Category Archives: Kits, Stash

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-2 model 1939, big turret (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00311 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-2 model 1939, big turret’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-2 model 1939, big turret

History

The KV heavy tank was designed and used as heavy break-through tank. To a tank of this task, the shortcomings of its L-11 main gun, which is not good at dealing with enemies’ bunkers and fortifications, could be fatal! So a heavy tank carrying a much bigger gun to better do the job was created along side the 76.2mm gun tanks.

The first of this type uses a new big high turret of 7 sides that mounting the 152mm M-10 howitzer. This version, which had many detail differences to the later standard type was usually dubbed KV ‘Big Turret’ or KV-2 Model 1939. As such a big turret on the usual KV hull proved to be very un-maneuverable it soon earned a funny nickname of “Mobile washroom”!

Source: Trumpeter website

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Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Ehkranami (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00357 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Ehkranami’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Ehkranami

History

To solve the problem of the fear of inadequacy of armor protection on the already heavily armored KV-1 Model 1941, It was decided to bring the armor protection of the turret up to a thickness to 75mm.

Since the capability of producing such a thick armor plate was lacking at the time, so an interim solution was to use bolt on armor, 25mm of thickness, bolt directly to the outside of the turret and some other parts of the hull. This type was usually referred to as KV-1s Ehkranami.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. J (Initial production) (Dragon)

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This is the Dragon 6463 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. J – Initial production’.

German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. J - Initial production

History

The Panzer III was Germany’s main battle tank for the first couple of years of WWII, with earlier Panzer IV variants serving primarily as close-support weapons. However, after Pz.Kpfw.III tanks began encountering more heavily armored T-34 and KV-1 tanks during the invasion of Russia, existing Panzer III models were found to be inadequate for the task.

One solution was to up-gun the tank with a longer and more powerful 5cm KwK 38 L/42 cannon, and to add more armor to the vehicle. Thus the Panzer III Ausf. J was born. It featured 50mm-thick solid armor plates on the front and rear of the hull, an increase from the previous 30mm-thick armor plates.

Among other modifications, the new armor resulted in a ball-mount MG being fitted on the front superstructure and a redesigned driver’s visor.

Source: Dragon website

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Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942, simplified turret (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00358 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942 simplified turret’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942 simplified turret

History

Because the additional armor in KV-1 type manufacturing craft is trivial and produce the efficiency lowly, therefore a kind of new KV-1 appeared again, this kind of is called M KV-1 1942 the characteristics of types consist in the armor that enhance completely with then increase production efficiency for the simplification of the purpose designs.

The bodywork armor was again 75 millimeters of to increase 90 millimeters of, dry by heat the most thick place in armor of the tower attains 120 millimeters.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F1/F2 (Italeri)

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This is the Italeri 6217 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F1/F2’.

German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F1/F2

History

The Panzer IV was developed during the opening months of World War Two to equip German armoured divisions with a tank having a 7.5 cm cannon.

Given the shortcomings of the previous Panzer III, equipped with a 5 cm gun (often in difficulty against the Soviet T34 with its 5 cm gun and highly effective armour), it also featured enhanced protection.

The Mark IV was used extensively by the German Army on all fronts during the Second World War: numerous variants were produced to counter the constant improvements made to enemy tanks.

Source: Italeri website

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Russian Tank Destroyer, SU-122 (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 093-1600 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Tank Destroyer, SU-122’.

Russian Tank Destroyer, SU-122

History

Victorious At Kursk – The Russian T34 tank is known as a masterpiece. Based on the same chassis, the SU-122 featured a secured, wedge-shape fighting compartment, and was armed with a massive 122mm howitzer. The designation of SU-122 comes from the following; “SU” stands for Samokhodnaya Ustanovka (in Russian) meaning self propelled and “122” stands for the armament.

As Russian forces were forced to retreat from the relentless German blitzkrieg, large quantities of T34 and other tanks were produced in preparation of a counter attack. At the same time, Russian army urgently developed a new self-propelled gun, the SU-122. This tank featured a newly designed 122mm self-propelled howitzer and its production began in October 1942 at Tankograd in the Ural mountains. As the T34’s chassis and its mass production system was applied to SU-122, the first test models were amazingly completed with great speed taking approximately one month.

From there, the first lot of SU-122s were sent straight to the Leningrad front in January 1943. From July 1943, they saw action in the Battle of Kursk. The SU-122 with its 23 caliber 122mm howitzer fought with all its might against Panther and Tiger tanks and went on to superbly win a glorious victory. In following the success at Kursk, the SU-122 set the foundation on where other tanks such as the SU-85, SU-100, JSU-122, and JSU-152 were built upon.

Source: Tamiya website

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German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N, w/winterketten (Dragon)

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This is the Dragon 6606 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N, w/winterketten’.

