37mm FLAK42

Flak 42 was an anti-aircraft cannon produced by Nazi Germany that saw widespread service in the Second World War. The cannon was fully automatic and effective against aircraft flying at altitudes up to 4,200 m. This model was installed onboard the Schnellboots, the german anti submarine motor boats

The 3.7 cm Flak M42 (often referred to as the German 37mm Flak 42) was a highly effective automatic anti-aircraft gun developed by Rheinmetall-Borsig for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Introduced in the autumn of 1943, it served as the primary naval evolution of the army’s land-based Flak 36/37 series. It was extensively deployed on surface ships, Schnellboots (S-boats), and as the specialized M42U variant on Type VII and Type IX U-boats to defend against aggressive Allied air attacks.

Key Improvements & Design
The Flak M42 was designed specifically to fix the glaring obsolescence of the older, single-shot 3.7 cm SK C/30 naval gun.
• Rapid Fire Loading: While the older SK C/30 required manual, single-shot reloading (limiting it to ~30 rounds per minute), the M42 utilized a fully automatic, recoil-operated system fed by 5-round ammunition clips. This unlocked a rapid cyclic rate of 250 rounds per minute.
• Extended Barrel Caliber: The barrel length was stretched to 69 calibers (compared to the land-based Flak 36's 57 calibers), optimizing muzzle velocity and precision for naval encounters.
• Weight Reduction: It was roughly 134 kg (295 lb) lighter than its predecessor and featured integrated gun shields for crew protection.

Technical Specifications
Comprehensive weapon data sourced directly from NavWeaps Naval Weapon Database:
Caliber: 37 mm (1.5 in)
Barrel Length: 2.56 meters (100.79 in) / 69 calibers
Gun Weight: 109 kg (240 lb) [barrel and mechanism only]
Rate of Fire: 250 rpm cyclic / ~150–180 rpm practical
Muzzle Velocity: 815 to 865 m/s (2,674–2,838 ft/s)
Ammunition: 37 × 249R fixed rounds (HE tracer, HE incendiary, AP tracer)
Effective Range: 4,800 m ceiling at 85° elevation / 6,400 m horizontal at 45°
Target Traverse: 360° manual or power-assisted
Elevation Range: -10° to +90° (Depending on mount variant)

Mount Configurations
The gun was deployed across naval vessels using distinct mounting variations designed to handle heavy seas and deck constraints:
• LM 42U / LM 43U: Single-gun mounts heavily utilized on U-boat conning towers ("Wintergarten" platforms). The M42U variants utilized specialized "wet-mount" attributes to survive submersions under intense hydrostatic pressure.
• DLM 42U: A twin-mount installation where two 3.7 cm Flak M42U guns were paired side by side, substantially doubling the defensive firepower of a vessel against low-flying fighter-bombers.

The model was created based on blueprints, photos and historical documentation. It was created with precision in detail and in real units of measurement to be a faithful digital reproduction of the original. The object has been modeled in Lightwave and finished and texturized in 3DCoat.
LIGHTWAVE - The model comes with a simple Lightwave 2018 setup scene to animate pitch and heading rotation. UV mapped and original LW material included
OBJ and FBX - model with UV maps. You may need to reassign textures when open the Obj file with different software.
BLENDER - UV model with uv material assigned
The object has one UV map with color, normal, roughness, metalness and specular textures