TAMIYA 1:35 WWII Dt. Sturmpanzer Brummbär (2)

Artikel-Nr.: 300035077

1:35 WWII Dt. Sturmpanzer Brummbär (2)

The Panzerkampfwagen IV has been described most aptly as the ""workhorse"" of the German armoured forces in World War 2; with continuous development throughout the war as a fighting tank, the chassis and running gear formed the basis of a number of very important self propelled weapons.

In 1942 the fighting on the Eastern Front was making even greater demands on German armoured resources, as the Soviet Army overcame the setbacks of the successful German campaign in Russia in 1941.

At this time, divisional armour consisted predominantly of the Pz Kpfw III and the Stug III, the later being armed mainly with either the short 7.5 cm gun, 10.5 cm howitzer. The need was for a heavier calibre weapon mounted in an armured chassis, sufficiently powerful for the demolition of big city buildings in the street fighting now bein experienced.

In September 1942 the German Ordnance Dept considered how the problem could best be overcome as rapidly as possible. The 15 cm heavy infantry gun, Model 1933 was a readily available weapon, and some limited experience of it in an armoured role had been gained in 1940 when a small number of Sig 33's were mounted on the tiny Pz Kpfw I chassis. The original success of this limited conversion had led, in 1941, to the decision to build a self propelled version of the Sig 33 on the Pz Kpfw III chassis. This was like a much heavier version of the original Stug III, except that the superstructure was very much higher to accept the greater bulk of the 15 cm howitzer. By the time of the Stalingrad fighting a first pre-production run of 12 of these vehicles was available.

By this time, however, the Pz Kpfw IV was rapidly becoming the most numerous and most important of the German combat tanks, due to its ability to carry the long 7.5 cm high velocity gun. In October 1942, the deliberations about the heavy assault vehicle attracted Hitler's personal attention. He ordered that the Sig 33 gun be

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