About twenty years ago Elettren, the longtime Italian of both tinplate and scale trains, began production of a new product line: Models of the semi-streamlined coaching stock introduced by the German State Railway in 1938-39, usually referred to as "skirted coaches", and in classic tinplate style with shortened bodies and simplified details. Different window arrangements to reflect the various seating configurations were made along with baggage and postal cars; different paint schemes were also offered, primarily the postwar German Federal blue and green.
What is I think less well known is that Elettren offered, I think in limited editions sets, versions of these cars reflecting some of the special luxury versions of these cars which were also built for the railway for use in the special trains of the highest ranking state officials, notably Hitler and Göring. Elettren then produced the bookend cars for their trains, the cars mounting pairs of light antiaircraft guns at each end of the car. These cars were styled to blend with the coaches, but were for the time extraordinarily long at 26 meters; while their gun tubs were full width, the center of the car was narrower and lower to reduce loading gauge problems.
At the last Stout auction on October 24 there were a pair of these cars, lot 4019. As I recall the late Bill Paul had a set of the officialdom cars, so it wouldn't surprise me if these were from Bill's collection at one time; some of the other items in the sale seemed like they might have been his, but that's also a might.
I'm posting in the Real Trains section a post [ "An Austrian coach..."] on the surprising fate of two of these cars.
Best regards, SZ
