COBI Panzer II Ausf. A Set 2718

COBI's Panzer II Ausf. A is a 1:48 model built from 250 blocks, 11 cm long, with a rotating turret, a movable gun and working tracks. Brick vegetation is included for a small scene. All markings are printed onto the blocks.

The gun was an anti-aircraft weapon

The 2 cm KwK 30 in this turret was not designed for a tank. It is a derivative of the 2 cm Flak 30, the standard German light anti-aircraft gun, adapted to fit a turret mount.

That origin shows in how it worked. It fed from a ten-round box magazine rather than being loaded shell by shell, and it fired fast — several hundred rounds a minute cyclic, because shooting at aircraft means putting a lot of ammunition into a small piece of sky quickly. A tank gunner could empty a magazine into a target in a couple of seconds.

Against soft targets and light vehicles that was genuinely useful. Against armour it was close to worthless, and the Panzer II's career as a fighting tank ended around 1942 for exactly that reason — after it had been the most numerous German tank in Poland and France.

In the COBI range

Part of the compact 1:48 armour series. The large 1:28 Panzer II Ausf. F is set 2597, and the Wespe self-propelled gun on the same chassis is set 2598.

Specifications

Pieces: 250 · Scale: 1:48 · Also included: brick vegetation
Model dimensions: 11 × 5 cm (4.3 × 2.0 in)