My small contribution to this thread.....
No, I'm not restoring a SdKfz 251 ( not enough money or space ). But I like the look of the vehicle - it is so typical of the Wehrmacht. Partly inspired by this thread and the information in it, I went to the La Gleize Show with the objective of buying an example of the most distinctive wheel - the one with 8 circular holes.
There were only three to be seen - one was very rusty and the tyre had been crudely hacked off. Another was rusty but good with a Continental tyre - but all efforts to find the stallholder failed . The last one was from a French dealer - rusty, but certainly not a dug-up, and a nice tyre - slightly worn rubber but the markings can be read, Continental again. It obviously has a real 'farmyard' modification to the hub with a bolted-in plate ( see all those 'Panzerwrecks' photos - local farmers seem almost to have removed wheels before the fighting was over ! )
Anyhow, deal done, but I have to say it's heavier than I thought. It was a long way up that hill in hot sunshine and then I had to get it on the carpark minibus.....
It's nice to have a genuine piece of Wehrmacht AFV in my collection - and many thanks to Richard ( Granatwerfer ) for his info in this thread
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