Description

      The Panzer I was a stop-gap design introduced in 1934 for training tank crews As the tank was developed while Germany still officially adhered to the Versailles Treaty, it was initially covertly developed as Kleintraktor and then Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper The LaS eventually became the Panzer I Its designed borrowed from the British Carden Loyd tankette and was intended as a training platform for industry and Panzertruppen alike As a result, it was undergunned, with just a pair of 792mm MG 13 machine guns in a rotating turret, and underarmored, with a steel plate 13 mm at its thickest Despite the intention to use it as a training tank, Panzer I was deployed in direct combat, first with the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 and then during World War II 1939-1941, contributing to the early victories of Nazi GermanyBy 1943, the Panzers were obviously obsolete However, a number of attempts to keep them competitive were made The VK 1801 was barely related to the original and represented a tentative Ausf F variant, with 80mm of frontal armor, a revised turret with paired MG 34s, and weighing over 18 tons, powered by a 150 HP Maybach HL45 Otto engine Stretching the definition of a light tank, the VK was supposed to be a light infantry support tank Out of the thirty built, eight were assigned to the 1 Panzer division and lost during the battle of Kursk, while the remainder was distributed among units and used for a variety of purposes, from training to police duties.

      The second vehicle, the Ausf F, was as different from the Ausf C as it was from the Ausf A and B. Intended as an infantry support tank, the Panzer I Ausf F had a maximum armour thickness of 80 millimeters (3.15 in) and weighed between 18 and 21 tonnes. The Ausf F was armed with two 7.92-millimeter MG-34s. Thirty were produced in 1940, and a second order of 100 was later canceled. In order to compensate for the increased weight, a new 150 horsepower (110 kW) Maybach HL45 Otto engine was used, allowing a maximum road speed of 25 kilometers per hour (15.5 mph). Eight of the thirty tanks produced were sent to the 1 Panzer Division in 1943 and saw combat at the Battle of Kursk. The rest were given to several army schools for training and evaluation purposes.

Kit Features:

• Scale  :  1:35
  
• Item Type  :  Static kit
  
• Model Dimension  :  Length:125mm Width:75.6 mm
  
• Total Plastic Parts  :  290+
  
• Total Sprues  :  10 sprues , upper hull and lower hull
  
• Photo Etched Parts  :  1 piece
  
• More Features  :  The kit consists of over 290 parts
  - Multi-directional slide molded lower hull w/fine detail
  - Photo-etched parts included