38cm Sturmtiger
by
Cobi
This is the historical background to Cobi's magnificent Sturmtiger model. During the battle of Stalingrad the German Army realized they needed a large caliber weapon in a panzer body. This was for the destruction of bunkers and houses, etc. They first came up with the Sturmpanzer. This was called the 'Stupa' by the Germans and Brummbar (grouch or sorehead) by the Allies. It was a 150mm gun on the rebuilt body of a Panzer III.
The
Stupa worked relatively well in its role. The Germans, thinking the way
they did in World War II, thought that bigger is better. So someone
came up with the idea of making a Tiger tank with an absolutely large
rocket weapon. The weapon was adapted from a 380mm (15") depth-charge
launcher used by the Kriegemarine. There were only eighteen of these
made. Most were just lost to the Allies during the retreat of the
Germans at the end of the war. There is one uncorroborated story of a
Sturmtiger destroying a few Sherman tanks and their crews with one shot
in the battle for the Remagen bridge.
For some reason, I have always been incredibly intrigued by these vehicles. For that reason I have been dying to build this kit from Cobi. I was incredibly lucky to have Cobi send me three kits for review. Then they sent me a stupendous kit: the Panzer VII 'Maus'. All of the kits were very well done and I greatly enjoyed building them. However, the Maus was absolutely outstanding. I like it much better than the plastic model I built of the Maus.
This is the link to the first review of Cobi kits I did:
This is the link to my review of the Maus:
As
I have mentioned before, building these kits actually make me feel
better than building a plastic model. I do like building plastic models,
but they are sometimes maddening depending on the kit or the company
making it. I also am totally useless at painting the completed models. I
have tried and tried, but always make a total mess of it. So with Cobi
kits I know that they will always fit together, and the bricks are
colored so I have no anxiety about building them and can just enjoy it.
This
kit is exactly what I was hoping it would be. It is an excellent model
of a Sturmtiger. It even comes with a rocket for the weapon and the
crane that was needed to load the weapon.
The
build took about four hours split between two different days. I took it
slow and enjoyed every minute of the build. Just as a helpful hint,
keep a Jeweler's flat screwdriver around just in case you mess up like I
do. The Cobi blocks lock together so tightly that it is difficult to get
them apart. The other kits that I have built had no problem at all staying together.
Cobi
has taken it's kits from tanks, planes, and guns to now include even
battleships. They now have kits of the Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Warspite. I
also have seen that they will be releasing these three: the Iowa,
Musashi, and Yamato. Each day it seems that Cobi is releasing something
new.
I can absolutely
recommend this Sturmtiger kit to anyone who is interested in this weapon
or has an interest in World War II vehicles. I had a blast building the
kit and now it has a place of pride in my collection. The Cobi kits
just seem to get better and better. One can only hope that they will be
releasing a 'Dora' or maybe even the mighty 'Gustav'.
Robert
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