Takom’s new Zwilling & the turtle pop their heads out.

If you like big bulky twin cannon and armoured cars that look like metal fish then Takom has two new kits in 35^th scale that might peak your interest – let’s go fishing with the gig guns in our preview..

Takoms New May kit releases..

WWII German 12.8cm Flak 40 Zwilling

Takom

TKO2023

Scale: 1/35

Release Date: After Late May

 

The 12.8 cm Flak 40 was a German anti-aircraft gun used during World War II, most famously in the Flakturms around some of the major cities in Germany including of course Berlin.

Although this gun was intended to replace the 88 mm gun it was unsuccessful in it’s bid for major production numbers but remained one of the most effective anti-aircraft guns of the war. This twin mount cannon 12.8 cm FlaK 40 Zwilling Twin mounted anti-aircraft was capable of firing 20 rounds per minute. Production started in 1942 with 10 twin sets produced, then another eight in 1943 and in February 1945 a total of 34 were available for the German forces. 

Firing away..

And destroyed after the war in 1945

The barrel weighed 12 tons in firing position, making it difficult to deploy and move, so in 1938, new solutions were made. The solution had to simplify the platform fire based on the idea that this gun would be mounted only on a concrete slab. Nevertheless, the system carried the weight of the barrel to 26.5 tons, making it impossible to tow the field. In August 1944, 450 of the single mount guns had been built and it was intended to equip the 250 anti-aircraft towers around Berlin and the other mounted on railcars.

AA versions firing a shell 26 kg with an initial velocity of 880 m / s 10 675m, compared to 88; 128 used 4 times more powder to initiate the explosive charge. The AT versions firing a shell of 26.4 kilograms could penetrate 200 mm of armour at close range, 120 mm to 2 000 m.

 A surviving Zwilling on a rolling platform int he USA

Škoda PA-II Turtle

Manufacturer : Takom

Scale: 1/35

Item code: TKO2024 

What a weird little vehicle… This Skoda armoured car was called the “Zelva” or Turtle for fairly obvious reasons and this new kit from Takom gives you a good reason to not buy the now quite expensive CMK kit (140 odd dollars’ worth) and get this simple kit from Takom instead. The PA-II ("Armored Car II") was developed by Škoda, who wanted to produce a  hull with an all-around streamlined armor bodywork.

This 1/35^th kit of the Skoda PA-II "Turtle" Czechoslovak Armoured car first saw service in 1925 with the Czechoslovak army, but they were bulky, heavy and not very agile, with poor ground clearance that forbade off-road rides and an internal fighting compartment that was too cramped. Instead, Skoda sold three of them to Vienna's police forces in 1927, and participated in the famous beer hall putsch suppression operation. The remaining nine were purchased by the Czech police.

A number of Czech vehicles were seized and incorporated into the Wehrmacht after 1939, modified to use a radio, as radio relay vehicles. Their operational capabilities were rather limited, but they seem to have been used until 1945.

 

Both of these interesting looking kits will be available from Takom’s Distributors in late May