Panzer II Ausf. F (DAK Version)

The Pz. II Ausf. F (II 05) which affiliated to the headquarter of 2nd Battalion, 5 Leichter Division.

The Pz. II F was first introduced and produced in March 1941, while at the same time 5 Leichter Div. has already launched to North Africa. So I personally believe that all Pz. II F's for DAK were replacement vehicles. The first batch of Pz. II that has been sent to North Africa should all be type C. 

Both the tactical NO. and symbol can been clearly identified on this photo. It seemed that the whole vehicle was painted in German grey (RAL7021), a few of brownish camouflage could be inferred on turret and upper structure.

We could also see a lot of supplies on the rear hull, but there was no storage bin on the rear of turret. 

Full of supplies were piled up on the rear engine deck and air outlets of the vehicle.

Due to the Pz. II's weak firepower and fragile armor defense, its major responsibilities in battlefield were maintaining the logistics by doing some delivery tasks & reconaissance in frontline.  

The front view of this Pz. II F (II 05). 

The Pz. II F affiliated to Luftwaffe in African campaign. 

Another Pz. II F (I 16) of DAK.

I do not know the affiliation of this vehicle. However, according to the style of its tactical NO. & symbol, I guess this Pz. II F is from 1st battalion of 5 Leichter Div.. 

The same Pz. II F as the previous photo.

We could still find those jerrycan racks on both sides of fenders.

The vehicle has lost its power and engine deck was opened. 

Same Pz. II as previous 2 photos.

This vehicle was eventually abandoned by DAK on battlefield. Allies captured it in Egypt after the first battle of El Alamein. 

The Pz. II Ausf. F from HQ of 1st battalion, 5th Leichter Div., the capital ‘I’ indicates its affiliated organization.

Both the MG and Gun barrel were protected by dust covers, lifting jack was placed on right front fend. The crews of vehicle were trying to link up the tracks. 

Same vehicle (labeled ‘I’) from the other side. Some helmets were hanged on the antenna. 

Notice the large jerrycan rack on the left rear fender of this vehicle. Unfortunately, the model did not provide any plastic or PE component for this jerrycan rack. 

A 'strange' Pz. II F from African campaign.

This vehicle was pretty interesting, its smoke discharge and exhaust pipe indicated this vehicle could be classified as Pz. II Ausf. F, however, its idle wheels were from Pz. II C. Maybe due to the lack of supplies & resources in African campaign, DAK’s engineering companies used components of Pz. II C as substitutions when they repaired Pz. II F. 

One of photos showed a Pz. II (342) from African campaign.

I do not know the exact version of this Pz. II, but I highly believe it is a Pz. II C (early type idle wheels) and it should be one of vehicles from 15 Pz. Div.. Its tactical NO. was 342, however, the capital number 3 has been erased and rewritten to 4. I infer this vehicle was first affiliated to 3rd company and corporate with Pz. IV in early 1941. After the Operation of Crusader in late 1941, two new companies have been attached to 15 Pz. Div. (3rd & 7th companies with brand new Pz. III), so the original 3rd & 7th companies which equipped Pz. IV & II’s have been renamed and reassigned to 4th & 8th companies.

The painting instruction of Academy gives this option to model builders, so I decide to make this vehicle. Unfortunately, one potential concern is this Pz. II could be type C, but the product of Academy is type F Pz. II. 

From this reference photo, we can clearly see a Pz. IV D and II C from 15 Pz. Div..

This photo was taken when they first launched to Libya in April 1941. The tactical NO. for both Pz. II and IV were 3, so it indicated that each battalion had only 3 companies at beginning stage. The first 2 companies of each battalion were all equipped Pz. III & II’s; while the last company equipped Pz. IV & II’s. 

Same place and time as previous photo. The Pz. IV & II from 3rd company of 15 Pz. Div..

Notice the 2 Pz. II's on the right bottom of photo. We could easily figure out they were Pz. II Ausf. C, so the next problem was if there was any Pz. II F has been equipped by 15 Pz. Div.. I do not have the answer, because of I did not find any reference context or photo to reveal a Pz. II F from 15 Pz. Div.. All I have are Pz. II F from 5 & 90 Leichter Div. and 10 Pz. Div. or Pz. II C from 15 Pz. Div.. 

I eventually found the photo reference to support the evidence that Pz. II Ausf. F has been used by 15th Pz. Div. in North African theatre.

This Pz. II F from the HQ of 8th Pz. Rgt., the antenna case was missing and the DAK palm tree insignia was clearly painted on left front armor. 

Another reference reveals a Pz. II F from 8 Kp. of 8th Rgt., a half-track armor vehicle is also shown in the picture, they seems to be the reconnaissance unit of 2nd battalion or regimental HQ. 

Another photo revealed a moment in African campaign a Pz. II C was followed by a Pz. II F and group of officer had discussions beside the vehicles.

I am not sure which organization they came from, but I infer they affiliated to 8 Regiment of 15 Pz. Div.. 

Finally got this photo reference from Internet. The vehicle numbered 342 from 15 Pz. Div..

The crewmen were dressed in summer uniform and vehicle’s tactical number were clearly painted on turret. The spare road wheels was not placed on front hull; the lifting jack seemed to be placed on right front fender; like all Pz. II from 8th regiment, all jerrycans were placed in the case at left rear fender. The case holder on front lower hull for spare tracks was not as same as the component in model.

All these Pz. II F should not be sent to North Africa until July, 1941, as there was no 3rd & 7th companies at initial stage when 15th Pz. Div. launched to Libya. 

One of the famous Pz. II F’s (R 06) from 10 Pz. Div.; this vehicle was captured by Allies after 5th Army surrendered in May 1943. The gun barrel & MG have been dismounted at this moment.

There were totally 6 Pz. II F’s have been assigned to the regimental headquarter of 10 Pz. Div. in 1942 and all these Pz. II F’s were manufactured in Poland during mid of 1942. 

We could realize that special jerrycan case on the right fender, this component was simulated by PE part in Academy model. 

Unlike illustrations on assembly manual, there was actually no spare road wheel placed on the right front plate. 

Rear view of the vehicle.

Note there were 2 spare road wheels mounted on the rear plate, both the smoke discharge & exhaust pipe were in good condition. The insignia of 7 Pz. Regiment was painted on the rear of turret, while the capital 'R' represented this vehicle was assigned to the HQ of 7 Pz. Regiment. 

The Pz. II F (numbered 14) from 190 Abt. of 90 Leichter Div., it was captured by US army in Tunisia, 1943. The vehicle was then delivered back to US for engineering & studying purposes.

After checking a lot of reference photos on North African campaign, I thought it was the only Pz. II I have seen which had an attached storage bin on turret. 

A fully damaged Pz. II F with no tactical NO. or insignia. The turret was upside down due to a heavy explosion. 

Another destroyed Pz. II F in late stage of African campaign. Again, no insignia or NO. could be found on this vehicle, the reference shows this photo was taken sometime after battle of Kasserine Pass. So this Pz. II F might affiliated to 10 or 21 Pz. Div.. 

Top coat plus a little camouflage were done (RAL8000 + RAL7008).

The primier was German gray (RAL7021). 

Let’s make a comparison of Pz. II’s from African campaign and Eastern frontline. 

Almost done, still need to do some washes. 

The old plastic tracks were broken and cracked into several pieces, so I removed them by using brand new 3D-printed tracks from ET model. 

Each side of tracks contain at least 100 pieces, at most 2 more pieces will be required if you want to create a very significant sag effect.