Nashorn Heavy Tank Destroyer - Tamiya 1/48

It became apparent by 1940/41 the German early war Panzers were becoming less and less effective against the allied armour of the time. The likes of the Char B1, the British Matilda and the offerings from the Soviets like T34’s and the KV series of tanks were all too heavily armoured for the Germans to have any meaningful impact on.

Newly developed anti-tank weapons such as the PaK40 and the PaK43 could efficiently destroy these tanks however they were heavy and and difficult to manouver in an offensive setting. The solution was to mount these weapons on a tank chassis to give them the mobility they needed, and from there the Panzerjager was born.

Conceived as somewhat of a temporary solution, the Panzerjagers were quick and cheap to construct. They was usually open topped and lightly armoured however they did carry the firepower required to make a real difference on the battlefield.

Their primary purpose was to engage enemy tanks and act as fire support at long range. More often than not the Panzerjagers would find themselves operating on the flanks of the battlefield.

By 1943, the development of the deadly FlaK 41 had been completed. At the time there was no dedicated vehicle designed to mobilise the weapon. From this need the Nashorn (or Rhinoceros) was developed by pairing the gun on a modified Panzer III/IV chassis.

The Nashorn weighed in at 24 tonnes and measured 8.44met (including gun) long and 2.65met tall. It had a crew of 5 and have an operational range of 260kms and a maximum speed of 42 km/h. Just under 500 examples of the Nashorn were produced and most saw action on the Eastern Front and Italy with only a few examples having been see on the Western Front.

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