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Scale: 1/72
At the eastern front there were
severally units adapted to the XXII Gebirgs-Armee-Korps, who also were
known as Kampfgruppe Hildebrandt. The supreme commander was
Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen.
The Schwere Panzer Abteilung 503. was equipped with the Tiger II Ausf.
B. And served mainly as a reserve unit to be used as static defence
roles as Germany was constantly on the retreat, which helped conserve
fuel and minimized breakdowns on the overtaxed drive trains.
In this diorama one of them supports
the 92 Motorised Grenadier-Regiment in the outskirts of Budapest
Hungary April 1944.
The Tiger II Ausf B, was unofficially known as the Königstiger - the
King Tiger. It was developed in 1943, and produced by Henschel from
1944 onwards. The front armour was up to 150 mm thick, and could not
be penetrated by any of the on-board weapons of the allied opponents.
As main armament it had an 88 mm KwK L/71 gun, with ammunition capable
of penetrating the front armour of most enemy types of combat tanks,
from a distance of up to 3500 meters. It was indeed the king of the
battlefield.
The Semi-track Sd Kfz 7 tractor was introduced in 1938, and remained
in use throughout the war. It was capable of towing an eight-ton load,
at a speed at 30 mph (48 km/h) on roads or 18 mph (29 km/h) cross-country.
It could seat up to 12 men including the driver. Here it tows a 2 cm
flakvierling 38 anti aircraft canon
The 7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone (PAK) 40 L/48, had a combat ready weight
of 1425 kg. With a 4,1 kg APCR (Pzgr 40) grenade it was capable of
penetrating 143 mm armour at 100 meters, and 77 mm at 1500 meters. It
had a muzzle velocity 930 m/s. (1488 k/s)
The Kettenrad motorcycle was an all-round cross-county vehicle, and it
was capable of a maximum speed at 45 mph (72 km/h). The weight was
1235 kg.
The Models:
Tiger II Ausf with the Henschel Turret is from REVELL (no 03129)
The Semi track Sd Kfz 7 tractor are from an AIRFIX set with a 88 mm
gun (no 02303)
The 2 cm flakvierling 38 and the 7,5 cm Pak 40 are from an ITALERI Gun
set. (no 7026)
The Kettenrad is from an ACADEMY WWII Ground vehicle set (no 1310)
The infantry are from REVELL (no 02502) |
