New Review: Meng Sd.Kfz. 179 Bergepanther Ausf A

[IPMSUpdates 15]

With the development of the Panther and the Tiger 1 the Germans came to the realization that they needed an armored recovery vehicle that could handle the weight of these larger vehicles. MAN was originally tasked converting Panther Ds for use in this capacity.  The vehicles selected for conversion had the turret removed and replaced with a central 40-ton winch and a large rear spade to dig the vehicle in. A wooden work platform was built over the winch and a light crane (1500 kgs capacity) was installed on the rear deck.  For armament, a 2cm KwK-30 cannon was mounted on the front along with the standard machine gun.  This new kit from Meng is the first new modern kit of this interesting vehicle and the first release of this vehicle since the old Italeri kit from the mid-1990s.    

read more

View the full article