German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N, w/winterketten

History

Panzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III Sd Kfz. 141 (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw.III) translating as “armoured fighting vehicle”.

It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and serve alongside the infantry-supporting Panzer IV. However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34, stronger anti-tank guns were needed. Since the Panzer IV had a bigger turret ring, the role was reversed. The Panzer IV mounted the long barreled 7.5 cm KwK 40 gun and engaged in tank-to-tank battles.

The Panzer III became obsolete in this role and for most purposes was supplanted by the Panzer IV. From 1942, the last version of Panzer III mounted the 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24, better suited for infantry support. Production of the Panzer III ended in 1943. However, the Panzer III’s capable chassis provided hulls for the Sturmgeschütz III until the end of the war.

Source: Wikipedia

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German Geschützwagen, 39H 10,5 cm LeFHI8 (Sf) (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00353 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Geschützwagen, 39H 10,5 cm LeFHI8’.

German Geschützwagen, 39H 10,5 cm LeFHI8

History

During the invasion of France, hundreds of French Tanks were captured including the Hotchkiss H-39 Tanks. These vehicles were converted to Anti-tank and Self-propelled artillery vehicles. Between 1942 and 1943, 48 Hotchkiss H-39 tanks were converted to artillery platforms.

These vehicles mounted 10.5cm howitzers. Most of these conversions used the leFH 18 howitzer, but a few were converted using the leFH 16 howitzers.The only known surviving vehicle is located at the Saumur Museum in France.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German Brückenleger IV, Ausf. B (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00390 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Bruckenleger IV, Ausf. B’.

German Bruckenleger IV, Ausf. B

History

Panzerkampfwagen IV also became a base for special purpose vehicles. From February to May of 1940, 20 Ausf C/Ds were converted by Krupp to bridge layers – Brückenleger IVb. 16 vehicles were mounted with bridging equipment by Magirus and 4 by Krupp.

Nine-meter bridge had a 28-ton capacity. They saw service in Belgium and France in 1940 with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th Panzer Division.

The vehicle was found to be too heavy for the suspension and the design was canceled in 1941. In late 1940, most were converted back to regular battle tanks. In January of 1941, Krupp completed 4 newer Bruckenleger IVc bridge layers. They saw service in 1941 in Russia with 3rd Panzer Division.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German 17 cm Kanone 18 (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 02313 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German 17 cm Kanone 18’.

German 17cm Kanone 18 Heavy Gun

History

The 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette was a German heavy gun used in the Second World War. It was intended to be employed at the Corps level in order to provide very long-range counterbattery support. It filled the same basic role as the 21 cm Mörser 18, as well as sharing its carriage, and replaced it entirely after 1942.

Although it was technically an excellent weapon, it was expensive, difficult to maneuver, very slow to set up and tear down; many were lost when their crew had either to abandon them or to risk capture by advancing allied troops.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German 21 cm Mörser 18 (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 02314 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German 21 cm Mörser 18’.

German German 21cm Mörser 18

History

The Mrs 18 was designed to replace the obsolescent World War I-era 21 cm Mrs 16. While the gun design itself was nothing innovative, the same cannot be said for the carriage. It was one of the first weapons, if not the first in quantity production, that used the interesting dual-recoil system. The barrel recoiled normally in its cradle, but, in addition, the whole top carriage, which carried the barrel and its cradle, recoiled across the main part of the carriage. This system damped out the recoil forces and made for a very steady firing platform.

This carriage was also used for the 17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette and the 15 cm Schnelladekanone C/28 in Mörserlafette. The Mrs 18 was an enormous weapon that was transported in two pieces, as was common for such large weapons. For travel the barrel was slid on to a separate trailer. The carriage carried an integral firing platform that was lowered to the ground when emplacing the howitzer.

The wheels were then cranked up off the ground and it was now ready for firing. A rear castor-wheel jack was used to raise the rear spade off the ground if the gun needed to be traversed more than allowed by the 16° allowed by the mount proper.

Source: Trumpeter website

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German Mittlere Zugkraftwagen 8 ton (Early version) (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 01514 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Mittlere Zugkraftwagen 8 ton – Early version’.

German Mittlere Zugkraftwagen 8 ton - Early version

History

The Sd.Kfz.7 was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during the Second World War. Development of the Sd.Kfz.7 can be traced back to a 1934 requirement for an eight-tonne half-track military vehicle.

The vehicle first appeared in 1938 and was destined to be used mainly as the tractor for the 8.8 cm FlaK gun and the 15 cm sFH 18 150mm howitzer.

The vehicle could carry gun crews of up to 12 men in theatre-type seats. The rear of the vehicle was an enclosed compartment for storage of ammunition. The tractor could tow loads up to 8,000 kg in weight. Most were fitted with a winch.

Source: Trumpeter website

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