I have completed the restoration of a 1941 32cm Nebelwefer (32cm Wurf-Körper Flamm) rocket. The rocket was found in the late 1990s to the west of Monte Cassino, Italy. The bottom of the rocket with the rocket motor was broken off, so it had to be carefully reattached after sand blasting the whole rocket. Then I constructed a launch crate to hold the completely restored rocket. This is the rocket during early stages of restoration (note the break in the center where the rocket motor has detached from the main body):
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This is the completed 1941 German 32cm Nebelwerfer (32cm Wurf-Körper Flamm) rocket (inert) with stenciling and fitted in the hand made launch crate. Total time for restoration 110 hours. Enjoy!
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Awesome job on the rocket & crate.Comment
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Thanks!
Here is a close up of the rocket motor support rails. I hand made all of the support brackets, which was a bit of a challenge.Comment
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That is great. I have an original metal rack I restored for the 28/32 rounds. I would love to get a inert or fake round for display.
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I actually wanted to use a metal launch crate for this restoration, but I wasn't able to find one when I started the rocket restoration, so I opted to fabricate the scarcer wooden one.
The rockets are fairly scarce, but they do show up for sale from time to time.Comment
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Great question! It was tough to figure out...but after I did, it was pretty easy. The "tank" was completely detached from the bottom/top of the rocket motor. I sand blasted everything down to bare metal. The first step was to weld a 2" steel electrical conduit (pipe) to the top of the rocket motor. Then I placed the tank over the pipe, which passed through the fuze hole in the top and welded it there as well. This held the tank to the rocket motor. Then, I filled the missing area at the bottom with fiberglass material and resin, building it up slowly from the inside. Then I poured the resin in through the fill hole at the top, filling the bottom of the tank completely with about 3" of the resin. This made the whole thing solid between the tank walls, the pipe and rocket motor. Then I added two part epoxy to the outside and sanded and shaped until it was perfectly round again. It took quite a bit of time, but was totally worth it!Originally posted by Zünder View PostComment
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Sounds like a lot of work, but the result is very good !
Now you need a fuze and venturi ring, and your all set.
Zünder,
www.wk2ammo.comComment
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Thanks!
Yes, I actually posted a thread on your website a while ago looking for them. For the venturi ring for the rocket motor, I made one out of wood for the rocket to sit on and have the correct height until I can find an original one.Comment
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Yours is the first 32 CM I have seen outside of Europe. I have seen several 15 CM in the US.Comment
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There is a 15cm nebelwerfer cannister for sale at collectorsguild. BrianComment
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Yes, they are quite scarce because of their size. The only other one I know of in the U.S. is in the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Museum and a 28cm in another private collection. The one shown here is especially scarce because it was produced in 1941, which was the first year of production. The maker code on this example is "auh".Originally posted by Johnny R View PostComment
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Outstanding, What a beautiful piece of woodworking and very nicely done ...
Depending how far you want to go with the realism, i can help with a few pictures or suggestions for improvements.
For example on the upper half of the four main verticals where the 32cm body of the wurfkorper made contact there were four metal runners. 10mmx10mm L section.
Happy to help
RichComment
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According to Hahn 12 000 were already made in 1940. while 3212 of 28/32 cm Wks were consumed from July 1940 to March 1941 - apparently for trials and training.The one shown here is especially scarce because it was produced in 1941, which was the first year of production.
By the way - the "turbine" seems to be missing in the picture of the restored rocket?
Anyway, it is a beautiful work, congratulations!
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