As we await the next wave of Neo Dragon Armor vehicles, the Company debuted yet another pairing of 1:72 scale armored subjects. Like their previously announced Hummel tank destroyers, the Hornisse was developed to provide a mobile anti-tank antidote to the growing array of Allied armor they were facing towards the latter half of the Second World War. As a stop gap measure, the Waffenamt saw the need to develop a special weapons-carrier vehicle based on the PzKpfw IV chassis, which was adapted to take the 8.8cm PaK 43 gun. The first of these so-called Nashorns (“Rhinocerous”) entered service in 1943. Later knows as Hornisse (Hornet), the vehicle had an unusually high profile that was difficult to conceal, a problem increased by poor armor with only the driver being fully protected. It was therefore used as a long-range weapon, in contrast to most other tank destroyers. The powerful gun made the Nashorn a potent battlefield weapon, but it was too bulky for its prescribed role and only the lack of anything better kept it on the production line as long as it did. Some 433 were built before production ceased in 1944.
Featuring a fully detailed fighting compartment, elevating gun and superbly painted exterior, look for Dragon’s Hornisse to rumble onto the diecast battlefield later this year.