COBI Panzer V Panther Ausf. G Pudel Set 2655

COBI's Panzer V Panther Ausf. G "Pudel" is built from 1,133 blocks, 32 cm long, with a removable rotating turret, movable gun, opening hatch, working tracks and a removable Maybach HL 230 engine. Two figures are included — a German tank crewman and a Polish insurgent — and the markings can be built either as Polish or as German.

Captured on Okopowa Street

On 2 August 1944, the second day of the Warsaw Uprising, insurgents on Okopowa Street disabled two Panthers and took them intact. It was an extraordinary thing to happen: a lightly armed resistance force had just acquired two of the best tanks in Europe.

They were repainted with the anchor of Fighting Poland and the Scout lily, given names — Magda and Pudel — and put to work supporting attacks on German positions. The Polish crews had no manuals, no training and no spare parts, and worked out how to drive and fire them by trial.

They lasted days rather than weeks. Fuel ran out, one was damaged beyond the insurgents' ability to repair, and both were eventually abandoned or destroyed. But photographs of a Panther in the middle of Warsaw with Polish markings survive, and they are among the most reproduced images of the uprising.

The Polish figure in this set represents one of the men who crewed it.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,133 · Figures: 2 · Removable engine · Two marking options
Model dimensions: 32 × 12 × 12 cm (12.6 × 4.7 × 4.7 in)