COBI Cromwell Mk.IV Set 3091

COBI's Cromwell Mk. IV is a 1:72 model built from 110 blocks, 9 cm long, with rolling wheels and a turret that rotates. British markings are printed onto the blocks.

It had a Spitfire engine

The Cromwell's Rolls-Royce Meteor is a Merlin — the aero engine from the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Lancaster — with the supercharger, the reduction gear and the aviation fittings taken off.

Rolls-Royce had Merlins that failed aircraft inspection for reasons that did not matter in a tank, and a de-rated Merlin still produced around 600 horsepower against the 350 of the engine it replaced. The result was a 27-tonne tank that would do 64 km/h on a road and had to be governed down because the suspension could not cope.

British armoured units used that speed. The Cromwell equipped the reconnaissance regiments that ran ahead of the advance through France in 1944, where getting somewhere first mattered more than winning a gun duel — which was fortunate, because its 75 mm gun could not beat a Panther frontally.

The 1st Polish Armoured Division, the Black Devils, used Cromwells alongside the British.

In the COBI range

Part of the 1:72 mini series — compact enough for a desk or a bookshelf.

Specifications

Pieces: 110 · Scale: 1:72
Model dimensions: 9 × 3.5 × 4 cm (3.5 × 1.4 × 1.6 in)