COBI Sd.Kfz. 138/1 Grille Ausf. M Set 2665

COBI's Sd.Kfz. 138/1 Grille Ausf. M is a 1:28 model built from 720 blocks, 19.5 cm long, with working tracks, an opening rear hatch, an elevating 15 cm howitzer and a removable front cover giving access to the engine. A German artillery officer figure with binoculars and four shells is included, plus a printed plaque. No stickers.

They moved the engine to the middle

The first Grille put the gun on a Panzer 38(t) with the engine still at the back, which meant the fighting compartment sat high up over the top of it — a tall, awkward vehicle with the crew exposed and the centre of gravity in the wrong place.

The Ausf. M fixed it by relocating the engine to the centre of the hull. That freed the entire rear for a low armoured superstructure with the howitzer in it, dropped the silhouette, improved the balance when firing, and allowed the gun greater elevation. It is a rare case of a wartime redesign that made a vehicle better in every respect rather than just heavier.

Grille means cricket, part of the German habit of naming self-propelled guns after insects — Wespe the wasp, Hummel the bumblebee, Heuschrecke the grasshopper. Around 280 were built, and they served in armoured and panzergrenadier divisions on both fronts.

In the COBI range

Set 2666 is the Panzer 38(t), the tank this chassis came from. Sets 2598 and 2663 are the Wespe and the Hummel.

Specifications

Pieces: 720 · Figures: 1 with accessories · Scale: 1:28 · Age: 9+ · No stickers
Model dimensions: 19.5 × 8.5 × 9.5 cm (7.7 × 3.3 × 3.7 in)