intake and exhaust ducts

[Steve-the-Duck]

No wonder I couldn't find a picture of the log carpet! - I have ordered a 1/72 STAR decal sheet that covers the Walcheren landings - I do have a Crocodile that is my print queue - one that is a bit elusive is the 'Snake'
Dave

I do have two photos of the 'Snake' in the Futter, but I can't scan anyghing at the moment
It's basically just a towed bangalore torpedo, in 3-inch pipe. Just stick a quad of pipes on top the hull above the tracks, by the look of it

Generally of not-that-great accuracy, unfortunately. Sufficient for building a model in the 1970s, I’d guess, but not up to today’s standards :sad: The SBG bridge and the armoured bulldozer are probably the worst,

Spoilsport!

[Dave Ward]

It's basically just a towed bangalore torpedo, in 3-inch pipe. Just stick a quad of pipes on top the hull above the tracks, by the look of it

Like some of these things, it's not obvious how it was deployed. I'm intrigued by the 'conger' mine clearing gear, which was fitted to a non-powered universal carrier towed behind an AVRE - rocket propelled - very dangerous!
Dave

[Guest]

very dangerous!

The Conger itself was fairly dangerous, resupplying it was even more so. The way it worked was that it shot a rocket to the other side of the minefield, pulling a firehose across it (not sure off the top of my head if the rocket pulled the firehose or if it pulled a line, which was then used to pull the firehose across). That hose was then pumped full of nitroglycerin and detonated.

It was used in action exactly once, IIRC, and then taken out of service forthwith due to an accident on 20 October 1944. Here is a diorama of the situation before the accident:

[ATTACH]508221[/ATTACH][ATTACH]508222[/ATTACH]
(photos by Walter Jonkers of a diorama in the local museum)

And these are photos of the real site after the accident:

[ATTACH]508223[/ATTACH][ATTACH]508224[/ATTACH]

47 killed, 37 injured, four AVREs and many other vehicles destroyed … What happened is not entirely clear, but IIRC, it seems like a lorry carrying jerrycans of nitroglycerin hit a bump hard enough to blow up, detonating a nearby second lorryload as well — six tonnes of the stuff in all. That’s equivalent to nine tonnes of TNT …

This took place at a farm outside the village of IJzendijke, which, to people from my area, is “on the other side” (of the West Scheldt river).

[Dave Ward]

M29 Weasel at 1/72

I think that it's about as small as I can go - I might try a 0.3mm nozzle, but I haven't had much success with that
Dave

[Guest]

That will be easier to build than the Takom one in 1:35, I’d say But it looks like it would be better from a resin printer.

BTW, it’s technically not a Hobart’s Funny, though I’m not sure off the top of my head if the British even used the M29, but the M29C was deployed at least with Commando units as integral transport vehicles.

[Dave Ward]

Another 79 Division variant is the Sherman V ARV Mk I & II
This is the Mk II

Apparently it was judged better than the M32 ARV, but no info as to why...................
Dave