History and Performance

In the summer of 1943 a proposal was offered by Steyr Werke to the Ordnance Department for the mounting of a PaK 40/4 on a RSO chassis as a small self-propelled anti-tank weapon. 60 machines we converted for testing. Combat trials on the East Front began in early January 1944.

The Kit

The kit is packaged in Dragon current sturdy box, with a color image on the front and a montage of features on the box bottom and sides. The box top shows that over 460 Parts are included. There are eleven sprues, molded in the familiar grey plastic with crisp detail. The hull and chassis front are molded separately.

Instructions - The instructions are typical Dragon, with eight fold-out pages. There are a total of 21 construction Steps, with numerous subassemblies noted. Very busy for such a small kit, but it gets one’s attention. There are no unused Parts indicated.

This book is Number 6530 in Concord’s Warrior Series. There are 3 pages of narrative on Operation Saturn and Heeresgruppe Sud (Army Group South), including the break down of which units were included. The rest of this volume is just filled with rare pictures of what the soldiers had to endure on the Russian Front, I was getting cold just looking at these pictures. The pictures are printed on glossy paper and are very clear so that you can make out everything in them. I especially liked how thorough the descriptions under each photo were. These pictures are just “diorama heaven” for the modeler showing everyday troop living and pointing out various uniforms and equipment.

When we hear the words Battle of Britain, those of us who build aircraft models, especially those flown in WW II, immediately think of Spitfires and Hurricanes fending off what was, during that summer of 1940, the best air force in the world. They were the icons of that aerial struggle, but they were only part of the story. The Battle of Britain was also the story of young fighter pilots who flew the Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as those who piloted lesser-known RAF aircraft and those pilots and gunners of Coastal Command who protected convoys in aircraft bearing names like Hudson, Skua, and Roc. On the ground, the Battle of Britain also was the Home Guard training for the expected invasion; the aerial spotters with tin hats and binoculars; neighbors sadly picking through their bomb scattered possessions, and children climbing over the rubble in the streets.