A cool little model by
Czech designer
Michal Tichy, from
PR Models website.
 |
| The Real Thing |
Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus was a
German World War II super-heavy tank completed in late
1944. It is
the heaviest fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle ever built. Only two hulls and one turret were completed before the testing grounds were captured by the advancing
Soviet forces. These
two prototypes (
one with, one without turret) underwent trials in late
1944. The
complete vehicle was
10.2 metres (33 ft 6 in) long, 3.71 metres (12 ft 2 in) wide and 3.63 metres (11.9 ft) tall. Weighing
200 metric tons, the
Maus's main armament was a 128 mm KwK 44 gun (55 calibers long barrel), based on the 12.8 cm Pak 44 anti-tank artillery piece already in use in the casemate-style
Jagdtiger tank destroyer, with a
coaxial 75 mm gun. The
128 mm gun was powerful enough to destroy all enemy armored fighting vehicles at close or medium ranges, and even some at ranges
exceeding 3500 meters.
The principal problem in development of the Maus was finding a powerful enough engine for its weight that could be carried in the tank. Though the design called for a
maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph), no engine was found that could power the prototype to more than
13 kilometres per hour (8.1 mph) under ideal conditions. The weight also made it
impossible to cross most bridges; it was intended to ford or submerge and use a snorkel to cross rivers. -
Wikipedia
Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus foi um
tanque de guerra pesado alemão, o
mais pesado a ser fabricado durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Foi desenvolvido por
Ferdinand Porsche para a
Alemanha Nazista em 1942 e aprovado por
Hitler. Seu nome deveria ser
Mammut (mamute) mas foi trocado por
Maus (rato). Durante testes, seu enorme peso fez o tanque
afundar e encalhar em terrenos não muito firmes, fazendo com que sua produção fosse cancelada pela
Wehrmacht. Os tanques fabricados ficaram em
posições de defesa estática, não tendo relatos oficiais que tenham enfrentado o inimigo,
apesar de soldados americanos terem afirmado ter enfrentado pelo menos um.
Link: WW2`s.German.Tank.Maus.In.1/100.Scale.by.Michal.Tichy
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