1937 mg34/42 Lafette

[phil337]

My latest addition to the collection, a 1937 dated Lafette 34/42 maker coded S323. Oddly it appears to be a total mismatch made by all the common Lafette makers, while i was stripping the paint away further markings were found:
The main sledge is made by S323 (Brandenburger Fahrrad und Motorradwerk, Excelsior) witn nice waffenampt eagle, the front leg is made by ecy (Fouquet & Franz AG, Rottenburg Neckar) with a nice waffenampt eagle, the central frame is made by eat (Rudolf Schluckebier & Co, Eisenbahnbedarf) with two nice waffenamp eagles, and the T/E mechanism is made by dar (Metallindustrie Schönebeck A.G) with a nice waffenampt eagle, also one of the wing nuts is marked btm, there are also many small waffenampts throughout, and while i was stripping down the Traverse Arch piece there is clear remains of Ordnance tan in the screw head wells.

Obviously its been post war refurbished in the Yugo green, with this being an MG34 Lafette converted to the MG42 i strongly beleive this was done wartime my theory due to this is that the main serial number is 5185, and stamped underneath is another serial number of 2744 is it possible this could be the serial number when they converted it? who knows... I am in the process of repainting it in correct Ordnance tan, only the bottom frame has been done upto now. What is also quite unique is the scope mount there is what appears to be some shrapnel damage/bullet strike thats took a big chunk out of the side of it.

[phil337]

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[phil337]

A question relating to the scope mount block, while slipping away the horrid yugo black paint there is a very feint waffenampt eagle in the centre and next to it is what looks like the letter n? not sure what this signifies, but on the top of the block is a number stamped 9733 and directly opposite is the number stamped 24, does anyone know what this number means, serial number of scope maybe? unit marking?

[Mccallion]

Hello, you have a verry nice lafette but after seeing the pictures i beleve that you have a post war convered mg34 to mg42 lafette due to the early date of the lafette and the mismatched parts, i have never heard of mg34 lafettes being converted to mg42 ones durring the war only after
on a side note it looks like you have a mg34 bolt box on your lafette also are the pads on your lafette leather or cloth? if leather what color are they if they are leather then they are ww2 if not postwar

McCallion

[phil337]

Hi yes you are correct as in my eariler post its been post war refurbished by the yugos, but the germans also converted mg34 lafettes to mg42 ones during the early stages of the mg42, which i beleive this one maybe due the the two serial numbers. i do plan to swap out the pads with correct leather, but am i right in presuming that leather was substituded for canvas also? ( i am not saying my pads are wartime, they are refurbished ones) either way i am quite happy with it with it being german parts.

i have put a link up to an mg34/42 converted lafette that was found in the ground, quite interesting proof that converted mg34 lafettes existed wartime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpBY8-k5xYo

[mg42rip]

Great video Phil!! That's the best proof i have ever seen. Does that ground dug lafette have a 34 or 42 bolt box?
Awesome video!!
Ed

[phil337]

Great video Phil!! That's the best proof i have ever seen. Does that ground dug lafette have a 34 or 42 bolt box?
Awesome video!!
Ed

Hi Ed,
Not quite sure to be honest its not mentioned wether the bolt box is a 34 or 42, but you are right its nice proof to know these existed converted wartime.

While i was doing further restoration on my bolt box i have noticed its been converted to MG42 use (again post war or wartime i am not sure), during the war a note was issued to waffenmeisters to make a vertical cut on the end of the mg34 bolt boxes, this was apparently to make room for the longer/newer style 34 bolt?, my bolt box has clear remains of this and its been neatly welded over, and on the inside there is remains of the two securing rivetes that held the two smaller curved metal pieces? (not the ones in the lid but the lower ones) that held the 34 bolt secure, it has a waffenampt inspection eagle in the top middle, and remains of a large waffenampt eagle impressed into the steel sheet (maybe an actual accepted piece of sheet metal before it was cut up to make this box?) anyway quite interesting.

[phil337]

Well here is my Lafette so far after restoration and paint in Ordnance Tan, hope you like the pictures.
I got a nice range plate imported from Germany,and managed to find some correct rivets to secure the plate aswell, i was going to pop rivet the plate on but it would not have been very authentic, so i came across by chance some rivets on ebay, set of 20 for a couple of quid, i have spares available if anyone wants a set of 4 for thier restoration.
I also got a set of the best quality reproduction Lafette straps available from a place in America. I have left the back pads in canvas, but may re do them in leather or zeltbahn type material to give it an authentic field look.

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[Hans Zeug]

Nice one!

Hi Phil,looks good,always an impressive looking piece would like a few more myself but some of them are fetching a fair old price these days. Here's mine, the naked beast before the paint finish! Nice straps are they still available? Regards DAvid.

[phil337]

Hi David, thanks, its not been that much of a job, 2 coats of paint and it looks really good . yes you can still get the straps its from a company called At the front, you can get them via ebay, or directly from thier website. really good quality, correct hooks etc directly copied from originals

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-Lafette...item5ae13060a2

[Hans Zeug]

ATF straps.

Hi David, thanks, its not been that much of a job, 2 coats of paint and it looks really good . yes you can still get the straps its from a company called At the front, you can get them via ebay, or directly from thier website. really good quality, correct hooks etc directly copied from originals

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-Lafette...item5ae13060a2

Hi,I thought they might be from At The Front,they make some nice items I might just have to get a set of them.Thanks for the link. I've painted my lafette 34 dark grey,it came with the canvas backpad covering which I think was a Russian recover,have got some nice brown leather to go on them now, just have to get them sewn on properly! Regards David.

[ChrisCook]

Lafette

I purchased the same straps for my Lafette, I rubbed them down with some regular old dark color wood finish, it darkened them up and gave them a more used/not so fresh appearance...looks good! Chris...

[phil337]

Hi Chris cheers, yes i was thinking of aging them slightly to give a more used field look aswell

[phil337]

Another update on the restoration, i have started to re-cover the backpads in original leather. I took the nasty post war canvas coverings off, stripped the canvas sheet down flattened it out and used them as a guide for cutting the leather material to shape,the leather i have used is brown 1mm thick and is quite easy to saw and work with, i will use the original Horse Hair padding. the next stage is to saw the leather back on to the metal backpad base, i will use brown linen thread 1mm thick, so should be strong enough.

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[phil337]

Here we are for another update,after several blistered and bruised fingers later, beleive me it was a tricky task sawing by hand, the backpads are finaly re-covered in corect leather:

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