Kübelwagen + Anti-Tank gun = Iconic Toy

In the 60ies and 70ies both Dinky Toys and Britains made similar looking sets in 1:32 scale with a German WW2 VW Kübelwagen and a Pak 38 spring loaded Gun:

As a kid I really wanted those sets, but unfortunately I never got any of them. One of my friends had the Britains set, which I played with when we were playing with our Airfix soldiers. Since then they have kind of 'followed me' in the back of my mind, and today they are collectibles and 'costs an arm and a leg'. I find the combination with the Kübelwagen and anti-tank gun so nostalgic and visually pleasing that I still wanted one one. - But I'm not very concerned with that they needed to be originals or to the same scale. -Just something reminding of these 2 sets.

Last summer I bought a some LGB goods wagons I intended to convert and use with my G-scale Heeresfeldbahn. Some of these wagons are open, and I like the idea to be able to add loads to them, and especially military loads. So an Idea was born; Perhaps I could recreate a similar set by making a Kübelwagen and a Anti-Tank Gun to 1:19th scale, and add them as load to my military train?

When doing research on the prototypes for this potential project I discovered that the VW Kübelwagen wasn't made for towing a heavy Gun as the Pak 38. Some Kübelwagens (Type 276) were made with a towing hook to pull the lighter Pak 36 gun or small ammunition trailers. So I decided to be realistic and follow the prototype here when coming to the AT-Gun and changing the Pak 38 for a Pak 36.

Searching available models I didn't find any easy to get 1:19th scale Kübelwagens or Pak 36s. I found some in 1:18 scale Diecast models costing another arm and leg however. -Before adding the shipping costs to Norway that was (!). So I decided to try to search for suitable models which I could cheaply 3D-print on my 3D-printer instead. -Which I actually did:

Kübelwagen by Windham Graves

Pak 36 by TigerAce1945

The challenge was that my 3D-printer is limited to print items with the maximum measures of just 15x15x15 cm. Both the VW Kübelwagen and the Pak 36 gun would exceed these measures in 1:19 scale, so I needed to slice them in parts, and 3D-print them in parts and assemble them as a kit afterwards. Not very difficult kits though, the Kübelwagen being 4 parts and the Gun only 2:

I usually prefer to 3D-print all parts going together in one 'kit' in the same color, but I ran out of the grey filament just when the first half of the gun was ready. I didn't want to wait to the shop to open or go to the city, so I just used the filament I had at hand and another color this time. It will be covered with (spray-) filler and paint later on anyway:

Due to the same size-limitations on my 3D-printer, the Kübelwagen was printed in 4 parts:

Then these easy 'kits' was assembled:

Even if there were few parts some filling in the joints were necessary: 

Then I added a couple of coats of car body spray filler:

Inspired by Peter at the Grid Based Wargaming blog, I wanted to try to use Gesso (from the craft store) to add some texture to the Kübelwagen's soft top. Peter has used Gesso to add structure to miniature tents made of blocks of wood. I applied the Gesso with a brush and stippled it with a sponge:

I also found a free STL-file for a Kübelwagen licence plate which I could resize to 1:19 and 3D-print:

Then they were finally ready for some paint. I didn't  follow the Airfix and Dinky Kübelwagen originals by painting it grey/ green-ish (Feldgrau?) as it was going to be used as load in a train with mostly some shade of grey railway cars. Insted I wanted something more 'colorful' so I went for a camouflage scheme. I really like the base-color of the car body spray filler as it's very suitable for the base-color of factory painted Wehrmacht vehicles, so I kept it as a base for the camouflage scheme.  Unlike the Dinky Toys and Britains Kübelwagens, I omitted the Balkenkreuz on my Kübelwagen. The Balkenkreuz was seldom used on these kind of vehicles, as it was a insignia for armored vehicles. In (old) movies all kind of German vehicles like trucks and Kübelwagens has the Balkenkreuz simply to make them 'look more German'.

The Gun I painted Panzer-grey however, as most of the prototype photos I found of the guns was grey and seems to be more usual and prototypical: 

I think my interpretation and representation of the Dinky Toys and Britains originals turned out satisfying:

To be able to easily load them and unload them on my G-scale railway cars I 3D-printed and painted a couple of 'standard-sized' false floors onto which I could 'tie down' the Kübelwagen and the Anti Tank gun:

I didn't simply just glue the Kübelwagen and the gun onto their false wagon floors. As a reserve Military Police officer I'm above average interested in load restraint. I think they're properly secured now:

There is a great portion of 'modeller's licence' in this project as I haven't seen any references on vehicles being loaded on German narrow gauge Heeresfeldbahns. Small guns I've found  information was transported by German narrow gauge railways however.

Considering the cost of 1:18th scale diecast models of Kübelwagens and guns, this has been a really budget-friendly project. -And fun too!I'm looking forward to the opportunity to to take them out for a ride on the rails. Let's hope it won't take too long. Follow this blog, stay tuned and find out.