Tamiya 35200 1/35 German 105-mm howitzer on the chassis of PZ-II Sd.Kfz.124 Wespe 1943. with 2 figures

Additional Information

When German forces faced a cold winter and the superiority of Russian tanks, work began immediately to develop new weapons. In addition to the powerful tanks and anti-tank weapons, motorized troops needed artillery on track. To meet this requirement, as a temporary solution, several prototypes were built from existing guns and tracked chassis. One of them had a light howitzer Type 18/2, 10.5 cm L/28 on the Panzer II chassis. The gun was a standard field howitzer used by the artillery units of Germany at that time. The rotating tower was replaced by a simple steel wheelhouse. Since the vehicle was originally designed to support infantry, the fighting compartment had a very easy reservation, the roof remained open. The cabin could accommodate a crew of five with 32 shells for the main gun. Mass production, under the designation Wespe (Wasp), was started in February 1943, and although the gun was intended as a "temporary measure", production continued until September 1944, a total of 676 machines were manufactured.