WWII Equipment: MG42, MG34, Bren, DShK, Thompson, Gas Guns, the Panther Tank, and more!

WW2Steel.com
page last modified 4/26/13
I am currently working on a large update for the website.
Instead of using editors that keep adding conflicting, bloated code, I am now HAND CODING the html for this site.
If it looks odd, that is why. I am probably tweaking something.

General info...
This is not a business. The very few things I do sell are clearly marked. I DO NOT SELL PARTS KITS OR KEEP CONTACT WITH ANYONE WHO DOES.
I regularly receive emails about where to get (whatever) parts kit. Try (Gunbroker.com). Be forewarned, parts kits have become incredibly expensive these days.

My Goal: My goal is to provide equipment to make WW2 reenacting more like WW2. While I actually do prefer to simply carry my K98 while doing German, my dream is to grind around in a heavy tank replica! The real war was often very mechanized, and there were many automatic and large caliber weapons on the field. My goal is to produce replicas of these war machines. I can produce anything, but some designs are preventatively expensive. There are several things to look for in choosing a tank to rebuild:
• SIZE: under 8.5' means generally no wide load permit. Obviously, more size = more steel = more cost.
• SUSPENSION: Internal suspension allows use of my own suspension design rather than trying to replicate external units such as the Sherman, PzIV, etc. I plan to use a Christie suspension.
• WHEELS: a small mumber of simple road wheels without rubber, however, double rows of wheels greatly contribute to track stability. German style stamped, interleaved, rubber rimmed road wheels are very difficult and expensive to replicate!
• TRACK: simple plate tracks like some very early WW2 tanks had are the easiest to replicate and can be producetd from plate steel rather than a year of welding or $15k of castings.
• ARMOR DESIGN: Flat, Tiger style armor is very easy to replicate; an M4 with a cast turret and hull is not!
• GUN: a long, tapered gun barrel is much more difficult to replicate than a short cylindrical barrel.

My MG34 (not for sale).

Dummy guns under construction!

My PPSh41 andDP28, both barely more than parts kits and in the same condition they have been in for several years.
I'd really like to make these into semiautos. Thye DP is just a mini DShK which I have a semiauto conversion for.

Combat Mission is an excellent SIMULATION (as opposed to a game), focusing on land combat in WW2 Europe. As of right now there are three in the series, 'Beyond Overlord', 'Barbarossa to Berlin', and 'Afrika Corps'. They pertain to the Normandy Invasion, East Front, and Africa/ Italy - in that order. BTS/ Battlefront.com has spent a lot of time developing this game. I really like how well it simulates armor combat. They take into account things like shatter gap, differences between cast and rolled plate, face hardened armor and homogeneous plate, applique armor, the capabilities of SPECIFIC ammunition versus the slope AND obliquity of armor, performance differences of AP, AP shot, APC, APCBC, APCR, APDS, HEAT, etc, etc. There are a couple of items that are debated, such as the too low performance of Russian 45mm guns, overly high quality of the StuG's 80mm armor, overmodeled large HE rounds, and for me- the WAY too low first round accuracy of gunnery. (Such as when a veteran crew misses another stopped tank at 100m twice in a row.) Despite these items I believe that this is, by far, the most accurate armor penetration model, and it encompasses literally hundreds of armored vehicles and guns. This portion of my website encompasses this 'game'.

About me: I was born on a US Air Force Base in California. Since I was young I have been interested in military equipment and that has manifested itself to focus on WWII, especially Europe, and largely the conflict between Russian and German forces. I work as a pilot... when the highly unstable industry allows it. (I've had three positions eliminated from under me since Jan'08.)

In Italian theatre reenactment. I'm not particularly fond of the pants we wore that day, but the unit had to match.
Just to make something clear... I like German equipment because it is high tech and very cool looking,
I do not support the evil that was soundly defeated by our brave troops!
I have nothing to do with politics, and hate war... but tanks are pretty cool!

Stuff I Have Sold (links below) :(	Items for Sale (links below)	My Panther Turret Project
2cm FlaK30 I built a few years ago	My Transit Chests for sale!	My Bren
My Bren Carrier	Steve Smith's Gas Gun kits	My DShK
My 1951 Studebaker 'Deuce and a Half'	My 'Gas Gun' build manual	My MG42
My Thompson Dummy Gun	Items for Sale!!!	My 'Combat Mission' page.