This prototype vehicle is the Ardelt-Rheinmetall 8.8cm PaK 43 Waffenträger (weapons carrier). The idea behind this weapon system was a self-propelled mount for the powerful but heavy 8.8cm (88mm) antitank gun, as towed versions of this gun were too cumbersome for crews to move readily. The idea was that the gun could be dismounted if need be. Ardelt and Rheinmetall might have combined to build the first prototype and tests were conducted on this in April, 1945. It utilized a 38(t) or a Hetzer chassis with four road wheels per side. Sources differ on if these two companies worked together and on what chassis they used. But Dragon has created a one-of-a-kind self-propelled gun of an interesting idea.

History Brief

The Mercedes 170V was very popular passenger car when released, and was built in both sedan (hard top) and cabriolet (convertible/soft top) forms from 1935 until 1942. Once pressed into military service, they became popular as staff cars. The factories survived WWII, then from 1949 until 1952 the Type 170V was produced once again and became instrumental as a commercial offering, taking the company from the ashes after the war.

History

The Merkava Mk.3D main battle tank (MBT) in service in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the revised version of the Merkava Mk.3, equipping with a 120mm smoothbore gun, the BAZ gunner's sight and the panoramic commander's sight. The detachable add-on armor plates at the turret roof and its sides greatly increased the protection ability. As the most widely equipped MBT by IDF, the Merkava Mk.3D took action in the second Lebanon war in 2006, "cast Lead" operation in the Gaza strip in the winter of 2009 and many other security activities along Israeli border.

Since 2003, when MiniArt released their first kit, they have become quite a diverse company, with kits ranging from figures to tanks, with most of their emphasis on designing kits either to enhance dioramas or stand alone.

At the outset of the First World War, motorized weaponry was still in its infancy. The machines of today’s modern military had not yet been invented: the tank, the armored personnel carrier, self propelled field artillery. Among the very first Allied armored cars, the very best were built atop chassis produced by Rolls-Royce, with the very first Rolls-Royce armored car being a privately owned vehicle fitted with a machine-gun and limited sections of armored plating. It was pressed into service by the Royal Naval Air Service in Flanders, 1914. By 1915, approximately 100 Rolls-Royce chassis had been acquired by the British Army, eventually finding themselves sent to units scattered across the globe: India, the Middle East, Europe, and South Africa. Post WW1, they were to be found from Ireland to Shanghai, making a final if brief appearance in the initial days of the Second World War. The Roll-Royce armored car’s most famous proponent was T.E.